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50 free Mormonism trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Mormonism began with a teenage farm boy in western New York who said God told him every existing church was wrong. Two centuries on, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints counts more than 17 million members, over 200 temples and 109,000 missionaries, and the faith's history reads like an American epic: golden plates on a hill near Palmyra, a tar-and-feathering in Ohio, an extermination order in Missouri, a murder in an Illinois jail and a 1,300-mile exodus to a desert valley. These 50 questions cover the founding story and the church it built: the First Vision, the angel Moroni, the Three Witnesses, Kirtland and Nauvoo, the Nauvoo Expositor and Carthage, Brigham Young's 56 wives and 29-year presidency, the Salt Lake Temple's 40-year build, the Word of Wisdom's 'hot drinks', the 1890 Manifesto that ended plural marriage, the 1978 priesthood change and the choir that dropped 'Mormon' from its name in 2018. Every answer is cited to a page we checked and each explanation adds one more detail. Play it solo or print it for a study group.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Joseph Smith founded the movement during which period of American religious revival?
Second Great Awakening
Western New York was so swept by revivals it was nicknamed the burned-over district.
Q 02In which US state was Joseph Smith born in 1805?
Vermont
Crop failures in 1816 pushed the family to western New York.
Q 03How old was Joseph Smith when he said he received the First Vision in 1820?
14
He said God the Father and Jesus told him to join none of the existing churches.
Q 04Which angel did Smith say showed him the buried golden plates in 1823?
Moroni
Smith said he finally obtained the plates in 1827 and returned them to the angel when done.
Q 05In which town's drumlin did Smith say he found the golden plates?
Manchester, New York
The hill is known as Cumorah and lies about four miles south of Palmyra.
Q 06Those who said they handled the golden plates estimated their weight at what?
30 to 60 pounds
They were described as thin metal pages bound with three D-shaped rings.
Q 07The Book of Mormon says it was written in which otherwise unknown script?
Reformed Egyptian
No examples of the script are known; Smith's own family came from the Kingdom of Judah in the narrative.
Q 08The Book of Mormon narrative opens around 600 BC with which prophet leaving Jerusalem?
Lehi
His family sails to the Americas shortly before Babylon takes the city.
Q 09Which neighbour funded Smith's move to Pennsylvania in exchange for a share of the book?
Martin Harris
Harris also took over as scribe in April 1828, and was one of the Three Witnesses.
Q 10Who were the Three Witnesses to the golden plates?
Cowdery, Harris and Whitmer
David Whitmer, Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery signed statements that were printed with the book from 1830.
Q 11In which year was the Book of Mormon first published?
1830
E. B. Grandin printed it in Palmyra, New York; Smith organised the Church of Christ the same year.
Q 12Into roughly how many languages has the Book of Mormon been fully or partly translated?
112
The LDS Church had printed more than 192 million copies by October 2020.
Q 13Which Ohio town became the church's first gathering place in 1831?
Kirtland
Smith published revelations and built a temple there before the Kirtland Safety Society bank collapsed.
Q 14What did a mob do to Smith and Sidney Rigdon on 24 March 1832?
Q 21Which of Smith's brothers was killed with him in 1844?
Hyrum
Hyrum sat with him in the First Presidency and had read the polygamy revelation to the High Council.
Q 22For how many years did Brigham Young serve as LDS Church president?
29
He led from 1847 until his death in 1877, the longest tenure in the role.
Q 23Brigham Young's pioneers reached the Salt Lake Valley in which year?
1847
The land was then claimed by Mexico and home to the Ute, Goshute and Shoshone.
Q 24Utah's Pioneer Day is celebrated annually on which date?
Tarred and feathered them
They were dragged from their beds and beaten first.
Q 15Which Missouri governor signed the 1838 'extermination order' against the Mormons?
Lilburn Boggs
Brigham Young then organised the migration from Missouri to Illinois.
Q 16Which Illinois town did the church buy and rename Nauvoo?
Commerce
Under Smith as mayor it became the second-largest city in Illinois.
Q 17What military rank did Smith hold in the Nauvoo Legion militia?
Lieutenant General
John C. Bennett served alongside him as Major General.
Q 18Which newspaper's press did Smith and the city council order destroyed in June 1844?
Nauvoo Expositor
Its single issue had exposed his secret practice of polygamy; the destruction led to his arrest.
Q 19In which Illinois town's jail was Joseph Smith killed by a mob in 1844?
Carthage
He used a smuggled pistol to wound three attackers before he was shot.
Q 20What office was Joseph Smith campaigning for at the time of his death?
The US presidency
He launched the campaign in 1844, months before the Expositor affair.
24 July
Young first saw the valley that day in 1847, from a 'sick' wagon driven by Wilford Woodruff.
Q 25Which nickname did Brigham Young earn for leading the exodus west?
American Moses
He had about 30,000 living descendants by 2016.
Q 26How many wives did Brigham Young have?
56
He also had 57 children and died in 1877 as the wealthiest man in Utah.
Q 27Brigham Young was the first governor of which territory?
Utah
He served from 1851 until resigning in 1858 after the Utah War.
Q 28The 1857 killing of the Baker–Fancher wagon train by Utah militia is known by what name?
Mountain Meadows Massacre
At least 120 emigrants were killed during the Utah War.
Q 29How many years did it take to build the Salt Lake Temple?
40
Young laid the cornerstone on 6 April 1853; it was dedicated in 1893.
Q 30The Salt Lake Temple's granite-like stone was quarried from which site?
Little Cottonwood Canyon
The stone is actually quartz monzonite, quarried twenty miles southeast of the site.