Restoration

Restoration

When Joseph Smith Jr. received his first vision, he was only fourteen.  It was 1820, and New England was experiencing a whole lot of religious enthusiasm and confusion, at that.  Joseph Smith was trying to figure out which of the many churches he should join.  And he couldn’t.  He went to one church and then to another and couldn’t pick out anything that showed one church as true and one church not true.  He went to the scriptures, then, and found his answer in James 1:5.  “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”  The answer the scriptures gave him was to ask of God—so he decided to do exactly that. There was a grove of trees near Joseph’s home—this is where he went to pray.  He asked God which church he should join.  And the answer was glorious—Joseph’s first vision came unexpected and bright.  In his history, he described it: “When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”  God, the Father, and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and personally told him that none of the churches were true, and he shouldn’t join any of them.

This was the First Vision, and it was the first of many visions.  But Joseph was very young, still, and, even at the beginning, his vision was largely rejected.  He told his story to people and most of them didn’t believe it.  Most people believed (and still do) that God doesn’t speak to man directly any more, and that the time for visions passed long ago.  Despite the rejection, however, Joseph wouldn’t deny his experience.

When Joseph was seventeen, he had another vision.  The Angel Moroni appeared to him and told him about golden plates, a golden book—an ancient record scribed by people who’d once lived on the American continents.  In this record was “the fulness of the everlasting Gospel . . . as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants.” 

Eventually, the angel would guide Joseph Smith to find this record and translate it.  Once translated, it would be published as the Book of Mormon.  This book described the civilization of the Nephites, people who’d born witness of God and Christ throughout their history.  After His resurrection, Christ visited them.  But the Nephites also committed terrible sins as a people and were often wickeder than their mortal enemies, the Lamanites.  Their wickedness was so great, in the end, that the Lord allowed them to be destroyed.  The Book of Mormon restored truths about Christ and portions of His gospel that had been lost. 

The Book of Mormon might be Mormonism’s most famous aspect, but it wasn’t all that Joseph Smith restored.  Through him, the Lord also restored the priesthood.  What’s the priesthood?  It’s the authority to act in God’s name.  Joseph Smith received a visit from John the Baptist and was given the Aaronic Priesthood (which lets holders preach and baptize with God’s authority).  Then, he was visited by Peter, James, and John, Christ’s apostles, who gave him the Melchizedek priesthood (which gives the holder authority to give the gift of the Holy Ghost, among other ordinances).  Joseph Smith wouldn’t be the only one to hold the priesthood—he would pass it on to others, by the laying on of hands. 

In 1830, Joseph Smith organized the Church of Christ officially.  It would be known, later, as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, even if most people would refer to it as the Mormon Church (because of the Book of Mormon).  The Church had only six members at first, but would grow rapidly.  Joseph Smith would receive revelations continually throughout the rest of his life.  As a prophet, he was always curious and always looking to God for answers—and God would give them to him, ever.  And the gospel was restored.  It’s persisted generations beyond Joseph Smith’s death and is larger than ever today.  It stands firm as the one true church on earth.