Joseph Smith

For years, I have wanted to understand Joseph Smith -- to really understand him. I grew up in a home which was fairly open about church history, with books by Juanita Brooks, Maurine Whipple, and even Fawn Brodie on the shelves. (I think that last one was primarily for family history purposes, since it was my great-grandma's sister who wrote it.) My mom spent her time in college doing research for a religion professor on Joseph Smith's plural wives, my grandpa writes unapologetic books about early pioneers, and I have learned of ancestors who interacted with him, for better or for worse. So there was no whitewashed Joseph Smith in my home.

Even so, there have always been surprises about Joseph Smith around every corner. Over the past few years, I have learned about multiple First Vision accounts, similar documents to the Book of Mormon from the early 1800s, translations attributed to Joseph Smith that really weren't translations, and a myriad of other facts that cause people to wonder and even doubt.

In many ways, I feel incredibly lucky that I've been able to turn to my family and to historians rather than online support when questions arise. I have never had the desire nor need to turn to Mormon Stories or other similar sources when I have had serious concerns. For example, when confronted with the sparse 1832 account of Joseph's First Vision, rather than wondering if he elaborated the vision as the years went by, I can say, "He was a lousy writer, particularly back in 1832. The dictated account of Section 76 in the Doctrine and Covenants, also written in 1832, strongly supports a view of the Godhead, same as later accounts of the First Vision, so he must not have made up that doctrine later as some people suggest."

But I won't deny that getting to this point has taken a lot of work, going from biography to biography, each a bit less idealized. Names such as William Law and John C. Bennett, Sarah Pratt and Helen Mar Kimball are familiar now. While some details will probably be never fully revealed, I have learned enough to come to three important conclusions:

1. Joseph Smith was not perfect. Not by any means.
2. He loved God enough to make confusing, terrible sacrifices that broke his heart and ultimately ended his life.
3. He was a prophet of God. He did the things he said he did, and he restored Jesus Christ's church to the earth.

Now, a biography won't necessarily let you know that 3. is true. And, really, none of the biographies have been as convincing for me as Joseph Smith's own words and teachings. It is in these words that I find truth, that I find light and joy and hope.

And so, in honor of today marking 170 years since his martyrdom in Carthage, Illinois, I have decided to share some of my favorite teachings from Joseph Smith. (I have specifically chosen most from the Doctrine and Covenants because most of that book actually consists of revelations where Christ is speaking to or through Joseph, and it's always wonderful to hear from Christ.)

• D&C 4:7 -- "Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." I can't even keep track of how many times this concept showed up in the Doctrine and Covenants, and I decided to just share the first instance rather than some of the more eloquent iterations. At any rate, I love it. I love that we have this open relationship with God through prayer and scripture study. We really can get answers.
• D&C 18:10-11 -- "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him." We often focus on how "backwards" early Church leaders were, especially when it came to racist policies. But verses like these remind me that for all their shortcomings, these leaders still knew that all human beings were children of God, and that we all have worth.
• D&C 24:8 -- "Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days." Christ isn't sugarcoating things -- life is hard! But Christ is with us through it all, especially when we let Him into our lives.
• D&C 29:34 -- "Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created." Although this may seem like an odd favorite verse, it reminds me that the tangible matters just as much as the spiritual. In church and in the temple, it is often the tangible and temporal (and itchy) that I notice the most, and sometimes I wonder why sacred ordinances have to be surrounded by the mundane so much. But this verse reminds me that having a physical body is a blessing, and there is so much to be learned from seemingly temporal commandments.
• D&C 35:2 -- "I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am one in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one." This joined the ranks of favorite verses nearly a decade ago. I love the way reconciliation is taught -- Christ performed the At-One-Ment to make us one with Him and the Father. Also, when I was in high school, this verse somehow cleared up issues I had been having for months about when God spoke in the scriptures. Although it is one of only many, many verses which describe Christ's sacrifice for us, it is one of the most meaningful to me for that reason.
• D&C 42:46 -- "And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them." I love the idea that death is sweet to those who love Christ.
• D&C 43:6-7 -- "And this I give unto you that you may not be deceived, that you may know they are not of me. For verily I say unto you, that he that is ordained of me shall come in at the gate and be ordained as I have told you before, to teach those revelations which you have received and shall receive through him whom I have appointed." Although this isn't necessarily a "sweet" doctrine like the last few, I love this because it lays out how to avoid deception. There are so many voices vying for my attention, and I am so grateful for reminders like these.
• D&C 45:3-5 -- "Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—  Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life." Speaks for itself.
• D&C 58:42-43 -- "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them." -- I love that God will not hold our sins against us when we repent. I also love that He gives us a basic blueprint on how to repent.
• D&C 82:10 -- "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." Although I like the idea that the Lord is not a "tame lion" (as described in Chronicles of Narnia), I also like that He is a fair one. I feel like this verse sums up the history of the Old Testament and Book of Mormon, and gives me encouragement to keep my covenants.
• D&C 88:11-13 -- "And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space— The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things." Okay, this might seem a little strange if you're not used to language like this. But as a musician and amateur composer, I love it. I love that you can usually recognize a composer's work by the characteristics found in the piece (I always write arpeggios). And so I love that you can recognize Christ's work by the light which is in it.  He is simply so good and glorious that everything He touches has light, including us.
• D&C 93. All of it! This is another chapter that describes light and grace and truth in beautiful ways. I also love that it explains how the mortal Jesus of Nazareth came to learn he was the Christ. Read it!
• D&C 101:27-31 -- "And in that day whatsoever any man shall ask, it shall be given unto him.  And in that day Satan shall not have power to tempt any man. And there shall be no sorrow because there is no death. In that day an infant shall not die until he is old; and his life shall be as the age of a tree; And when he dies he shall not sleep, that is to say in the earth, but shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and shall be caught up, and his rest shall be glorious." This is speaking about the Millennium, the time after Christ's Second Coming. Whether or not we live long enough to see it, isn't it nice to know what nice conditions are planned for that time?
• D&C 112:10 -- "Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers." This is just one of many instances where we are promised that the Lord will lead us and stay with us, and I love how gentle He sounds.
• D&C 121:41-43 -- "No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile— Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;" There are many important concepts in these verses and the ones surrounding it, but what I love most for my life is how good of a guide this is as a parent. If you have to flaunt your authority to get someone to obey you, then you really aren't a leader at all.
• D&C 130:1-2 -- "When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves. And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy." This makes mortal life so much more meaningful. Heaven is going to be something we recognize, and it will be full of people we recognize. This means that every interaction we have, whether it be with neighbors, bank tellers, or the people at the other table in the restaurant, needs to be full of charity, otherwise we will probably be a little embarrassed someday in the eternities.
• D&C 137:7-10 -- "Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom; For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts. And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven." Well, I'm a fan of as many people getting into heaven as possible, and this seems like a fairly open policy. And, yay for all kids getting in!
  

Almost done! There are just four more verses from the Pearl of Great Price that I wanted to share. (I decided against sharing the ones I love from the Book of Mormon, because that would have taken way too long. Maybe another time. Same with the Bible [today was just about scripture Joseph Smith introduced].)

• Moses 1:39 --  "For this is my work and my glory -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Everything God does is for us! (Does that mean that in turn, everything we do should be for Him?)
• Moses 5:11 -- "And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient." So, Eve often gets a bad rap, but this alternate telling of Adam and Eve makes it pretty clear she made a good choice, even with all the hardship it caused. (Fyi, the Book of Moses is basically a re-translation of the first several chapters of Genesis. It's cool.) As a woman, I find this verse incredibly empowering.
• Abraham 3:22 -- "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;" Although this isn't the only scripture that suggests we lived before we were born (see Jeremiah 1:5, for example), it is probably the most clear. And I love it! I love that we existed before we were in mortal bodies. When you see tiny tiny babies, so sleepy and yet so full of personality, it just makes so much sense that they are older than they appear. It means there is more to us than we can even imagine.
• Article of Faith 1:9 -- "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."  This verse is just so full of excitement. God has so much more to teach us! At the same time, isn't it interesting that He has already consistently taught us what matters most -- repent and come unto Christ? Interesting how that works.

As you can probably tell, I love what Joseph Smith taught. And it's for this reason that I can say I love Joseph Smith, even though I will never fully understand him. I am grateful that I have felt the urge to learn more about Joseph Smith from external sources, because it has helped me gain perspective and helped me increase in faith in God, who is willing and able to work through people as flawed as Joseph Smith.

But I am even more grateful that I have been able to learn from Joseph Smith. Much as I try to avoid any form of hero worship, I am not ashamed to sing "Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah." For it is largely thanks to Joseph Smith's inspired teachings that I have the relationship with Christ that I do. The scriptures he introduced provide verification of truth taught in the Bible as well as other truth that increases my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior. He was, to the end, a witness of Christ.

And in the end, that's what matters most about Joseph Smith.