The first missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Mississippi arrived in 1839. They preached in Tishomingo County and baptized 13 people. However, early Church members faced staunch opposition from their neighbors, and in 1842 nearly 90 Church members left the state to settle in Nauvoo, Illinois. Though it was small, the Church continued to have a presence in Mississippi, and local members formed a congregation in Monroe County in 1843. In 1846 many of those Monroe County members determined to join the main body of the Latter-day Saints travelling westward under the leadership of Brigham Young. However, they advanced more quickly than Young and company and spent that winter in an area now part of Colorado before meeting the other Saints. Missionary efforts in the state ceased during and after the Civil War but resumed in the late 1870s.
The Church established the first two stakes in Mississippi in 1965 in Hattiesburg and Jackson. Today there are more than 20,000 Church members organized in four stakes. Church members in the state have partnered with civic leaders in responding to the aftermath of recent natural disasters. The Mississippi Saints have similarly welcomed opportunities to assist other community organizations, such as the NAACP.
Organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints occurred April 6, 1830, in Fayette, New York, with 50 people and six official members present. Ten years prior to the organization, the new Church President, Joseph Smith, received a vision and further instructions from God to restore God's Church on earth. In one year (1830-31) membership increased to more than 100.
Kirtland, Ohio served as the organizational headquarters of the infant Church from 1831 until 1838. Membership grew from a handful of members to well over 2,000 before persecution and the financial upheaval of the times forced the Latter-day Saints to move on to western settlements in Missouri and Illinois. With the assassination of Joseph Smith in 1844 and increasing pressure on the Latter-day Saints to abandon Nauvoo, Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi, it became obvious to Church leaders that they would need to move.
In 1846 the Saints established a refuge in what was called Winter Quarters, near present-day Omaha, Nebraska. In July of that year, the United States was involved in the Mexican-American War. While the pioneers were in Council Bluffs, Iowa, a request came from President James K. Polk for volunteers to march to Fort Leavenworth (present-day Kansas) and then to California on a one-year U.S. Army enlistment.
About 500 men enlisted in the Mormon Battalion, and about 80 women and children traveled with them. They began their journey in the sweltering heat of Council Bluffs, Iowa, on 20 July 1846, leaving their loved ones behind. The battalion completed one of the longest infantry marches in American history — about 2,000 miles (3,220 km) through what are now seven states and into Mexico. The Mormon Battalion carved out a vital road for wagons through the American Southwest.
In January 1847, Brigham Young received a revelation about “the Word and Will of the Lord concerning the Camp of Israel in their journeyings to the West” (now known as Doctrine and Covenants 136). When the first company of Latter-day Saint pioneers began to journey westward, they did not know their end destination. But on 24 July 1847, when the wagons rolled out of the canyon into the Salt Lake Valley, their destination became apparent. "It is enough," Church President Brigham Young said as he viewed the valley below. "This is the right place. Drive on." At least 236 pioneer companies of approximately 60,000 pioneers crossed the plains for Utah. With time, they transformed the desert valley into the bustling and prosperous Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City is home to the Church's worldwide headquarters. The Church has expanded throughout each of the United States.
In 1854, Latter-day Saint missionaries preached in Minnesota in places such as Spring Grove and Morristown. Some of the earliest Latter-day Saints to live permanently in Minnesota were Eli Houghton and Margaret McMean Houghton. The Houghtons left Nauvoo along with many other Latter-day Saints in 1846 but traveled north to Monticello, Minnesota, where their three sons were living. In 1875, when Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in the area, the Houghton family became the nucleus of the first branch in Monticello. Later, Latter-day Saint branches were organized in Freeborn County and Mille Lac County.
In 1900, Sunday Schools were organized in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Converts also joined the Church in places such as Duluth, Brainerd, Aitkin, Rodgers, Rochester, Virginia, and Springvale. A Twin Cities branch of the Church was established in 1912. The first purpose-built Church meetinghouse was in Minneapolis, dedicated October 25–26, 1924.
Following World War II, many Latter-day Saints from Utah migrated to Minnesota for education or employment. One major draw for Latter-day Saint students was a core of Latter-day Saint professors as the University of Minnesota, including Andrew T. Rasmussen, a researcher in neuroanatomy since 1921, and Frank “Doc” Whiting, head of the theater department for thirty years. The University of Minnesota Medical School, which pioneered heart surgery after World War II, trained many prominent Latter-day Saint surgeons and doctors, including future Church President Russell M. Nelson. As a medical student, Nelson worked with Dr. Clarence Dennis to pioneer the artificial heart-lung machine.
In 1960, the Minnesota Stake was established. The St. Paul Minnesota Temple was dedicated in 2000.
Latter-day Saints are engaged citizens, regularly organizing to serve in their communities. For example, in April 2009 Latter-day Saint volunteers helped respond to the Red River flooding in Moorhead, and in November 2021 Latter-day Saint congregations donated 25,000 pounds of canned goods to the Food Group in New Hope.
