LDS Public Affairs New Videos Published Part 2

These Are The Remainder Of "The World Report" Videos that will be featured (From what I understand) with the DVD's of the 179th Semi-Annual General Conference of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.















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Plainview Texas Branch; Lubbock Stake Announcements;

Saturday, October 17th 2009: 10:00am to 12:00pm Primary Program Practice
Saturday, October 17th 2009: 5:00pm SYC @ Stake Center
Saturday, October 17th 2009: 7:00pm Dance @ Stake Center

Sunday. October 18th, 2009: Branch Council

LDS Public Affairs New Videos Published

 -I MUST THANK THEM FOR VISITING MY DISTANT FAMILY
















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Plainview Texas Branch; Lubbock Stake Announcements;

Saturday, October 17th 2009: 10:00am to 12:00pm Primary Program Practice
Saturday, October 17th 2009: 5:00pm SYC @ Stake Center
Saturday, October 17th 2009: 7:00pm Dance @ Stake Center

Sunday. October 18th, 2009: Branch Council

My Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith ; Every Piece of this Latter-Day Work Hinges On Testimony Of Him!

My Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith ; Every Bit of this Latter-Day Work Hinges On Testimony Of Him!
All who were present in this past Sunday's Priesthood; (Elders Quorum) would all have to agree that the power of the Holy Ghost which was ever so present  that it penetrated deeply to our Souls. But why? Why did it touch us so deeply, leave us so stirred and moved upon that we left that room with a feeling of centered Spiritual understanding, or Glory of God, as noted in D & C 93:36 where it says:

"The Glory of God Is Intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth."

 Well, I suppose to fully try and understand why the Spirit moved upon as it did, we first must remember the lesson that was given, and what we spoke on. The lesson was titled,

“He Was a Prophet of God”: Contemporaries of Joseph Smith Testify of His Prophetic Mission"

Finally, even though we knew in our minds the physical knowledge, the History of the Church can unintentionally be forgotten... or perhaps even placed in the backseat of our mortal probation (The road of life) and therefore we lose the significance of what we have, we lose the sure knowledge, more commonly referred to by all as "The Witness" that in bourne unto you by the Holy Ghost. We have the tendency , as is normal for "The Natural Man"....since the fall of Adam, to properly place our house, our life, our families in order; In an order that has no enmity towards the will of the Father.

Our Testimonies, everything we have, believe, understand of the divine nature of our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ; All of it hinges (pivots) on the Prophet Joseph Smith. Can we have a testimony of The Book of Mormon and not of Joseph Smith? No. Can we believe in the significance of The Family (Proclamation)  if we don't believe in the previous? No. Can I say that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God if I dont believe Jospeh Smith was? No..... and the answer will always be no IF such is the case. 

What we do testify of that cannot be attributed and traced back to Joseph Smith concerning the Dispensation of The Fullness of Times? Nothing, for all that we have hinges on him. How well do we know for ourselves that the Prophet Joseph was indeed a Prophet of God? How can we know if we currently don't know? Well, if we use only biblical verses, we would read the following;

Matthew 21:22

22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

John 16:24

24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ^aask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

 James 1 :5

 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Recognize anything familiar about that last verse brethren? The very thing that James directs...is that very same thing that Joseph Smith did in Faith. Because of all this sheer confusion in his day, and because of his genuine concern for Eternal Welfare.... he sought out the Lord. I move to quote some things said by Latter-Day Prophets;

President Brigham Young (1801–77)

“All that Joseph Smith did was to preach the truth—the gospel as the Lord revealed it to him—and tell the people how to be saved, and the honest in heart ran together and gathered around him and loved him as they did their own lives” (Deseret News, 10 Aug. 1864, 859).

President Lorenzo Snow (1814–1901)
“We testify to the whole world that we know, by divine revelation, even through the manifestations of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that he revealed himself to Joseph Smith as personally as he did to his apostles anciently, after he arose from the tomb, and that he made known unto him these heavenly truths by which alone mankind can be saved” (Deseret News, 31 Jan. 1877, 834).

President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918)
“The day will come—and it is not far distant, either—when the name of the Prophet Joseph Smith will be coupled with the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God, as his representative, as his agent whom he chose, ordained and set apart to lay anew the foundations of the Church of God in the world, which is indeed the Church of Jesus Christ, possessing all the powers of the gospel, all the rites and privileges, the authority of the Holy Priesthood, and every principle necessary to fit and qualify both the living and the dead to inherit eternal life, and to attain to exaltation in the kingdom of God” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 134).

President George Albert Smith (1870–1951)
“To my mind one of the strongest testimonies of the divinity of the life of our Savior is the testimony of Joseph Smith who laid down his life as a witness of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ” (Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 19 Dec. 1926, 4a).

President David O. McKay (1873–1970)
“The peace and happiness of mankind lie in the acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of the world, our Saviour. The principles of the restored gospel as revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith are the surest, safest guide to mortal man” (Man May Know for Himself: Teachings of President David O. McKay, comp. Clare Middlemiss [1967], 383).

President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972)
“Joseph Smith is the revealer of the knowledge of Christ and of salvation to the world for this day and generation. … I, for one, want to be numbered forever among those who seek counsel and authority and blessings as they have come from this great prophet whom the Lord raised up to commence the restoration of all things in this final, glorious gospel dispensation” (quoted in Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. and John J. Stewart, The Life of Joseph Fielding Smith [1972], 364).

President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973)
“No man can accept Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, no man can accept this as His church, the Church of Jesus Christ, unless he can accept Joseph Smith as God’s mouthpiece and the restorer of His work in these latter days” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, ed. Clyde J. Williams [1996], 371).

President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994)
“God has in very deed revealed Himself from the heavens. He did raise up the boy prophet. …
“Joseph Smith has done more for the salvation of men in this world than any man who ever lived in it, except the Master (see D&C 135:3). He stands at the head of this dispensation—the greatest gospel dispensation of all time—and all the world will someday come to realize that he is in very deed a prophet of the Living God” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 131–32).

President Gordon B. Hinckley
“How great indeed is our debt to him. … It was he who brought us a true knowledge of God, the Eternal Father, and His Risen Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. During the short time of his great vision he learned more concerning the nature of Deity than all of those who through centuries had argued the matter in learned councils and scholarly forums. He brought us the marvelous Book of Mormon as another witness for the living reality of the Son of God. To him, from those who held it anciently, came the priesthood, the power, the gift, the authority, the keys to speak and act in the name of God. He gave us the organization of the Church and its great and sacred mission. Through him were restored the keys of the holy temples, that men and women might enter into eternal covenants with God and that the great work for the dead might be accomplished to open the way for eternal blessings. …
“He was the instrument in the hands of the Almighty. He was the servant acting under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ in bringing to pass this great latter-day work.
“We stand in reverence before him. He is the great prophet of this dispensation. He stands at the head of this great and mighty work which is spreading across the earth. He is our prophet, our revelator, our seer, our friend. Let us not forget him. Let not his memory be forgotten in the celebration of Christmas. God be thanked for the Prophet Joseph” (“A Season for Gratitude,” Ensign, Dec. 1997, 2).

The Prophet Joseph Smith’s Testimony
“We [Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery] saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit [in the Kirtland Temple], before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber.
“His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:

“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father” (D&C 110:2–4).

“For while we [Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon] were doing the work of translation, …
“… the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone round about.

“And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and received of his fulness. …
“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

“That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:15, 19–20, 22–24).

“And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—

“That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;

“That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him” (D&C 76:40–42).


In good measure, the intent and drive of this entire message, this entire blog..... is to share with you these things.

D & C 135:3

3 Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine andandand instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated! 

Brethren, I bear you my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, I bear witness unto you as Elder Jeffrey Holland did this past conference (October 2009) That The Book Of Mormon is True. I know with great clarity inside my heart that in the future I will meet Brother Joseph and lovingly embrace and thank this man for his testimony, sealed with his own blood. I know the sacrifice for him and many other bereft Saints were innumerable. But the love that Joseph Possessed, both for mankind... and the Savior was shown and seen by all who came in contact with him. I know he IS a Prophet, and that because he had Charity, and testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon: Another Witness Of Jesus Christ, that the Book Of Mormon is true.

I never always lived it previously to coming out here to Plainview Texas; Lived What? Lived the Gospel. I guess it should or could be said that the evidence of the changes in my life are with and because of the Gospel. The judges of Israel guided me... and so carefully reminded me (of what Elder Holland has said in times past ...)


To all of you who think you are lost or without hope, or who think you have done too much that was too wrong for too long, to every one of you who worry that you are stranded somewhere on the wintry plains of life and have wrecked your handcart in the process, this conference calls out Jehovah’s unrelenting refrain, “[My] hand is stretched out still.”12 “I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them,” He said, “[and even if they] deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, … if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts.”13 His mercy endureth forever, and His hand is stretched out still. His is the pure love of Christ, the charity that never faileth, that compassion which endures even when all other strength disappears.
("Prophets In The Land Again" ; Elder Jeffrey Holland November 2006 Ensign)

Brethren, Satan will attempt to discourage us, he will try and sabotage any and all efforts, and you can expect him to try immediately after you do, to turn your life around. The song "Scripture Power" is a great way to help you understand the "Therapy"  I had to put myself through to see my wrongs, to right my wrongs, to repent for them, then, to forsake them. The scriptures and prayer changed it all for me.... it can for you too! 

As a messenger of The Lord Jesus Christ, I as well place my testimony in the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, That Jesus is The Christ, The Literal Living Son, of our Literal Living Heavenly Father; Joseph Smith is A Prophet of God- and so bear my testimony to you, in The Great and Holy Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen." (Sunday October 11th, 2009) Rexford George Beardsley Jr-
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Plainview Texas Branch; Lubbock Stake Announcements;

Saturday, October 17th 2009: 10:00am to 12:00pm Primary Program Practice
Saturday, October 17th 2009: 5:00pm SYC @ Stake Center
Saturday, October 17th 2009: 7:00pm Dance @ Stake Center

Sunday. October 18th, 2009: Branch Council

Lesson 43: “He Was a Prophet of God” : Contemporaries of Joseph Smith Testify of His Prophetic Mission

Chapter 43: “He Was a Prophet of God”: Contemporaries of Joseph Smith Testify of His Prophetic Mission,

 

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2007),493–506

“I feel like shouting, hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet.” (Brigham Young)

From the Life of Joseph Smith

In Nauvoo, the Saints often gathered together to hear the Prophet Joseph Smith speak to them. Because there was no building in Nauvoo large enough to hold all the Saints, the Prophet often spoke outside. He frequently spoke in a grove located just west of the temple, where thousands could assemble. A portable platform was constructed for Church leaders and speakers, and the congregation sat on the grass or on logs or bricks. The Prophet also spoke in other locations in Nauvoo, including the unfinished temple and private homes. A visitor to Nauvoo in early 1843 reported seeing meetings held “on the rough floor of the basement of the Temple, and then the Prophet frequently preaches.”1
 
When the Prophet spoke outdoors, he often began his talks by asking the Saints to pray for the wind or rain to be calmed until he got through speaking. At a conference held in Nauvoo on April 8, 1843, the Prophet began an address by saying: “I have three requests to make of the congregation: The first is, that all who have faith will exercise it and pray the Lord to calm the wind; for as it blows now, I cannot speak long without seriously injuring my health; the next is that I may have your prayers that the Lord will strengthen my lungs, so that I may be able to make you all hear; and the third is, that you will pray for the Holy Ghost to rest upon me, so as to enable me to declare those things that are true.”2
 
The Prophet’s appointments to speak were very important to members of the Church, and he sometimes spoke to congregations numbering several thousand. “None listened to him that were ever weary with his discourse,” recalled Parley P. Pratt. “I have even known him to retain a congregation of willing and anxious listeners for many hours together, in the midst of cold or sunshine, rain or wind, while they were laughing at one moment and weeping the next.”3 Alvah J. Alexander, who was a boy during the Nauvoo years, recalled that “no amusements or games were as interesting to me as to hear him talk.”4
 
Amasa Potter recalled being present at a powerful sermon the Prophet Joseph Smith preached to a large group of Saints in Nauvoo:

“When [the Prophet] had spoken about thirty minutes there came up a heavy wind and storm. The dust was so dense that we could not see each other any distance, and some of the people were leaving when Joseph called out to them to stop and let their prayers ascend to Almighty God that the winds may cease blowing and the rain stop falling, and it should be so. In a very few minutes the winds and rain ceased and the elements became calm as a summer’s morning. The storm divided and went on the north and south of the city, and we could see in the distance the trees and shrubs waving in the wind, while where we were it was quiet for one hour, and during that time one of the greatest sermons that ever fell from the Prophet’s lips was preached on the great subject of the dead.”5
 
The Saints who heard the Prophet Joseph Smith speak bore powerful and vivid testimonies of his prophetic mission. Many of them recorded their memories of discourses they heard him give and experiences they had with him, for they wanted the generations that followed them to know, as they knew, that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God.

Testimonies of Joseph Smith

Like the early Saints, we can know that Joseph Smith is the prophet through whom the Lord restored the fulness of the gospel.

Brigham Young, the second President of the Church: “I feel like shouting, hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet whom the Lord raised up and ordained, and to whom he gave keys and power to build up the kingdom of God on earth and sustain it. These keys are committed to this people, and we have power to continue the work that Joseph commenced.”6
 
Eliza R. Snow, the general president of the Relief Society from 1866 to 1887: “In the cause of truth and righteousness—in all that would benefit his fellow man, his integrity was as firm as the pillars of Heaven. He knew that God had called him to the work, and all the powers of earth and hell combined, failed either to deter or divert him from his purpose. With the help of God and his brethren, he laid the foundation of the greatest work ever established by man—a work extending not only to all the living, and to all the generations to come, but also to the dead.

“He boldly and bravely confronted the false traditions, superstitions, religions, bigotry and ignorance of the world—proved himself true to every heaven-revealed principle—true to his brethren and true to God, then sealed his testimony with his blood.”7
 
Bathsheba W. Smith, the general president of the Relief Society from 1901 to 1910: “I know him to be what he professed to be—a true prophet of God, and the Lord through him restored the everlasting gospel and every ordinance and endowment that will lead us into the celestial kingdom.”8
 
Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the Church: “I have felt to rejoice exceedingly in what I saw of Brother Joseph, for in his public and private career he carried with him the Spirit of the Almighty, and he manifested a greatness of soul which I had never seen in any other man.”9
 
Daniel D. McArthur, an early Church member who later led one of the first handcart companies to Salt Lake City: “My testimony is that he was a true Prophet of the living God; and the more I heard his sayings and saw his doings the more I was convinced that he had of a truth seen God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, as also the holy angels of God. … It always seemed to me that if I ever did know anything on this earth I surely knew that he was a Prophet.”10
 
Alexander McRae, one of those imprisoned in Liberty Jail with Joseph Smith: “Such was our confidence in [Joseph Smith] as a Prophet, that when he said, ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ we were confident it would be as he said; and the more we tried it, the more confidence we had, for we never found his word to fail in a single instance.”11
 
Lyman O. Littlefield, a member of Zion’s Camp: “The whole energies of his soul were absorbed in the glorious latter-day work to which he had been called by his Divine Master.”12
 
Mary Alice Cannon Lambert, an English convert who emigrated to Nauvoo in 1843: “I first saw Joseph Smith in the Spring of 1843. When the boat in which we came up the Mississippi River reached the landing at Nauvoo, several of the leading brethren were there to meet the company of saints that had come on it. Among those brethren was the Prophet Joseph Smith. I knew him the instant my eyes rested upon him, and at that moment I received my testimony that he was a Prophet of God. … He was not pointed out to me. I knew him from all the other men, and, child that I was (I was only fourteen) I knew that I saw a Prophet of God.”13
 
Angus M. Cannon, a Church member who lived in Nauvoo as a youth and later became a stake president in Salt Lake City: “On one occasion especially do I remember Brother Joseph as he addressed an assembly of the Saints, in the spring of 1844. It was under some large oak trees, in a hollow south of the Temple, near to Parley street. He was discoursing upon the fact that God, in establishing His Church, had provided that only one man was authorized, of God, to receive revelations that should be binding upon the Church. … It was on this same occasion that I heard the Prophet declare he had received the Melchizedek Priesthood, under the administration of Peter, James and John.

“The impression created upon my young mind in the inspired utterances of Joseph Smith has accompanied me throughout my subsequent life; and when darkness would otherwise have beclouded my mind, his testimony has come up vividly before me, giving me evidence that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been established and governed by the manifest power and authority of God.”14
 
Hyrum Smith, the Prophet’s brother and the Patriarch to the Church: “There were prophets before, but Joseph has the spirit and power of all the prophets.”15

Joseph Smith was an example we can follow in developing a Christlike character.

Parley P. Pratt, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1835 to 1857: “President Joseph Smith was in person tall and well built, strong and active; of a light complexion, light hair, blue eyes, very little beard, and of an expression peculiar to himself. … His countenance was ever mild, affable, beaming with intelligence and benevolence; mingled with a look of interest and an unconscious smile, or cheerfulness, and entirely free from all restraint or affectation of gravity; and there was something connected with the serene and steady penetrating glance of his eye, as if he would penetrate the deepest abyss of the human heart, gaze into eternity, penetrate the heavens, and comprehend all worlds. He possessed a noble boldness and independence of character; his manner was easy and familiar; his rebuke terrible as the lion; his benevolence unbounded as the ocean; his intelligence universal.”16
 
John Needham, an early English convert: “Joseph Smith is a great man, a man of principle, a straight forward man; no saintish long-faced fellow, but quite the reverse. Indeed some stumble because he is such a straight forward, plain spoken, cheerful man, but that makes me love him the more.”17
 
Emmeline B. Wells, the general president of the Relief Society from 1910 to 1921: “I … testify that he was the greatest man and the greatest prophet and the greatest personage of this generation, the greatest, I feel safe in saying, since the days of the Savior. His majesty in appearance was something wonderful. You would think that he was much taller and much larger even than he was. Perhaps many of you have noticed men who have such a bearing when they rise up and walk. This was the way with the Prophet Joseph. There are no pictures of him extant that I know of, that compare with the beauty and majesty of his presence.”18
 
Mary Alice Cannon Lambert: “The love the saints had for him was inexpressible. They would willingly have laid down their lives for him. If he was to talk, every task would be laid aside that they might listen to his words. He was not an ordinary man. Saints and sinners alike felt and recognized a power and influence which he carried with him. It was impossible to meet him and not be impressed by the strength of his personality and influence.”19
 
John M. Bernhisel, a medical doctor who boarded in Joseph and Emma’s home in Nauvoo for several months during 1843 and 1844: “Joseph Smith is naturally a man of strong mental powers, and is possessed of much energy and decision of character, great penetration, and a profound knowledge of human nature. He is a man of calm judgment, enlarged views, and is eminently distinguished by his love of justice. He is kind and obliging, generous and benevolent, sociable and cheerful, and is possessed of a mind of a contemplative and reflective character. He is honest, frank, fearless and independent, and as free from dissimulation [false appearances] as any man to be found. … As a religious teacher, as well as a man, he is greatly beloved by this people.”20
 
Jesse N. Smith, a cousin of Joseph Smith: “[The Prophet was] incomparably the most God-like man I ever saw. … I know that by nature he was incapable of lying and deceitfulness, possessing the greatest kindness and nobility of character. I felt when in his presence that he could read me through and through. I know he was all that he claimed to be.”21
 
William Clayton, an English convert who served as a clerk to Joseph Smith: “The more I am with him, the more I love him; the more I know of him, the more confidence I have in him.”22
 
Joseph F. Smith, the sixth President of the Church: “He was brimming over with the noblest and purest of human nature, which often gave vent in innocent amusements—in playing ball, in wrestling with his brothers and scuffling with them, and enjoying himself; he was not like a man with a stake run down his back, and with his face cast in a brazen mold that he could not smile, that he had no joy in his heart. Oh, he was full of joy; he was full of gladness; he was full of love, and of every other noble attribute that makes men great and good, and at the same time simple and innocent, so that he could descend to the lowest condition; and he had power, by the grace of God, to comprehend the purposes of the Almighty too. That was the character of the Prophet Joseph Smith.”23

As the prophet through whom the gospel was restored, Joseph Smith taught God’s plan of salvation with clarity and power.

Brigham Young: “The excellency of the glory of the character of Brother Joseph Smith was that he could reduce heavenly things to the understanding of the finite. When he preached to the people—revealed the things of God, the will of God, the plan of salvation, the purposes of Jehovah, the relation in which we stand to him and all the heavenly beings—he reduced his teachings to the capacity of every man, woman and child, making them as plain as a well defined pathway. This should have convinced every person, that ever heard him, of his divine authority and power, for no other man was able to teach as he could, and no person can reveal the things of God, but by the revelations of Jesus Christ.”24
 
Howard Coray, a clerk to Joseph Smith: “I have studied the Gospel as revealed by Joseph Smith and wondered if it were possible for anyone unaided by the Spirit of God to have revealed such a system of salvation and exaltation for man. My conclusion is in the negative. I sat and listened to his preaching at the stand in Nauvoo a great many times when I have been completely carried away with his indescribable eloquence—power of expression—speaking as I have never heard any other man speak.”25
 
Joseph L. Robinson, a counselor in a bishopric in Nauvoo: “We have long since believed and verily known that Joseph Smith was a true and humble Prophet of God, but now our eyes do see him, and our ears hear his voice, which is like the voice of the mighty thunders of Heaven, yet his language is meek and instructive, edifying much. But there is a power and majesty that attends his words and preaching that we never beheld in any man before, for he is a mighty Prophet, a holy man of God. He truly had been educated in the things pertaining to the kingdom of God and was highly charged with the Holy Ghost, which was a constant companion.”26
 
Orson Spencer, a Baptist minister who joined the Church in 1841: “In doctrine Mr. Smith is eminently scriptural. I have never known him to deny or depreciate a single truth of the Old and New Testaments; but I have always known him to explain and defend them in a masterly manner. Being anointed of God, for the purpose of teaching and perfecting the church, it is needful that he should know how to set in order the things that are wanting to bring forth things new and old, as a scribe well instructed. This office and apostleship he appears to magnify; at his touch the ancient prophets spring into life, and the beauty and power of their revelations are made to commend themselves with thrilling interest to all that hear.”27
 
Jonah R. Ball, a member of the Church who lived in Nauvoo: “Went to meeting. Heard the Prophet preach on the temple floor. There were several thousand to hear him. There is no mistake. The way he unfolds the scriptures is beyond calculation or controversy. His text was the 1st chapter of 2 Peter. He explained it as clear as the [noonday] sun.”28
 
William Clayton: “We have had the privilege of conversing with Joseph Smith Jr. and we are delighted with his company. … He is … a man of sound judgment and possessed of an abundance of intelligence, and whilst you listen to his conversation you receive intelligence which expands your mind and causes your heart to rejoice. He is very familiar and delights to instruct the poor saint. I can converse with him just as easily as I can with you, and with regard to being willing to communicate instruction he says, ‘I receive it freely and I will give it freely.’ He is willing to answer any question I have put to him and is pleased when we ask him questions. He seems exceedingly well versed in the scriptures, and whilst conversing upon any subject, such light and beauty is revealed as I never saw before. If I had come from England purposely to converse with him a few days I should have considered myself well paid for my trouble.”29
 
Mercy Fielding Thompson, a British convert whose husband, Robert B. Thompson, served as a clerk to Joseph Smith: “I have … listened to his clear and masterly explanations of deep and difficult questions. To him all things seemed simple and easy to be understood, and thus he could make them plain to others as no other man could that I ever heard.”30

Like the early Saints, we can treasure up the words of Joseph Smith and live the principles he taught.

Emmeline B. Wells: “In the Prophet Joseph Smith, I believed I recognized the great spiritual power that brought joy and comfort to the Saints. … The power of God rested upon him to such a degree that on many occasions he seemed transfigured. His expression was mild and almost childlike in repose; and when addressing the people, who loved him it seemed to adoration, the glory of his countenance was beyond description. At other times the great power of his manner, more than of his voice (which was sublimely eloquent to me), seemed to shake the place on which we stood and penetrate the inmost soul of his hearers, and I am sure that then they would have laid down their lives to defend him. I always listened spell-bound to his every utterance—the chosen of God in this last dispensation.”31
 
Lorenzo Snow, the fifth President of the Church: “The first time I saw the Prophet Joseph was when I was a boy [about 17 years old]. He was talking to a small congregation. He told them of the visits of the angel to him. … The people loved to hear him, because he was full of revelation. … According to the promise of the Lord, those who accepted the principles he taught received from the Lord a testimony of their truth.”32
 
Edward Stevenson, a member of the Seventy from 1844 to 1897: “I first saw him in 1834 at Pontiac [Michigan] and the impression made upon my mind by him at that time causes me now much pleasure in presenting the picture to his many friends. The love for him, as a true Prophet of God, was indelibly impressed upon my mind, and has always been with me from that time, although nearly sixty years have since passed away. In that same year, 1834, in the midst of many large congregations, the Prophet testified with great power concerning the visit of the Father and the Son, and the conversation he had with them. Never before did I feel such power as was manifested on these occasions.”33
 
Mary Ann Stearns Winters, a stepdaughter of Elder Parley P. Pratt: “I stood close by the Prophet while he was preaching to the Indians in the Grove by the Temple. The Holy Spirit lighted up his countenance till it glowed like a halo around him, and his words penetrated the hearts of all who heard him. …
“I saw the dead bodies of Brothers Joseph and Hyrum as they lay in the Mansion House after they were brought from Carthage, and also saw some of the clothing they had worn, tinged with their life’s blood. I know they were men of God, Prophet and Patriarch, true and faithful. May we be worthy to meet them in the world to come!”34
 
Wilford Woodruff, reporting an April 6, 1837, sermon: “President Joseph Smith Jr. arose and addressed the congregation for the term of three hours, clothed with the power, spirit, and image of God. He unbosomed his mind and feelings in the house of his friends. He presented many things of vast importance to the minds of the elders of Israel. Oh, that they might be written upon our hearts as with an iron pen to remain forever that we might practice them in our lives [see Job 19:23–24]. That fountain of light, principle, and virtue that came forth out of the heart and mouth of the Prophet Joseph, whose soul like Enoch’s swelled wide as eternity—I say, such evidences presented in such a forcible manner ought to drive into oblivion every particle of unbelief and dubiety from the mind of the hearers, for such language, sentiment, principle, and spirit cannot flow from darkness. Joseph Smith Jr. is a prophet of God raised up for the deliverance of Israel as true as my heart now burns within me.”35
 
Brigham Young: “From the first time I saw the Prophet Joseph I never lost a word that came from him concerning the kingdom. And this is the key of knowledge that I have to-day, that I did hearken to the words of Joseph, and treasured them up in my heart, laid them away, asking my Father in the name of his Son Jesus to bring them to my mind when needed. I treasured up the things of God, and this is the key that I hold to-day. I was anxious to learn from Joseph and the Spirit of God.”36

Suggestions for Study and Teaching

Consider these ideas as you study the chapter or as you prepare to teach. For additional help, see pages vii–xii.

• • Read the testimonies about the Prophet Joseph Smith on pages 495–97. What impresses you about these testimonies? What is the foundation of your own testimony of Joseph Smith? How did you obtain this testimony? You may wish to write your testimony in your journal or share it with your family.
  
• • Pages 497–99 contain statements describing Joseph Smith’s appearance, personality, and character. How do these statements influence your feelings about Joseph Smith? Think about ways you might develop some of these same character traits.
  
• • Study the testimonies about the way the Prophet Joseph taught the gospel and explained the scriptures (pages 499–501). How can these testimonies help us as we study and teach the gospel?
  
• • Review the final section of this chapter (pages 502–4). How can you follow the examples of Wilford Woodruff and Brigham Young in your study of this book? How can you follow their examples as you study the teachings of the living prophets? What do you think it means to allow the truth to be “written upon our hearts as with an iron pen”?
  

Related Scriptures: 2 Nephi 3:6–19; D&C 24:1–9; 124:1
[illustration] “The people loved to hear [the Prophet Joseph Smith], because he was full of revelation,” Lorenzo Snow declared. “According to the promise of the Lord, those who accepted the principles he taught received from the Lord a testimony of their truth.”
[photo] Bathsheba W. Smith
[photo] Mary Alice Cannon Lambert
[photo] Parley P. Pratt
[photo] John M. Bernhisel
[photo] William Clayton
[photo] Joseph L. Robinson
[photo] Mercy Fielding Thompson
[photo] Emmeline B. Wells
[photo] Lorenzo Snow

Notes

1. Quoted in History of the Church, 5:408; capitalization modernized; from a letter by an unidentified Boston Bee correspondent, Mar. 24, 1843, Nauvoo, Illinois, published in Times and Seasons, May 15, 1843, p. 200.

2. History of the Church, 5:339; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Apr. 8, 1843, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Willard Richards and William Clayton.

3. Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Parley P. Pratt Jr. (1938), p. 46.

4. Alvah J. Alexander, in “Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” Young Woman’s Journal, Dec. 1906, p. 541.

5. Amasa Potter, “A Reminiscence of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, Feb. 15, 1894, p. 132.

6. Brigham Young, Deseret News, Oct. 31, 1855, p. 268.

7. Eliza R. Snow, “Anniversary Tribute to the Memory of President Joseph Smith,” Woman’s Exponent, Jan. 1, 1874, p. 117; punctuation modernized.

8. Bathsheba W. Smith, in “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, June 1, 1892, p. 344.

9. Wilford Woodruff, Deseret News, Jan. 20, 1858, p. 363; capitalization modernized.

10. Daniel D. McArthur, in “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, Feb. 15, 1892, p. 129.

11. Alexander McRae, quoted in History of the Church, 3:258; from a letter from Alexander McRae to the editor of the Deseret News, Nov. 1, 1854, Salt Lake City, Utah, published in Deseret News, Nov. 9, 1854, p. 1; punctuation and grammar modernized.

12. Lyman O. Littlefield, Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints (1888), p. 35.

13. Mary Alice Cannon Lambert, in “Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” Young Woman’s Journal, Dec. 1905, p. 554.

14. Angus M. Cannon, in “Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” Young Woman’s Journal, Dec. 1906, p. 546; spelling and grammar modernized.

15. Hyrum Smith, quoted in History of the Church, 6:346; from a discourse given by Hyrum Smith on Apr. 28, 1844, in Nauvoo, Illinois.

16. Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Parley P. Pratt Jr. (1938), pp. 45–46; paragraph divisions altered.

17. Letter from John Needham to his parents, July 7, 1843, Nauvoo, Illinois, published in Millennial Star, Oct. 1843, p. 89.

18. Emmeline B. Wells, “The Prophet Joseph,” Young Woman’s Journal, Aug. 1912, pp. 437–38; paragraph divisions altered.

19. Mary Alice Cannon Lambert, in “Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” Young Woman’s Journal, Dec. 1905, p. 554.

20. John M. Bernhisel, quoted in History of the Church, 6:468; paragraph divisions altered; from a letter from John M. Bernhisel to Thomas Ford, June 14, 1844, Nauvoo, Illinois.

21. Jesse N. Smith, in “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, Jan. 1, 1892, pp. 23–24; paragraph divisions altered.

22. Letter from William Clayton to William Hardman, Mar. 30, 1842, Nauvoo, Illinois, published in Millennial Star, Aug. 1, 1842, p. 76.

23. Joseph F. Smith, in “Joseph, the Prophet,” Salt Lake Herald Church and Farm Supplement, Jan. 12, 1895, p. 211; spelling and punctuation modernized.

24. Brigham Young, Deseret News, Nov. 28, 1860, p. 305; capitalization modernized.

25. Letter from Howard Coray to Martha Jane Lewis, Aug. 2, 1889, Sanford, Colorado, pp. 3–4, Church Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

26. Joseph Lee Robinson, Autobiography and Journals, 1883–92, folder 1, p. 22, Church Archives.

27. Letter from Orson Spencer to unknown person, Nov. 17, 1842, Nauvoo, Illinois, published in Times and Seasons, Jan. 2, 1843, pp. 56–57; punctuation modernized.

28. Letter from Jonah R. Ball to Harvey Howard, May 19, 1843, Nauvoo, Illinois; Jonah Randolph Ball, Letters 1842–43, to Harvey Howard, Shutesbury, Massachusetts, Church Archives.

29. Letter from William Clayton to Church members in Manchester, England, Dec. 10, 1840, Nauvoo, Illinois, Church Archives.

30. Mercy Fielding Thompson, “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, July 1, 1892, p. 399; paragraph divisions altered.

31. Emmeline B. Wells, in “Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” Young Woman’s Journal, Dec. 1905, p. 556; punctuation modernized; paragraph divisions altered.

32. Lorenzo Snow, Deseret Weekly, Apr. 13, 1889, p. 487.

33. Edward Stevenson, Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet, and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon (1893), p. 4; paragraph divisions altered.

34. Mary Ann Stearns Winters, in “Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” Young Woman’s Journal, Dec. 1905, p. 558; paragraph divisions altered.

35. Wilford Woodruff, reporting a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Apr. 6, 1837, in Kirtland, Ohio; Wilford Woodruff, Journals, 1833–98, Church Archives.

36. Brigham Young, Deseret News, June 6, 1877, p. 274; capitalization modernized.

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Plainview Texas Branch; Lubbock Stake Announcements;

October 11th, 2009: Bring A Non-Member Friend/Investigator

LDS Public Affairs Announcements & Powerful Insights On A Great General Conference

Five New Temples Announced

 

SALT LAKE CITY 3 October 2009 Plans to build five new temples were announced today by President Thomas S. Monson, worldwide leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, during the Church’s 179th Semiannual General Conference in Salt Lake City. With 130 temples currently operating and with another 16 in some phase of planning or construction, these five temples bring the worldwide total to 151. 

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Description

President Thomas S. Monson announcing five new temples

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The locations of the new temples will be Brigham City, Utah; Concepción, Chile; Fortaleza, Brazil; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; and Sapporo, Japan. The exact temple sites will be made known at a later date.

Brigham City will be home to Utah’s 14th temple. Two Utah temples were dedicated earlier this year: the Draper Utah Temple, dedicated in March, and the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, dedicated in August.

The Concepción, Chile, temple will be the second temple in Chile. The first, the Santiago Chile Temple, was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley, then a counselor in the First Presidency, in September 1983. There are currently 14 temples operating in South America, with another three announced and in some phase of construction.

There are currently five operating temples in Brazil. In May 2007 the Church announced plans to build a temple in Manaus, Brazil, making a temple in Fortaleza, Brazil, the seventh in that country. There are now over 1,060,000 members of the Church in Brazil.

The temple in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, will serve members living throughout South Florida, as well as in the Bahamas. There are currently eight temples in the southeastern part of the United States.

The Sapporo temple will become the third in Japan and the sixth in Asia. Dedicated in October 1980, the Tokyo Japan Temple was the first temple in Asia. The Fukuoka Temple was dedicated in June 2000 and became the eighty-eighth Temple worldwide.

Latter-day Saint temples differ from ordinary church buildings where members typically meet for Sunday worship services, midweek classes and activities. There are thousands of such chapels throughout the world, all open to visitors.

For members of the Church, temples are the most sacred places on earth. They are used solely for the performance of sacred ceremonies such as marriage and for religious instruction aimed at strengthening members’ relationships with God and their fellow man. Temples provide a place of holiness and peace, separate from the preoccupations of the world, where Church members make formal promises and commitments to God.

Construction of temples has been a part of Latter-day Saint history since the earliest days of the Church. Church founder Joseph Smith built temples in Kirtland, Ohio, and Nauvoo, Illinois. 

Within days of the Mormon pioneers’ arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, Joseph Smith’s successor, Brigham Young, announced the location for the Salt Lake Temple and construction began shortly thereafter. While the Salt Lake Temple, took 40 years to complete, most temples today are finished within three to five years.

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Plainview Texas Branch; Lubbock Stake Announcements;

October 7th :Leadership Training @ Stake Center