Today there are more than 16 million Mormons around the world. The Mormon Church is one of the fastest growing religions worldwide and it’s the third wealthiest. Pretty impressive for an organisation started by a conman from New York less than 200 years ago… Joseph Smith Jr was 25 when he declared himself a prophet who spoke to God & Jesus Christ, published an updated bible he’d “transcribed” from an ancient text (the Book of Mormon), and founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1830. We’re serving the gist of the church’s unique set of beliefs about world history, the universe, the afterlife, “purity”, Bigfoot and magical underwear in this episode. Strap in!  Skip straight to the story: approx 13:48 Jacob shares the story with comedian Jake Howie  Follow him on Instagram to find out when he's performing next: @jakehowie_ We give you just the gist, but if you want more, there's this: WATCH this vintage video that covers a lot of the things the church believes (or at least used to) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3BqLZ8UoZk Here’s a helpful site with a good video summary https://www.gotquestions.org/Mormons.html Here’s a starting point if you wanna explore the church’s YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbXWtuqc_FM Here’s another helpful video ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCyV66G984Q  Follow us on Insta: @justthegistpodcast Send us your suGISTions for stories and guests: [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.