Monday Memories – "Praise to the Man"

I don’t remember not believing that Joseph Smith had a vision where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him.  If I believed that Abraham and Moses and Adam and Jacob could walk and talk with God, and I did, then it only made sense to me that God would continue to walk and talk with modern prophets.  Thus, I believed, and thus I believe.

I do remember the first time I heard a classmate make fun of Joseph Smith.  He called him Joe and scorned him and said his story was a hoax.  I was stunned.  Joseph Smith’s account made so much sense to me, I wondered why it didn’t make sense to him.  The boy’s words stung like sticks and stones, and it was as if someone had slammed a family member. 

One thing I appreciate about Joseph Smith’s example is that he was a hard worker and he learned quickly from his mistakes.  One thing I appreciate about Joseph Smith as a prophet is that he restored the Gospel to the earth so that the same truths that were here in Christ’s time are here again.  I love the Prophet Joseph, I know he is a prophet of God, and I am grateful to belong to the Church that he helped to re-establish.

Tonight for family night we’re watching the Joseph Smith movie.  Oh sure, I’ve seen it several times in the last six months, but that doesn’t keep me from wanting to see it tonight to honor the day the Prophet Joseph Smith sealed his testimony here on this earth.  Because he would never recount the experience he had of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appearing to him, he was eventually killed for it.