In 
late May the Mississippi River runs swift
and high, sparkling and bubbling in the midday
sunlight.
Birds sing; the air is redolent with fragrances;
distantly you can hear a soft Sabbath bell
toll; the earth and all about is richly abundant
with life.
Some eleven miles to the east, across the
farmlands away from the great Mississippi,
stands the small town of Carthage, Illinois.
On Sunday, May 21, of this year, my family
and I solemnly walked the paths of Carthage
and examined anew the momentous events of
that place.
I could not help but look toward today’s
assignment, knowing I would stand before you
marvelous and gifted students at BYU and your
devoted administration and faculty, wanting
and wishing with all my heart that each of
you could feel what I was feeling at that
moment as I tried to absorb it and take it
all in—knowing this would be the exact anniversary
of the Martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith
and of his brother Hyrum Smith, June 27, 1995.
One hundred and fifty-one years ago today,
Joseph, the prophet of the Restoration, and
Hyrum, patriarch of the Church, gave their
individual lives for the sake of their testimony
of Jesus Christ.
In the fifth hour after noon, each suffered
multiple shots.
It is interesting, and I think even important,
that in Jewish symbolism the number five denotes
sanctification and/or purification.
Five hours after noonday Joseph and Hyrum
died.
Neither brother sought death, but it was not
unforeseen.
Joseph had forebodings as early as April 1829,
when the Lord told him, “And even if they
do unto you even as they have done unto me,
blessed are ye, for you shall dwell with me
in glory.”
Joseph went to Carthage, in his words, “like
a lamb to the slaughter.”
The ruthless death of these brothers was their
final witness of the Savior whom they served.
As John Taylor wrote of Joseph:
"Like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient
times, [he] has sealed his mission and his
works with his own blood.
. . .
. . . The testators are now dead, and their
testament is in force."
In sealing his testimony with his blood, Joseph
followed the pattern of the Savior.
It was in reference to the Savior, the “mediator
of the new testament,” that Paul taught,
“For where a testament is, there must also
of necessity be the death of the testator.
For a testament is of force after men are
dead.”
I will never forget Carthage and the impression
it left on my soul.
Nauvoo was next.
This is where I met a missionary couple whose
strong and humble witness of Joseph so affected
me that I asked if they would write down their
feelings for me about their mission in the
City of Joseph.
A few weeks ago I received a reply from Elder
and Sister Wood that seems appropriate here.
They said:
"Since our call to serve a mission at the
Nauvoo Visitors’ Center, our knowledge and
testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith has
grown immensely.
We [already] knew that Joseph Smith was a
prophet of God.
. . . We also knew that he had undergone many
trials for the Church, but we didn’t know
or realize just what he endured and to what
lengths and depths he went to help bring forth
the kingdom of God and restore it to the earth.
One day, while testifying to a couple in front
of the Christus [statue] that Jesus Christ
gave his life and atoned for our sins so we,
his brothers and sisters, might return to
live with our Heavenly Father, I suddenly
realized more fully that Joseph Smith gave
[up] his life, too, . . . that we might have
the fullness of the gospel."
Both the Savior and the Prophet Joseph gave
their lives in a divine cause.
Yet President David O. McKay once wrote, “I
confess that [Christ’s shedding His blood]
has moved me less than the realization that
in His life He lived for His fellow men.”
Similarly, I am more inspired by Joseph Smith’s
life than by his death.
Quoting John Taylor again, he “left a fame
and name that cannot be slain.
He lived great.”
It is vital to commemorate the Prophet’s
death; we must never forget.
Yet his life is a model of one possessed of
mighty faith in Jesus Christ.
The Lord asked the Nephites, “What manner
of men ought ye to be?” and then answered
his own question, “Even as I am.”
The Lord is our model and guide or, in Joseph
Smith’s words, “the prototype or standard
of salvation.”
To be saved is to become like our Savior.
We measure our spiritual progress against
this standard.
Joseph Smith so faithfully emulated the Master
that he too becomes a model, a standard by
which we can gauge our spirituality.
Because Joseph patterned his life after the
Savior, whom he knew so well, we can better
follow the Savior’s pattern.
Joseph Smith taught:
"When men begin to live by faith they begin
to draw near to God; and when faith is perfected
they are like him; and because he is saved
they are saved also; for they will be in the
same situation he is in, because they have
come to him; and when he appears they shall
be like him, for they will see him as he is."
Nephi wrote, “Unless a man shall endure
to the end, in following the example of the
Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.”
By looking at some of the Savior’s divine
attributes, we can compare them with Joseph
Smith’s life to see how he patterned it
after his Lord.
This can be a powerful reminder of what we
must do to be saved or to become like Jesus
Christ.
The beloved disciple John stated simply, “God
is love.”
Kindness and compassion flowed from the Only
Begotten Son’s soul as pure water from a
pristine spring.
Sacrifice and service were as natural to him
as eating and sleeping are to us.
One of my favorite examples of the Lord’s
love is his raising of Lazarus, the brother
of Mary and Martha.
Lazarus was sick, and his sisters sent for
the Lord, saying, “He whom thou lovest is
sick.”
We are also told that “Jesus loved Martha,
and her sister, and Lazarus.”
Jesus had perfect faith that he could restore
Lazarus to health, as he had done on numerous
occasions with others.
In this instance he had both temporal and
spiritual purposes in mind.
He had tarried two days, and Lazarus had died.
He said, “I am glad for your sakes that
I was not there, to the intent ye may believe;
nevertheless let us go unto him.”
When Jesus arrived in Judea, Lazarus had lain
in the grave for four days.
His sisters were sorrowful.
Martha said, “If thou hadst been here, my
brother had not died.”
Even so, Martha was trusting, and said, “But
I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt
ask of God, God will give it thee.”
Jesus taught Martha, “I am the resurrection,
and the life: he that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live.”
When Jesus arrived at the grave, he saw the
two sisters and others weeping.
Jesus “groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.”
Then “Jesus wept.”
Jesus mourned for his friend Lazarus.
The law of mourning instructs: “Thou shalt
live together in love, insomuch that thou
shalt weep for the loss of them that die.”
The Lord deeply felt Mary’s and Martha’s
anguish along with his own.
Lazarus was restored to his family, and many
believed on Jesus.
This gives us hope that we can indeed, one
day, be like him, for we have glimpsed him
as he is.
Joseph Smith taught this principle of love:
"Love is one of the chief characteristics
of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those
who aspire to be the sons of God.
A man filled with the love of God, is not
content with blessing his family alone, but
ranges through the whole world, anxious to
bless the whole human race."
He further said, “I love your soul, and
the souls of the children of men, and pray
and do all I can for the salvation of all.”
Among those who knew Joseph’s charity and
regard was a nineteen-year-old young man named
William Taylor, who spent two weeks with the
Prophet.
William said, “I have never known the same
joy and satisfaction in the companionship
of any other person.”
It was remarked of Joseph that “he did not
like to pass a child, however small, without
speaking to it.”
There are stories of Joseph picking flowers
for children or drying their tears or wiping
mud from their shoes.
Thus, Joseph humbly followed his Savior’s
lead in loving and blessing little children.
At the funeral of Lorenzo Barnes, he exclaimed,
“O that I had the language of the archangel
to express my feelings once to my friends!
But I never expect to in this life.”
As mayor of Nauvoo, Joseph was called upon
to render judgment on Anthony, a black man
who had not only been selling liquor in violation
of the law but had been doing it on the Sabbath.
Anthony implored Joseph for leniency, stating
that he needed money to buy the freedom of
his child held as a slave in a southern state.
Joseph said, “I am sorry, Anthony, but the
law must be observed, and we will have to
impose a fine.”
The next day Joseph gave Anthony a fine horse
to purchase the freedom of the child.
Joseph’s largeness of soul is legendary.
He wrote, “It is a duty which every Saint
ought to render to his brethren freely—to
always love them, and ever succor them.
To be justified before God we must love one
another.”
To show love in this same spirit is a decision
each of you can make today, even at this moment.
President Spencer W. Kimball, another great
prophetic example of love, taught:
"One can learn to be loving.
If one patterns his life in the mold of love—if
he consciously and determinedly directs his
thoughts, controls his acts, and tries to
feel and constantly express his love, he becomes
a person of love, for 'As he thinketh in his
heart, so is he.'”
You could at this moment think of someone,
picture a face or think of a name, and then
connect it with some act of service you could
perform.
If you will try this, with real intent, you
will be inspired.
You will know what to do.
Of course, then, after you know, you must
do.
Act on the inspiration you receive.
You will become a loving person after the
pattern of Jesus and Joseph.
Love, then, is an attribute developed by choice,
a deliberate decision to follow the Lord.
I remind you, however, that even Jesus experienced
obstacles to love, just as we do.
For example, he suffered “hunger, thirst,
and fatigue, even more than man can suffer,”
but he served anyway.
All of the kind, compassionate, loving things
that Christ did were done in the shadow of
the cross.
Consider, for example, his conversation with
the Samaritan woman at the well.
Jesus and his disciples were journeying from
Judea to Galilee.
The record states that he stopped at Jacob’s
well, “being wearied with his journey,”
and his disciples went to buy meat.
Despite his weariness, he took time to teach
the woman of Samaria.
The record does not state whether he was ever
able to rest.
Apparently he did not, because the Samaritans
“besought him that he would tarry with them:
and he abode there two days.
And many more believed because of his own
word.”
We can be grateful that he sacrificed rest
for responsibility.
His words about living water have refreshed
and brought rest to multitudes throughout
the centuries.
In a comparable way, all that Joseph Smith
did was in the shadow of Carthage.
Persecution of the darkest hue began the first
time he recounted his experience of the First
Vision.
Four months after the Church was organized,
he was told, “Be patient in afflictions,
for thou shalt have many.”
On the one hand, picture Joseph Smith ministering
to the Saints, directing the affairs of an
infant church, sending missionaries abroad,
building temples, and leading his family.
On the other hand, picture Joseph hiding from
false accusers; dealing with contrived legal
charges; enduring unjust imprisonment; hearing
news of the murder, rape, and torture of his
beloved Saints; coping with the venom of apostates;
suffering beatings, attempted poisonings,
and other mob lunacy.
He once wrote, “My family was kept in a
continual state of alarm, not knowing, when
I went from home, that I should ever return
again; or what would befall me from day to
day.”
His burdens were beyond our comprehension.
To paraphrase Isaiah, it is a vexation of
the spirit just to hear the report of his
troubles.
The Prophet was not adverse to introspection,
even when prompted by scurrilous tales.
Stories about Joseph, many of them twisted
or blatantly false, circulated constantly.
Yet the Prophet said something like this:
"When I have heard of a story about me, I
sit down and think about it and pray about
it, and I ask myself the question, “Did
I say something or was there something about
my manner to give some basis for that story
to start?”
And often if I think about it long enough,
I realize I have done something to give that
basis.
And there wells up in me a forgiveness of
the person who has told that story, and a
resolve that I will never do that thing again."
Joseph’s soul was enlarged through suffering.
Too many in our day, even among Church members,
become contracted through trials or ill fate.
Rather than forgetting themselves in service,
they withdraw into shells of bitterness and
self-pity.
All of us have trials and temptations adapted
to our capacity.
After all, this is mortality.
It does no good to ask, “Why me?”
Rather, we should concede, “Why not me?”
and become more like him.
President Kimball also gave profound counsel
in this area:
""Only when you lift a burden, God will lift
your burden.
Divine paradox this!
The man who staggers and falls because his
burden is too great can lighten that burden
by taking on the weight of another’s burden.
You get by giving, but your part of giving
must be given first."
Both the Lord and the Prophet Joseph gave
and gave and gave.
Both were ministers of salvation.
Their service and sacrifice extended to all
mankind in love.
To Moses, the Lord said, “For behold, this
is my work and my glory—to bring to pass
the immortality and eternal life of man.”
The Savior’s mission was centered on others’
spiritual and temporal welfare.
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., said that
the Savior left as a heritage for his Church
the carrying on of two great activities:
"Work for the relief of the ills and the sufferings
of humanity, and the teaching of the spiritual
truths which should bring us back into the
presence of our Heavenly Father."
Thus we see the Savior healing the lepers,
giving sight to the blind, causing the infirm
to leap to their feet, and bringing comfort
to all who would believe.
He set a precedent of service.
He went about relieving the ills and sufferings
to which mortals are natural heirs.
In addition, the Savior taught gospel principles.
His Sermon on the Mount, repeated and amplified
among the Nephites, is unparalleled.
His teachings concerning the bread of life
and the living water are transcendent truths.
When some of his disciples murmured because
of his teachings, the Savior said, “The
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit,
and they are life.”
The Lord invited all to believe in him and
to be born again, and in Mosiah’s words,
to be “changed from their carnal and fallen
state, to a state of righteousness, being
redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters.”
Joseph emulated the Savior’s devotion to
the salvation of all mankind.
As president of the Church, he organized the
united order to bless the Saints temporally.
He taught:
"We must visit the fatherless and the widow
in their affliction, and we must keep ourselves
unspotted from the world: for such virtues
flow from the great fountain of pure religion,
strengthening our faith by adding every good
quality that adorns the children of the blessed
Jesus, we can pray in the season of prayer;
we can love our neighbor as ourselves, and
be faithful in tribulation, knowing that the
reward of such is greater in the kingdom of
heaven.
What a consolation!
What a joy!
Let me live the life of the righteous, and
let my reward be like his!"
Joseph ministered in power to relieve the
considerable suffering experienced by the
Saints.
On what was referred to as the “day of God’s
power,” July 22, 1839, the Prophet lay stricken
with a vile disease, as were many of the Saints.
Neighbor cared for neighbor, parents for children,
and children for parents.
There were so many ill that the caregivers
were overwhelmed and exhausted.
Moved upon by the Spirit, Joseph rose from
his sickbed and went across the river to Montrose,
Iowa.
Dozens were immediately healed on that day.
He states in his journal, “Many of the sick
were this day raised by the power of God."
The Prophet Joseph also followed the Savior
in teaching the gospel of salvation.
Through modern revelation, comforting and
exalting doctrines were revealed to him.
The Lord told him, “This generation shall
have my word through you.”
In 1841 the Prophet “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.”
Plain and precious truths were restored through
Joseph Smith’s inspired translation of sacred
records, bringing generations to an understanding
of their Lord and Savior.
We measure our fidelity to God’s word through
the principles revealed in the Book of Mormon.
Who besides Joseph has offered the world such
a saving book?
Who can match him?
Who in this dispensation has surpassed the
King Follett Discourse, for example?
Where can we find a greater statement on faith
than the Lectures on Faith, which were prepared
under his tutelage?
Who has mastered the ordinances and principles
of temple worship better than he through whom
the keys were restored?
Joseph Smith was, indeed, a teacher of supernal
truths.
Brigham Young said of him:
"The excellency of the glory of the character
of brother Joseph Smith was that he could
reduce heavenly things to the understanding
of the finite.
When he preached to the people . . . he reduced
his teachings to the capacity of every man,
woman, and child, making them as plain as
a well-defined pathway."
Therefore, our duty is to minister to the
needs and wants of others, both temporally
and spiritually.
Joseph Smith taught, “Let the Saints remember
that great things depend on their individual
exertion, and that they are called to be co-workers
with us and the Holy Spirit in accomplishing
the great work of the last days.”
In the last general conference President Gordon
B. Hinckley taught our responsibility:
"We are all in this great endeavor together.
. . . Your obligation is as serious in your
sphere of responsibility as is my obligation
in my sphere.
No calling in this church is small or of little
consequence.
All of us in the pursuit of our duty touch
the lives of others.
To each of us in our respective responsibilities
the Lord has said: “Wherefore, be faithful;
stand in the office which I have appointed
unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands
which hang down, and strengthen the feeble
knees.”
Your life, as President Stephen L. Richards
used to say, is a mission, not a career.
If you are wise, you will prepare for a life
of service.
One reason for the Prophet’s serenity in
distress was his total, unflinching commitment
to God’s will.
A dictionary definition of faith is “belief
and trust in and loyalty to God.”
Joseph Smith loved God with a fervor born
of personal experience, for he had seen him.
He knew his power and glory.
His trust was complete.
His loyalty was unquestioning.
Jesus was the greatest person ever to walk
this earth.
He had infinitely greater wisdom and power
than any man.
He had power over life and death.
He could command the elements.
Yet he said, “I can of mine own self do
nothing: . . . because I seek not mine own
will, but the will of the Father which hath
sent me.”
President Joseph F. Smith saw in vision “the
hosts of the dead . . . who had offered sacrifice
in the similitude of the great sacrifice of
the Son of God.”
How can our sacrifices be in the similitude
of the Savior’s great infinite and eternal
sacrifice?
We can submit our wills to the Father’s.
Rather than persisting in our own “carnal
wills and desires,” our will, like the “will
of the Son,” should be “swallowed up in
the will of the Father.”
This is how Christ lived, and this is how
Joseph Smith lived.
Such submission to God led ultimately to death.
Joseph’s martyrdom was indeed in similitude
of the Lord’s great sacrifice, for he went
where he was sent and did what he did knowing
full well where it would lead.
Brigham Young said, “I heard Joseph say
many a time, ‘I shall not live until I am
forty years of age.’”
Yet Joseph also stated confidently, “God
will always protect me until my mission is
fulfilled.”
The chances that you and I will be called
upon to die for our convictions is remote.
How then can we offer a sacrifice in similitude
of the great sacrifice of the Son of God?
President Marion G. Romney said:
"I decided in my youth that for me the best
approach to the solution of problems and the
resolving of questions would be to proceed
as Jesus proceeded: foster an earnest desire
to do the Lord’s will; familiarize myself
with what the Lord has revealed on the matters
involved; pray with diligence and faith for
an inspired understanding of his will and
the courage to do it."
The Savior concluded his mortal life as he
began it—in purity and innocence.
Judas painfully recognized that he had “betrayed
the innocent blood,” and Pilate called the
Lord a “just person.”
Jesus was a lamb without spot or blemish.
He was the sinless Son of God.
His death insured that salvation could come
to all who believe and obey.
Joseph Smith also concluded his life as it
began—humble and obedient.
He had fulfilled his mission.
He said, “I have a conscience void of offense
towards God, and towards all men.
I shall die innocent.”
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said:
"The Prophet Joseph Smith, of course, was
not a perfect man.
There has been only one such—Jesus Christ.
But Joseph Smith was a special witness for
Jesus Christ.
. . . We do not, as some occasionally charge,
worship Joseph Smith, nor place him on a par
with Jesus.
But we do venerate him, remembering, hopefully,
that the highest and best form of veneration
is emulation"
My friends in Nauvoo, Elder and Sister Woods,
have a deep and abiding love for the Savior
and his servant Joseph Smith.
They said, “Every day our experiences here
give more indications of [their] greatness.”
To close their letter, the Woods spoke about
the spirit of Joseph that still permeates
the City Beautiful and related a tender experience
about John.
John (not his real name), about thirty years
old, walked into the visitors’ center alone,
where he was greeted by the Woods and asked
if he’d like to take a tour—the Woods
asked how much time he had.
John answered, “As long as it takes to see
it all.”
John said he was a member but had not been
inside a church in almost twenty years.
I paraphrase Brother Woods’ story as follows:
"I was prompted to conduct him as though he
knew nothing about the Church and began the
tour about the founding of Nauvoo, the First
Vision, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon,
and the organization of the Church.
I asked him often, 'Do you remember hearing
about that in Primary?'
And many times he affirmed that he did remember.
I bore my testimony to John.
Next I took him into the theater to see Remembering
Nauvoo.
John was the only one there for the film.
As the movie began, I withdrew, but returned
twenty minutes later just as John exited.
He had enjoyed the presentation, and we continued
the tour.
This part includes details about the city
of Nauvoo and its temple—during which we
arrived at the Christus statue, where we played
the message of the Savior.
Generally I don’t bear my testimony here,
but for some reason I sat down beside him
and afterward bore my testimony about Jesus
Christ.
I saw tears come to his eyes and felt impressed
to say, 'John, when you return home to Florida,
will you seek out your bishop and tell him
you want to become actively involved in the
Church?
Ask him what you have to do, and he will advise
and help you all the way.'
John looked me in the eye and promised me
he would do that.
The tour continued to the martyrdom scene,
and I again bore testimony—this time as
to Joseph Smith being a true prophet.
Again John’s eyes moistened [and] we continued
on to the Saints’ arrival in Salt Lake and
the temple there.
I explained that my temple marriage to Sister
Wood was for time and eternity—if we live
worthy.
John said, 'Awesome.'
We completed the tour and said our emotional
good-byes.
But John stopped and turned and said, 'Can
I ask you a very important question?'
I answered, 'By all means.'
John asked, 'When you started the movie, did
you stay in the theater with me or did you
leave?'
I told him I had left—why?
John answered with tears in his eyes, 'All
during the movie I kept looking over my shoulder
to see who else was in the theater.'
I asked him who he thought was there.
He said, 'I guess my grandparents are trying
to tell me to clean up my act.'
By this point he was crying openly.
We embraced and wept joyful tears together.
I told him I loved him and knew he was sent
to us not by chance.
Elder Wood closed this account by saying,
'It is the spirit . . . of Joseph Smith [in
Nauvoo] that allows experiences like this
. . . and gives us the hope and courage to
carry on and endure to the end.'”
In closing, I testify to these words in section
135 of the Doctrine and Covenants: “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.”
And I say, “Praise to the man who communed
with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer."
Joseph knew Jesus!
He communed with him in our behalf.
He was a chosen vessel of the Lord to whom
angels ministered, thus preparing “the way
that the residue of men may have faith in
Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place
in their hearts.”
May we, too, come to know the Lord, commune
with him, and learn to be like him, as did
Brother Joseph, I pray in the name of Jesus
Christ.
Amen.
