Not just that - political timing. The emergence of the Vatican between 1000 & 1500 years ago was the right time to establish a power base in the vacuum caused by the collapse of the Roman Empire. By the late Middle Ages they had power and corruption on a scale unheard of in the LDS. The only people who could resist the Vatican were isolated Christian communities like the Ethiopians, church in India and central Asian Nestorians, or the Orthodox Church but only because they had the power of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire behind them.
The LDS arrived at the right time to exploit the American frontier, and to piggyback on American global might but the LDS were never the state religious powerbase, at least until recently.
Why Can't the LDS Church be open like this?
Re: Why Can't the LDS Church be open like this?
DASH1730 "An Area Authority...[was] asked...who...would go to the Telestial kingdom. His answer: "murderers, adulterers and a lot of surprised Mormons!"'
1ST PRES 1978 "[LDS] believe...there is truth in many religions and philosophies...good and great religious leaders... have raised the spiritual, moral, and ethical awareness of their people. When we speak of The [LDS] as the only true church...it is...authorized to administer the ordinances...by Jesus Christ... we do not mean... it is the only teacher of truth."
1ST PRES 1978 "[LDS] believe...there is truth in many religions and philosophies...good and great religious leaders... have raised the spiritual, moral, and ethical awareness of their people. When we speak of The [LDS] as the only true church...it is...authorized to administer the ordinances...by Jesus Christ... we do not mean... it is the only teacher of truth."