What prompted this question I think I know. The Jehovah's Witnesses believe he returned as in his Second Coming (the BIG one) in 1914. I've never heard any question of that sort directed towards our church. Nonetheless, we believe he has made personal visitations. He appeared to Joseph Smith more than once and also to Sidney Rigdon. But this was not viewed as his ultimate second coming. Acts 1:11 and other scriptures talk about his coming back for the second coming. However, he has made personal private visits, the way he did to Paul and others, as spoken of in 1 Corinthians 15:3-9. Because of this and other reasons, we do not believe that Christ's visiting Joseph Smith is in contradiction with prophecies about his second coming, which we do not believe has occurred yet.

There is ample evidence in the New Testament that Christ visitied his disciples in Jerusalem after his resurrection. This was not the Second Coming. Christ visited the Nephites in 34AD. This was not the Second Coming either. We also have the record that he visited and comforted the prophet Moroni. Christ and our Father came to Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820 to reveal the separate nature of these two members of the Godhead, call Joseph as their new prophet, and usher in the restoration of all things. In 1832, Jesus Christ appeared in a vision to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon. Both men saw and conversed with him (D&C 76:14) and also witnessed a vision of the kingdoms to which mankind will be assigned in the life hereafter. The Lord also appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in April 1836 in the Kirtland Temple shortly after its dedication and manifested his acceptance of this first latter-day temple (D&C 110:1-10). Remember also that part of every temple dedication is offering the edifice to be accepted by the Lord. Christ visits and accepts every temple. So far 118 temples are in operation around the globe. That's at least one visit at each location. A revelation pertaining to the salvation of the dead was given to Joseph Smith in an earlier appearance of Jesus Christ and the Father in the Kirtland Temple on January 21, 1836 (D&C 137:1, 3). Joseph Smith said that visions were given to many in the meeting and that "some of them saw the face of the Savior" (HC 2:382). Joseph Smith also recorded other occasions when Church members beheld the Savior. On March 18, 1833, he wrote of a significant meeting of the School of the Prophets: "Many of the brethren saw a heavenly vision of the Savior, and concourses of angels, and many other things, of which each one has a record of what he saw" (HC 1:335). He wrote of a similar experience of Zebedee Coltrin (HC 2:387), and on another occasion he reported that "the Savior made His appearance unto some" at a meeting the week after the dedication of the Kirtland Temple (HC 2:432). In 1898 the Savior appeared to Lorenzo Snow, the fifth President of the Church, and gave him important instructions regarding the Church (My Kingdom Shall Roll Forth, pp. 68-70, Salt Lake City, 1980). The sixth President of the Church, Joseph F. Smith, saw the Savior in a vision in 1918, as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants section 138. This vision showed the Savior's visit to the spirits of the dead while his body was in the tomb between the time of his crucifixion and resurrection. In 1985, Ezra Taft Benson, the thirteenth President of the Church, said, "Today in Christ's restored church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, He is revealing Himself and His will—from the first prophet of the Restoration, even Joseph Smith, to the present". It is a teaching of latter-day revelation that individual members can have a personal visit from the Savior, and see his face, and receive instruction from him, when they are prepared, and when the Lord chooses to grant such an experience (D&C 93). Each apostle of the Church is also called as a "special witness of Christ" to testify of him. I once asked Elder Russell M Nelson, one of today's Twelve, what this means. He smiled wanly and explained that a "witness" has first hand knowledge of something. Said he, a "special witness" has "special knowledge". So Jesus Christ does visit the earth regularly, and has done ever since his resurrection to minister to his covenant followers and instruct his prophets and apostles. There is a mistaken belief in Christendom that Christ cannot visit the earth until the Second Coming. There is no scriptural foundation for this. Just try and stop him. He's not a genie you can plug into a bottle. The Second Coming is his appearance to the whole world, unbelievers and believers, and especially the Jews in Jerusalem who will be in dire straits and in need of deliverance by their long awaited Messiah. There is still work to be done in preparation for his public return. His kingdom on earth, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is going about making these preparations. And everyone is welcome to join. So his visits in the 1800s, before and since, all jibe perfectly well with the prophecies in Revelations.

Jesus appeared to Saul, who then became Paul. That wasn't the 2nd coming either.

We believe that Jesus Second Coming is still in the future; however, Jesus is not forbidden to return to the earth at any time for his own purposes. No where in the Bible does it say that he cannot come to visit. Now, that said, Latter-day Saints do believe that to usher in the restoration of the gospel and His Church, Christ and His Father appeared to a young boy named Joseph Smith in a grove in 1820. If you want to learn more about it check out the Church's official website.

Mormons dont believe Jesus came back in the 1800's. They believe he and God appeared in front of the prophet Joseph Smith.

Jesus did indeed visit and instruct Joseph Smith in the 1800s, just as he visited and instructed his apostles shorty after his resurrection, and Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. . These visits are not to be confused with the prophesied "second coming", which is yet to occur.