The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Quelpart

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Quelpartian: *Di-You'r Al-Yen'r Jesuskristus er Ki-Geo*) refers to the organization and its members in Quelpart.

The Church is considered to have over

is the largest Christian denomination in Quelpart with approximately 9 million registered adherents, almost 70% of the country's population and the largest number of LDS adherents in a country, eclipsing even Utah. However, as of 2023, the majority of registered adherents do not attend weekly sacrament meetings or perform obligations, and thus the church is considered to be in the decline in Quelpart.

Mormonism has had a long history on the island, being introduced by missionaries from Denmark in 1852. It first spread to the members of the Danish-educated upper class, who then translated the Book of Mormon into Quelpartian and proselytized it to non-Danish speakers. Although suppressed under Japanese rule, it was revived during American administration, being aided by Mormon American servicemen who converted additional people. It grew rapidly and eventually became the majority religion during the 1960s. The country's second Chairman, Mosiah Lim, was born into the covenant (i.e. was Mormon since birth) and helped solidify the religion's dominance nationally and promote it internationally. Over time, the chai tsengs grew more concerned over its influence, seeing it as a threat to their primacy. Simultaneously, the Boundless Horizon Movement saw its morals as backwards and restrictive. Following the Coup of '92, the National Development Board began a major persecution of the church known as the

Although the LDS Church officially does not get involved in politics, the interests of its adherents has affected government policies.

## History

### Beginnings

In 1852, Mormon missionaries from Denmark were sent to Quelpart to proselytize

Bunch of guys go to Utah, and some Americans (and Brits and Danes) come from Utah to Quelpart

By Japanese rule it becomes decently LDS at around 25%?

### Revival

American administration: servicemen spread it a bit and spark the revival

### Post-Coup

The growth of the church has been on the decline since the Coup of '92, which is blamed on a general wave of irreligiousness worldwide.

## Causes for Popularity

It is unclear how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grew to such numbers in Quelpart, eclipsing even the religion's traditional bastion of Utah. Scholars around the world have generally attributed it to the following:

* Christianity was already dominant in Quelpart due to European colonization and proselytization, whereas in other East Asian countries Christians were generally persecuted.
* Part of the growth of Christianity in general was the destruction of Buddhist, Confucian, and other traditional temples and the construction of churches in their place. Thus, people had less connection to their traditional roots.
* Yet at the same time genealogical records were preserved, mainly for tax and bureaucratic purposes. The tracing of one's ancestors is important for saving ordinances on their behalf in Mormonism and this was a great aid.
* The LDS Church simultaneously promotes individual revelations and the importance of the family unit. The family unit is extremely important in Quelpartian culture (being heavily influenced by Chinese culture and Confucian beliefs) and simultaneously European influence encouraged personal independence.
* The (mainline) LDS Church garnered a bad reputation due to its original promotion of polygamy, yet in Quelpart this was not an obstacle to growth, possibly due to the popularity of concubines for emperors. This explanation is not satisfactory enough though, and the majority of growth happened after World War 2, when polygamy was officially banned and recanted by the Church.
* Around this time, the government wanted Quelpart to imitate Western culture in order to become a world-class economy. This practically led to anything American being considered superior, and the LDS Church was no exception.
* Wartime struggles led to many people turning to the Church for guidance and salvation.
* The influx of Chinese, Japanese, and Chosunese refugees found a shared experience in the Church, which would otherwise have been accomplished by their shared belief in Buddhism - except its influence had been destroyed in the years prior.

## Temples and Meetinghouses

The LDS Church operates four temples in Quelpart: the Trung Chang Quelpart Temple, the largest in the world; the Yeok Hoeng Quelpart Temple; the WEST TEMPLE; and the Beuk Huo Temple, the only one not on Quelpart Island.

## Influence

The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints is formally apolitical and does not support nor protest most laws save for those which it claims directly affects the church. However, it encourages its members to take active roles as citizens and be informed and participate in political affairs. Most Mormons tend to be conservative; a 2018 poll found 85% of Mormons in Quelpart identify as conservative or hold conservative beliefs.

### Word of Wisdom prohibited products

The Word of Wisdom prohibits alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee, as well as discouraging the excessive consumption of meat. As the religion grew in the 1950s and 60s, sales in the aforementioned beverages declined significantly (though meat was not recorded to have been affected much) and many breweries closed. There were calls for the government to outright ban these products (though not by the Church itself - as mentioned previously it is strictly apolitical), but fearing for the loss of its long history of alcoholic drinks (during a time of protection of Quelpartian culture), it declined. Instead, dialogues were held with Shunreng and Daitan for a "sharing of cultural heritage", i.e. they would promote these customs as their own. This would later backfire as the LDS Church significantly grew in these countries as well after increased evangelization from Quelpart.

During the rule of Mosiah Lim, the mandatory National Identification System (NIS) was introduced in 1975, which included a registration of one's religion. Stores were then required to ask for this identification if the customer wished to buy one of these products. A black market for NIS cards registered as "Catholic" or "Unaffiliated" grew, but crackdowns on these got rid of the black market. The new Board of Directors of Quelpart replaced the NIS with the Unified Bank Card System (UBCS) which were given out by the constituent companies of the Board to people under their jurisdiction (employees, people residing in corporate cities, etc.) and worked as debit/credit cards as well as unified ID cards. These would outright decline if the user attempted to buy these prohibited goods while being registered as LDS.