I’m excited to study the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith this year and next. He is the first prophet of this dispensation, the one who restored the Gospel to the earth, and one who gave his life to seal his testimony. He was a great man, a true prophet, and a man of God. I look forward to studying him more in-depth.
Our first lesson from the manual is entitled: “The First Vision – the Father and the Son Appear to Joseph Smith.” We begin with a recounting of the religious confusion that ensued after the death of Christ and the Apostles. Many different churches sprang up, each claiming to have the truth. People sought the truth in various places, some finding an answer that made sense to them, and some not.
Joseph Smith was one who was searching. He was a young man, but serious-minded when it came to religious matters. He wanted to know the truth for himself. Half his family belonged to one sect and half to another, and it seemed to him that both churches couldn’t be true because they contradicted each other. He decided to study it out for himself and came upon the scripture in James which reads: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.”
He recounts that this scripture hit his mind and heart powerfully, and he decided to follow the advice. He went into a grove of trees near his Palmyra home and knelt to pray. But as he did so, the opposition seized hold on him and bound his tongue so he couldn’t speak. He cried out to the Lord in his heart, and the bondage ended.
Above his head he saw a pillar of light, and two personages descended. One turned to the other and said, “This is my beloved Son. Hear Him.”
Joseph proceeded to ask the personages which church he should join, and was told that the true church did not exist on the earth.
As we know, Joseph was chosen to be the means by which the Church was restored to the earth. He brought back the Priesthood, temple ordinances, the proper administration of the sacrament, and much, much more. During his ministry, the sealing ordinance was returned, allowing husbands and wives to be married for eternity and not just for this life. He brought about a marvelous work and a wonder, and yet the persecution he endured was nearly impossible to endure.
When he first told the ministers in his area about his vision, they told him he was either of the devil or insane. No one in the clergy believed him. His own family stood by him, and little by little, friends and neighbors began to believe, but most of the townspeople of Palmyra were against him, making his life miserable.
How grateful I am that he did not give up and that he carried on with the mission he had been given to become the Prophet of the Restoration and to give us the Church as we have it today.
Related Blogs: