The day was June 27, 1844. The place, Carthage, Illinois.
In the early evening Willard Richards, a member
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, dispatched
sobering news to the Saints in Nauvoo: Joseph and
Hyrum are dead. Taylor wounded, not very badly.
I am well. . . . The job was done in an instant.
A cortege left the hostile county seat of Carthage early the next morning and  arrived in Nauvoo just after three
in the afternoon. The mourners were waiting in the streets for the return of their prophet-leader.
"My soul sickened and I wept before the
Lord," William Hyde observed. "It seemed
that the very heavens were clad in mourning."
James Madison Fisher described the melancholy:
"To see stout men and women standing around
in group[s] crying and mourning . . . was
enough to break the heart of a stone."
The love the saints had for him was inexpressible.
Mary Alice Cannon Lambert lamented. "Oh,
the mourning in the land!"
These people had left homes, farms, and even
families to gather for the Word's sake.
They saw themselves as saints; they saw Joseph
as a prophet called of God. For 14 years he
had raised up this religion on American soil.
It was a religious movement that had attracted
the attention of the nation. Wrote Boston
notable Josiah Quincy after an 1842 visit
to the Mississippi river town of Nauvoo: It is by no means improbable that
some future textbook, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this:
What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful
influence upon the destinies of his countrymen?
And it is by no means impossible that the
answer to that interrogatory may be thus written:
"Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet." And the reply, absurd as it doubtless
seems to most men now living, may be an obvious
commonplace to their descendants.
We are those descendants. Our lives, our very salvation, hinge on our faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and in His gospel restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
It isn't the life and history of this New Englander that spurs a testimony. It is his
words: "I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages,
and they did in reality speak to me." For years he stood all alone before the world
and testified of his vision in the Sacred Grove. He spoke with God the Father and Jesus
Christ face-to-face and shared what he had learned with us. Joseph's testimony of the Savior, "that he lives!" is as
direct as it gets. Jesus Christ lives. Ponder on
the significance of those words. Of his first
vision of the Savior in the company of our
Father in Heaven, Joseph wrote, "I knew
it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could
not deny it."
Years later, in Hiram, Ohio, he no longer
stood alone. At his side was Sydney Rigdon
as they "beheld the glory of the Son, on
the right hand of the Father, and received
of his fulness." Ponder on their words: And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is
the testimony, last of all, which we give of him:
That he lives!
For we saw him, even on the right hand
of God; and we heard the voice bearing record
that he is the Only Begotten of the Father. That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were
created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons
and daughters unto God."
We are those sons and daughters. Joseph was born to two good souls, Joseph and Lucy, in Sharon, a quiet little
community in the hills of Vermont. The year 2005 is
the 200th anniversary of his birth. His mother
wrote, "We had a son whom we called Joseph
after the name of his father; he was born
December 23, 1805." His grandfather Asael
had predicted that God would "raise up
some branch" of the Smiths "to be a
great benefit to mankind."
Joseph was that man.
That the Lord chose to restore His Church
through a young man, not a graduate of an
acclaimed school of religion or a preacher
from one of the high pulpits in a well-established
neighborhood, is unbelievable to those who
measure in earthly terms. But this is not
an earthly church, nor are we simply living
out our days knowing only what is here and
now.
John Taylor said: "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
lived great, and he died great in the eyes
of God and his people."
Joseph was an uncommon man. Look at what he
did. He translated the Book of Mormon by the
power of God, received priesthood keys from
ancient prophets, built temples, gathered
the faithful to Zion, and taught doctrines
that were given to him by direct revelation.
The Lord said, "Whether by mine own voice
or by the voice of my servants, it is the
same." When we hear Joseph speak, we hear  divinity.
Joseph taught: "If you wish to go where God is, you
must be like God . . . , for if we are not
drawing towards God in principle, we are going
from Him and drawing towards the devil. . . ."
Search your hearts, and see if you are
like God. How would you answer that challenge:
"Search your hearts, and see if you are like God?"
Joseph's life was one of pure integrity
to the cause of Christ, who he loved. He loved
what the Lord loved. He lived the Lord's
way. It wasn't easy for him. It isn't
easy for us.
In 1829, while serving as Joseph's scribe,
Oliver Cowdery asked for direction for his
part in the unfolding gospel. In the revelation
from the Lord that followed, Oliver was told
succinctly: "Stand by my servant Joseph,
faithfully, in whatsoever difficult circumstances
he may be for the word's sake." As with
all references in the Doctrine and Covenants,
He wasn't speaking to just Oliver. The
Lord has made it clear, "I say unto you,
that this is my voice unto all."
"Stand by my servant Joseph." What does
that mean for each one of us? Where do we
stand when it comes to Joseph Smith and what
he called "the cause of Christ"? After
his martyrdom, as Joseph was returned to his
people in a pine box, the streets of Nauvoo
were lined with faithful members of The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They
honored him both in life and in death. It
was a moment of truth in the Restoration.
This was not Joseph's church; it was the
Church of Jesus Christ. These faithful picked
up their meager belongings buttressed by a
faith that commanded their hearts, and they
walked west to begin again. That's what
it means to stand by Joseph. We stand as witnesses
that Jesus Christ lives, and if we are called
to unfamiliar ground, that's where we go.
Our testimony is the treasure we take with us.
Lofty words? Not really. You are going to leave this "Nauvoo" of sorts here. Brigham
Young University is a haven from the world.
You have gathered from all countries to learn
and to serve. That was the pattern in Nauvoo.
Though the Saints never built the "University
of Nauvoo," they were schooled just the
same from God's chosen teacher, Joseph
Smith. They learned that in spite of death,
disappointment, difficulty, and setbacks,
the gospel is true, Jesus Christ lives and
directs His work, and eternal life is promised
to all who believe and act in His name. Keep
that perspective in mind as you leave here
with your handcart or your wagon and go forth.
Stand by Joseph as you work and raise your
family. Don't be like Simonds Ryder, who
turned from the truth because his name was
spelled wrong on his missionary letter. Joseph
was jailed more than 50 times for standing
up for the Lord's word and His ways. What
did he do when his jailers with coarse language
and abhorrent behavior rabbled around outside
his cell? As Parley P. Pratt recorded, Joseph
stood and commanded: "Silence!"
Parley P. Pratt went on to describe:
"Chained, and without a weapon; calm,
unruffled and dignified as an angel, he looked
upon the quailing guards, whose weapons were
lowered or dropped to the ground. . . .
. . . I have tried to conceive of kings,
of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and
of emperors assembled to decide the fate of
kingdoms; but dignity and majesty have I seen but once,
as it stood in chains, at midnight,
in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri."
Will we be so valiant? Remember Joseph's
words: "If we are not drawing towards God
. . . , we are going from Him."
Search your heart for your testimony of the Prophet.
If yours is casual, seek for a spiritual witness
of Joseph Smith's calling as a prophet
for the latter days. That testimony is received
not through books, tapes, or even talks like
this one but by the Spirit confirming to
your spirit that Joseph Smith was and is a
prophet of God.
I received my witness not from study but from
the Spirit when I was standing by a fence
in Fayette, New York, outside the Peter Whitmer
farmhouse. That ground is sacred to me, much
like the mount for Moses, "for the place
where thou standest is holy ground." The
Church was established there in 1830, in the
middle of nowhere, as the world gauges place.
There I received from the Spirit of God the
confirmation "that Joseph was and is a
prophet of God." I remember thinking at
first, "I know that. Everybody knows that."
Then the words came a second time: "Joseph
Smith was and is a prophet of God. Someday
you will need to know that."
It was like the description in Jacob: "I
had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto
me in very word . . . ; wherefore, I could
not be shaken."
Someday is here for every one of us. The world
needs our firm testimony of Joseph and the
Restoration, right now.
Why did he stand upon his feet the morning
after being tarred and feathered and preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ with great conviction?
Why did he endure a dark, lonesome prison, appealing
to the Lord for comfort rather than shaking
his fist at the sky for the unjust treatment?
Why did he bury one child, then another and
another and another, and continue to proclaim
his undying devotion to the Lord and a love
for His work? Why did he carry on when friends
turned against him, when enemies attacked
and killed the faithful, when the forces of
the adversary raged all around him?
The answer is best described in his own words:
"I am a lover of the cause of Christ and
of virtue chastity and an upright steady course
of conduct and a holy walk." His characterization
of himself is so telling. "A lover of the
cause of Christ" is such a simple way of
describing what it means to take His name
upon us and to love what He loves. When we
stand by Joseph, from our perspective we see
the world as "the cause of Christ."
That changes things, doesn't it?
Joseph sent his closest allies to England
to preach the word of God when he could have
used them by his side in Kirtland. At that
time apostasy was rampant in Kirtland. To
engage in "the cause of Christ" we have
to leave our comfort zone. We have to "go
where you want me to go, dear Lord," as
the song says. Sometimes it is a march to
Zion's Camp with no battle at the end.
Do we decry the calling with "What was
that all about?" or do we trust in Him
whose work this is? He knows the battlefields
and where the battles are best fought and
what the battles really are. It is fair to
say, "We fight most battles in our own
hearts." That's why love of "the
cause of Christ" is so critical.
Joseph Smith was not a self-absorbed leader
demanding fealty from his followers. This
was a man of God who understood the proclamation
of his leader, the Lord Jesus Christ: "I
came by the will of the Father, and I do his
will." Do we? Joseph lived such commitment
to his death. Such devotion wasn't easy
then. It isn't easy today in a world that
cycles daily around wants, material possessions,
passions, pleasures, and personal gratification.
There is no peace in that lifestyle, no happiness.
No matter how much glory or goods we get from
the world, they will never be enough because
within us is the Spirit of God. The Spirit
thrives on goodness and light. The Spirit
loves what the Lord loves. The Spirit seeks
peace and the promise of worlds without end.
Joseph understood distractions and did not
squander "the time . . . to prepare to
meet God." He said, "Wherever light
shone, it stirred up darkness." Darkness
fights for place in this world; it stirs around
in our lives. Hopefully we are not among those
"walking in darkness at noon-day." Joseph
described his difficult times: "Deep water
is what I am wont to swim in." He did not
entertain the idea that he would sink. He
kept swimming. The Lord's comfort to Joseph
in the dim cellar in Liberty, Missouri, was
this: "Know thou, my son, that all these
things shall give thee experience, and shall
be for thy good."
"Hold on thy way,"
the Lord told Joseph.
Are we holding on to that "way," the
cause of Christ? Do we define ourselves with
the terms Joseph used, "virtue, chastity, holy walk?"
Or do clothes that are inappropriate,
language that is not fitting, or actions and
choices that do not fit "a holy walk"
camouflage that cause?
Joseph's description of himself is a good
example for us all. He said, "All I can
offer the world is a good heart and a good
hand." Good hearts. Good hands. Isn't
that the description of a true disciple? Think
of John the Baptist as he laid his hands upon
Joseph and conferred the Aaronic Priesthood.
That significant event was followed weeks
later by Peter, James, and John appearing
to Joseph and conferring the Melchizedek Priesthood
by the laying on of hands. Do we appreciate
the majesty of the priesthood? Do we recognize
that worlds without number were created by
that power?
I have sat in what we call the blessing chair
at home and had my husband lay his "good
hands" upon my head and through the power
of the priesthood bless me with the desires
of my heart. That power has healed wounds;
it has given me peace, direction, insight,
clarity, strength, and comfort. I am so grateful
for the blessings of the priesthood and its
influence in our family. We raised all sons.
We were blessed with the best of boys who
have become the best of men. Their hands have
rested on my head and blessed me by the power
of the priesthood. They have blessed others
in Germany, England, Belgium, France, and
Australia with that same power. That, brothers
and sisters, is the cause of Christ.
The Lord said to the Saints in 1830, "Keep
the commandments which you have received by
the hand of my servant Joseph Smith, Jun.,
in my name." What of forgiveness in a culture
that seeks retribution, that sues for spilled
drinks, that is in your face and on your case
rather than offering mercy, patience, and
encouragement to one who is struggling? And
what of those times when we are feeling secure
and successful? Do we pass by on the other
side of those who are in need? What of courage
to support another through the repentance
process, courage to do the right thing, and
courage to overcome addictions that can paralyze
us in our progress home to our Heavenly Father?
Joseph's love of the Lord sustained him
when the world was raging around him. He was
even cheerful, cheerful because he really
knew and believed the words of the Lord: "Be
of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the
Lord am with you, and will stand by you."
When we stand by Joseph, bearing witness of
Jesus Christ, the Lord stands by us. He acts
in our behalf. "I will go before your face,"
He has promised. "I will be on your right
hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall
be in your hearts, and mine angels round about
you, to bear you up."
The work of angels is often quiet or in secret.
It is rarely of the magnitude heralded by
the world. Sometimes we are those angels for
others. Joseph learned that lesson in Harmony,
Pennsylvania, when he was translating the
gold plates. I have a favorite account from
that period that speaks to my heart. It's
about Joseph Knight, Sr., who gained a witness
of the young Prophet in the earliest days
of Joseph's ministry. He was the age of
Joseph's father, an unlikely confidant
or companion to the young Joseph.
One day Joseph Knight felt impressed to take
some supplies to the Smiths down in Harmony,
a quiet little community on the banks of the
Susquehanna River. There in those waters just
down the hill from their home, Joseph baptized
Oliver and then Oliver baptized Joseph, the
two having received the holy priesthood from
John the Baptist. This is such a sacred place.
There is still a spirit in the air, and
a few less pebbles on the bottom of the river,
because I waded in to bring some home.
Busy translating the gold plates in the spring
of 1829, Joseph had little time to farm or
make a living. Knight, who lived across the
border in New York, wrote in his journal:
"I bought a barrel of mackerel and some
lined paper for writing . . . nine or ten
bushels of grain and five or six bushels
taters and a pound of tea, and I went
down to see him and they were in want."  Imagine Knight
standing in the country store rattling off what he needed and then pausing:
"And give me some of that lined paper for writing. That will do it." Sandwiched between the mackerel and
bushels of grain was "some lined paper for writing." Perhaps it is the writer in me that loves the image so
much, but I don't think so. I think it's the
lesson learned from an older man, the age
of Joseph's father, hearing the prompting
to take what was needed to a young, and
even then controversial, Joseph Smith.
Picture Joseph Knight loading up his wagon
with supplies. Joseph hadn't sent a fax
or called on his cell phone. The Spirit had
prompted Knight to do the work of angels.
What does this say to all of us? When we dash
out the door in the morning, do we load up
our backpacks with our essentials and some
to spare for someone else in need? Do we pray
about how we can further "the cause of
Christ" as we pursue our tasks? Do we listen
for promptings through the day or have we
dismissed the still small voice calling us
to service because of our pressures, our schedules,
or simply the lack of time available in our
Palm Pilot 'packaged life?'
There is a wonderful scripture in Alma 29
that may help us keep our priorities straight
and our ears ready to hear. Alma said:
"I do not glory of myself, but I glory
in that which the Lord hath commanded me;
yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I
may be an instrument in the hands of God."
Joseph Knight was an instrument, an angel.
What about us? I remember when I was writing
about Joseph Smith for national television.
When I thought about what I was doing, I was
paralyzed. I could just see meeting Joseph
Smith in the next life and accounting for
my efforts. All I wanted to do was to get
it right, for him, the Prophet of this dispensation.
I had written a working script for the documentary
being produced by Lee Groberg, and it was
sent off for review by the sponsoring station
in Vermont. The early response was heartening.
"The first part is pretty good," the
reviewer said. The script began with the Martyrdom
and then backed up to place Joseph in the
context of American religious history. Then
the story focused on the unfolding of the
Restoration through Joseph's life.
The reviewer's next statement was something
like "When you get to New York . . . "
And then she paused. I knew what she was going
to say: ". . . all these angels start dropping
down from the sky." She paused again and
then said, "No one is going to believe
you."
I listened.
"Take this Moroni."
I corrected her pronunciation, saying, "It's
Moroni."
"Oh," she said, "Moroni. How are you going to show him? You
aren't going to hook him up to wires and
then fly him through the sky?"
I explained that the show would use images
of where things happened, paintings depicting
the setting, and stained-glass windows.
"I hate this part," she said, and then
she hung up.
A few days later she called back: "I've
got an idea. Why don't you show the gold
plates? You could put one of your experts
there next to the shiny little volumes, and
he could point to them and talk about them.
Then people would believe you, because they
could see something."
"There's a problem with that," I
said.
"I've thought about that," she responded.
"You've probably got them encased in
some special box because of their antiquity."
"No," I said, "that's not the
problem. Joseph gave the plates back to Moroni,
and he buried them or took them someplace
else. Anyway, we don't have them."
Long pause. "I hate this part," she
said, and slam went the phone.
She had yet to read the Kirtland section where
we had angels on the roof of the temple in
the middle of the day.
Tell the story of the Restoration without
angels? No. Tell the story of Joseph without
the tutoring of Moroni? Without Peter, James,
and John? Not possible. We have been called
to do our part, whether it is taking lined
paper for writing or standing firm about the
story of the Restoration. Where you will stand
depends in great measure on your testimony
of Joseph Smith.
At the death of his father, Joseph Smith said,
"He was the first person who received my
testimony after I had seen the angel, and
exhorted me to be faithful and diligent to
the message I had received."
Each of us has a part. Hyrum, his older brother,
who received his own witness of Joseph and
the work, said, "Joseph has the spirit
and power of all the prophets."
Brigham Young's testimony of the Prophet
is stirring: "I feel like shouting hallelujah,
all the time, when I think that I ever knew
Joseph Smith, the Prophet."
Where are your hallelujahs? Are they reserved
for your GRE score or your next statistics
quiz? For dreams of a job with a car allowance?
For simply a car? Those things are important;
I am not discounting doing the best we can
do in our preparation for this life and a
career. But those efforts are not why we are
here, and they will not carry us where we
want to go.
Joseph knew the struggles of making a living,
the heartache of burying children, the weight
of his ministry, and the tensions created
by sharing and living what to his enemies
was simply unbelievable. His influence with
the Saints was extraordinary. The persecution
they shouldered, the journeys they endured,
the sacrifices they made, the fervor they
manifested in support of what Joseph called
"the kingdom of God on earth" is without
equal in latter-day religious history. Are
we part of that legacy? Have we picked up
the cause of Christ from them? Are we moving
it forward? Will we find ourselves standing
by Joseph?
Joseph taught, "When the Lord commands, do it."
Joseph Smith understood and exemplified
that if we do what the Lord asks, "the
cause of Christ" will move forward. Whether
it's in the form of lined paper for writing,
building a temple, or being that temple the
Lord expects us to be, we each have a part.
Yours is clear in the heavens. May it be clear
in your hearts. Make next year the time for
you to gain your own personal witness of Joseph
Smith and live closer to the gospel he championed.
I bear my witness that Joseph Smith was and
is a prophet of God. Gaining that testimony
has changed my life. I would have stood to
honor him as his body was brought back to
Nauvoo. Where do you stand? Do you love the
cause of Christ, and will you stand firm,
no matter what difficulty you face, "for
the word's sake"? The word is the gospel.
The Savior's gospel is the only way home
to our Father in Heaven. I know that Jesus
Christ lives, that my Redeemer lives, and
that this is His work and His Church. And
the glory be to the Father. In the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
