My brother became a Mormon several years ago and he and I have debated the faith quite a bit. I think Joseph Smith was a shyster of the highest order. He basically took three rocks (magic rocks, mind you), put them in a hat, then stuck his face in the hat, and had the Mormon religion revealed to him. A load of bunk if you ask me. The Mormons do however, have the largest genealogical database in the world that anyone can access. Every Mormon church has a family research center that is open to the public. From there you can access the huge data base at the main Temple in Salt Lake City. I'm surely not interested in converting to their faith, but I have found their genealogical records quite helpful.