It’s safe to say that math and I aren’t the best of friends. We get along like old people and smart phones, couch potatoes and marathons, or Tony Stark and humility to name a few. To sum it up we just don’t suite each other well. We don’t buy friendship bracelets for each other, exchange Christmas cards or know each others children’s names. In the end, when you divide it all up we just don’t seem to equate or have a common denominator. In fact, our relationship can be reduced to us simply “agreeing to disagree”. We simply don’t enjoy each others company…Until now, in this single isolated case we actually add up! This parallel however is an isolated instance and is just because it’s awesome! Check this out:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was formed in this last dispensation in 1830 with 6 members. From those 6 members it increased steadily until after 117 years (in 1947) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hit 1 million members! That is an average growth of 5,405 members per year in that span. From there the work sped up dramatically. In 1963 just 16 years later the membership of the Church hit 2 million members. That is an average increase of 62,500 members per year in that time span. That also means the Church reached its next million members 101 years faster than it did the first million! The Church hit 3 million members in not 16 years, but 8 years later in 1971! That is an average growth of 125,000 members per year during that span. The Church kept on keeping on (yes another Joe Dirt quote) and hit 4 million members only 7 years later in 1978, which equates to an average growth of 142,857 members per year in that span. A mere 4 years later in 1982 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hit 5 million members (5,162,619) to equal an average growth of 250,000 members per year in that time span! So how is the Church growing more recently? Well, from 1982 to 2013 there has been 9,919,409 more members join the ranks. That is an average increase per year from 1982 to 2013 of 319,980 members per year! That is an average of 26,665 new members every single month or about 889 new members every single day! It seems to me that the Army of God is being built and fortified!

Now class do you see a trend here? Let’s keep going…

The number of Temples is always on the rise also. We are now at 144 operating LDS Temples throughout the world. There are 4 more Temples preparing for dedication in the next 4 months, with 14 more under construction, with 12 more announced!

Membership is up, Temples are up, how about missionaries? In October 2012 when President Thomas S. Monson announced the new eligibility ages for Men (18 down from 19) and Women (19 down from 21) the number of missionaries serving was 58,500. Today, the number of missionaries serving is 88,000. That is an increase of 29,500 missionaries within 2 years! Sure, some of that is due to the age change, but the Church also reports that since the age change has went into effect, not only is the percentage of Sister Missionaries on the rise, but Senior Missionaries also! To keep up with this increase, since that announcement there has been 58 new missions created… with more announced!

Oh, and I’m not even close to finished, sit back down…

Genealogy work is increasing also! Meaning yes, there are scores, likely millions and even countless more “people” being given the opportunity to join this Church who are joining the ranks from beyond the veil. That literally means the numbers above showing current membership numbers, as incredible as they are… very likely don’t even begin to scratch the surface of what true membership in this Church is really at in the totality of things. How is that possible? Chew on this:

According to familyseach.org it took 80 years to make the first 1 billion records easily searchable online. That is an average of 12,500,000 records per year in that span. However the jump from 1 billion to 2 billion names being easily searchable online was completed in not 80 years, but 7! That is 73 years faster than their first 1 Billion records! That’s an average of 142,857,142 per year in that span! This is aided by more missionaries, more volunteers and better technology, and of course God. Part of the increase in numbers is due to the process itself. In the past information contained on microfilm took 12 to 18 months to become available. This includes capturing, mailing, processing, duplicating, cataloging, and then making the microfilmed images available through a network of family history centers. Now, the process has been refined with digital imaging technology and the information is available online at Familysearch.org and partner sites down from 12 to 18 months to about 45 days, with the goal to whittle even that down to 14 days!

The point with this entire entry was not only to use as many math puns in the first paragraph as possible but to show how the Prophesy of “The Church will fill every nation on earth” is being fulfilled in front of our very eyes! We are witness to an ongoing and ever bigger miracle! Our family members, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends are joining the ranks and entering the mission field. We ourselves are still in it too formerly called or not! People are waking up! Are you awake!?  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints cannot and will not be stopped. There will come a day when EVERY knee shall bow, and EVERY tongue confess Jesus is the Christ. We have been told that, we know that. There will be opposition. There always has been, however, it will not prevail! One of my favorite all time quotes is by Joseph Smith. It is motivating and inspiring to the highest degree!

The standard of Truth has been erected, no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.

With those words we are assured again that this work will continue forward. So, if you were to form a hypothesis as to the future of the Church, all variables considered, it’s mathematically proven it will continue to thrive! Class dismissed.