Summary
One way of viewing Church history is to focus on places or geography. The United States of America was the host nation for the restoration of the gospel. When the Church was organized in 1830 in New York state, believers in the restored gospel already existed in multiple locations. Through word of mouth and active missionary work, the Church’s membership grew quickly, especially in the northeastern part of the country.
In 1833, missionaries crossed the United States border into Canada. The first overseas mission was to England in 1837. By the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, Church members lived in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and beyond. After Joseph’s death, the Church continued to grow, though sometimes in fits and starts. By the end of the 1850s, missionaries had been called to North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the isles of the sea. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Church continued to expand. Today, it is fast becoming a global organization.
By Study
In the past, most histories of the Church have focused primarily on events near the Church’s headquarters (New York, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and finally Utah). But the Church has a history wherever it has had had members and units, which is on every continent in the world. And yes, that even includes Antarctica.
Assignment
A good understanding of Church history requires seeing it throughout the earth. As a starting point for understanding Church history through places, you should watch the following videos, which will help you see Church history as a worldwide phenomenon:
The History of the Church in the British Isles
This Grand Opportunity: Elizabeth McCune and the First Sister Missionaries
Unto the Least of These: Olivas Aoy’s School
That We Might Be One: The Story of the Dutch Potato Project
Break the Soil of Bitterness: One Woman’s Quest for Healing
You Can’t Close My Heart: Ghanaian Saints and the Freeze
The First Integrated Branches in South Africa
Sealed Together: The Manaus Temple Caravan
By Faith
In the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 26:33, Nephi teaches that the Lord “doeth that which is good among the children of men” and “inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”
Assignment
After viewing the videos and reading 2 Nephi 26:33, look deep inside your soul to ask whether you really see others as the Lord sees them. Continue to ask yourself that as you read President Henry B. Eyring’s April 2017 general conference talk “‘Walk with Me.'”