So which part of Brazil did you serve in?
I served in Porto Alegre North
Well that's how they say it in Brazil, down in the South.
Ok well I served my church mission in
Los Angeles California and I kind of decided to
go because everybody else, guys, I knew at BYU
they went anyway and I'm the only convert
to the church from my family and my parents didn't like
the idea of me going on a mission at all.
I never thought I would go but I just kind of jumped on the
train and it was definitely
a life changing experience.
One of the first things I memorized on my mission
was the first vision of Joseph Smith. Me too.
And I must have shared it at least 10 times a day
with people I met there.
But then after my mission I learned that there
were actually multiple accounts of the First Vision
and then I ran into these people or online stuff
like the CES letter that people are just
criticizing and questioning the First Vision.
Well, like what kind of stuff did you find
that they're saying?
Like one thing is the difference between these
accounts so each would say something slightly
different so critics would say well Joseph cause he made
up this story so he keeps changing as he went along.
Ok well there's actually four full
original firsthand accounts of the First Vision.
Right so we do this all the time when we tell
stories, don't we? I mean we changed the story
depending on who we're talking to so like just
as an example like if I got in a car accident right,
I might tell like a play by play to my best
friend he comes and asks me what happened in the car
accident, I give them a play by play I might give
them all the details but my wife I'll tell her a
lot of the details but I might leave a few out
cause I don't wanna worry right but then other
people
I might just give an outline to and not explain a lot of
details. Each story would be different but it
just would change depending on what I'm focusing
on and who I'm talking to and that's exactly what
Joseph Smith did, right? Paul did the same thing
when he was in the New Testament as an Apostle
talking to and you know and explaining his
vision that he had and each story was
different with Joseph Smith but they're not
contradictory. They all come together to make a
whole picture but it's just the
1838 version is the one that most people are familiar with.
One version references only the
Lord, probably Jesus Christ, which might mean that
God the Father departed after presenting his Son
which would have been too much different from
what happened at Christ's baptism and
transfiguration. Some don't mention Satan's
attempt to keep Joseph from praying. Other
versions reference an angel or angels coming and
that's okay too. Just because something is
mentioned in one version and not the others
doesn't mean that it's a contradiction. It's just
that it gives us a better understanding of everything that happened.
So why is the 1838 version the one
found in the scriptures like Doctrine and Covenants?
So the 1838 version is the one that
is the most complete account, total, of the First
Vision that Joseph Smith actually wrote
specifically for the public instead of all of the
other accounts that were mostly from private
letters or personal journal entries.
But why wasn't there and the record of the First Vision
until like 12 years after it happened?
Well, that's a long time. But you gotta remember Joseph
Smith is a 14 year old farm boy. He's basically illiterate.
He's not accustomed to coming home and
writing things down until the Lord basically
commands him to do it in Section 20 of the
Doctrine & Covenants, which eventually prompts the
1832 account that we have of the First Vision.
Also, after all the negative attention the First Vision
received in the early days, Joseph and the
whole Smith family were more careful about
sharing the sacred experience with others
and often didn't actively talk about it unless they felt that they should
And his motivation for prayer
was also different in this account so
critics would say well cause he made it up.
Well, not really because some versions they focus on
forgiveness of sins while other versions they
focus on wanting to know which church is right
so it was probably both.
Because back then it was pretty generally
accepted that in order to come closer to God
you needed an organized religion and so for Joseph both
of the questions would have been connected.
His soul was thirsting after righteousness basically
and he wanted the Lord's help to align his life
with his Heavenly Father's will.
Well, it always sounds so much simpler when I talk to you.
I don't know why you think that. Look, all of this stuff is available online
You just have to know where to look for it.
In fact, since we publish this video series on Youtube,
I'll just add you know more questions
and answers that people have
of the First Vision in the video description.
I just think it's really funny, like a lot of the
objections that people either fine or that they create.
It's like a lot of them aren't even issues.
Like he was he 14 or was he 15
when he had the First Vision?
I mean, I don't know
how that could actually be proof that the whole thing's fake?
Prophet Gordon B. Hinckely,
15th President of the Church, said once:
"I'm not worried that the Prophet, Joseph Smith,
gave a number of versions of the First Vision
anymore then I'm worried that there are four
different writers of the gospels in the New Testament,
each with his own perceptions,
each telling the events to meet his own purpose for writing at the time.
I am more concerned with
the fact that God has revealed in this
dispensation a great and marvelous and beautiful plan
that motivates men and women to love their
Creator and their Redeemer to appreciate
and serve one another, to walk in faith on the road
that leads to immortality and eternal life."
All the account tell the same story. Joseph Smith,
he sought answers from a Divine source
and God the Father
He loved him and He answered his prayer
with a marvelous vision with Himself and His Son, Jesus Christ,
to answer Joseph's prayer and to get him started
on the journey to the restoration.
If it really happened, if the First Vision happened,
I mean it's an amazing thing and it's hopeful
it gives some clarity and I want to believe it.
i mean I really enjoyed being a member of the church.
It helped me come closer the Savior.
I want to believe it.
For me too, I agree with you even from
the beginning when you said on your mission
you memorized that first account. On my mission,
I can't tell you how many times I had given that same account.
It's probably the times where I felt
the most
Spirit on my mission even though it was just
one of many
I think that it's so important to have
that account because without a doubt that Jesus is the Christ.
We have the New Testament account,
that he is who he is and the vision from Joseph Smith
gives us another account, another witness
that Jesus Christ is real and that Heavenly Father
is real,
and obviously the Holy Ghost bears witness to me of that.
