As I look out into the faces of you precious
young sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father
and sense your unlimited potential to “do
good unto all men,” I pray
tonight that each of you—and that I—will
be blessed with the Spirit of the Lord, that
what I testify of will strengthen your faith
and desire to personally live and be faithful
to all the true principles of God’s eternal
plan of salvation—those keys and powers
that have been conferred upon all men during
these latter days, a fulfillment of the declaration
of Paul to the Ephesians “that in the dispensation
of the fulness of times he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are
in heaven, and which are on earth; even in
him.”
The principles, doctrines, and ordinances
of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ have
been revealed anew, including a knowledge
of the true nature of God—a personal, loving,
Eternal Father—and of Jesus Christ, the
literal Son of God, of whose divinity there
has come another witness in the Book of Mormon.
The words of Ezekiel that the stick of Judah
(the Bible) shall be joined with the stick
of Joseph (the Book of Mormon) as a testimony
of two nations have found their fulfillment.
This I solemnly declare to all of you.
The authority to act in the name of God, the
holy priesthood, has been conferred upon men
in our time by those same individuals who
held it anciently—Peter, James, and John—apostles
of our Lord who were ordained by the Savior
himself when he was upon the earth.
The Church of Jesus Christ has been reestablished.
The priesthood of God is again among men.
God has revealed himself anew for the blessing
of his children.
As I declare to you, my dear young friends,
these divine events—with all the characteristics
of the Church of the early apostles, including
the personal direction of Jesus Christ, divinely
revealed doctrine, divinely chosen leaders,
continuous revelation, and the witness of
the Holy Ghost to all who obey—I testify
that the instrument through whom this divine
revelation came was one foreordained—the
youthful Joseph Smith—whose faith and desire
brought about “one of the most significant
religious events in the history of mankind.”
Since my early youth I have believed and carried
in my mind a vivid picture of the teen-age
Joseph finding a secluded spot, kneeling in
the quiet grove, and in childlike faith asking
the desire of his heart.
He must have felt assured the Lord would hear
and somehow answer him.
There appeared to him two glorious personages,
a description of whom, he said, was beyond
his ability to express.
I have been blessed, as the years have passed,
with unusual experiences with people, places,
and personal events of an intimate, spiritual
nature, and, through the power of the Holy
Ghost, I have received an ever-deepening witness
and knowledge of this heaven-directed restoration
of the Lord’s plan of salvation.
The events related by Joseph Smith of the
Restoration are true.
Each of you can develop in your bosom an uplifting,
sanctifying, and glorifying feeling of its
truth.
The Holy Ghost will reveal and seal upon each
of your hearts this knowledge, if you truly
desire this knowledge.
Our understanding, belief, and faith in “the
vision” (as we refer to it) of God the Father
and his Only Begotten Son appearing to Joseph,
thereby ushering in this final dispensation
with its great and precious truths, is essential
to our eternal salvation.
Salvation comes only through Christ.
Joseph Smith is the instrument or revealer
of that knowledge, divinely called to teach
of the terms and conditions of the Father’s
plan and given the keys of salvation for all
mankind.
The knowledge is mine that God did reveal
himself unto Joseph—his witness of this
final dispensation.
We now know something of the form, features,
and even character of that mighty intelligence
whose wisdom, creation, and power control
the affairs of the universe.
God made it known that Jesus Christ is the
express image of the Father.
In Joseph’s own words, the brightness was
above anything he had ever known.
He looked up.
Before him stood two glorious personages.
One of them, pointing to the other, said,
“This is My Beloved Son.
Hear Him!.”
It might have seemed inconceivable to young
Joseph that he was looking upon God our Heavenly
Father and his Son—that the Lord had come
to visit and instruct him.
The Son, bidden by the Father, spoke to the
kneeling boy.
Joseph was told that all the churches were
wrong.
They had corrupted the doctrine; they had
broken the ordinances and had lost the authority
of the priesthood of God.
He was told that the leaders of the man-made
churches were displeasing to the Lord, that
they were collecting money which should be
given freely, and that the time for the restoration
of all truth and authority had come, including
the organization of the Church.
Then, to his infinite astonishment, he was
told that he, Joseph Smith—young, unlearned,
but humble—was to be the instrument through
whom the Almighty would reestablish his work
in these, the latter days—the gospel never
to be taken away again.
Such was the glorious beginning of the restoration
of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Some three years later, as he was beginning
to mature, Joseph Smith had another heavenly
visitation.
This time an angel sent from the presence
of God informed Joseph that he was Moroni
and revealed to the young man the resting
place of a set of gold plates upon which certain
ancient inhabitants of America had recorded
the history of their peoples.
In the course of time, these records were
translated by the gift and power of God and
published early in 1830.
The Book of Mormon is the most remarkable
book in the world from a doctrinal, historical,
or philosophical point of view.
Its integrity has been assailed with senseless
fury for over a century and a half; yet its
position and influence today is more impregnable
than ever.
The Book of Mormon did not come forth as a
curiosity.
It was written with a definite purpose—a
purpose to be felt by every reader.
From the title page we read that it was written
“to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile
that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God,
manifesting himself unto all nations.”
The message it contains is a witness for Christ
and teaches the love of God for all mankind.
Its purpose is to bring people to accept Jesus
as the Christ.
The book tells of the actual visit of Christ
to ancient America and records the teachings
and instructions he gave in clarity and great
power to the people.
The Book of Mormon substantiates the Bible
in its teachings of the Savior, speaks of
Christ more than any other subject, and teaches
that our Savior is the Redeemer and Atoner
of mankind, constantly emphasizing that he
is the central figure in God’s plan of salvation.
This divine record makes converts to its message
and to his Church, which teaches it.
I have marveled at God’s wisdom in bringing
forth this ancient record in the manner in
which it was accomplished, for it has also
become the powerful witness of the divine
mission of Joseph Smith.
Sunday, November 28, 1841, the Prophet wrote:
"I spent the day in the council with the Twelve
Apostles at the house of President Young,
conversing with them upon a variety of subjects.
Brother Joseph Fielding was present, having
been absent four years on a mission to England.
I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon
was the most correct of any book on earth,
and the keystone of our religion, and a man
would get nearer to God by abiding by its
precepts, than by any other book."
Joseph Smith was foreordained to be the duly
appointed leader of this, the greatest and
final of all dispensations.
After the angel Moroni’s visit, other heavenly
messengers conferred upon Joseph holy priesthood
authority, divine keys, power, and revelations
from God.
Not only was the Church organized under inspiration
and divine direction, but the necessary body
of doctrine for guidance of the Church was
revealed.
Faith and light were again available to distill
the darkness that was upon the earth.
Joseph Smith, after seeking and being taught
by the Author of Truth, learned that
God is in form like man.
He has a voice; he speaks.
He is considerate and kind.
He answers prayers.
His son is obedient to the Father and is the
mediator between God and man.
“The Father has a body of flesh and bones
as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but
the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and
bones, but is a personage of Spirit.”
And also learned of a new concept 
of man, his past, his present, and future state
with an understanding of the continuity of intelligence and eternal progression.
Though Hebrew scriptures make references to
temples and baptism for the deceased, Joseph
Smith was the first to have revealed the purpose
of temples and salvation for all—including
those who have passed on without having received
a knowledge of the gospel—along with the
eternal marriage covenant and sealing of man
and woman as the foundation for exaltation.
Joseph Smith, speaking at the first conference
of the Church in June 1830, spoke of great
happiness “to find ourselves engaged in
the very same order of things as observed
by the holy Apostles of old.”
Under the inspiration of Almighty God, the
Church began to flourish.
The Lord’s promise that a “marvelous work
is about to come forth” was being fulfilled
in a miraculous way.
The gospel message spread rapidly.
The missionary spirit was touching hearts.
The Book of Mormon was being read.
Tens, then hundreds, then thousands joined
the Church.
The Lord, speaking through Joseph, proclaimed:
"For verily the voice of the Lord is unto
all men, and there is none to escape; and
there is no eye that shall not see, neither
ear that shall not hear, neither heart that
shall not be penetrated.
The weak things of the world shall come forth
and break down the mighty and strong ones,
that man should not counsel his fellow man,
neither trust in the arm of flesh—
But that every man might speak in the name
of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world;
That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed
. . . unto the ends of the world, and before
kings and rulers."
Politicians began worrying over this new phenomenon.
Enemies were organizing, and the Prophet’s
life was becoming endangered.
After months of imprisonment in the dark,
damp dungeon known as Liberty Jail, a discouraged
Joseph cried out to the Lord:
"O God, where art thou?
And where is the pavilion that covereth thy
hiding place?
How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine
eye, . . . behold from the eternal heavens
the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants,
. . .
Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these
wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine
heart shall be softened toward them."
Then a loving, answering Savior promised Joseph:
"The ends of the earth shall inquire after
thy name, and fools shall have thee in derision,
and hell shall rage against thee;
While the pure in heart, and the wise, and
the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel,
and authority, and blessings constantly from
under thy hand.
And thy people shall never be turned against
thee by the testimony of traitors.
. . . Thou shalt be had in honor; . . . and
thy voice shall be more terrible in the midst
of thine enemies than the fierce lion, because
of thy righteousness; and thy God shall stand
by thee forever and ever."
In his last public address to a large congregation
in Nauvoo, Joseph said:
"I do not regard my own life.
I am ready to be offered a sacrifice for this
people; for what can our enemies do?
Only kill the body, and their power is then
at an end.
Stand firm, my friends; never flinch.
Do not seek to save your lives, for he that
is afraid to die for the truth will lose eternal
life.
God has tried you.
You are a good people; therefore I love you
with all my heart.
Greater love hath no man than that he should
lay down his life for his friends.
You have stood by me in the hour of trouble,
and I am willing to sacrifice my life for
your preservation."
This statement is all the more remarkable
as the Prophet was still in the morning of
life—only thirty-eight years old—and great
as he had already become, the zenith of his
mental and spiritual powers had not yet been
reached.
Life was precious to him with all its possibilities
of future achievements.
Yet he was willing to give it up, willing
to forego all the honors that might be his,
the greatness that would come to him if he
lived.
“A Prophet,” wrote Truman Madsen, “is
one who, in fulfillment of his mission, undergoes
great suffering, yet through it all, is radiant.
A Prophet, in short, is a saint.”
Someone has written:
"Nowhere in the long lists of martyrs, save
only in the case of Joseph Smith, do we find
one who voluntarily went out of his way to
die for his faith and people.
In that fateful hour when the choice of life
or death was to be made, Joseph Smith did
not hedge, or sidestep, or seek to save his
life, but bravely chose to die, in the hope
that his people might henceforth be free to
worship God in their own way, and that the
testimony which he had borne of a restored
gospel might be sanctified [if necessary]
by the shedding of his blood."
“Had he been spared a martyr’s fate till
mature manhood,” said Parley P. Pratt, “he
was certainly endowed with power and ability
to have [influenced] the world in many respects.”
One may pick up the thread of Joseph Smith’s
life on any day of any year and find incalculable
suffering, both his own and the disciples’
around him.
Mormonism was appearing to become, as the
scripture says, as a stone cut out of a mountain,
without hands and rolling forth to fill the
whole earth.
Political officials worried about it moving
outward and abroad from the immediate locale,
illegal charges were leveled, court documents
and summons were issued, and vigilantes were
formed—at Carthage, the county seat.
Joseph and Hyrum were to appear to answer
charges against them.
As Joseph Smith left Nauvoo for Carthage that
twenty-fourth day of June, he would have looked
for the last time on the city and the magnificent
temple that he loved.
He knew he would never look upon it again.
“Be patient in afflictions,” he was told,
“for thou shalt have many.”
Brigham Young said of him that he lived one
thousand years in thirty-eight.
To his companions who were accompanying him
to Carthage, he gave these prophetic words:
"I am going like a lamb to the slaughter,
but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have
a conscience void of offense towards God,
and towards all men.
. . . And it shall yet be said of me—he
was murdered in cold blood."
Why did he not turn back?
There was time to escape.
He was not yet in the hands of his enemies.
Friends were at his side who would die for
him if necessary.
Some suggested he flee across the Mississippi
where he would be safe.
But he continued to Carthage.
Joseph must have recalled some of the dangers
through which he had passed—like the winter
night when a mob broke into his home and with
curses and profanity tore him from the bedside
of his wife and sick children and dragged
him over the frozen ground, kicking and beating
him until he was unconscious.
When consciousness returned, they stripped
him of his clothing and covered his naked
body from head to foot with a coat of tar
and feathers, forcing open his mouth to fill
it with the same substance, then left him
on the frozen ground to die of cold and exposure.
Riding to Carthage he might have recalled
the time in Missouri when he and some of his
brethren had been betrayed into the hands
of their enemies.
The leader of the mob convened a court; Joseph
and his associates were placed on trial for
their lives.
They were convicted and all sentenced to be
shot the next morning at eight o’clock in
the public square in Far West.
At the appointed hour they were duly led forth
to be murdered, but a dispute among the mob
saved them.
Without even being permitted to bid farewell
to their families, they were taken from place
to place and exhibited to jeering crowds while
the Saints were told they would never see
their leaders again.
But Joseph cheered his fellow prisoners by
announcing that none of them would suffer
death.
“Be of good cheer, brethren,” he said,
“the word of the Lord came to me last night
that our lives should be given us, . . . not
one of our lives shall be taken.”
As Joseph contemplated those dreary months
of imprisonment in Missouri, he must have
recalled the night, when confined in a dungeon,
he rebuked the guards.
He and his brethren were trying to get a little
sleep, but were kept awake by the awful blasphemies
and obscene jests of their jailers, who were
recounting the dreadful deeds of robbery and
murder they had committed among the Mormons.
These were no idle boasts, for these awful
atrocities had actually been committed.
Suddenly, Joseph rose to his feet and, in
a voice that seemed to shake the very building,
cried out:
"Silence, ye fiends of the infernal pit!
In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you,
and command you to be still; I will not live
another minute and hear such language.
Cease such talk, or you or I die this instant!"
The effect must have been electric in its
suddenness.
Some begged his pardon while others slunk
into the dark corners of Liberty Jail to hide
their shame.
The power of Jesus Christ, whose name he had
invoked in his rebuke, was upon him.
His hands and feet were in chains, but these
the guards did not see.
They saw only the righteous anger in his shining
face, and felt the divine power in his voice
as he rebuked them.
But if Joseph’s voice was terrible as the
roaring lion in his rebuke of the wicked,
it was soothing as a mother’s voice in comfort
to the righteous.
In that same name and by the same authority
with which he silenced the blasphemies of
the guards, he had blessed little children,
baptized repentant sinners, conferred the
Holy Ghost, healed the sick, and spoken words
of comfort and consolation to thousands.
It was midnight when the wagon journey from
Nauvoo ended.
Joseph and his brethren entered Carthage,
and his fate was sealed.
His enemies had awaited their coming with
great anxiety.
The governor, who was present, persuaded the
mob to disperse that night by promising them
that they should have full satisfaction.
The next day, after a hearing, Joseph was
released on bail, but re-arrested on a trumped-up
charge of treason.
Bail was refused and Joseph and Hyrum were
placed in Carthage Jail.
The last night of Joseph’s life on earth
he bore a powerful testimony, to the guards
and others who assembled at the door of the
jail, of the divinity of the Book of Mormon,
also declaring that the gospel had been restored
and the kingdom of God established on the
earth.
It was for this reason that he was incarcerated
in prison, not for violating any law of God
or man.
It was late at night when they tried to get
some rest.
At first Joseph and Hyrum occupied the only
bed in the jail room, but a gunshot during
the night and a disturbance led Joseph’s
friends to insist that he take a place between
two of them on the floor.
They would protect him with their own bodies.
Joseph asked Elder Markham to use his arm
for a pillow while they conversed, then he
turned to Elder Dan Jones, on the other side,
and whispered, “Are you afraid to die?”
And this staunch friend answered, “Has that
time come, think you?
Engaged in such a cause, I do not think death
would have many terrors.”
Joseph replied, “You will yet see Wales,
and fulfill the mission appointed you before
you die.”
The next morning, the fateful twenty-seventh
of June, 1844, three of the brethren left
the prison and only four remained—Joseph
and Hyrum and two of the apostles, both of
whom during the day offered to die for him.
The day was spent in writing letters to their
wives, conversing on principles of the gospel,
and singing.
Between three and four o’clock in the afternoon
the Prophet requested Elder John Taylor to
sing the words of “A Poor Wayfaring Man
of Grief.”
This comforting song breathes in every line
the very spirit and message of Christ.
Only a person who loved his Savior and his
fellowmen would have requested to hear these
words at such a time.
When Elder Taylor had finished the song, the
Prophet’s eyes were wet with tears, and
he said, “Sing that song again, will you,
John?”
John “replied that he did not feel like
singing.
He was oppressed with a sense of coming disaster.”
“You’ll feel better once you begin, and
so will I,” replied Joseph.
Hyrum also pleaded with him to repeat the
song.
And Elder Taylor did.
This time his voice was even sadder and more
tender than at first, and when he concluded,
all were hushed, but four hearts beat faster
for
they had carefully listened to the fateful
words:
"My friendship’s utmost zeal to try,
He asked if I for him would die.
The flesh was weak; my blood ran chill,
But my free spirit cried, 'I will!'"
The other three heard Joseph murmur as an
echo to the song, “I will!”
The love of Christ was in the song; the love
of man was there in that room in the Carthage
Jail.
While this spirit of love and service for
men expressed in song and prayer filled the
hearts of all within the jail, the mob was
gathering.
The final details you know.
When the news of the awful crime reached Nauvoo,
the citizens were overcome with grief and
horror.
Probably such universal sorrow had not been
known in an American city before.
The warm summer sun left them cold and chill.
Their prophet and their patriarch were dead.
What else mattered?
When the wagon carrying the bodies was still
a long way off, the entire population of Nauvoo
went out to meet it.
No greater tribute was ever paid to mortal
man than was paid that day to Joseph and Hyrum
Smith.
Such universal love from those who knew them
best could never have been won by selfish
and designing men.
Only love begets love.
Once when Joseph had been asked how he had
acquired so many followers and retained them,
he replied, “It is because I possess the
principle of love.
All that I offer the world is a good heart
and good hand.”
Sariah Workman, an early immigrant, wrote:
“I felt a divine influence whenever I was
in his presence.”
John Taylor, who was wounded at Carthage and
later became prophet, said of him:
"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 the revelations
and commandments which compose this book of
Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise
documents and instructions for the benefit
of the children of men; gathered many thousands
of the Latter-day Saints, 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."
I leave each of you my love and testament
that God, our Father, lives, that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of the Living God, crucified
for the sins of the world “to cleanse it
from all unrighteousness; that through him
all might be saved.”
He is our Redeemer, our Lord, our King.
His kingdom is again established on the earth.
In the year 1820, God, our Eternal Father,
and his son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph
Smith, who was foreordained to be the instrument
of the Restoration, which is The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This Church, by divine direction, is preparing
the world for his second coming—for he will
come again.
This I humbly declare in his holy name.
Amen.
