The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka Mormonism) is the fastest-growing religion in the world. On Please Explain, find out about the basic tenants of the Mormon faith...and how the church's history has influenced its culture. Also: how the recent death of church president Gordon B. Hinckley will affect the church.

Laurie Maffly-Kipp is associate professor in the Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. She's also co-editor of Proclamation to the People: Nineteenth Century Mormonism and the Pacific Basin Frontier, to be published this month by the University of Utah Press.