When Joseph Smith and his
brother Hyrum started for
Carthage to face what they
knew would be an imminent
martyrdom, Hyrum read these
words of comfort to the heart
of his brother.
Thou hast been faithful,
wherefore thou shalt be made
strong even under the sitting
down in the place with which I
have prepared in the mansions
of my father.
A few short verses from the 12th
chapter of Ether in the
Book of Mormon.
Before closing the book, Hyrum
turned down the corner of the
page from which he had read,
marking it as part of the
everlasting testimony for which
these two brothers were
about to die.
I hold in my hand that book, the
very copy from which Hyrum
read, the same corner
of the page
turned down still visible.
Later when actually incarcerated
in the jail,
Joseph the prophet bore a
powerful testimony of the
divine authenticity of
the Book of Mormon.
Shortly thereafter, pistol and
ball would take the lives of
these two testators.
In this their greatest and last
hour of need, I ask you
would these men blaspheme before
God by continuing to
fix their lives, their honor,
and their own search for each
eternal salvation on a book,
and by implication a church
and a ministry they had
fictitiously created out of
whole cloth?
Never mind that their wives
are about to be widows and
their children fatherless.
Never mind that their little
band of followers will yet be
houseless, homeless, and
friendless, and that their
children will leave footprints
of blood across frozen rivers
and an untamed prairie floor.
Never mind that legions will
die and other legions live
declaring in the four quarters
of this earth that they know
the Book of Mormon and
the Church which
espouses it to be true.
Disregard all of that, and tell
me whether in this hour
of death these two men would
enter the presence of their
Eternal Judge quoting from and
finding solace in a book which
if not the very word of God
would brand them as impostors
and charlatans until
the end of time.
They would not do that.
They were willing to die rather
than deny the divine
origin and the eternal
truthfulness one
of the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon is true,
and was given to bring
happiness and hope to
the faithful in the
travail of the last days.
Brothers and sisters, God always
provides safety for the
soul, and with the Book of
Mormon he has again done that
in our time.
Remember this declaration
by Jesus himself.
Whoso treasureth up my word
shall not be deceived, and in
the last days, neither
your heart nor your
faith will fail you.
Of this I earnestly testify
in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
