How did Joseph Smith found the Church?

Smith’s 1842 account traced his religious search to concerns about salvation and conflicting denominational teachings when he was about fourteen. He reported praying in a grove and seeing two glorious personages, who told him that none of the existing denominations was acknowledged as God’s church and commanded him to “go not after them,” promising that the fulness of the gospel would later be made known to him. [2]

The supplied priesthood podcast transcript presents the establishment of the church as Smith’s response to what he believed were divine commandments, rather than a personal ambition. It describes the restoration of priesthood authority as an important precursor to the church’s organization. [4]

According to that transcript, several men and women gathered at the Whitmer farm on April 6, 1830, many already having been baptized. Smith and five others officially organized the church. With the congregation’s sanction, Smith and Cowdery ordained each other elders and were accepted as first and second elders. [4]

The meeting included administration of the sacrament, confirmation of previously baptized attendees as church members, and the conferral of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Others were baptized at the meeting’s conclusion. The transcript also states that Smith and Cowdery soon conferred priesthood authority on others. [4]