What's in a name?

"C'mon, guys, stop screwing around with these non-Jesus temples."

"Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name that he will bless the church for my sake. And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel." (3 Nephi 27:7-8)

It's so obvious to members of the LDS Church that the true church of Jesus would bear his sacred name, which is why the Church likes to be known as the LDS Church. LDS stands for Latter-day Saints. Wait, what? No Jesus in there? Oh, well that's because the official name of the Church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We've totally got some sweet Jesus action going on there now, right? Don't ask me why the LDS Church doesn't prefer to be called the CJCLDS, or the C of J, or LDC of C, or any acronym that would keep a J or a C or both in the mix.

"...but if later on we change it, Jesus won't care."

In 1830 the Church began as the Church of Christ. What an excellent name for Jesus' church and how very fitting with Jesus' instructions in 3 Nephi. But four years later, in direct opposition to the words of Jesus, the name was changed to the Church of the Latter Day Saints. They gave up Jesus... but only briefly! In 1838, the Mormons reclaimed JC as the central figure of the Church, which adopted the name Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So that was only four years of not being Jesus' church which isn't so long in the grand scheme of things.

Oh ya! Sometimes the LDS Church likes to put "Mormons" in parenthesis after LDS. It's very important to the Church's PR department that the whole "Mormon" thing not get out of hand either. Don't ask me why.