“Prepared to Receive the Gospel,” Tambuli, Nov. 1989, 13
Prepared to Receive the Gospel
Joseph Smith was not the only person to testify of the restoration of the gospel and the coming forth of the book of Mormon.
The Prophet Joseph Smith knew of the reality of God from his early youth. But there were no other witnesses of the Prophet’s First Vision or the visitations of Moroni. When Joseph Smith shared his experiences, most of the people did not believe him. One minister “treated [his] communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil” (JS—H 1:21).
Others were more receptive. Joseph’s own family accepted the reality of his “instructions from the Lord,” and they believed that God would give them “a more perfect knowledge of the plan of salvation and the redemption of the human family.”1 But though the Smiths believed that Joseph had seen visions, they did not share his understanding of the truth. “Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined,” wrote his mother, Lucy Mack Smith.2 But he was still basically alone as a personal witness of the divine manifestations he had received.
It was not until David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris were shown the plates and other sacred artifacts by divine manifestation in June 1829 that additional witnesses were needed to testify of the Book of Mormon “by the power of God” (D&C 17:3).
Lucy Mack Smith recorded that, following this divine witness, Joseph told her and his father, “You do not know how happy I am: The Lord has now caused the plates to be shown to three more besides myself. They have seen an angel, who has testified to them, and they will have to bear witness to the truth of what I have said, for now they know for themselves that I do not go about to deceive the people, and I feel as if I was relieved of a burden which was almost too heavy for me to bear, and it rejoices my soul that I am not any longer to be entirely alone in the world.”3
From June 1829 until his death in June 1844, Joseph Smith knew and associated with many who shared his testimony of truth, but who were also persecuted because of that testimony. Some shared directly in the divine manifestations he experienced. Sidney Rigdon, for example, shared Joseph’s vision of the three degrees of glory. (See D&C 76:22–23.)
Sidney was also in Hiram, Ohio, on 24 March 1832, when a mob dragged Joseph from the Johnson farmhouse. Sidney had already been attacked, tarred and feathered, and then cruelly dragged by his heels. His head was badly lacerated, and he was unconscious from loss of blood when Joseph saw him lying on the frozen ground. The next day, Sidney was delirious. But despite such persecution, his testimony remained intact for twelve years after that.4
Others shared Joseph’s ministry and his pain in persecution. “I could pray in my heart that all my brethren were like unto my beloved brother Hyrum, who possesses the mildness of a lamb, and the integrity of a Job, and in short, the meekness and humility of Christ,”5 wrote Joseph of his faithful brother.
Like Sidney and Hyrum, many other men and women shared with the Prophet the joys of personal manifestations of truth as well as burdens “almost too heavy for [him] to bear.”6 Unfortunately, too often only the names of the most prominent are remembered. However, the testimonies of many other Saints who knew and loved Joseph loudly proclaim them as powerful witnesses of his divine calling.
Witnesses in Palmyra
Daniel Wells was among the early Saints who experienced the religious excitement prevalent in western New York in the 1820s. He wrote, “The days of my youth were days of religious excitement—the days of revivals, which so pervaded that section of country at that time—and I can well understand the effect these things must have had on the mind of Joseph. … I know how those revivals affected the minds of the young people in the neighbourhood in which I lived.”7
As Joseph translated the Book of Mormon, he learned of the need for “three witnesses … besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein” (2 Ne. 27:12). Others besides the Three Witnesses testified of the Book of Mormon’s divine origin. Mary Musselman Whitmer told her son David of an experience she had one day on her way to milk the cows. She was met by a messenger, who, David recalled, said, “You have been very faithful and diligent in your labors, but you are tired because of the increase of your toil; it is proper therefore that you should receive a witness [in order] that your faith may be strengthened.”8 The messenger then showed her the plates.
Other contemporaries of the Prophet Joseph Smith were prepared for the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. In 1816, in response to a prayer much like Joseph’s, an angelic visitor informed Solomon Chamberlain that “faith was gone from the earth, excepting a few and that all Churches were corrupt.” The angel told Solomon that the Lord “would soon raise up a Church, that would be after the Apostolic Order, that there would be in it the same powers, and gifts that were in the days of Christ, and that [he] should live to see the day, and that there would [be] a book come forth, like unto the Bible and the people would be guided by it, as well as the Bible.” In 1829, while traveling on the Erie Canal, he felt prompted by the Spirit to stop in Palmyra. He walked three miles south of the community, then lodged at a farmhouse for the night. In the morning the house’s occupants asked if he had ever heard of the “Gold Bible.” Solomon later recalled that, at the mere mention of it, “There was a power like electricity [that] went from the top of my head to the end of my toes.”9
He made his way to the Smith’s home, where he told the family of his vision. They, in turn, told him of the Book of Mormon. They spent two days teaching him the doctrines of the book, and he then took some of the newly printed pages of the book with him to Canada, where, he recalled, “I preached all I knew concerning Mormonism.”10
Witnesses in Ohio
Like Solomon, many others rallied around Joseph and joyfully accepted the truth. They joined the Church in New York, but left their homes to follow him when the Lord directed him to go to Ohio. (See D&C 37:1.) Among those who were prepared to receive the gospel in Ohio were Newel and Elizabeth Whitney. One evening at about midnight, the Whitneys were praying, asking God how they could obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost. Elizabeth recorded their experience:
“The spirit rested upon us and a cloud overshadowed the house. It was as though we were out of doors. The house passed away from our vision. … A solemn awe pervaded us. We saw the cloud and we felt the spirit of the Lord.
“Then we heard a voice out of the cloud saying:
“‘Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!’
“At this we marveled greatly; but from that moment we knew that the word of the Lord was coming to Kirtland.”11
Mary Elizabeth Rollins was also prepared for the truth the Prophet Joseph brought forth. She recalled that when she saw a copy of the Book of Mormon at the home of Isaac Morley, “I felt such a desire to read it, that I could not refrain from asking him to let me take it home and read it, while he attended meeting.” She asked so earnestly that Isaac gave her the book on the condition that she bring it back before breakfast the next morning.
Mary Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle stayed up very late reading the Book of Mormon, and Mary rose at daybreak so she could continue reading. True to her promise, she returned the book before Isaac Morley had had breakfast. When he told her, “I guess you did not read much in it,” she showed him how much she had read, recited the first verse, and outlined the story of Nephi. Surprised, he said, “Child, take this book home and finish it, I can wait.”12 Mary was one of the first to receive the witness of the Spirit promised in Moroni 10:4 [Moro. 10:4]. Joseph had still another fellow witness!
The divine manifestations continued. Forty-six sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were received during Joseph’s years in Kirtland. And it was there that Joseph was visited by Moses, Elias, Elijah, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (See D&C 110.)
Witnesses in Missouri and Illinois
Yet, even as Joseph and the Saints were being visited by heavenly messengers, they also experienced persecution. In Missouri, Joseph was condemned to death by a military tribunal. The persecution became so intense that, while he was in Liberty Jail, he exclaimed in agony, “O God, where art thou?” (D&C 121:1). Part of the Lord’s comforting response was, “Thy people shall never be turned against thee” (D&C 122:3).
Indeed, Joseph did not suffer alone. Many Saints endured great persecution with him. And the Lord answered their prayers for help; he told them, “Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever” (D&C 122:9).
The persecution halted for a season as the Saints moved to a new place on the banks of the Mississippi River, where they drained the swamplands and founded the city of Nauvoo, to which new converts from many nations came to unite with their fellow Saints. Among them was a group of nine black Saints who entered the city late in 1843, led by a free black woman, Jane Elizabeth Manning. She and her friends had walked almost 1,300 kilometers. She later recalled, “We walked until our shoes were worn out, and our feet became sore and cracked open and bled until you could see the whole print of our feet with blood on the ground. We stopped and united in prayer to the Lord, we asked God the Eternal Father to heal our feet and our prayers were answered and our feet were healed.”13
Though Illinois was for a time a refuge of peace and safety for the Saints, that refuge was short-lived. The Prophet Joseph’s death on 27 June 1844 at Carthage brought more persecution and suffering to his followers. But despite hardship, many Saints—like Sidney Tanner—continued to endure faithfully. Sidney suffered the loss of his wife and three children within a two-year period, yet on 13 April 1845, when he wrote from Winter Quarters to his in-laws, James and Elsie Conlee (who were rather antagonistic toward the Saints) to tell them of his wife’s death, he said,
“[My wife, Louisa] requested me to write to you and tell you that she died in the full triumph of the faith of Jesus Christ and her greatest desire for living was for the benefit of her family and friends and [to] do what she was afraid they would not do for themselves, that they might arrive to a glorious salvation in the kingdom of God, where she expects to meet them and enjoy their society.”14
Just as Joseph Smith was prepared to receive the truth, so were thousands of Saints who united with him in accepting the truth. They knew Joseph was a prophet, and they testified of the truths he had restored. Their combined testimonies are another witness that Joseph was a prophet, and they testified of the truths he had restored. Their combined testimonies are another witness that Joseph Smith was indeed chosen by the Lord to restore the gospel in the latter days. Like Joseph, they, too, could exclaim, “I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation” (JS—H 1:25). The testimony they shared with the Prophet fulfilled his prophetic assertion: “I am not any longer to be entirely alone in the world.”15 Indeed, he was not.
Illustrated by Edward G. Grigware
Mary Elizabeth Rollins received a witness of the truth of the Book of Mormon after staying up late reading a copy loaned her by Isaac Morley. (Illustrated by Bill Maughan.)
Nine black Saints wore out their shoes walking 1,300 kilometers to Nauvoo. A special prayer helped them on their way.