> Church History > Mormon Trivia

Trivial Latter Day Saint Trivia: Gee-Whiz facts about The Church

This is a list of facts that have absolutely no bearing on anyone's eternal salvation. However, they are still fun to spout off at parties, and it makes you appear smarter than you really are. If you have any screwy facts you would like to add to my list, please email me. I last updated this site on 01/11/2015.

LDS Church Stats, Figures, and "Go Figures"

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the first post New Testament church that actually had the name Jesus Christ in it's title. Up to then every Christian church was named after a man or religious movement.
There have been 17 Prophets and 102 Apostles since the Restoration.
The original printing of the Book of Mormon consisted of 5,000 copies. By 1852, the Book of Mormon had been published in 5 languages: English, Danish, French, Welsh, German, and Italian. Between 1830 and 1999, 100 million copies of the Book of Mormon were printed and distributed. From 2000-2024, there have already been 100 million copies printed and distributed in 113 different languages (as of 2023).
(Source: Publication of The Book of Mormon has topped 200 million copies)
Egbert B. Grandin was 23-years-old when he published the Book of Mormon. Grandin rejected Joseph Smith's first request to publish the translation, thinking it a fraud but more so because he was worried he wouldn't make money on the deal because he didn't think anyone would buy the book. After he found out Joseph was getting it published anyway he relented but charged Joseph an exorbitant $3000 upfront for 5000 copies. To give you an idea of how steep this amount was, if Grandin were publishing it in 2025 the upfront cost would be $105,342.
(Source: Joseph Smith’s Negotiations to Publish the Book of Mormon)
The original translated Book of Mormon manuscript done by Oliver Cowdery, Emma Smith and others who helped as scribes to Joseph Smith had little to no punctuation or capitalization. This was due to Joseph Smith speaking the words he saw in the Urim and Thummim/seer stone word by word, without any sentence or paraphraph structure. John H. Gilbert, Grandin's chief compositor, spent his evenings adding them all in by hand for the printing. While transcribing the "printers manuscript" Mr. Gilbert added around 35,000 punctuation.
(Source: The Book of Mormon from Manuscript to Press)
It took eight men and boys working 11 hours a day, six days a week, for almost nine months to print the original 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon.
(Source: The Grandin Press: A Vital Tool of the Restoration)
In 1830, the Book of Mormon was sold for 6 cents a copy, to cover the cost of the printing. An original printing of the Book of Mormon sold at Swann Auction galleries New York, NY on March 22nd 2007 for $150,000.00 plus 20% buyers premium bringing the selling price to $180,000.00! This is still the highest price paid for a First Edition of the Book of Mormon. But then again, you can get a free copy from the missionaries...go figure.
(Source: Swann Auction Galleries, Lot 216)
In 1851, the Book of Mormon was translated and published in Danish. This was the first modern non-English translation of the Book of Mormon.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was officially organized on April 6th 1830 in Fayette, New York. There were 6 members of the church, and around 50 other people in the Whitmer home at that first meeting. As of 2025, the Church has approximately 17,509,781 members, 31,676 congregations, and is in 160 countries.
(Source: Newsroom: Church Facts and Statistics)
In May 2007, the Church sent out the 1 millionth missionary.
(Source: LDS Church Reaches Missionary Milestone )
The Church announced that women could be called to serve missions during the April 1898 general conference. The first two sister missionaries were Sister Inez Knight and Sister Jennie Brimhall. They were called to the England Mission.
(Source: The First Sister Missionaries)
In 1844-1845, Nauvoo was the one of the largest cities in Illinois by population, rivaling Chicago. Before the Latter-day Saints were driven out of Nauvoo the population was 15,000. Compared to Chicago's population of 12,088.
(Source Chicago Population Chart)
14,000 Mormons were in the first wave of pioneers being forced out of Nauvoo, Illinois in the winter of 1846. The vanguard group of pioneers finally made it to the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847. The Mormon Pioneers traveled 1,300 miles from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley. From 1847 to 1868, over 70,000 pioneers immigrated to Utah, many coming from Europe. Between 4000 and 5000 Mormons died on the trek to Utah during this 20 year period.
The October 2014 General Conference was the first broadcast to include General Authorities born in countries outside the United States giving talks in their native languages. Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong of the Seventy delivered his address in Cantonese. The first General Conference talk given in a non-English language was on Wednesday, April 7, 1926, when Yeahgah Timbimboo gave his talk speaking Shoshone.
(Source: General Conference Research Guide)
The Mormons settled more of the Western United States and North America than any other group of people. Brigham Young directed the colonization of approximately 400 towns and settlements by Mormons in Utah, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Canada and Mexico. Including Salt Lake City, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada; San Bernadino, California; and Mesa Arizona.
The Relief Society is the oldest active and one of the larger women's organizations in the world. It was established in 1842 and currently has 7 million members.
(Source: Relief Society Website)
In the 2010's, women outnumbered men in church membership, at appx. 53%-47%. In the 2020's the balance has shifted to men at 52% and women at 47%.
(Source: A resurgence of faith among men is changing the religious gender gap)
The Tabernacle Choir is the worlds largest full time choir. The choir was established in August 1847, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Orignally named The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, it was renamed The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in 2018 to align with Church guidance on refocusing on Christ and steering away from the Mormon nickname. The choir has 360 members. The reason it has 360 members is because that's how many seats were in the choir rostrum of the Tabernacle. When The Conference Center was built in 2000, it was built with 360 choir seats to match the tabernacle.
(Source Our History)
The Choir has been broadcasting "Music and the Spoken Word" since July 15, 1929. It is broadcast in over 50 countries and holds the record for the longest continual broadcast of any network show. On July 13, 2025, the choir celebrated the 5,000th broadcast, setting a new record.
(Source: How the Tabernacle Choir is celebrating its 5,000th episode of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’)
The Salt Lake Tabernacle, on temple square, was one of the only free standing buildings in the world. Instead of support beams holding up the roof it was supported by a series of trusses. In 2007, a seisimc retrofit was done to reinforce the trusses and enable the tabernacle survive an earthquake. It's oval ceiling is an acoustical marvel because you can hear a pin drop from any distance in the main auditorium. In 1971, the tabernacle was one of the first buildings to be designated a Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
(Source: Salt Lake Tabernacle)
The first general conference in the Tabernacle was held in April 1867, the last one was held October 1999. In April 2007, the afternoon session of General Conference was held in the tabernacle to rededicate it. It had been closed for remodeling for 2 years while it was retrofitted.
(Source: Tabernacle Rededication Prayer by President Gordon B. Hinckley)
In 1936 The Church created its Welfare System. In 1938, Welfare Square was built to manage the production and distrubution of food. In 1991, The Humanitarian Center was created to manage global aid distribution, manage refugee and immigrant services, and to provide employment services. The Church Welfare System has donated tens of billions of US Dollars in cash assistance, medical equipment, food, clean water systems, clothing, blankets, hygeine kits, refugee relief, disaster relief and other material goods to 178 countries. Members have donated an incaulcuable amount of service and volunteer hours to community service and food drive projects.
(Source: 2024 Humanitarian Aid Report)

Joseph Smith

Joseph and Emma Smith had 12 children, but only 6 lived past infancy. 2 were adopted, and the last son was born 5 months after Joseph's death.
Joseph and Emma were so poor when moving from Kirtland, OH to Far West, MO, he took a job cutting wood in Indiana for a few days to "relieve his necessities".
(Source: Life of Brigham Young, (Tullidge), p. 85.)
Joseph said Kirtland Safety Society notes would eventually be as good as gold. Kirtland Safety Society notes are selling at auctions for over $3,000. The price of an ounce of gold in 2025 is $3,355. So even though he may have just been speaking optimistically about the notes that failed in his time, this ended up becoming a literally fulfilled prophecy.
(Source: Kirtland Safety Society- Dispelling the Myths)
The word "smith" means to "To beat into shape; to forge". The name "joseph" means, "God will increase". So if you were God and wanted to rebuild your Church you would want someone who would forge it into shape and increase it. In other words, you would want a joseph smith.

Pop Culture

The Movie, The Ten Commandments had it's first public showing in a special preview in Salt Lake City, UT, in the fall of 1956, prior to it's grand premiere in New York City, NY, in November 1956. Film Director Cecil B. DeMille had developed a friendship with President David O. McKay, and had consulted with President McKay during the filming. DeMille was awarded an Honorary Degree from BYU in 1957. In his remarks, DeMille said, "I have a very personal reason for being grateful for this honor, because it forms another link in the strong bond of one of the most valued friendships that I have, the friendship of a man who combines wisdom and warmth of heart, in whom fourscore years have not dampened the enthusiasm of youth, a man who can truly and literally be called a Latter-day Saint, the president of your church, David O. McKay."
(Source: Ten Commandments' director Cecil B. DeMille was friend to LDS Church President David O. McKay)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first introduced Sherlock Holmes in a book about a "Mormon Danite". The name of the book was A Study in Scarlet.
Presidents Heber J. Grant and George Albert Smith have both been featured on the cover of Time magazine.
Time magazine quipped in the article "Utah: A Peculiar People", from July 21, 1947, that Joseph Smith resembled the late actor/comedian Danny Kaye.
Men that have played Joseph Smith in Hollywood (Non LDS Produced) films about the church include: Richard Moll, (yes...Bull from Night Court) in the film "Savage Journey" (1983), Vincent Price, in "Brigham Young" (1940), and Dean Cain (yes, Superman from "Lois and Clark), in "September Dawn" (2006), Andrew Burnap, in the miniseries "Under The Banner of Heaven" (2022). In my opinion, Vincent Price was the better of them (because it was at least respectful), but Dean Cain could leap a tall stack of gold plates in a single bound.
We'll give actor Jonathan Scarfe a shout out for doing a good job with Joseph in The Work and the Glory films.
Philo T. Farnsworth, a Mormon from Idaho, invented the Television, and won a lawsuit against RCA for copyright infringement.
(Source: Philo Farnsworth, American inventor)
Mormons have played prominent roles in Reality TV Shows and entertainment competition shows, including Survivor, Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, The Biggest Loser and American Idol. TV Producers ought to just embrace it and make a show called "Mormons Got Talent". I'd definitely take that over Secret Lives of Mormon Wives or Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

Can you believe that?

Jesus Christ is talked about 3,925 times in the Book of Mormon. He is also referred to by 100 names in the Doctrine and Covenants.
When Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph's mother, moved to the Palmyra area, she only had nine cents remaining. About enough in today's money to buy two Happy Meals.
In March 2019, President Russell M. Nelson became the first Church President to meet with a Pope at The Vatican. President Nelson and Pope Francis, and Elder M. Russell Ballard of the 12 Apostles, met to talk about the new Rome Temple and plans for joint humanitarian projects.".

(Source: Prophet Meets Pope Francis at the Vatican)
In November 2014, President Henry Eyring became the first apostle to speak at The Vatican, after being invited by Pope Francis to attend a "Summit on The Family".
(Source: Prophet Meets Pope Francis at the Vatican)
On June 28, 1847, Jim Bridger met Brigham Young while the saints were travelling towards the Salt Lake valley. Jim Bridger thought the land was uninhabitable and told Brigham that it would be inadvisable to bring a great population into the valley without knowing if food crops could be raised. Jim told Brigham, “I would give one thousand dollars if I knew an ear of corn could be ripened in these mountains.”
(Source: "Jim Bridger; Trailblazer of the American West", by Jerry Enzler. University of Oklahoma Press, 2021)
The #1 question asked at the Salt Lake Temple Visitors Center is "Where's the bathroom?"
Utah is the largest consumer of Jello. In 2001, The Utah State Legislature voted to make Jello the official snack of Utah.
(Source: The US State That Eats The Most Jell-O)
Z.C.M.I. was America's first department store. It was opened in Salt Lake City on October 9, 1868, to stop price gouging by suppliers and merchants to LDS Church members. It was also the first store to produce it's own clothing, and was the first store in the west to hire women in sales. It operated for 131 years when it closed operations in October 1999.
(Source: We Bet You Didn’t Know That Utah Was Home To The Nation’s First Department Store)
Some people are taught (and actually believe) that Mormons have horns on their heads.
(Source: 9 More Things People Get Wrong About Mormons & Personal Experience hahaha)
It was rumored that Mormon women were locked in the top floor of the Salt Lake Temple, and they only way they could escape was to jump out the window into the Great Salt Lake and swim away. The subsequent rumor must have been that Mormon women are excellent jumpers since the Temple is at least approximately 16 miles from the lake. Go Figure.

Church Presidents

There have been one set of father and son Prophets: Joseph F. Smith and Joseph Fielding Smith.
There have been three church presidents with the name Joseph Smith. Joseph F. and Joseph Fielding were the nephews of Joseph Smith jr.
David O. McKay was the only church president to have 4 counselors in the First Presidency at one time.
Heber J. Grant was the first Church President born in Utah. Born November 22, 1856, in Salt Lake City
Heber J. Grant was the first Church President to have his voice broadcast over radio, in 1922.
Joseph Fielding Smith was flying in fighter jets in his late 80's.
Joseph F. Smith, the 6th Prophet, was the first Prophet who was not a convert. He was the first Prophet born in the covenant.
John Taylor, the 3rd President of the Church, is the only Church President born outside the United States so far. He was born in Milnthorpe, England, in 1808.
Brigham Young was Prophet for 30 years. His was the longest term as Prophet.
Howard W. Hunter had the shortest term for a Prophet. He was President for 9 months.
Joseph Smith was the youngest when ordained president, at age 24. Joseph Fielding Smith and Russell M. Nelson were the oldest when set apart as Church President, both at age 93. Gordon B. Hinckley had been the prophet that lived the longest, to age 97, until Russell M. Nelson died in 2025 at the age of 101. Nelson's record will be tough to beat.
The mean age of a church president/prophet when ordained is 78-years-old.
Howard W. Hunter was the first Church President born in the 20th Century - 1907.
In 2004, President Gordon B. Hinckley was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor.
(Source: President Hinckley Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom)
George Albert Smith was the first Church President that didn't practice plural marriage.
President Russell M. Nelson announced the most new temples in church history. During his presidency he announced 200 new temples. While an apostle and Church President he dedicated 49, and re-dedicated 18 renovated temples.
President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated 85 temples during his time as an Apostle, First Presidency Counselor and Church President. He's dedicated more temples than any other Church President.

Temples

The Salt Lake Temple was the first temple started in Utah, but was the fourth one finished.
The first Moroni statue on a temple showed up on the Nauvoo temple, but it does not resemble to Moroni statue on subsequent temples. It wasn't used on the St. George, Manti, or Logan temples. Moroni popped up again on the Salt Lake Temple. It was designed by Cyrus Dallin, a non-mormon sculptor living in Salt Lake. His inspiration for the design came from Revelation 14:6-7
The St. George Temple is the oldest operating temple in the Church. It was completed in 1878.
The Salt Lake temple is the largest temple. It has 170 rooms and is 253,000 square feet.
The Washington DC temple is the tallest temple. It's east spire reaches 280 feet.
The three spires on each of the Salt Lake and Washington DC temple represents the three members of the Godhead. The set of 3 on the West side represents the Aaronic Priesthood. The taller spires on the East side represents the Melchezidek Priesthood.
There are five temples that were retrofitted inside existing structures. The Hong Kong Temple, The Hague Netherlands Temple, The Vernal Temple, The Manhattan Temple and the Provo City Center Temple.

Politics

Reed Smoot, of the Smoot/Hawley Tariff act, was the only man to serve simultaneously as a U.S. Senator and an Apostle. Congressional hearings to approve his election took 4 years. He almost wasn't admitted into the Senate because of false rumors about pacts against the US Government in the temple.
Ezra Taft Benson, the 13th President of the Church, was U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Secretary of Agriculture. His 8-year tenure in President Eisenhower's cabinet. He was only the second apostle to serve in national political office while a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks was a judge on the Utah Supreme Court when he was called to be an apostle. He was called in April 1984, but waited to be ordained until May so he could conclude his judicial duties.
Former U.S. President George Bush (the older one) called the Mormon Tabernacle Choir "one of America's greatest treasures."
The Mormon Battalion, organized by request of the Federal Government in response to the Mexican/American war, holds the record for the longest infantry march in American history.
Former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson used to call LDS President David O. McKay to wish him a happy birthday. He also gave President McKay one of the American Flags flying over the U.S. Capitol Building during his inauguration.
Former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln once checked out a copy of The Book of Mormon from the Library of Congress.
Former U.S. President Richard Nixon, then Senator Nixon, spoke at the Wilshire California Ward LDS Youth Conference in 1962.
The U.S. Republican Party was formed in 1854 with the platform of aboloshing the "Twin Relics of Barbarism: Slavery and Polygamy". 150+ years later, a majority of LDS Church members now support the party that was orignally formed to destroy the church. Gotta love irony.
Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to attend a LDS Family Home Evening.
President John F. Kennedy has been the only sitting US President to speak in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
Several Latter-day Saints have run for president of a country. Joseph Smith (1844); George Romney (1968); Ezra Taft Benson (1968); Morris K. "Mo" Udall (1976); Orrin Hatch (2000); and Mitt Romney (2008, 2012) all ran for President of the United States. Yeah Samake ran for President of Mali in 2013.
U.S. founding father & former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, a deist, predicted in 1820 that "The genuine and simple religion of Jesus will one day be restored: such as it was preached and practised by himself," (LetterTo Van der Kemp, 1820). Ten years later it would be.
The Tabernacle Choir performed at the Presidential galas for the inaugurations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and George W. Bush. The choir has also performed at the 2002 Olympics, and in Las Vegas.
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, after touring Mormon welfare facilities in Utah, commented to his aids, "You know, there is a program that comes very close to being the most ideal way dealing with those who are poor and unfortunate; and that is the Mormon Welfare Program."
U.S. President James Buchanan, needing to appear tough to his constituents, sent 2,400 troops to Utah to replace Brigham Young as governor. This became known as "Buchanan's Blunder" because it caused the "Utah War" and sparked the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Buchanan further Blundered by trying to scheme with the Russians to force-colonize the Mormons to Alaska. Brrrrrrrr.