I.

Introduction

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, major world religion of 12 million members, established in 1830 by Joseph Smith, known as the prophet. Followers of this religion are called Mormons. From a handful of members at the beginning, the movement has grown steadily through proselytizing and a relatively high birth rate. By the early 2000s there were 5.5 million Mormons in the United States and the number in other countries around the world totaled about 6.5 million. Before World War II conversions had been most numerous in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavia, but during recent years the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has grown rapidly in developing countries. In Mexico, for example, there were 850,000 Mormons in 2000, most of them converted since 1975. In South Korea, the Latter-day Saints had no adherents before 1950, but by 2000 there were 71,000 members. A vigorous missionary program—a rotating force of about 60,000 preaching Mormon doctrine in more than 330 missions in the United States and abroad—assures a steady influx of new members.