upright|thumb|The celestial room in temples like the [[Salt Lake Temple shown here represents the highest level of heaven in LDS theology, and is reached after passing the testing portion of the endowment ceremony.]]
In Mormonism, the endowment usually refers to the first endowment, As practiced today in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the endowment also consists of a series of covenants (promises to God) that participants make, such as a covenant of consecration to the LDS Church. All LDS Church members who choose to serve as missionaries or participate in a celestial marriage in a temple must first complete the first endowment ceremony.
The other, and much less common, endowment (usually called the second anointing or second endowment), is considered the pinnacle ordinance of the temple, and is jointly given to a husband and wife couple to ensure salvation, guarantee exaltation, and confer godhood. Recipients of the second anointing are anointed as kings, queens, priests, and priestesses, whereas in the first endowment they are only anointed to become those in the future as long as they follow specified covenants.
The endowment as practiced today was instituted by founder Joseph Smith in the 1840s with further contributions by Brigham Young and his successors. The ceremony is performed in Latter Day Saint temples, which are dedicated specifically for the endowment and certain other ordinances sacred to Mormons, and are open only to Mormons who meet certain requirements. There was a brief period during the construction of the Salt Lake Temple where a small building referred to as the Endowment House was used to administer the endowment ordinance. The endowment is currently practiced by the LDS Church and several denominations of Mormon fundamentalism. The LDS Church has altered the ceremony throughout its history.
A distinct endowment ceremony was also performed in the 1830s in the Kirtland Temple, the first temple of the broader Latter Day Saint movement, which includes other smaller churches such as the Community of Christ. The term "endowment" thus has various meanings presently, historically, and within other branches of the Latter Day Saint movement.
In the LDS Church, about two-thirds of US members reported having current authorization from their local leadership to participate in temple ordinances in a 2012 survey. Estimates show that fewer than half of converts to the LDS Church ultimately undergo the first endowment ceremony, and young people preparing for missions account for about one-third of "live" endowments (as contrasted with proxy endowments for the deceased). The less common second endowment had been administered 15,000 times by 1941, but has become less frequent in modern times.
Previous Latter Day Saint endowments
thumb|right|upright=0.9|Woman's endowment clothing circa the 1870s, from an illustration in [[Mark Twain's Roughing It.]]
The meaning and scope of the term endowment evolved during the early Latter Day Saint movement, of which Mormonism is a part. The term derives from the Authorized King James Version, referring to the spiritual gifts given the disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, in which they were "endowed with power from on high," Christians generally understand this endowment to refer to the gift of the Holy Spirit, which the Latter Day Saints believe is given at the Confirmation ceremony. In 1831, however, Smith began teaching that the elders of the church needed to be further "endowed with power from on high" in order to be effective proselytizers. He therefore gathered the elders together at a general conference in June 1831 and "endowed" them with this power by ordaining them to the High Priesthood.
By the mid-1830s, Smith was teaching that a further endowment was necessary, this time requiring the completion of the Kirtland Temple as a house of God where God could pour out his Holy Spirit.