The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a Christian religious organization founded in the 1820s. The church's founder, Joseph Smith, claimed he received a vision from God the Father and Jesus Christ, who told him all contemporary Christian churches were theologically incorrect. Under the guidance of the angel Moroni, Smith uncovered and translated The Book of Mormon, an alternate history of the United States written in a dead language called Reformed Egyptian. The text claimed that 600 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, God called a prophet named Lehi to leave Jerusalem and travel to the Americas. Lehi's sons, Laman and Nephi, fought one another for power, and God cursed Laman and his descendants, who became the ancestors of indigenous Americans.
One of the Mormon church's most important beliefs is the principle of direct communication with God. Like many Christians, Mormons believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ, though Mormons specify that Christ will establish the Kingdom of God on the American continent.
The Mormon church is organized in a top-down hierarchy. The president, or leader of the global church, serves as "prophet, seer and revelator," with the guidance of two counselors. Below this trinity, called "the First Presidency," is the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The church divides the world into administrative "areas," which are subdivided into "stakes," overseen by a stake president and two counselors, mirroring the structure of the First Presidency. These are divided into "wards" (large congregations) and "branches" (a smaller congregation of at least two families), which are headed by bishops and branch presidents, respectively, who also have two counselors apiece.
