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So let's talk about membership.
Mormonism is one of the fastest-growing religions
in the world and it increases its numbers by about 1.5 to 2
percent in North America alone, and often that rate is a higher increase rate
outside of the United States.
But still, many are unfamiliar with the Church's membership distribution.
For instance,
according to Lawrence Research, the average American thinks that Mormons and
the majority of Mormons live in
Utah. Now, well of course, if you've ever been there,
you will realize that many Mormons live in Utah, only fourteen percent of
the entire global Mormon population lives in that state.
In fact, as of 2012,
globally there are fourteen million members of the LDS church
in a hundred and thirty-two countries, so we're definately scattered out there, and
in America,
believe it or not,
there are more Mormons here
than there are Presbyterians or Jews.
I was surprised to learn that.
And more Mormons live outside of the United States
than live inside the United States, so the majority of our population aren't in this
country.
Mormons baptize an average of about 800 people per day and
construct a new church building
every 16 hours to accommodate them. So, definitely a fast-growing religion.
Now of course,
the only people who are included
in these numbers are people who officially belong to the Church of Jesus
Christ
of Latter-day Saints or the ones who are on the official records. Those who have branched
off the church or have been excommunicated are not counted in this
church membership and should not, for the sake of
confusion, be referenced or referred to as Mormons.
So, mormons are anxious to get this word out, because while 35 percent
of Americans believe "Mormon"
refers to a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
45 percent of Americans
believe that "Mormon" is a title for any person anywhere who believes in the Book
of Mormon.
Now, like any faith,
Mormonism has many branch-off groups
who follow their own variation of LDS teachings,
but they are not consistent with the official LDS doctrine and
teachings and leaders
and they're technically not considered members
of the LDS Church.
So, in order to avoid confusing them with the LDS Church members, it's best
not to refer to the members of these groups as being "Mormons." It's best to
just refer to those who are on official Church records as being "Mormons."
Those who are mormons, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints
follow the same doctrine,
the same manuals, the same leaders, the same teachings and so forth, worldwide.
In fact, if you were to attend a church in New Guinea, and then fly clear across
the globe and then attend church in New Hampshire on the same day, you'd have to have a
really fast plane to do it, but if you did that, you would likely hear the same
lesson taught in both churches on that very same day that's how much we like to
keep our teachings consistent across the globe.
And so, while many of you may not
think you know Mormons, statistics
show that you probably do whether you know they're Mormon or not. Um... in fact,
there are, of course, the well-known Mormons across the population. Some of
them are, of course,
Donny and Marie Osmond
Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers, Republican Glenn Beck,
Democrat Harry Reid
(hey, at least they agree on some things),
and of course singer David Archuletta from American Idol, Gladys Knight,
and Mitt Romney.
And me!