“Doctrine and Covenants 135:3,” New Era, June 2012, 11
Line upon Line
Doctrine and Covenants 135:3
Before he was martyred, the Prophet Joseph Smith brought about many things to bless all humankind.
3 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. … He has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God; … [he] 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.
Seer
A seer:
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Is authorized to see with spiritual eyes “things which were not visible to the natural eye” (see Moses 6:35–38).
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Is a revelator and a prophet (see Mosiah 8:13–16).
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Knows the past, present, and future.
Has Done More
“The work in which Joseph Smith was engaged was not confined to this life alone, but it pertains as well to the life to come, and to the life that has been. In other words, it relates to those that have lived upon the earth, to those that are living and to those that shall come after us. It … relates … to the whole human family from eternity to eternity.”
President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918), Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (1998), 13–14.
Gift and Power of God
Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon “through the mercy of God, by the power of God” (D&C 1:29) and “by the means which were before prepared” (D&C 20:8), including the Urim and Thummim.
Fame and Name That Cannot Be Slain
“Although the events of June 27, 1844 [the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith], were tragic, we are provided comfort as we realize that Joseph Smith’s Martyrdom was not the last chapter in this account. Although those who sought to take his life felt that the Church would collapse without him, his powerful testimony of truth, the teachings he translated, and his declaration of the Savior’s message go on today in the hearts of [Church] members throughout the world, who proclaim him a prophet of God.”
President Thomas S. Monson, “The Prophet Joseph Smith: Teacher by Example,” Ensign, Nov. 2005, 69.
Sealed His Mission and His Works with His Own Blood
Read the lyrics to the hymn “Praise to the Man” (Hymns, no. 27) and then write in your journal your feelings about the Prophet Joseph Smith.