Day 27 (D-34) The Beehive State / The Mormons

Day 28 More on Utah

We won't have time to go to Salt Lake City; it's too far from where we are.   However, I need to give you a little more information about Utah. 

Salt Lake City, the capital and the largest city in Utah, was founded by a group of Mormon pioneers in 1847.

In the late 1820s, Joseph Smith, Jr. announced that an angel (named Moroni) had given him a set of golden plates engraved with a chronicle of ancient American peoples, which he had a unique gift to translate. In 1830, he published the resulting narratives as the Book of Mormon and founded the Church of Christ in western New York, claiming it to be a restoration of early Christianity.

Smith's followers consider him to be a prophet. The group was often treated badly and persecuted by their neighbors because of their religious beliefs. This among other reasons caused the people of the Church to move from one place to another --- Ohio, Missouri, and then to Illinois where church members built the city of Nauvoo. Joseph Smith was assassinated here in 1844. According to church belief, God directed Brigham Young, Joseph Smith's successor as President of the Church, to call for the Saints (as church members call themselves) to organize and head west. The journey was taken by about 70,000 people beginning in April 1847, and ending (the last Mormon pioneers, by definition) with the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.

Today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims 13 million members worldwide. 

However, the Church President Russell M. Nelson announced guidelines in August 2018 requesting that people stop using “Mormon” or “LDS” as substitutes for the church’s full name. He said the shortened form, “Latter-day Saints”, was acceptable. These people believe that the full church name was given by revelation from God to founder Joseph Smith in 1838.   The term Mormon comes from the church’s signature scripture, the Book of Mormon, which followers believe is based on the record keeping of an ancient prophet named Mormon.                                         

So, we don't say "Mormon" any longer.  The world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir will be singing the same tune but under a new name. The singers will now be called the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My best,

Jane

Extra information-->  Utah is called the Beehive State.  Most of the nicknames associated with Utah are related to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that first settled in the territory.  Deseret, in The Book of Mormon, is actually a honeybee. Early Mormon settlers have been described as having carried "swarms of bees" with them.  This nickname commemorates the industry of the people of Utah.  The beehive was adopted in 1847 as an official emblem and represents the qualities of industry, perseverance, thrift, stability and self-reliance, all virtues respected by the region's settlers.  The beehive is the centerpiece of the Utah State Flag.  

By

This vector was made by Ali Zifan - Utah.gov and [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=528105

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VOCABULARY: 
--golden plates : "plaques d'or"

--unique gift = a special talent; "un don"

--according to = "selon"

--to head west = to go west

--worldwide = all over the world, in all countries 

--LDS = Latter Day Saints, an abbreviation for the church

--tune = music

--swarms of bees = a great number of honeybees settled in a hive or emigrating together from a hive in company with a queen to start a new colony elsewhere --beehive = ruche

--industry = Here: the quality of working hard

--thrift =  the careful use of money, especially by avoiding waste   

--self-reliance = the quality of not needing help or support from other people; the ability to depend on yourself and your own abilities