Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose – 3. Rachel Esplin.

Depiction of Joseph Smith Reading Bible

As a 14-year-old, Joseph lived in a time and place in which lots of different religions (mostly Christian) were seeking followers. Different members of Joseph’s family favored one church or the other, but he was confused about which church was the right one to follow. One day he was reading the Bible in James 1:5-6, which states:

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. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

He describes his reaction to reading these verses this way:

Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different [churches] understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.

So Joseph went one morning into the woods to pray. He described what happened in these words:

After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction–not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being–just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other–This is My Beloved Son.

Joseph was visited by God the Father and Jesus Christ.

No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the [religions] was right…and which I should join…I was answered that I must join none of them…many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time.

Depiction of Joseph Smith's Visit from God and Jesus

Joseph was told that these other churches contained part of the truth, but none of them contained a fulness of the truth. Important truths, as well as proper authority had been lost from the earth after the death of Christ’s apostles (e.g. Peter, James, John) and the resulting apostasy.

Prophets are called of God to relay important messages to people on the earth. Several prophets like Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Isaiah, and Paul, received messages from heavenly messengers so they could tell people God’s will in ancient days. Similarly, Joseph was asked to deliver messages to the world and reestablish the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth.

During the next 25 years, Joseph Smith led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the “Mormon church”), which grew to have tens of thousands of followers (and now has millions).

Joseph was assassinated in Carthage, Illinois in 1844 by a mob. John Taylor, one of Joseph’s successors as leader of the church, stated the following about Joseph’s contribution:

Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth…revelations and commandments…and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands…founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood (Doctrine & Covenants 135:3)

Below are depictions of what Joseph Smith and his wife Emma looked like.

Joseph Smith

Emma Smith

For more information:

• The restoration of the Gospel
• The restoration of the Priesthood
• How can I know this is true?

Prophets are men who have been given authority from God to speak on His behalf.

He chooses a few men to be prophets and asks them to be His messengers to the rest of us. (This does not mean we cannot pray directly to God and receive answers to these prayers. It’s a beautiful truth that we can.) He tells these messengers specific laws that we should obey in order to please Him. He shows them the big picture, including why we are here on this earth, how to be truly happy, and how to reach “heaven” after we die. Prophets then share this information with us, and we are asked to follow these things without being able to see the entire “big picture.” It requires faith and humility to follow even when we don’t fully understand.

We can be confident that when we find a true prophet, following his teachings will mean following God’s will. One of our greatest desires in life should be to find out who God has called to be prophets.

God doesn’t ask us to trust men blindly. The Bible explains two ways to know whether a prophet is true: 1) “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16) and 2) “If any of ye lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally.” (James 1:5) In other words, we can judge by what they do or what kind of impact they have on the world whether they are good men who could be called of God. And if any man claims to be a prophet, we can ask God to tell us in our minds and hearts whether it is true.

One bit of caution: even though they are great men, prophets are human beings with weaknesses just like the rest of us. For example, Moses felt inadequate to be a prophet because he said he was “slow of speech” (Exodus 4:10). Prophets can also be guilty of mistakes and sins. But that doesn’t make their messages any less important. Part of the challenge of having faith is to accept perfect messages delivered by imperfect men.

For more information:

• Heavenly Father reveals His gospel to all
• Jesus Christ established His church
• The great apostasy
• How can I know this is true?

Another term that’s often used to describe Mormons is to say they are LDS, which is an acronym for the last three words in the name of the church: Latter-day Saints.

If you were to call a Mormon by these names, they likely would not be offended, though they might tell you the correct name of the Church.

Mormons live throughout the world, though there is a high concentration in the state of Utah in the United States because that is where a large group settled in the mid-1800’s and that is where the headquarters of the Church are located. Because of this, some people think it is an American church. However, many more Mormons live outside the United States than inside.

Part of the reason so many Mormons live outside the United States is that missionaries volunteer to go around the world to share their beliefs with others. They feel strongly enough about their beliefs that they pay their own way to share them with others.

Extremely important to Mormons is that they believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, who are separate individuals with distinct roles. Also fundamental to their beliefs is the importance of prophets who are good men who help us know what God wants us to do and how we can find genuine happiness in life.

In this blog, I will discuss in simple terms the beliefs and culture of the Mormons in a way that I hope will help you understand better, even if you don’t necessarily agree. Please come back and visit this blog often or else you can sign up to receive an email when a new article is posted.

For more information:

• Explanation by football player Steve Young
• Summary of beliefs
• Church organization
• Church growth