25 November 2009

Loyal to Their Civil Leaders

"The Lord said, 'I will hasten my work in its time' (D&C 88:73). Surely anyone observing the recent growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is keenly aware of that hastening process. This should make us humbly grateful for the Lord's omnipotent hand. Obstacles that seemed insurmountable have proven to be merely challenges for the faithful, for 'with God nothing shall be impossible' (Luke 1:37).

"Inspiration has prepared the way from the beginning, when the Lord impressed the Prophet Joseph Smith to compose the twelfth article of faith: 'We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.' This inspired statement was surely written for our day. The Prophet knew that the gospel was ultimately to be taken to all nations regardless of their governmental differences. He knew that the ordinances of salvation and exaltation could bless the lives of people regardless of their politics. And he knew that people who were taught correct principles and who were loyal to their civil leaders and observing of their local laws would be most able to enjoy the blessings of the gospel."

Russell M. Nelson, "Drama on the European Stage," Ensign, Dec. 1991, 7

Topics: Mission of the Church, Faith

23 November 2009

When the Lord Commands

"In February 1828, Martin Harris, who had financially assisted the Smiths in their move from New York to Pennsylvania, arrived in Harmony to visit the Prophet. According to Martin's testimony, he, Martin, had been instructed not to join any church until the prophecy in Isaiah 29:11–12 had been fulfilled. This prophecy reads:

" 'And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

" 'And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.'

"Martin Harris took some of the characters copied from the Book of Mormon plates to Professor Charles Anthon and a Dr. Mitchell (see JS—H 1:64–65) and received satisfaction regarding the work of the Prophet. He then settled down to act as scribe for the translation of the Book of Mormon. Joseph and Martin were together until 14 June 1828. By then they had completed 116 pages. After repeated attempts by Martin to gain permission to take the completed works home to satisfy his wife's nagging, he was finally permitted to do so. We all know the story of the lost manuscript. You can imagine the devastation the Prophet must have felt when the plates were taken from him because he had not properly safeguarded them."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998, 49

Topics: Restoration

20 November 2009

85 Days

"It was on 5 April 1829 that Oliver Cowdery arrived at the Smith home. Now you can see the hand of the Lord in preparing this work to go forward. Having been hired to teach school in the Manchester township in New York, Oliver was invited to board at the home of Joseph Smith Sr. Here he heard of the miraculous story of their son. He made his way to Harmony to meet the Prophet Joseph Smith, who recognized him as the assistant the Lord had promised for the translation. On Tuesday, 7 April, they commenced the work of translation in earnest. To me the most exciting miracle in the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon happened during the next 85 days. The complete book was translated from a then-unknown language into English. This is no common, simple book. Someone has figured out that it covers 1,000 years of colonization in which 54 chapters deal with war, 21 are historical, 55 are on visions and prophecies, 71 on doctrines and exhortations, 17 on missionary work, and 21 on the mission of the Savior, for a total of 239 chapters."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998, 49–50

Topics: Book of Mormon

18 November 2009

Tangible Evidence

"One time I became so interested in the speed of the work [of translating the Book of Mormon] that was accomplished by Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith that I asked someone to research some of the other translations of scriptures for me to see how purely remarkable this work was. I found out that in translating the books of Moses from Hebrew to Greek, six men were called from each of the 12 tribes to perform the labor. Their project required 72 days, or 5,184 man days. Jerome was commissioned by the pope to translate the Bible from Hebrew to Latin; he worked on the project for 23 years, or 8,395 days. In the commission given by King James to translate the English version of the Bible from several other translations to what the king hoped would be the perfect English version, he selected 54 men who worked on the project for 4 years, or 78,840 man days.

"Now contrast that to the translation of the Book of Mormon, which for all intents and purposes started on 7 April 1829 and was completed by 30 June 1829—two men working 85 days, or 170 man days. It was truly a miracle. It could only have been done under the direction of the Lord.

"This great book is one tangible evidence that we have of the call of the Prophet Joseph Smith to bring about the long-awaited restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and again establish the Lord's Church on earth. According to prophecy, this time its establishment was to endure (see Isa. 2:2–3; Dan. 2:44). This being true, the Lord would carefully prepare his Church leadership to give continuity to the work."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998, 50

Topics: Book of Mormon

16 November 2009

Humble, Hardworking, and Rugged

"The Lord's timing in the restoration of the gospel—just at the very beginning of the technological revolution—shows that he understands his children. Technology had been asleep for centuries. If you wanted to communicate, it almost had to be eye to eye. If you wanted to travel, you had to rely on the wind or the strength of man to move vessels over rivers, lakes, or seas, or on land, beasts of burden or just plain walking. The simplicity of life in the early 1800s was a good seedbed for the Restoration. A half a century later might have been too late to find the humble, hardworking, rugged pioneers necessary to establish the Church."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998, 50

Topics: Restoration, Pioneers

13 November 2009

Special Spiritual Gifts

"Let us look at the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Lord needed a strong, vigorous young man who would be teachable. He needed someone he could mold into the leader who could bring forth the restoration of the gospel. . . . Few prophets have come from more humble beginnings than those of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was the fifth child in a family of 11 children. The rugged, rocky soil of New England had not been good to his family. During Joseph Smith's earliest years, the family moved frequently, trying to find fertile soil or a suitable livelihood, in Vermont, New Hampshire, Vermont again, then Palmyra, Ontario County, New York. Again we see the hand of the Lord guiding them to the proper destination. It was in this place where the family settled that the miraculous events of the Restoration occurred. Out of this hard, difficult, early beginning, Joseph Smith developed a great reliance on the Lord, trusting in him and gaining exceptional spiritual strength so he could use the gifts the Lord would give to him to organize the Church.

"In order to organize the work to begin this dispensation, the Lord needed a pure spirit, unlearned in the things of the world, one who could be taught by the ministration of angels, for there was no earthly teacher equipped to do this training. This mortal pupil had to be truly sensitive to the Spirit and to be a quick learner. As I read Truman Madsen's book Joseph Smith the Prophet, I was impressed with the special spiritual gifts the Prophet had acquired to enable him to lead in the Restoration. He was a young man of exceeding great faith."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998, 50–51

Topics: Faith

11 November 2009

Gift of Prophecy

"Who could deny that [Joseph Smith] was blessed with the gift of prophecy? 'Elder John A. Widtsoe, after making a study of the Doctrine and Covenants, concluded that it contains nearly eleven hundred statements about the future. If one extends beyond the Doctrine and Covenants to other scripture, to the personal promises the Prophet gave in blessings, to comments made in sermons, to his counsels in the midst of his own brethren and sometimes in private and sacred circumstances, and to predictions he wrote in letters, they would far exceed that eleven hundred' (Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet, 37).

"The Prophet Joseph Smith said, for example: 'Brethren, I have been very much edified and instructed in your testimonies tonight, but I want to say to you before the Lord, that you know no more concerning the destinies of this church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother's lap. . . . This church will fill North and South America—it will fill the world' (quoted by Wilford Woodruff in The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff [1946], 38–39).

"Elder George A. Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recalled hearing the Prophet once say 'that we may build as many houses as we would, and we should never get one big enough to hold the Saints' (Deseret News Weekly, 27 June 1855, 123). How true that is as we see the growth of the Church today."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998, 51

Topics: Revelation, Joseph Smith

9 November 2009

Power of Discernment

"The Prophet [Joseph Smith] had the power of discernment. An account is recorded:

" 'A man acting, as it were, as an undercover agent came to Nauvoo, tried to work his way into the good graces of the Prophet, then invited him out for a walk. On the crest of a hill the Prophet stopped, called him by name, and said, "You have a boat and men in readiness to kidnap me, but you will not make out to do it" ' (Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet, 41). It was true, the man had planned to kidnap him, but instead he went away cursing."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998, 51

Topics: Revelation

6 November 2009

God-Made Man

"Who could deny the fact that [Joseph Smith] received visions? He said of the Doctrine and Covenants, section 76, on the three degrees of glory: 'I could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdom manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them' (History of the Church, 5:402).

"A hundred times more than the present length would be more than a full-length Doctrine and Covenants.

"Truman Madsen has written: 'The Prophet is a God-made man. It will never do to say, as his critics are beginning to say, "This man was a genius." So saying, they wish to reduce a most remarkable movement to its leader, its founder, and, as they believe, its origin. True, he was a genius, he was a brilliant man. It takes a brilliant man even to comprehend, let alone to write, as he comprehended and wrote, the glorious insights that came to him, even granting that they came from the Lord. He was a man of superb intelligence' (Joseph Smith the Prophet, 49).

"Yes, the Lord raised a spiritual giant to be receptive, to be trained, to be instructed, to be the first prophet of the Restoration."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998, 51–52

Topics: Preparation, Joseph Smith

4 November 2009

Strength of Conversion and Loyalty

"John Taylor had a dignified, impeccable speaking style. His great gift and ability to communicate to our Father in Heaven's children has given the Church so much in greater understanding of the mission of our Lord and Savior. Listen to his philosophy of education:

" 'We want also to be alive in the cause of education. We are commanded of the Lord to obtain knowledge, both by study and by faith, seeking it out of the best books. And it becomes us to teach our children, and afford them instruction in every branch of education calculated to promote their welfare, leaving those false acquirements which tend to . . . lead away the mind and affection from the things of God. We want to compile the intelligence and literacy of this people in book-form, as well as in teaching and preaching; adopting all the good and useful books we can obtain; . . . instead of doing as many of the world do, take the works of God, to try to prove that there is no God; we want to prove by God's works that he does exist, that he lives and rules and holds us, as it were, in the hollow of his hand' (Deseret News Weekly, 5 June 1878, 275).

"May the strength of his conversion, his loyalty to the Prophet Joseph Smith and to the Church, and the articulate way in which he defended the Church with polish and refinement always be remembered."

L. Tom Perry, "By the Hands of His Prophets," Ensign, Aug. 1998, 55

Topics: Conversion, Education

2 November 2009

That's the Miracle of It

"When I was interviewed by Mike Wallace on the 60 Minutes program, he asked me if I actually believed [the story of the First Vision]. I replied, 'Yes, sir. That's the miracle of it.'

"That is the way I feel about it. Our whole strength rests on the validity of that vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens.

"Reflect upon it, my brethren and sisters. For centuries the heavens remained sealed. Good men and women, not a few—really great and wonderful people—tried to correct, strengthen, and improve their systems of worship and their body of doctrine. To them I pay honor and respect. How much better the world is because of their bold action. While I believe their work was inspired, it was not favored with the opening of the heavens, with the appearance of Deity.

"Then in 1820 came that glorious manifestation in answer to the prayer of a boy who had read in his family Bible the words of James: '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' (James 1:5).

"Upon that unique and wonderful experience stands the validity of this Church."

Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith," Ensign, Nov. 2002, 80

Topics: First Vision, Joseph Smith