Spring LDS Conference Issue

CONFERENCE The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 190th Annual General Conference

The First Vision History, influences and the dawn of new ideas

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Letter from the Editor For more than 15 years, the Daily Herald has produced a semiannual special section that publishes the weekend before the general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Twice a year, the special section addresses topics and issues church members are facing. Past special sections have focused on issues including the role of women in the church, changes in the church, changes in church leadership, businesses that cater to the needs of church membership, children in the church, student athletes in the church and the construction of temples.

This year’s special special section takes readers back to the beginning — to remember the events surrounding the experiences of church founder Joseph Smith’s First Vision in 1820.

During the church’s October conference, church President Russell M. Nelson announced that this year, the 200th anniversary of the First Vision, would be celebrated by church members as a Bicentennial Year. Nelson also promised that the upcoming April conference would “be different from any previous conference.”

He then encouraged members to study and prepare for the conference by studying and learning about the events that surrounded the First Vision.

www.heraldextra.com

This section looks at the climate of the time, the history of the event and the impact the First Vision had in the world.

We would like to sincerely thank members of the public relations team at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Brent Ashworth of B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles in Provo for providing our staff with information for this section.

I would also like to thank our staff that put significant time into its completion. Writers Genelle Pugmire and Karissa Neely spent months researching, interviewing and preparing these stories. Photographer Isaac Hale brought his incredible skills to bring stunning visuals, and the design skills of Heather Marcus pulled it all together.

Whether you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or someone who has a fondness and a love of history, we hope this special section brings to life the foundations of what is today a global religion.

Sincerely, Tyler Maffitt Executive Editor

86 N. University Ave, #300, Provo 801-373-5050, 800-880-8075

Publisher Scott Blonde

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General Manager/ Advertising Director Jim Konig Editor Tyler Maffitt

ON THE COVER The front cover photo depicts Joseph Smith going to the Sacred Grove to pray. It is a still shot from The First Vision, produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU Motion Picture Studios. It was the first video produced on the First Vision. The script was written by Doug Stewart, and directed by Jacobs who had a PhD in Theater and Cinema from the University of Utah. It stars Stewart Petersen as Joseph Smith. Petersen later starred in Where the Red Fern Grows and other motion pictures. It also stars Neal Barth as a preacher. The video, which was used for about 20 years at church visitors center, in church classes and as a missionary tool, was shot at the BYU Motion Picture Studios and on location in the former Provo Tabernacle and at the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York.

According to Jacobs, it took seven years of developing, writing, and rewriting the script before it was approved by the First Presidency. This historical video was 15 minutes long and was shown at the visitors center at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Cover courtesy of the family of Gerald Hatch, photographer and David Jacobs, Director.

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Writers Genelle Pugmire Karissa Neely Photography Isaac Hale Design Heather Marcus www.heraldextra.com www.standard.net

Picture of the sacred grove near the Smith family home outside Palmyra, New York.

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“… The experience of Joseph Smith in a few moments in the grove on a spring day in 1820, brought more light and knowledge and understanding of the personality and reality and substance of God and his Beloved Son than men had arrived at during centuries of speculation.”

— Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

Visioning the bicentennial: Joseph Smith will be known. . .

BY GENELLE PUGMIRE

Daily Herald

At the end of the October 2019 Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson announced that 2020 will be designated a bicentennial year.

“It will be exactly 200 years since Joseph Smith experienced the theophany that we know as the First Vision,” Nelson said in his conference conclusion.

According to the LDS Church topics page, “The First Vision was a transcen7

dent vision that occurred in the spring of 1820, in which Joseph Smith saw and conversed with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. The First Vision is of preeminent importance and marked the opening of the final chapter in the history of mankind before the second coming of Christ.”

Nelson said he hoped that every member and every family would prepare for a unique April conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel.

He encouraged members to study the First Vision and all that followed

before the church was officially organized in 1830 and asked them to think how their lives would be different without it.

In the six months since, church departments and many individuals have flooded social media with information on the subject. Everything from symposiums to podcasts and theater productions to videos have given Latter-day Saints and others an opportunity to share their belief in the importance of the bicentennial of the First Vision.

Nelson said this effort and the special conference meetings in April will be a hinge point in the history of the church and in the lives of its members moving forward.

For the church and its members, the First Vision stands as a sacred turning point, rooted in the history of Joseph Smith and his family, that brought about the church’s restoration.

A popular LDS Church depiction of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Hinge Points

COURTESY INTELLECTUAL RESOURCES, INC.

“The first thing to understand is it was a personal revelation. Joseph was reluctant to talk about it with members. Brigham Young rarely talked about the First Vision and emphasized the visitations of angels that came later.”

— Richard Bennett, BYU religion professor

8

“The First vision was the beginning,” said Richard Bennett, Brigham Young University religion professor, historian and author of School of the Prophet.

“It took a while for the church to recognize the importance of the First Vision.”

It was Orson Pratt, member of the Quorum of the Twelve who years after the event made the vision known to the world, according to recorded church history accounts while he was serving a mission for the church.

Orson Pratt served a mission for the church from 1839 to 1841 in the British Isles, mostly in Scotland. In September 1840 while serving in Edinburgh, he published his first missionary tract, “An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions,” it contained the first public recording of the First Vision, the same that was canonized by the church.

“The First Vision didn’t mean a thing until 1838,” said Spencer W. McBride, historian of the Joseph Smith Papers.

“It was Pratt that instigated reclaiming the Vision,” Bennett said. “Joseph F. Smith (church prophet and nephew to Joseph) sited not to forget our history.”

Bennett added, “The first thing to understand is it was a personal revelation. Joseph was reluctant to talk about it with members. Brigham Young rarely

talked about the First Vision and emphasized the visitations of angels that came later.”

According to Bennett, the First Vision did not bestow priesthood keys.

It did not usher in new prophesy. It was an answer to a faithful question and a preparation for that which was to follow. Joseph Smith was not automatically a prophet.

A modern day prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley, who served as the church’s president until his death in 2008, marveled at the event of the First Vision.

“To me it is a significant and marvelous thing that in establishing and opening this dispensation our Father did so with a revelation of himself and of his Son Jesus Christ, as if to say to all the world that he was weary of the attempts of men, earnest though these attempts might have been, to define and describe him. … The experience of Joseph Smith in a few moments in the grove on a spring day in 1820, brought more light and knowledge and understanding of the personality and reality and substance of God and his Beloved Son than men had arrived at during centuries of speculation,” Hinckley said.

A heritage of seekers However, before one can appreciate the full experience of the First Vision and all that followed, it is important to know Joseph Smith and his family, for that is where the story begins.

The church’s second president, Brigham Young, said: “The Lord had his eyes upon [Joseph Smith], and upon his father, and upon his father’s father, and upon their progenitors clear back to … Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was foreordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation.”

Joseph Smith Sr. and his wife Lucy

ISAAC HALE DAILY HERALD

The first edition Book of Mormon which belonged to the prophet Jospeh Smith and his family from 1830 is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

Mack Smith, Joseph Smith’s parents, were from industrious and hard working families. Lucy’s father, Solomon Mack was born Sept. 26, 1735 in Lyme, New London County, Connecticut, according to “The History of Joseph Smith” by his mother Lucy Mack Smith.

“In 1776, I enlisted in the service of my country and was for a considerable length of time in the land forces,” Solomon Mack recorded in his journals and recounting in Lucy Mack Smith’s history of Joseph Smith.

Following the war, Solomon Mack purchased a cargo ship, but was compelled to sell it after it sustained damage. He was left destitute.

In the later part of Solomon Mack’s life he had a conversion that changed the entire rest of his life, according to Bennett.

“After this I determined to follow phantoms no longer, but devote the rest of my life to the service of God and my family,” Solomon Mack recorded.

His daughter, Lucy Mack, was born

July 8, 1776 in Gilsum, Cheshire County, New Hampshire. For the most part she had a happy life as a young child until her beloved sister, Lovina died.

According to her journals that have since been published Lucy grieved so much for her sister it preyed upon her health.

“In the midst of this anxiety of mind, I determined to obtain that which I had heard spoken so much of from the pulpit – a change of heart,” Mack wrote.

To that end she moved in with her brother Stephen in Tunbridge, Vermont, and spent much of her time studying the Bible and praying.

She was determined to find the Church of Christ. She did not belong to any church at the time. She said all of the churches were unlike the Church of Christ, as it existed in former days.

Mack recorded briefly in her journal, “While I remained at Tunbridge Continued on 12

“About this time my husband’s mind became much excited upon the subject of religion; yet he would not subscribe to any particular system of faith, but contended for the ancient order, as established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and his Apostles,” — Lucy Mack journal entry 9

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(Vermont), I became acquainted with a young man by the name of Joseph Smith (Sr.) to whom I was subsequently married.”

The Smith family heritage was not unlike the Mack’s, devoted to Bible teachings and to God. The prophet Joseph’s third-greatparents were Robert and Mary Smith who came to America from England.

Their son Samuel Smith was born Jan. 26, 1666, in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts. He married Rebecca Curtis Jan. 25, 1707, according to the family genealogy as written by Lucy Mack Smith.

They had a son named Samuel born Jan. 26, 1714 and he married Priscilla Gould. Their son Asael, was born March 8, 1744, he married Mary Duty, Feb. 12, 1767.

In Richard Lloyd Anderson’s Joseph Smith’s “New England Heritage,” the author said, “Asael, Joseph Smith Jr.’s grandfather, was elected to many offices during the 30 years he lived in Tunbridge, Vermont, and was known for his community service. He believed in a loving God and in life after death.

He also had a testimony of the Savior.

Asael predicted that “God was going to raise up some branch of his family to be a great benefit to mankind.”

ISAAC HALE DAILY HERALD

An engraving from the 1800’s depicting Joseph and Hyrum Smith is displayed Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

ject of religion; yet he would not subscribe to any particular system of faith, but contended for the ancient order, as established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and his Apostles,” Lucy Mack wrote in her journal.

Lucy Mack Smith recorded in her journal on a number of occasions the dreams both she and her husband had concerning their family and their seeking divine guidance to Christ’s

“But so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong.”

— Joseph Smith

Their third son was Joseph Smith, born July 12, 1771. He married Lucy Mack on Jan. 24, 1796.

The Smith family farmed in Tunbridge but eventually had to sell their land. After a number of moves and hardships, they settled for a time in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont. It was there on Dec. 23, 1805 Lucy gave birth to Joseph Smith. Jr. “About this time my husband’s mind became much excited upon the sub-

church. According to her journal described in the Joseph Smith History

by Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith Sr. had more than seven major visions concerning his family, the judgement and religion during the time he was married to Lucy.

Since before Joseph Smith Jr. was born his family was already seeking that which they could not find but continued in hope that one day it would be manifested to them, according to 12

Lucy Mack Smith in her journals.

Young Joseph According to historical documents and information printed at the time, western New York was the place to settle both economically and religiously.

According to McBride, nearly 10% of the entire country had migrated there.

“It is understandable church members would see God’s hand in it,” McBride said referring to the mass migration. From the historical nature, the economical and even the weather, it was cause for the surge of people coming to western New York.

The religious excitement and revivals in the area from a number of religious sects was referred to as the Second Great Awakening.

During this time, Joseph Smith was a youngster, going about doing chores for his mother, playing and anticipating becoming a bigger help to his father and his older brothers Alvin and Hyrum.

Because his family could not afford the luxury of public education, Joseph Smith received only three years of formal schooling. Along with his brothers and sisters, he was educated mainly at home from the family Bible, according to LDS Church history.

When Joseph Smith contracted typhus fever at age 7, his life forever changed.

During his recovery, young Smith

got an infection in his leg to the bone and the very marrow of it. The story, taught frequently in LDS Church lessons, says that the doctors wanted to amputate his leg, but Lucy Mack Smith wouldn’t have it.

A new procedure was to be used in one last attempt to save the leg. Joseph Smith refused even brandy to relieve the pain of the surgery, which consisted of removing large bone fragments, but instead asked that just his father hold him, according to Lucy Mack Smith.

“Looking at me, he said, ‘Mother, I want you to leave the room for I know you cannot bear to see me suffer so; father can stand it, but you have carried me so much, and watched over me so long, you are almost worn out’,” Lucy Mack recorded her son as saying in her journals.

After several fragments were removed and the surgery completed, Lucy Mack Smith recorded that his recovery started almost immediately.

Joseph Smith was sent with his Uncle Jesse Smith, to be by the seaside where he could breathe in the rejuvenating breezes for his health. It was almost a year of Joseph Smith passing through sickness and distress before he returned to good health, albeit he was still nursing a limp as he walked, according to Lucy Mack Smith’s account of the surgery in her book on the history of Joseph Smith.

“Having passed through about a year of sickness and distress, health again returned to our family, and we most assuredly realized the blessing; and indeed, we felt to acknowledge the hand of God, more in preserving our lives through such a tremendous scene of affliction than if we had, during this time, seen nothing but health and prosperity,” Lucy Mack Smith wrote in the History of Joseph Smith

Joseph’s Great Awakening By the time Joseph Smith was 12 years old he was seeking an answer to a question that consumed him, others of his family and members of the community; which of all the many denominations was the right church so he might join it.

According to “Sermons of a Palmyra Preacher,” from LDS Church history papers, Joseph Smith listened to many preachers. It is said that Joseph Smith never mentioned the pastor George Lane in his personal histories but Joseph Smith’s brother William Smith remembers.

This remembrance is recorded in Larry C. Porter’s book, “Reverend George Lane.”

“Joseph’s brother, William, remembered Joseph attending a meeting where George Lane addressed the question ‘What church shall I join?’ Using James 1:5 as a text, Reverend Lane urged his listeners ‘to ask God.’ If William’s recollection is correct, Lane’s sermon may have influenced Joseph as he sought direction.”

According to Bennett, “In the heart of these revivals – almost always held in the wintertime in such northern climes as New York when fields lay cold and dormant – ‘anxious meetings’ were held almost every night in churches, schools, barns, or any other place large enough to accommodate yearning audiences of anxious sinners seeking salvation.”

Bennett recorded that the winter of 1820 was bitter cold and even that did not stop the night meetings. During one February meeting, one of the coldest during that winter, 13

ISAAC HALE DAILY HERALD

A Bible from 1831 that belonged to the prophet Joseph Smith and his family is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

those who were unable to obtain admittance raised the windows and listened to the word of God from outside.

Outpourings of the heart to God touched even the youngest of those attending these meetings. It was not unusual for youth to find their own special spot in a grove of trees to pray, according to Bennett.

Bennett adds in his book “School of the Prophet,” that “many are the accounts of youth retiring to their own secret groves to pray. Wrote one Reverend Jesse Braman, a Baptist preacher of an 1818-1819 revival in Ontario country near Palmyra; ‘This part of the wilderness seemed alive

for one year. The woods rang with the songs of young converts, and backsliders wept among the trees’.”

Bennett writes from the “Narrative Life of Solomon Mack,” that another unnamed preacher said, “Formerly, the children had been accustomed to resort for their juvenile recreations in the hours of play, to a certain grove, in which was a pond of water. Through the whole last of winter they resorted to the same spot; not to engage in youthful sports, but to implore the mercy of Heaven on themselves and their companions.”

It appears that Joseph Smith’s journey of faith was much the same as others. Bennett however added, “although the results were profoundly different. These wintry revivals were characterized sometimes by argument but also by the ‘solemnities of eternity,’ of the Bible being central to conversion and by similarly-aged young men and women seeking through faith the salvation of their souls.”

Bennett also added, “Whatever else one might say about Joseph’s accounts, his experience was very much part of the revival culture of his time and place, historically credible and defensible.”

Preparing for the grove For more than 20 years after Joseph Smith had his personal vision in a grove of trees near his home outside Palmyra, New York, he had written or shared a number of accounts of his experience.

Four of the more prominent accounts included one writ-

ten in the summer of 1832, in his journal of Nov. 9-11 of 1835, an 1838 history and as a part of the March 1, 1842 Wentworth Letter.

The Wentworth Letter was published in the Nauvoo Times and Seasons newspaper. It was at the request of John Wentworth, editor and proprietor of the Chicago Democrat newspaper.

The article included the First Vision account, history and beliefs of the church including the first printing of the Articles of Faith.

It is the 1838 history that has been canonized by the LDS Church and is a part of church scripture known as The Pearl of Great Price.

In the 1838 account, Joseph Smith said there was an “unusual excitement” on the subject of religion and there were great divisions among the people.

Ministers were contending for converts and appeared to be pleased when they joined any church, according to Joseph Smith.

“Yet when the converts began to file off, some to one party and some to another, it was seen that the seemingly good feelings of both the priests and the converts were more pretended than real; for a scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued. . .,” Joseph Smith said in the 1838 account.

While his father did not join any church, Joseph Smith said that his mother Lucy and his brothers Hyrum and Samuel and his sister Sophronia joined the Presbyterian faith.

ISAAC HALE DAILY HERALD

A certificate from Joseph Smith Sr. to a teacher in Sharon, Vermont, thanking her for her good work in 1806 is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

Joseph Smith said that during this time of reflection he was attracted to the Methodist faith.

“But so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong,” Smith said.

Joseph Smith and his family continued to read the Bible together, according Lucy Mack Smith’s journals. Joseph Smith also made his own time to read and ponder upon scripture.

He read in the Book of James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upraideth not and It shall be given him.”

Smith said that one passage of scripture entered his heart with great force and that he reflected on it over and over.

Like his peers, Joseph Smith chose a woodland retreat to make an attempt.

Bennett said that the grove of trees where Joseph Smith went to pray was predetermined. That he had already scouted out a place where he would be alone prior to his first private vocal attempt to pray to God. He had pondered upon the idea for more than just a few minutes or a day, according to Bennett.

Lucy Mack Smith recorded in her history, prior to the First Vision, that at age 14 there was an alarming incident against her son.

“He was out one evening on an errand and on returning home, as he was passing through the door-yard, a gun was fired across his pathway,” Lucy Smith wrote.

The next morning they found tracks from the person and two balls from the gun lodged in the head and neck of a family cow.

The family felt surprised by the attempt on Joseph Smith’s life. It would not be the last.

The vision Having found the spot that he had planned to go to attempt a vocal prayer, Joseph Smith said he looked around and found he was alone and knelt to make the attempt.

“I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak,” Joseph Smith recorded in the 1838 account of the First Vision.

He said that a thick darkness gathered around him. He couldn’t speak and it felt as if he were “doomed to sudden destruction.”

The account relays that he tried calling out to God and he recorded that was when he felt like this enemy, an actual force and power from the unseen world, would destroy him.

It was at that very moment he was freed.

“I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me,” Smith recorded in the 1838 account. “It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound.”

Joseph Smith then recorded, “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

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spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other – this is My Beloved Son. Hear Him.” Joseph Smith said he got possession of himself and asked which of all the sects was right and which he should join.

“I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power there of.”

Joseph Smith said he was then told to join none of them and was told many other things that he cannot write.

When he gathered his composure, he said he found himself laying on his back, looking up into heaven. He had no strength for a while, but soon recovered enough to get up and walk back to his home.

“I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, ‘Never mind, all is well – I am well enough off.’”

Joseph Smith added, “It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period in my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy.”

The aftermath Between 1820 and 1830 in his personal life, Joseph Smith grew to manhood, courted and married Emma Hale Smith, the love of his life, Jan. 18, 1827. During their 17-year marriage, they were parents to 11 children, two of whom were adopted. Joseph and Emma Smith’s first three children died within hours of their birth. In 1831, they adopted twins, one of which, a boy, died before reaching his first birthday.

Over the next 12 years, Emma gave birth to six more sons, four of whom survived infancy — the youngest was born five months after Joseph Smith’s death, according to church information on the life of Joseph Smith.

Over that decade, Joseph Smith shared his experiences of visitations of angels, including Moroni, whose form is depicted in gold on the top spire of nearly all of the LDS temples around the world.

It was Moroni who, according to Joseph Smith’s records, led him to where the gold plates were kept. Those plates, a history of those who lived on the American Continent, were translated by the power of God, according to Smith and is now known as “The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ.”

Subsequently, Joseph Smith recorded visitations from resurrected beings that he and his scribe, Oliver Cowdery, recorded, including John the Baptist who church records state restored the Aaronic Priesthood, with the authority to baptize for the remission of sins. The records state that he was followed sometime later by Peter, James and John, the apostles of Christ, who restored the higher priesthood to act in God’s name on earth, to confirm the gift of the Holy Ghost and to establish Christ’s kingdom once again on the earth, according to Smith.

On April 6, 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially established (for a brief time as The Church of Christ), Joseph Smith was sustained as the president, prophet, seer and revelator. It was, as members of the LDS Church believe, the restoration of Christ’s church, with the priesthood authority to act in his name on earth.

According to LDS Church newsroom information, in the mid-1800s, Boston mayor and nationally-known writer and publicist Josiah Quincy wrote: “At some future time the question may be asked, What great American has done more to mold the minds and destiny of his countrymen than any other man upon this continent?

Absurd as it may seem to some, it is not improbable that the answer to this question will be, Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet!”

Like Joseph Smith, it is today’s members that Nelson hopes will take a modern journey of faith. As Nelson said, it is their hinge point as the LDS Church continues to grow into the 21st century.

16

“I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power there of.” ­— Joseph Smith

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Joseph Smith’s journey:

LDS Church standard depiction of young Joseph Smith in the sacred grove receiving the First Vision.

One vision, four accounts

BY GENELLE PUGMIRE

Daily Herald

COURTESY INTELLECTUAL RESOURCES, INC.

18

Information on the life of the prophet Joseph Smith Jr., his family and the First Vision have flooded almost any social media platform offered by technology, at libraries, museums and in lecture halls.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is hosting a bicentennial celebration this year in honor of the First Vision, recorded as happening in the spring of 1820. The remembrance of the event, a turning point for the restoration of the church, will also be hosting a unique general conference the first weekend of April.

Over the past few years, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has opened the floodgates of information through its website, manuals, videos and podcasts on Smith and his journey to the Sacred Grove

— the location of the First Vision — and beyond.

No one has been more involved with these processes than Spencer W. McBride, church historian of the Joseph Smith Papers.

Joseph Smith Papers podcasts

For nine months of 2019, McBride researched and spoke with scholars and read their work on the prophet.

He went through Smith’s papers so his church-sponsored podcasts were transparent with information for the public understanding of why this bicentennial celebration is so important to church members.

McBride’s “The First Vision: A Joseph Smith Papers Podcast” is a sixpart miniseries from the Joseph Smith Papers Project that explores the history and legacy of Smith’s First Vision, according to the church website.

The podcast recreates the world in which Smith was seeking answers to the pressing questions of his soul, church information states.

Part of McBride’s podcasts include information on the four documented accounts of the First Vision either by

the hand of Smith, or written down by scribes and note takers.

“I’m passionate as a historian and I love being able to distill it [historical information],” McBride said. “In writing it [the podcast] I wanted it to be helpful for church members no matter where they are in their process, even new to church history.”

McBride said he has been overwhelmed with the response.

Referring to the various accountings of the First Vision, McBride said, “As a member I love reading the different ways Joseph Smith described his feelings. It filled his soul with joy unthinkable. It’s about us connecting with God.” McBride says he goes to the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York yearly and considers it very meaningful as he shares the accounts of the First Vision.

The 1832 account

“Joseph started having questions at age 12 as stated in the 1832 account of the First Vision,” McBride said. “It took him years of thinking and studying.”

McBride said the question is, “How

“The First Vision: A Joseph Smith Papers Podcast” The podcasts are found on the following: • Latter-day Saints Channel • iTunes/Apple • Google Play • Spotify • Stitcher • RSS Feed

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does that affect us as church members?”

“It is reassuring for many people who are spiritually seeking,” McBride said.

“It shows that it takes time.”

The record shares Smith’s experience of seeing God and Jesus Christ he said occurred in the early spring of 1820. It wasn’t until 12 years later

It is found in a short, unpublished history that Smith produced in the second half of 1832.

In the account, Smith describes his consciousness of his own sins and his frustration at being unable to find a church that matched the one he had read about in the New Testament and that would lead him to redemption. He emphasized Jesus Christ’s atonement and the personal redemption it offers.

“I was filled with the spirit of God, and the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord.”

— Joseph Smith in 1832 that Smith wrote down the account.

“It was a rough draft and he never finished his writing down what happened,” McBride said.

It was the earliest known account of the First Vision, the only account written in Smith’s own handwriting, according to church history records.

Smith wrote that the Lord appeared and forgave him of his sins. As a result of the vision, he experienced joy and love, though, as he noted, he could find no one who believed his account, according to church history.

Smith says in the account that he believed in the gospel as taught from the Bible, but felt the churches were not

living or professing those teachings correctly.

“My intimate acquaintance with those of different denominations led me to marvel exceedingly, for I discovered that they did not adorn their profession by a holy walk and godly conversation agreeable to what I found contained in that sacred depository,” Smith wrote in the 1832 account. “This was a grief to my soul.”

In this account he says that from age 12 to 15 he pondered many things in his heart concerning the situation of the world of mankind, the contentions and divisions, the wickedness and abominations, and the darkness which pervaded the minds of mankind.

“My mind became exceedingly distressed, for I became convicted of my sins, and by searching the scriptures I found that mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatized from the true and living faith, and there was no society or denomination that was built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament,” Smith wrote.

He said he “cried unto the Lord for mercy, for there was none else to

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whom I could go and obtain mercy.” As he was in that attitude, he said he saw a pillar of light above the brightness of the sun at noonday come down from above and it rested on him.

“I was filled with the spirit of God, and the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord,” Smith said.

He records the following, “And he spake unto me, saying, “Joseph, my son, thy sins are forgiven thee. Go thy way, walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments.”

Smith said he continued, “Behold, I am the Lord of glory.

I was crucified for the world, that all those who believe on my name may have eternal life. Behold, the world lieth in sin at this time, and none doeth good, no, not one. They have turned aside from the gospel and keep not my commandments. They draw near to me with their lips while their hearts are far from me. And mine anger is kindling against the inhabitants of the earth, to visit them according to their ungodliness and to bring to pass that which hath been spoken by the mouth of the prophets and apostles.

Behold and lo, I come quickly, as it is written of me, in the cloud, clothed in the glory of my Father.”

It should be noted that in this accounting, Smith does not refer to the powers of darkness that overcame him prior to the pillar of light.

He also puts his age at 15 years old.

“We don’t know why Joseph wrote 1832 the way he did,” McBride said. “It was never published.”

It would be three more years before he gave another accounting of his experience in the grove.

“One thing that is apparent to me is how Joseph’s understanding grew in time with visions. Joseph Smith wasn’t a record keeper as a boy. But when he was asked to keep a record the first thing he writes is the First Vision.” ­— Spencer W. McBride, church historian

The 1835 accounting

In the fall of 1835, Joseph Smith recounted his First Vision to Robert Matthews, a visitor to Kirtland, Ohio.

Church history information says the retelling, recorded in Joseph’s journal by his scribe Warren Parrish, emphasizes Joseph’s attempt to discover which church was right, the opposition he felt as he prayed, and the appearance of one divine personage who was followed shortly by another. This account also notes the appearance of angels in the vision.

“Information was what I most desired at this time, and with a fixed determination to obtain it, I called upon the Lord for the first time in the place above stated. Or in other words, I made a fruitless attempt to pray; my tongue seemed to be swollen in my mouth, so that I could not utter. I heard a noise behind me, like some person walking towards me. I strove again to pray but could not. The noise of walking seemed to draw nearer. I sprung up on my feet and looked around but saw no person or thing that was calculated to produce the noise of walking,” Smith said.

He said his tongue was then loosened so he could speak and he saw a pillar of fire above his head.

“A personage appeared in the midst of this pillar of flame, which was spread all around and yet nothing consumed. Another personage soon appeared, like unto the first. He said unto me, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” He testified unto me that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And I saw many angels in this vision. I was about fourteen years old when I received this first communication.”

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McBride said because different points were emphasized or reported differently from one accounting to another, many of Smith’s critics have latched on to those things to discredit his experience.

The 1838 account

It wasn’t until the 1838 version that an accounting of the vision became official. It is the accounting that has been canonized by the LDS Church as is added to the book of scripture known as the Pearl of Great Price.

It can been found in Joseph Smith – History 1:5-20.

“One thing that is apparent to me is how Joseph’s understanding grew in time with visions,” McBride said.

“Joseph Smith wasn’t a record keeper as a boy. But when he was asked to keep a record the first thing he writes is the First Vision.”

The 1842 account

This accounting came about from an inquiry by John Wentworth, an editor and proprietor of the Chicago Democrat, regarding the beliefs of the church. The letter also included the first writing of the church’s Articles of Faith, also canonized and added to the Pearl of Great Price.

From the “Comprehensive History of the Church,” Elder B. H. Roberts (1857–1933) of the First Council of the Seventy wrote: “The letter is one of the choicest documents in our church literature; as also it is the earliest published document by the Prophet personally, making any pretension to consecutive narrative of those events in which the great Latter-day work had its origin. … For combining conciseness of statement with comprehensiveness of treatment of the subject with which it deals, it has few equals among historical documents, and certainly none that excel it in our church literature.”

In this accounting, following his studying and pondering on the subject of religion Smith wrote, “I retired to a secret place in a grove and began to call upon the Lord. While fervently engaged in supplication, my mind was taken away from the objects with which I was surrounded, and I was enwrapped in a heavenly vision and saw two glorious personages who exactly resembled each other in features and likeness, surrounded with a brilliant light which eclipsed the sun at noonday.”

Smith continued, “They told me that all religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines and that none of them was acknowledged of God as his church and kingdom. And I was expressly commanded to ‘go not after them,’ at the same time receiving a promise that the fulness of the gospel should at some future time be made known unto me.”

The podcast talk about what was happening around Smith and his family from the economy to weekend revivals. They bring a deeper understanding to the boy and his destiny.

“It’s useful for us to look at what it was really like,” McBride said. “They were just coming out of winter with renewed life. It’s a metaphor for the restoration.”

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Joseph Smith: Coming of age during the Second Great Awakening and was a time of resurgence in religious devotion and practice in America. Following the success of Joseph Smith came of age the American Revolution, religion during the Second Great Awakexperienced a revolution of its ening. His path to the formation own. of The Church of Jesus Christ of “During the American RevoluLatter-day Saints was influenced by this time period, while also becom- tion, religious practice was more subdued,” said Spencer McBride, ing a part of this era of religious historian for the Joseph Smith history.

Papers Project. “1790 to about Second Great 1850 marked a resurgence in religious fervor. People were joining Awakening churches at a faster rate than beAccording to scholars, the Secfore, and denominations that were ond Great Awakening occurred formerly on the fringes became roughly between 1790 and 1840, mainstream and a major part of

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Christianity.”

Methodist and Baptist membership grew significantly during this era.

“By 1820, Methodist membership numbered a quarter million; by 1839 it was twice that number. Baptist membership multiplied tenfold in the three decades after the Revolution; the number of churches increased from 500 to over 2,500,” said Nathan Hatch in his book, The Democratization of American Christianity.

Hatch further explained that the major faiths of the time all had charismatic leaders who “chal-

lenged common people to take religious destiny into their own hands, to think for themselves, to oppose centralized authority and the elevation of the clergy as a separate order of men.”

Just as the “common people” of America had prevailed over the British elite, the Second Great Awakening was a time of throwing off the religious elite.

Religion no longer centered around wealthy clergymen, but on salvation through Jesus Christ. Lay preachers and traveling preachers came from all walks of life and encouraged congregations to gain their own witness of Jesus Christ.

“Joseph Smith was living at a time where the people were being encouraged to look anew at their religious state,” McBride said. “These clergy that looked and sounded like them were teaching different ways to come to Christ. Americans were finding more freedom to find one that resonated with them – to choose their own religious path.”

According to Hatch, those religious paths often included dreams and visions inspired by God fully accepted and encouraged by preachers of the time as “normal manifestations of divine guidance and instruction.”

It was in this atmosphere that Smith’s own faith and religious path was forged, and his prayer and subsequent vision, as recorded in Joseph Smith—History, in the Pearl of Great Price, was in line with the religiosity of his day.

Differing Doctrine

Under Smith’s direction and revelation, Mormonism grew and gained its own followers. While much of its doctrine was similar to Methodism and Baptist teachings of the time, Mormonism included some stark differences.

All three sects believed that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world through his atonement and res-

through continuing revelation, Mormonism continued to draw further away from other religions in its doctrines, such as: baptism for the dead, living prophets and three degrees of glory in the afterlife.

McBride explained that Smith pointed to the Bible for a basis of these “new” doctrines, providing answers for long-standing debates through additional revelation.

“The church was established in a time of religious fervor, a moment of fluctuation where Christians debated what they believed and weighed in on religion,” McBride said. “Through the revelations of Joseph Smith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints declared

“The church was established in a time of religious fervor, a moment of fluctuation where Christians debated what they believed and weighed in on religion.” ­— Spencer McBride, church historian

urrection. Each group believed in miracles, visions and personal revJoseph Smith’s elation. For all sects, the Bible was the word of God. Awakening But Mormonism believed in adMuch of the era’s religious fervor ditional scripture found in the Book centered within New York, near of Mormon, a record of ancient where Joseph Smith’s family lived. people living in the Americas transMethodist and Baptist preachers lated from golden plates by Smith. set up camp meetings that were And because of Smith’s vision in loud, full of feeling and hugely suc- the Sacred Grove in New York — cessful in recruiting converts, Hatch commonly known as the First Vision explained. Preachers’ impassioned — Mormonism differed in its view of sermons focused on faith in Jesus the Godhead.

Christ and repentance, and drew Joseph Smith’s vision changed thousands of congregants and how people viewed the Godhead, converts. because he recorded witnessing Smith expressed confusion in his two distinct beings – God the Faown writings about “this time of ther and Jesus Christ. Within Morgreat excitement.” His parents and monism, the Godhead is made up siblings joined different religions, of three distinct people — Heavenly and he felt unsure of his own reFather, Jesus Christ and the Holy ligious path. Empowered by this Ghost — acting with one godly pursame religious atmosphere, which pose. This differs from Methodists encouraged personal witness and and Baptists, who believe in the testimony, Smith searched for his Trinity, or three gods in one. own way to Christ.

Under Smith’s leadership and 26

their own position on those debates, but also moved in new directions.”

Thus, Smith was influenced by the religious atmosphere, while also becoming a part of it in his own way.

Hatch sets Smith among other well-known religious leaders of the day – Francis Asbury of the Methodists, and John Leland of the Baptists – calling them all “entrepreneurs in religion.”

“Characteristically bold, self-educated, self-confident, and inventive, this dedicated corps of charismatic leaders developed an array of religious movements that differed radically in theological outlook and organizational intent,” Hatch said in his book. “[T]hese unusually strong personalities all shared a passion for expansion, a hostility to orthodox belief and style, a zeal for religious reconstruction, and a systematic plan to labor on behalf of that ideal.”

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INTELLECTUAL RESERVE, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Timeline:

Key points in the life of Joseph Smith

BY STACY JOHNSON

Daily Herald

The following are key events in the life of Joseph Smith and the restoration period of the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to church historical records.

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Dec. 23, 1805 — Joseph Smith born to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith in Sharon, Vermont.

1813 — Joseph Smith receives a pioneering surgery to remove a portion of a bone is his leg after typhoid fever left him with a bone infection.

1816 — The Smith family moves to Palmyra New York.

Early Spring — 1820 — Joseph Smith’s First Vision is recorded as happening in a grove of trees near his home in the state of New York.

Sept. 21-22, 1823 — Joseph Smith is visited by the angel Moroni and told of the Book of Mormon record, according to records. Joseph views the gold plates buried in a nearby hill. Joseph Smith obtains the gold plates from Moroni at the Hill Cumorah on Sept.

22.

Nov. 19, 1823 — Joseph Smith’s brother Alvin dies.

March 20, 1826 — Joseph Smith is tried and acquitted on charges of being a disorderly person.

Jan. 18, 1827 — Joseph Smith marries Emma Hale.

Dec. 1827 — Joseph and Emma Smith move from Manchester, New York to Harmony, Pennsylvania to live with Emma Smith’s parents after they experience persecution in New York.

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May 15, 1829 — John the Baptist confers the Aaronic Priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in Harmony, Pennsylvania, church records state.

May 1829 — Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receive the Melchizedek Priesthood from Peter, James, and John near the Susquehanna River between Harmony, Pennsylvania, and Colesville, New York.

June 1829 — Translation of the Book of Mormon completed. The Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses shown the gold plates.

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April 6, 1830 — The church is officially organized in Fayette Township, New York.

June 28, 1830 — Joseph Smith is arrested on false charges of disorderly conduct.

September-October 1930 — The first missionaries are called under the direction of Joseph Smith.

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December 1830 to January 1831 — The Saints are commanded to gather in Ohio.

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May 9, 1831 — Joseph and Emma Smith adopt newborn twins Joseph and Julia Murdock whose mother died in childbirth.

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July 20, 1831 — The site for the city of Zion (the New Jerusalem) in Independence, Missouri, is revealed to Joseph Smith.

Nov. 1, 1831 — “The Book of Commandments” is published. It contains the revelations received by Joseph Smith to that point.

Jan. 25, 1832 — Joseph Smith is officially sustained as president and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

March 24, 1832 — Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon taken by a mob in the night, tarred and feathered.

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Carthage jail in Carthage, Illinois, is the site where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred on June 27, 1844.

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March 29, 1832 — Joseph and Emma Smith’s Feb. 14, 1835 — The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is organized in Kirtland, adopted son Joseph dies after expoOhio. sure to cold the night Joseph Smith and Rigdon were tarred and feathAug. 17, 1835 — The Doctrine and Coveered. nants accepted as a standard work of the church in Kirtland, Ohio.

Nov. 6, 1832 — Joseph and Emma Smith’s son Joseph Smith III born.

March 28, 1836 — The Kirtland Temple dedicated.

Feb. 27, 1833 — Joseph Smith receives revelation on the Word of Wisdom.

April 3, 1836 — Church history records state Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Nov. 7, 1833 — Saints begin fleeing from Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the mobs in Jackson County, Missouri, Kirtland Temple. Moses, Elias and across the Missouri River and into Elijah appeared and conveyed Clay County, Missouri. priesthood keys.

May 5, 1834 — Joseph Smith leaves Kirtland, June 20, 1836 — Joseph and Emma Smith’s Ohio, for Missouri as the leader of son Frederick Granger Williams Zion’s Camp to bring relief to Saints Smith is born in Kirtland, Ohio. expelled from Jackson County.

34

January 1838 — Joseph Smith and his family Nov. 29, 1839 — Joseph Smith meets with U.S. president Martin Van Buren seekmove from Ohio to Missouri. ing redress for Missouri grievances.

June 2, 1838 — Joseph and Emma Smith’s son Alexander Hale Smith is born in 1839 — Joseph Smith and his family move from Missouri to Nauvoo, Illinois.

Far West, Missouri.

Oct. 27, 1838 — Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issues the “extermination order” allowing residents to push out members of the church under threat of death.

Oct. 30, 1838 — Missouri mobs attack residents in Haun’s Mill. The attack resulted in the deaths of 17 people.

April 26, 1838 — Name of the Church specified by revelation.

June 13, 1840 — Joseph and Emma Smith’s son Don Carlos Smith is born in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Aug. 15, 1840 — Baptism for the dead publicly announced by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Sept. 14, 1840 — Joseph Smith, Sr. dies in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Aug. 7, 1841 — Joseph Smith’s brother Don Carlos dies in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Dec. 1, 1838 — April 16, 1839 — The Prophet Aug. 15, 1841 — Joseph and Emma Smith’s Joseph Smith and others imprisoned son Don Carlos dies at 14 months at Liberty Jail in Liberty, Missouri. old in Nauvoo, Illinois.

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entral Bank has been serving Utah County for over 129 years. We are proud of our history and look forward to building our community in the future.

We believe our progress is directly based on how dedicated we are to caring for the individual needs of the people and communities we serve.

We are committed to caring for our customers and our community—now and in the future, as we have in the past.

The bank started to grow steadily and substantially from then on. Springville Banking Company was the first bank in Utah to qualify for FDIC insurance on deposits.

It was also one of the few banks that did not require Government Debenture Capital during the Great Depression.

Past

The Organization of the Springville Banking Company Until 1891, the local townsfolk of Springville, Utah stored their gold at the Packard Brother’s store, Deal Brothers & Mendenhall Company, or H.T. Reynolds and Company. These stores thought that it would be wise to establish a bank, for security reasons. On October 17, 1891, Milan Packard (great-great-grandfather of our president, Mark Packard) established the Springville Banking Company with the help of Deal Brothers & Mendenhall Company and H.T. Reynolds & Company.

The bank continued to expand gradually, and in 1924, officers and directors of the Springville Banking Company were instrumental in attracting the Columbia Steel Mill to build a new location on the Provo-Springville border. This mill changed Springville Banking Company’s future.

cbutah.com

Springville Banking Company, 1891

The Organization of the State Bank of Provo In 1902 sixteen men organized the State Bank of Provo. These men had incredibly diverse backgrounds—sheep farmer, plumber, attorney etc. However, they all wanted to find a safe, stable place to save and borrow money. From its founding, the State Bank of Provo grew steadily.

The officers and board members prided themselves on their reputation as the bank that knew every customer as a friend.

Central Bank is Born On July 1, 1966, the Springville Banking Company and the State Bank of Provo merged under the new name of Central Bank and Trust. This was not simply a union of the two oldest banks in Utah County, but a consolidation of strength that would provide greater lending power, more financial stability, and superior services. Central Bank opened its Spanish Fork office in 1969, followed shortly by offices in the Provo Riverside PIaza in 1971, and Mapleton in 1972. Continued expansion brought offices to Payson in 1980, Orem in 1982, American Fork in 1996, Lehi in 2003, and Pleasant Grove in 2008.

When the economy began to falter in 2008, Central Bank relied on its reserves and did not take any government “bailout” or TARP money. Our long history of fiscal responsibility has allowed us to weather the economic downturns of the last century and is evidence that we have truly remained strong, safe, and secure since our founding in 1891.

Present

As seven-time winners of the Daily Herald’s Best of Utah Valley “Best Bank” award, Central Bank measures up in providing excellent products and services to customers. We are committed to offering all modern banking services and conveniences—mobile banking, online bill pay,

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advanced technology ATMs, and online financial management tools—without letting go of the personal, friendly touch that has been important to us since the beginning.

The opening of our Traverse Mountain office in April 2018 marked the beginning of a new customer service experience at Central Bank. Anyone who walks in the door of our new office will receive concierge-like assistance from one of our Customer Relationship Bankers. Rather than segmenting the responsibilities of teller and customer service representative, Customer Relationship Bankers can help our customers in a more seamless fashion. We are confident this change will provide our customers with a more streamlined, convenient, and connected banking experience.

Aside from providing exceptional banking services, Central Bank also makes valuable contributions that strengthen our communities. Our employees spend many hours each year volunteering in local service programs and the bank donates to many educational, non-profit, and civic organizations throughout Utah County.

Future

We value relationships and the communities we serve. Our approach to banking is guided by the personal relationships we build with our clients.

At Central Bank, you get the modern banking products and services you need with the service and responsiveness only a community bank can offer.

“Where we are headed in the future is no different from where we have always been headed.

Everything we do and all the decisions we make are focused on our goal of remaining an independent, community-oriented bank” says bank president, Mark Packard.

The mission of Central Bank has been and will always be to remain independent and focus on building our communities. Our standards and mission statements remain. We will work: • To meet or exceed the expectations of our customers by providing personal services and competitive products and services.

• To create an enjoyable working environment that will encourage an atmosphere where employees and customers will feel welcome and comfortable while at Central Bank.

Central Bank Downtown Provo, present day

• To remain independent by adhering to time-tested banking values so that we may continue to provide service to our community, to our customers and to each other.

Central Bank Traverse Mountain, Lehi

We are honored to have been able to serve our customers and the Utah Valley community since 1891, and we’re excited to continue to provide quality customer service that will benefit our customers into the future.

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Feb. 6, 1842 — Joseph and Emma Smith’s son dies at birth. The son was not named.

March 17, 1842 — Female Relief Society organized in Nauvoo, Illinois.

May 4, 1842 — First full temple endowments given in Nauvoo, Illinois.

May 19, 1842 — Joseph Smith is elected as the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois.

May 28, 1843 — Joseph and Emma Smith are sealed for time and eternity.

June 24, 1844 — Joseph Smith with his brother Hyrum voluntarily surrenders to a constable in Carthage, Illinois on charges of inciting a riot.

June 27, 1844 — Joseph and Hyrum Smith martyred at Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois.

June 29, 1844 — Joseph and Hyrum Smith are buried in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Nov. 17, 1844 — Joseph and Emma Smith’s son David Hyrum Smith is born.

Information from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints historic records.

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Smith family lineage written by the prophet Joseph Smith and Emma Hale, his first wife, is displayed within a Bible from 1831 that belonged to Smith and his family at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

PHOTOS BY ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD

LDS Guide Vignettes A string made by Mary Musselman Whitmer and a piece of silk from the original Book of Mormon manuscript is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

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A piece of a page from the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon in 1829, which had Alma 60, verses 6-8 on one side and verses 16-17 on the other side, printed on it is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

The first advertisement for the Book of Mormon published in The Wayne Sentinel on March 26, 1830, and written by the prophet Jospeh Smith is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

A notice written by Thurlow Weed, a printer who turned down printing the first run of the Book of Mormon, noting that the book is now available, in the Rochester Daily Advertiser and Telegram dated March 29, 1830, is displayed on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

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Documents bearing the signatures of the Three Witnesses, from left, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris and David Whitmer, are displayed Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. These documents were provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

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The earliest signature of Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses, and the only of his signatures outside of the archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is displayed on a document Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

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A document from the 1700’s bearing the names of roughly a dozen relatives of the Smith family among 198 other names is displayed Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

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The first edition Book of Mormon which belonged to the prophet Jospeh Smith and his family from 1830 is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

A book titled “An Address Delivered At Topsfield In Massachusetts, August 28, 1850” belonging to George A. Smith and featuring his signature as well as the signature of Joseph F. Smith Sr. is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo. St. George, Utah, was named after George A. Smith, and Joseph F. Smith was the sixth president and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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A document from the 1700’s bearing the names of roughly a dozen relatives of the Smith family among 198 other names is displayed Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo.

This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

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A tax census from Topsfield, Massachusetts, in 1718 bearing the name of Samuel Smith, Jospeh Smith’s great grandfather, is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

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A newspaper clipping from the Pennsylvania Inquirer featuring an interview with the prophet Joseph Smith about the First Vision and other topics in 1843 is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

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An 1834 report of the Burnedover District in New York State is displayed Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo.

This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

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A certificate from Joseph Smith Sr. to a teacher in Sharon, Vermont, thanking her for her good work in 1806 is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

A photo of the John Gould House, located in Topsfield, Massachusetts, and a deed with a signature from his great-uncle, Zaccheus Gould, dated 1732 is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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The signature of Pomeroy Tucker, who owned Hill Cumorah is displayed on a document Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

A book titled “An Address Delivered At Topsfield In Massachusetts, August 28, 1850” belonging to George A. Smith, is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo. St. George, Utah, was named after George A. Smith.

A newspaper clipping from the Pennsylvania Inquirer featuring an interview with the prophet Joseph Smith about the First Vision and other topics in 1843 is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

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A sampler of the Austin family from Tunbridge, Vermont, is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo. Seth Austin, a justice of the peace, married Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith on June 24, 1796.

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A newspaper clipping written by Joseph Smith Sr. dated Sept. 24, 1824, dispelling a rumor that his late son, Alvin, had been dug up and dissected, is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

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PHOTOS BY ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD

Documents bearing the signatures of the Three Witnesses, from left, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris and David Whitmer, are displayed Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. These documents were provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

A Quorum of Witnesses: A look at the men who saw, testified of the Book of Mormon

BY KARISSA NEELY

Special to the Daily Herald

In the introductory pages of the Book of Mormon, there is a page that contains the Testimony of Three Witnesses and the Testimony of Eight Witnesses.

These testimonies, collectively penned by 11 men close to Joseph Smith at the time, bear record of the plates which Smith translated into the Book of Mormon.

According to their testimonies, the three witnesses saw the angel, the plates and the engravings on the plates. They also heard the voice of God declaring the accuracy of Smith’s translation. The eight witnesses bore testimony to the physicality of the plates – that they “hefted” them.

Of those 11 men, five died consistently faithful to the church. Six left the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but two of those six returned later in life to full membership. But, according to historical records, regardless of their religious affiliation, all affirmed their witness of seeing and handling the plates throughout their lives.

Oliver Cowdery

He sat near Smith day by day, working as Smith’s scribe as Smith translated the Book of Mormon. Cowdery then wrote out two manuscripts of the book completely by hand. E.B. Grandin printed the Book of Mormon in 1830 from this second copy.

Cowdery and Smith were baptized and ordained to the priesthood together on the banks of the Susquehanna River near Harmony, Pennsylvania, according to church historical record. He also served multiple missions for the early church, and served with Smith as second apostle and assistant president of the church.

“He was the lead witness, because he testified not only of seeing Moroni but also of having many other visitations, including ‘the administration of angels,’ which included John the Baptist and Peter, James and John. He witnessed much more than the others,” said Richard Bennett, professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, in a recent interview.

Though using much of his own money to finance church affairs, Cowdery was later accused of mishandling church money due to the sale of his personal property. At the same time, he grew frustrated with some of the early apostles and high council leaders of the church.

“My soul is sick of such scrambling for power,” he wrote in a letter

Oliver Cowdery was the second elder of the newly-formed church.

62

Continued on 64

Continued from 62

to his brother, as cited in “Saints, Vol. 1: The Standard of Truth, 1815-1846.”

He was excommunicated in 1838.

“He was misunderstood by those who thought he was taking money from the church in Missouri, when in fact he was trying to reclaim some of what he had paid out of his own funds,” Bennett said.

He went on to become a successful lawyer and respected citizen among non-Mormon peers.

According to Richard Lloyd Anderson in his book, “Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses,” Cowdery was nominated for and ran for state assemblyman in 1848 in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Despite a smear campaign deriding him for testifying of the “Mormon Bible,” Cowdery lost the election by only 40 votes out of about 500.

He returned to membership in the church in late 1848, was rebaptized in Iowa, and continued his witness of the Book of Mormon until his death in 1850.

“He is a remarkable man, and an extremely important witness, not just for the Book of Mormon, but for the restoration of the priesthood,” Bennett said.

David Whitmer

David Whitmer was a friend of Oliver Cowdery and came to the gospel through him. He, like Oliver Cowdery, was one of the six original members of the Church, and a local leader of the early Missouri church congregations from 1834 to 1838. According to Anderson, Whitmer affirmed his witness of the Book of Mormon many times, including to a mob in 1833 in Independence, Missouri, who threatened his life.

According to Bennett, Whitmer became increasingly disgruntled with Joseph Smith’s leadership, various developments in church government, and possibly upset that he was not given greater leadership responsibility. He was excommunicated in 1838.

He went on to be a successful businessman in Missouri. Though

The earliest signature of Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses, and the only of his signatures outside of the archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is displayed on a document Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

“They all were very faithful men. They had to be living in such a way to deserve that. And seeing such other things as the Liahona, the breast plate of Laban, the Urim and Thummim, as section 17 of the Doctrine and Covenants testifies – their witness also confirms the historicity, or historical factuality of the Book of Mormon, and by extension, the truth claims of the Holy Bible. There is a ripple effect in these witnesses that is far beyond just the plates.”

— Richard Bennett, BYU Church History professor

The signature of Oliver Cowdery, one of the Three Witnesses, is displayed on a document Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

A document noting the bankruptcy of a portion of a farm belonging to Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses to the golden plates and who also financially helped print the first edition of the Book of Mormon, is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

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A document noting the bankruptcy of a portion of a farm belonging to Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses to the golden plates and who also financially helped print the first edition of the Book of Mormon, is displayed at B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in downtown Provo.

The signature of David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses, is displayed on a document he wrote about the Book of Mormon on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. This document was provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

The final testimony of Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses, written by his family member and attorney, William Harrison Homer, is displayed Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. These documents were provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

Whitmer never returned to church membership, he declared his witness of the Book of Mormon many, many times. Bennett refers to him as “the abundant witness.” “[B]eware how you hastily condemn that book which I know to be the word of God; for his own voice and an angel from heaven declared the truth of it unto me,” Whitmer wrote in a pamphlet, “An Address to All Unbelievers in Christ by a Witness to the Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon” in 1887, as quoted in Anderson’s book.

Whitmer’s testimony was recorded in newspapers, personal interviews and other writings of the time, according to Anderson, who dubbed him “the most interviewed witness.”

“One reason he gave more testimonies of the angel and the Book of Mormon is because the angel turned to him and called him by name, and commanded him to witness,” Bennett said.

Whitmer died in 1888.

“Without Martin Harris, I don’t know that we’d have the Book of Mormon. Through mortgaging his farm, he provided the $3,000 to pay for the printing of the book. In essence, he bankrolled the restoration,” Bennett said. “He saw the plates, but he also saw a way through to publication of the book.”

Though Harris testified of the Book of Mormon, he too disagreed with some of the leadership of the growing church, and by 1837 he was part of a group of dissenters who formed their own church. He was excommunicated in December 1837.

He stayed in Kirtland, Ohio, when the church moved further west, and became well-respected there. He joined various religions of the time, but continued to bear witness of the Book of Mormon.

He returned to church membership in 1870 at the age of 87, and moved to Utah. During those last few years before his death in 1875, according to Anderson, hundreds of people came to see him and hear his recounting of seeing the plates.

“I know what I know. I have seen what I have seen, and I have Martin Harris heard what I heard. I have seen the gold plates,” he said, as quoted Born in 1783, Martin Harris was much older than Smith, Cowdery in Anderson’s book. and Whitmer, and a successful farmer during his time in and out of the church. He sought out Smith during the translation of the Book The Eight Witnesses of Mormon and served as a scribe for a time.

Eight other witnesses saw and handled the golden plates, and 67

The final testimony of Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses, written by his family member and attorney, William Harrison Homer, is displayed Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at the Daily Herald in Provo. These documents were provided by B. Ashworth’s Rare Books and Collectibles.

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“also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work,” according to their testimony in the preface of the Book of Mormon.

David Whitmer’s brothers, Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer Jr. and John Whitmer, as well as Joseph Smith, Sr., Hyrum Smith, Samuel Smith, and Hyrum Page, were these witnesses.

Christian Whitmer was a shoemaker, and possibly served as a scribe to Smith at times, according to the Joseph Smith Papers. He served in various leadership positions in the church until his death in 1835.

Jacob Whitmer was also a shoemaker and farmer. He served the church until becoming disaffected with the church in 1838, according to the Joseph Smith Papers. Despite this, he affirmed his witness of the Book of Mormon until his death in 1856, as cited in Anderson’s book.

Peter Whitmer Jr. was a tailor and also one of the six original members of the church when it was organized in 1830, according to the Joseph Smith Papers. He served a mission for the church and was part of the church’s leadership. He died in 1836.

John Whitmer was a farmer and newspaperman, who also was a scribe for Smith when Smith lived in the Whitmer home. He served in various positions in the church, including church historian, and helped establish the church members at Far West, Missouri, according to the Joseph Smith Papers.

Though John Whitmer was excommunicated in 1838 and never returned to the church, even in his old age he told of handling the plates, according to Anderson. He died in 1878.

Hiram Page was a farmer and brother-in-law to the Whitmer

brothers. According to the Joseph Smith Papers, he helped to found Far West. He left the church in 1838, but continued to affirm his witness of the Book of Mormon. He died in 1852.

Joseph Smith Sr. was the first patriarch of the church, and continued in the faith until his death in 1840.

Joseph Smith’s brothers, Hyrum and Samuel, also remained faithful. Hyrum Smith died in Carthage Jail with Joseph Smith in 1844.

Samuel Smith was the third person baptized into the church, served as a scribe to his older brother when needed, and served multiple missions to share the faith. He died just 34 days after his brothers.

A Quorum of Witnesses

Bennett explained that, with these 11 witnesses, and Joseph Smith’s own testimony, these men constitute what might be considered a quorum of witnesses. Within the church, quorums are used to gather groups of members or make decisions.

Bennett explained their individual and collective testimonies — given not only once in published format, but over their lifetimes — are highly significant. As the three witnesses declared, they “heard the voice of God declaring the translation was correct, and commanding them to bear testimony to that.”

“They all were very faithful men. They had to be living in such a way to deserve that,” Bennett said. “And seeing such other things as the Liahona, the breast plate of Laban, the Urim and Thummim, as section 17 of the Doctrine and Covenants testifies – their witness also confirms the historicity, or historical factuality of the Book of Mormon, and by extension, the truth claims of the Holy Bible. There is a ripple effect in these witnesses that is far beyond just the plates.”

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