Joseph said that he went to the woods “on the morning of a beautiful, clear day.”  He may have knelt in the shade; but if it was cool, and since he was obviously enjoying the feel of the spring day, he probably knelt in the sunshine.

Despite the fact that he was already in a bright beam of sunlight on a beautiful day, he “saw a pillar of light exactly over (his) head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon (him)…When the light rested upon (him he) saw two personages.”  (Joseph Smith—History 1:16,17).  He saw that light in spite of the light that already bathed him.

When I get up on a dark morning I go through the kitchen.  I flip on a light switch, and the room becomes light.  There are three separate circuits controlling the lights in the kitchen, so I turn on another.  The already-light kitchen gets lighter.  I step over to the counter and turn on the third switch, and the room becomes even brighter.  If there were more lights to turn on, or if I shined a flashlight on a book laid out on the counter, I could illuminate what I was studying even more.

The Restoration and the Church are like that.  The appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith illuminated a world that had been darkened by many centuries of apostasy.  People thought they could see—and they could, in a limited way—but there was now so much more light available.  They knew there was a God in heaven, but they didn’t know what He looked like, how deeply He loved them, nor that they were actually His children.  They knew to call Him Father, but not why.  They knew Christ had been resurrected, but they thought He had gone back to being a spirit or an essence, and couldn’t believe that he was a living, physical, tangible Being; or that the resurrection would have a direct, personal effect upon them.  They knew that they should pray; but they had no idea that revelation was a current principle available to every earnest seeker of truth, and that prayers could be immediately and powerfully answered.  They knew that the Holy Ghost was a third member of the Godhead, but it was mysterious to them; and they hadn’t the slightest inkling of how close and influential he could be, or that he could be a constant companion and guide.

Good, believing Christians of whatever denomination stand out from those who revel in looking and being dark.  We appreciate the good people in every religious system in the world.  They have light, but we invite them to come get more.  There is so much more light available.

As a college student at Oregon State University I was not a member of the Church.  I was a moral person.  I never used profanity.  I had never tasted alcohol nor used tobacco.  I supposed there was a God, but I knew nothing about Him.  I belonged to no church, and attended none.  The mother of my Mormon girlfriend asked her why she dated me rather than the Mormon boys.  She replied, “He’s better than the Mormon boys.”

I had the light of Christ because I was trying to be good; but inside, my mind was dark.  I didn’t know my mind was dark until my girlfriend gave me a Book of Mormon.  When I began to read it I felt light coming into my head.  I actually felt it.  The light came in at the front, and pushed the darkness to the back.  I enjoyed that sensation so much that all I wanted to do was read that book.  Going to work each day was a pain.  All I wanted was to be shut up in my unheated December bedroom with that book that was shining such a bright light into my mind.

The book drove the darkness completely out; and on January 9, 1967, a pivotal day in my life, I knelt in the middle of that bedroom and told my Father in heaven that I knew the Book of Mormon was true, and that I wanted to be baptized into His Church.  I felt like Lamoni, and knew exactly what he experienced when he received the gospel.  Lamoni was king.  He supposed that whatsoever he did was right.  He thought that he had it all together, and that he could see, and that his world was light.  In reality he had only one bulb burning.  So did I.

Lamoni knelt and prayed.  He was struck “as if he were dead.”  (Alma 18:42).  “Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul…”  (Alma 19:6).

There are nine references to light and darkness in that one verse from Alma chapter 19.  Imagine the difference if I entered my dark kitchen and turned on nine separate light switches.  That’s kind of what happened to me as I read the Book of Mormon.  The darkness was not disbursed, but dispelled.

The Book of Mormon is a beacon.  It’s a searchlight, searching out all those who will obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel.  The Bible is a heat lamp, warming and enlightening all who will use it.  Put the two together and you have the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy in chapter 37 of the bright, light “stick” that will gather Israel, unite them as one, banish idolatry and detestable things, save people, cleanse them, bring about peace, and provide access to God’s everlasting covenant.

Now to these two bright lights add the Doctrine and Covenants.  Add the Pearl of Great price.  The Church is shining a bright light on the world, and there are yet many more lights to be turned on.  Jesus said, “I am the light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.”  (D&C 6:21; 10:58; 11:11, 14:9; 34:2; 39:2; 45:7; 88:49).  To ignore that light will require a conscious effort.

When Moroni appeared to Joseph he called him by name, introduced himself, and then made a statement that should have been as absurd as it was astounding.  He said that Joseph’s name “should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.”  (Joseph Smith—History 1:33).  This was said to a 17-year-old farm boy from the backwoods of New England.  Moroni repeated that statement four more times in the following 24 hours, indicating that everyone in the world would one day know Joseph’s name.

There was nothing outstanding about Joseph back then.  His own wife a few years later said that Joseph “could not compose a well-worded letter let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon…(which was) marvelous to me, a marvel and a wonder, as much as to anyone else.”  (The Ensign, Nov. 1983, pg. 54).

In the early days of the translating process of the golden plates, Emma wrote while Joseph translated.  Probably while translating the fourth chapter of 1 Nephi, she says that Joseph paused and said, “Emma, I didn’t know there was a wall around Jerusalem.” (Ibid).

This young man knew nothing and could do nothing of his own accord.  But his was a noble spirit which God had held in reserve for thousands of years.  He stood alongside Michael during the process of the Creation.  He was prophesied of by Joseph who was sold into Egypt 3000 years before Joseph Smith was actually born.  Joseph said that he’d be named after him, and that his father would also be named Joseph.  Joseph Smith, Sr. suffered a crop failure in 1816 due to an early frost caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora, a volcano in Indonesia, which brought on “the year without a summer.”  The volcano spewed many thousands of tons of ash into the atmosphere which blocked sunlight and cooled the earth.  It was a terrible affliction for the Smith family; but what they couldn’t see and didn’t know was that the situation was orchestrated by God for the purpose of getting young Joseph into position by the Hill Cumorah so that he could be schooled by angels, receive and translate the golden plates, organize the Church, bring about the Restoration, and flood the earth with light.

Everything was so dim before God personally called this unlearned farm boy, turned him over to the tutelage of angels, enlightened his mind, molded him through almost constant affliction and persecution, and used him as the instrument to turn the lights of this telestial world on so that it could soon become a terrestrial world, a paradise, a Garden of Eden when the Savior comes again.

Joseph could have told you “what sort of a looking man Adam was,” John Taylor said.  He was visited by and taught by Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, Paul, Gabriel, Raphael, Moses, Elias, and Elijah.  He was visited on numerous occasions by the Lord Jesus Christ.  He received all of the keys, covenants and ordinances that will save all mankind.

This Church believes in a universal salvation.  Every other church would restrict salvation to a chosen few, and would damn the rest to hell or to a never-ending sleep or extinction.  This Church offers salvation in a kingdom of glory to every soul who will confess and acknowledge the Savior as the Redeemer of the world.

Our good Christian brethren are fond of saying that all one needs to do to be saved is to accept Christ.  They’re absolutely right.  But we don’t want to just be saved.  We want to be exalted.

Before Joseph Smith the world didn’t understand that when Paul spoke of being caught up unto the third heaven, that there had to be a first and a second heaven also.  It took Joseph Smith and the extensive vision that makes up the 76^th section of Doctrine and Covenants to illumine the concept that there are many mansions in heaven.  Paul wasn’t allowed to expound on the subject.  That was reserved for Joseph to do.

The possibility of eternal marriage and forever families is only hinted at in the Bible.  It’s there, but it’s not plain.  Consequently no other church teaches that concept.  They only privately hope that our best and most intimate human relationships will continue in the hereafter.  It was reserved for Joseph Smith to shine the light on the crucial concept of marriage and family as the very basis of the Plan of Salvation.

The Plan of Salvation itself was a vague thing not even spoken of in the churches of Joseph Smith’s day.  No one believed in a pre-earth existence.  No one other than Latter-day Saints even today understands that the ultimate purpose of earth life, afflictions, repentance, covenants, and the keeping of commandments is to turn men and women into gods and goddesses.  Such assertions are regarded as blasphemy to most people, yet they are truths that were reserved for Joseph Smith to bring forth.

Before Joseph Smith all people believed that the gospel is limited in application to just our own and future generations.  No one even dreamed that past generations could be redeemed as well.  Peter said that the gospel would be preached to those that are dead.

(1 Pet. 4:6).  No one understood why, nor even noticed that hint in the Bible.  It was reserved for Joseph Smith to elucidate the work for the dead, and to explain the significance of Elijah’s calling and keys and eventual return to turn the hearts of the fathers and the children to each other.  Who else in the world understands that?

Joseph revealed the purpose of temples, and the covenants and ordinances that can only be made and received therein.  He explained the previously obscure Bible verses about “other sheep,” and sticks upon which prophets write, and voices from the dust, and baptism for the dead that no other church or student of the Bible could explain.  He shined a light on the true nature of God and the Godhead.  He made plain that revelation is a continuing process, available to all.  He explained the place of agency, that great free gift that allows us to make not only day-to-day choices, but to choose happiness over misery, and eternal life over eternal separation from God.  He established a Church organized with Apostles and Prophets as its foundation with Jesus Christ being the cornerstone.  Because of him, every Apostle and Prophet since Joseph has held the keys and has been a legal administrator in God’s kingdom upon the earth.

The lights are back on.  They’re shining brightly.  We’re all recipients of the blessings.  We can claim as many as we like.  All we have to do is be worthy and willing to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.  We must serve Him with all our heart, might, mind and strength.

Every blessing is available to every one of us.  We owe it all to Jesus Christ who through His Atonement and teachings made it all possible.  We also owe it all to His Prophet who opened the way for us to claim the blessings.

Men will either extol the name of Joseph Smith or revile it, but ultimately “those who revile Joseph Smith will not change Joseph’s status with the Lord—merely their own.”  (Neal A. Maxwell, The Ensign, Nov. 1983, pg. 56).  “Your eternal life and the salvation of your family, (and of every other family), depend upon what happened in the life of Joseph Smith, a prophet of God.”  (Robert L. Simpson, The Ensign, Nov. 1974, pg. 47).

—24 October 2010