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LDS choose to avoid drinking coffee, tea, alcohol and using tobacco substances. They don't consume the protects because they believe their bodies are temples and sacred and they wouldn't want to destroy or harm them in any way. In addition to this, they believe that god forbids them from drinking hot drinks and church leaders disapprove the consumption of other caffeinated and soda drinks as well. These rules are established in a health book they read called the "Word of Wisdom" and some evi-dence shows that it has inceased their average life expectancy by 8-11 years more than the US' average.

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Brigham Young University  is a college that's history dates back to  1877. It was first established in response to protestant prominent public schools in the areas surrounding the Mormon community. He believed that they were not teaching the correct books and  the Mormon children were not being taught the correct principles. Young decided to establish a new school that wouldn't teach anything that "misrepresents, or speaks lightly of, the divine mission of our Savior, or of the prophet Joseph Smith, or in any manner advances ideas antagonistic to the principles of the gospel," they named this school Brigham Young Academy. The Mormonism practice heavily influenced the school and everything that was taught there. They wanted to provide Mormons a place to peacefully practice and promote their spiritual beliefs, leading them to obtaining eternal lives.  The religious objective of the university became heavily implemented into the curriculum in 1887, and it was then nine years later that non-Mormons were first offered attendance into the school. Brigham Young University grew and greatly expanded and that has allowed for multiple locations to be established with the same core values. It has been ranked the #3 Best Christian College in the nation and developed a successful athletic program as well.

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These maps act as a representation as to where the most Mormons live in relation to not only countries outside of  the United States, but also within particular regions of the US.  Mormonism did originate from upstate New York and as you can see, the graph shows a drastic shift in Mormon population to the west and that is as a direct result of Young moving to Utah and the map clearly shows that Utah is a prominent destination for the Mormon population.

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"Magic underwear" is a seemingly unusual concept that is misunderstood to others outside of the Mormon Church. It may sound quite arbitrary, but these temple garments are indeed worn during special ceremonies taken place in the church. They are a set of under garment that a member of the church wears as a symbol of their commitment to god. They wear the clothing to remind them of the promises they made to god and it helps them veer away from temptations that would misguide them. They believe that by keeping their promises to god, they will be protected from evil and sin. Although it is not a physical form of protection, they see it as a intangible, symbol of protection. This misconception in the Mormon Church frequently gets mocked by people outside of the Mormon Church, but these items are sacred to the Mormon people.

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Just recently, the Mormons have adjusted policies that will allow children of LGBTQ parents to be baptized within the church at the age of 8. “While we still consider such a marriage to be a serious transgression, it will not be treated as apostasy for purposes of church discipline. Instead, the immoral conduct in heterosexual or homosexual relationships will be treated in the same way," is the statement released by the church in the midst of this announcement. With this being said, their moral values and beliefs have not changed their perceptions of the community.  The church wants to reduce tension and hatred for the LGBTQ Community, but they still strongly believe the lifestyle goes against the commandments and is denies the Mormon Faith. They have taken drastic steps in an effort to stay in this day and age and recognize these people and maybe not accept them, but respect them.

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Within the Mormon Church, there are several denominations that have been created with the Mormon belief systems as their foundation. They all trace their roots back to Joseph Smith, but when he died, the Mormon Church disagreed on who would proceed to become the next prophet, which resulted in the formation of the Community of Christ, the Fundamentalists Church of Latter-Day Saints led by Warrens Jeff, and a number of other new religions. Brigham Young led the followers of Joseph Smith Jr. to Salt Lake City, Utah to continue his legacy, but not everyone was convinced that he was the one to lead them on. A handful of other leaders of the church led different groups to various states including Michigan and Missouri. A group of LDS had wanted a descendant of Joseph Smith to guide them, so on April 6, 1860, Joseph Smith lll agreed to become the next prophet and the Reorganized Christ of Latter Day Saints emerged in Independence, Missouri and since then, have acquired approximately 250,000 followers. The presidents were all descendants of Joseph Smith Jr. until the 7th president then became known as the Community of Christ in 2001. On the other hand, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints strayed from mainstream Mormons when polygamy was becoming outlawed within the church. These polygamists differed in their beliefs and formed their own branch of Latter Day Saints. There are approximately 50,000 polygamists in the US right now, despite laws ruling against the practice.

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Like other Christians, Easter and Christmas are relevant holidays in the Church, but in addition to these, they also celebrate a number of other holidays. They celebrate the establishment of the church on April 6, 1830. They incorporate both the celebration of the birth and resurrection of Christ, but also honoring Joseph Smith and everything he did to establish this domination of Christianity.

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Brigham Young led the followers of Mormonism to Salt Lake City, Utah. Warrens Jeff led a separate group of followers to Independence, Missouri, the two groups established their headquarters there and Utah makes up 1/3 of the 6.5 million Mormon population in the US. Worldwide, there are approximately 16 million Mormons, the majority of the members living in North and South America. Within recent years, the church has been rapidly growing, yet doesn't compare to the growth of other religions.

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Polygamy is highly associated with the Mormon Church and although it played a crucial role for Mormonism in the past, it is no longer promoted within the Church. It is still somewhat practiced by a minute group of people, but the individuals that do choose to practice polygamy are excommunicated from the church. Joseph Smith had made a statement in 1843 saying that polygamy was an abomination in the eyes of the Lord and not practiced in the Mormon Church, despite accusations of practicing plural marriages himself.  Joseph Smith took on multiple wives and the exact number of spouses is unknown, but most agree that the number exceeded 40 wives. Brigham Young was also speculated to have had over 55 wives and polygamy was established as a core value of Mormonism in 1852. Not all men could participate in the practice and women would forbidden to practice plural marriage, but it was eradicated from Mormonism in 1890. This alone led to controversy within the church and division among the followers. Today, men who actively practice polygamy and marry more than one women, only make up about 10-15% of the Mormon population.

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PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/americanprophet/prologue.html.

“Brigham Young University – 01 |.” The Signature Books Library Brigham Young University 01 Comments, signaturebookslibrary.org/institutional-origins/.

Bushman, Richard L. “Joseph Smith.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 28 Jan. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Smith-American-religious-leader-1805-1844.

“Do Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Drink Coffee?” Do Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Drink Coffee? | Mormon.org, www.mormon.org/blog/do-latter-day-saints-drink-coffee.

“Religions - Mormon: Mormons at a Glance.” BBC, BBC, 2 Oct. 2009, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/ataglance/glance.shtml -.

Turner, John G., and John G. Turner. “Introducing The 55 Wives Of Brigham Young.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 27 Oct. 2012, www.huffpost.com/entry/brigham-young-and-polygamy_b_1792555.

“Welcome To a Community | ComeUntoChrist.org.” Welcome To a Community | ComeUntoChrist.org, www.mormon.org/site/home.

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Young's presidency began in 1847 and he was declared the second prophet, following Joseph Smith Jr. death. He became the head of the Mormon Church and was heavily involved in the movement of the Churches roots to the west. After moving west to the Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho area, the Mormon culture began to become threatened by non-Mormons, who were not accepting of the people and their beliefs. Young then took it upon himself to establish a self-dependent society, by encouraging manufacturing goods locally to eliminate the need to trade to the outside world. He developed a secluded, isolated society for Mormons to thrive altogether and he developed a thriving community. Young had massive success with his efforts to build the church and that included becoming the governor of Indiana. With this being said, there was concern that he was also creating a theocracy and the federal government was establishing boundaries between state and church. Polygamy also played a vital role in Young's presidential term, although it was an illegal practice in the United States. Despite obvious evidence that he did indeed practiced polygamy, he was tried and unsuccessfully found guilty. He died in 1877 and everything that he'd worked so hard to build was in jeopardy of being wiped away clean. The government was concerned about the plural marriage practice and even threatened to destroy the economic and political power the church had obtained due to this.

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In the Mormon Community, it is believed that Joseph Smith was the prophet in Upstate New York who brought restoration to Christianity in the 1820's. The alleged story begins when Smith was about 12 years old and was contemplating over the correct religion. He wanted a sign from the lord to tell him which religion he should choose and that first divine moment is called the "First Vision." The account is described in various ways and they differ in several ways. Regardless, the angel Moroni, presented him with the holy book and the lord gave him authority to lead the people closer to god, all after he began to pray to the lord in the woods. He established guidelines for the Mormon Church through visions that god gave to him and continued to lead his people up until he was assassinated along with his brother. After he died, he left the legacy of leading tens of thousands of followers to a new president, but his death left a once unified group, into several branches led by different figures including a prominent Mormon leader, Brigham Young.

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Racism is a well known attribute of the Mormon Church, but this belief system hadn't been a part of the church until Brigham Young became the president of the church. As a whole, they are trying to steer away from racial injustices within the church, but it wasn't until June of 1978, that an African American could hold a priest position within the church. Smith was opposed to slavery and he was recognized for his racial egalitarian belief system. It was when Brigham Young adopted new policies and described black people as people who had been cursed with dark skin as a punishment. Interracial marriages were said to have been sinful and punishable by death. "If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot." This was a statement made by Brigham Young himself, as he was notoriously known for his discrimination and racial intolerance. The current Mormon Church is trying to break away from their association with Young's beliefs, but the bias is still present within the church.

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Joseph Smith Jr. was the founder The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or the Mormon Church. He is described as being their prophet, as one day he claimed to have been spoken to by an angel, presenting him with an ancient Hebrew text. He was then instructed to bring restoration to the church, so Smith dedicated six years of his life to interpreting and translating the text into English. He then published "The Book of Mormon" in 1830 and that is how the Mormon Church came to be. Smith is considered to have lead his people closer to God, and save them from corruption as other Christians were straying from the rightful direction.