Another viewpoint of the First Vision

[Hemidakota]

Another view point with Joseph Smith's First Vision from the book "Stories from the Life of Joseph Smith" by Lael Littke & Richard E. Turley

The First Vision

As they continued their journey, Mother Lucy paid for their food and lodging by selling cloth she had brought along to make clothing for the family. When that was gone, she sold any extra clothes they had. She paid the last bill with a pair of earrings that Sophronia took from her ears. Sophronia felt sad about giving up her earrings but was comforted because now it was possible for the family to keep traveling on.

By the time the wagon rolled into Palmyra, they had two cents left. Father Joseph had been watching for them and came out to meet their wagon. The members of the family had a joyful reunion.

"Where's Joseph?" his father asked.

"He'll be along soon," Mother Lucy replied. But when the sleigh that Joseph had been riding in pulled up, Joseph wasn't in it.

"What happened to Joseph?" Mother Lucy asked, astonished. The driver shrugged his shoulders. He said Joseph hadn't been with them for many miles. He drove on, leaving everyone in the family anxious and concerned for young Joseph.

"What are we going to do?" Lucy asked her husband.

"Let's get the other children inside first," he answered. Father Joseph took them into their new home, a little house on the west end of Main Street. As the other children settled in, Mother and Father talked seriously about how to find their lost boy.

But before long, Joseph found them. A wagon stopped in front of the house. He was in it. He had been bleeding. His parents ran out to meet him.

"What happened?" they asked.

"This morning," Joseph said in a shaky voice, "I went to get in the sleigh. The driver looked around to see if anyone was watching. Then he knocked me down and made me bleed. He took off without me. After a while, this man picked me up."

Joseph and his parents thanked the nice man in the wagon for his kindness. Then the whole family gathered inside the house and enjoyed a meal together. The journey had been long and cold. They were happy to relax and warm themselves, and especially to be all together again.

As they rested, Mother Lucy and the children told Father all about what had happened back in Vermont and what Mr. Howard had done.

"There are many bad people in the world," Father Joseph said. "But we won't let them hold us back. Let us just think of our new life here in Palmyra."

It was a happy life, even though they were very poor at first. They decided they would all work hard so they could someday buy a big piece of land. All of Joseph's life, the family had rented other people's land to farm. They dreamed of having a farm of their own.

Joseph, who turned eleven in December, didn't have much chance for schooling. He attended a small log schoolhouse nearby for a short time to study reading, arithmetic, spelling, and grammar. He was also taught at home by his mother and father, both excellent teachers. But when the weather was warm enough, he did his part to help earn money for the family.

Father Joseph, Alvin, and Hyrum worked for other people to bring in much-needed cash. They cleared the people's land and planted, tended, and harvested their crops. They built stone walls, dug wells, and made barrels. The family opened a shop at the east end of the village, where they sold cakes and root beer. Mother Lucy kept house and painted oilcloth to sell. Sophronia helped her around the house, and Joseph worked wherever he could.

Father Joseph built a cart that Joseph used to sell tasty goodies around town, especially on celebration days when there were many people about. In those days, when young men turned eighteen, they had to join the militia, a part-time citizen army. When they practiced their marching and drills, people came from miles around to watch. Alvin and Hyrum joined the militia and practiced with it. Joseph, who was proud of them, helped earn money by selling food from his cart to the people who came to watch.

The Smiths finally found some land they wanted to buy two miles south of the village. It was large and had lots of trees. In 1818, they were allowed to start working on it. They also rented a piece of land next to it. Their neighbors and friends helped them build a nice log home.

The house had a ground-floor kitchen with a brick fireplace and another room for entertaining in which Mother and Father would sleep. Upstairs were two rooms where the children slept. The home was neatly furnished with wooden furniture built by Father Joseph, as well as things Mother Lucy bought with the money she earned.

Joseph helped his father and older brothers clear the trees off the land they were buying. As time went on, Joseph grew tall and strong and was able to work like a man even though he was still a boy. His friendly, cheerful personality made him popular with the other young people in the area. He joined in house and barn raisings, corn huskings, and athletic contests. He went hunting and trapping, enjoyed dances and parties, and was active in a debating group.

In the winter, Father Joseph and his boys cut down trees and cleared the land, skidding the logs along the frozen ground. They split many of the logs to make fence rails. When the weather warmed, they planted crops. The first year they cleared thirty acres and built fences. Over time, they cleared more land, added more fences, raised a barn, and planted an apple orchard.

When they weren't working on the farm, Father Joseph and the boys helped other farmers. They also brought in extra money by making barrels, chairs, baskets, and birch brooms. Their neighbors called them honest, hard-working people.

Palmyra was a thriving, bustling village of about 600 inhabitants at that time. Many more people lived on surrounding farms. The soil, once it was cleared of trees, was as fertile as the advertisements had said it was. Besides being good for raising wheat and corn, it produced fine orchards of apples, pears, cherries, and peaches. Berries grew in the forests, and fish could be caught in the streams. The Smiths were grateful to eat well after experiencing hard times in their old home.

At this time there was an unusual excitement in the area about religion. People were enthusiastic about spiritual matters. They listened to the various preachers compete for followers. Each one told why his particular church was the right one.

Joseph's family had always been religious. They had always had family prayers. Father Joseph had a habit of carrying his spectacles in his vest pocket, and when Joseph and the other children saw him pull them out and perch them on his nose, they knew they should get ready for prayer and reading the Bible.

Mother Lucy and some of the children had thought about joining a church back in Vermont and New Hampshire. But because they moved around a lot and there was always so much work to be done, they had never gotten around to it. Now, after they listened to the various preachers, Lucy, Hyrum, Samuel, and Sophronia joined one of the churches. Joseph wanted to join a church too, but he couldn't decide for sure which one.

He searched the scriptures to learn about the word of God. But when he thought of wicked, cruel men like those back in Vermont who had made Mother Lucy pay the family debts twice, or like Mr. Howard, Joseph realized that people did not live up to what the scriptures taught. This made him question what the various preachers said. He couldn't make up his mind who was right and who was wrong. But he considered it very important because whatever choice he made would have eternal consequences.

For months, Joseph thought a lot about the various religions as he helped his father and brothers plow the fields, dig wells, hoe corn, and cut up trees for firewood. The more he thought, the more confused he became.

He believed firmly in God and saw evidence of Him everywhere he looked–in the sun shining above, the moon floating across the sky, the stars glowing in the night, and the earth on which he stood. He could see God's work in the animals, birds, and fish that lived near his home.

In the summer of 1819, one church had a camp meeting down the road some distance from the Smiths. It lasted for days, and Joseph pulled his cart there to sell baked goods. He enjoyed listening to the preaching, but still couldn't decide which church he should join.

Through the fall and winter, he continued to think and to study the family Bible. His search of the scriptures did not lead him to any particular church. None of them seemed to be built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as he understood it from the New Testament. He began to feel sad for the bad things some people did. He also felt sorry for his own mistakes.

About this time a strange thing happened. Joseph, who was now fourteen, was on his way home from an errand. As he crossed the yard, he heard a gunshot. A lead ball whined so close that he felt someone was trying to kill him. Frightened, he ran into the house, breathlessly telling his family about the shot. They hurried outside but could find no trace of the gunman. The next morning they found tracks under a wagon. They also found that one of their cows had gunshot wounds in her head and neck. They never found either the person who had fired the gun or the reasons why he had done so. It did not happen again.

Joseph continued to ponder which was the right church to join. What should he do? Which of all the religions was right? Or were they all wrong? How would he know?

One day in the early spring of 1820, when he was reading the New Testament, he came across James 1:5, a verse that caught his attention. It said, "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."

The words impressed him deeply. He read them over and over.

He finally decided that if he was ever to get an answer to his questions about which church was right, he needed to do what James said: Ask God.

He knew where he would go. There was a quiet, peaceful grove of trees near his home, and in the grove was a clearing. He had been working there earlier and had left his axe in a stump. It would be a good place to pray.

When he reached the clearing, he looked around to make sure there was no one else nearby. He had never prayed aloud before, and he didn't want anybody listening.

Satisfied that he was alone, he knelt down and began to pray out loud. He had scarcely begun when he was seized by a strange power. It bound his tongue so he couldn't speak. Thick darkness gathered around him. His heart pounded, and he felt that he was surely doomed to destruction. He struggled against the power, using all his strength to plead with God for help. But it didn't seem as if help would come.

Just when Joseph was about to give up, he saw a pillar of light exactly over his head. It was brighter than the sun, and as soon as it appeared, the evil power released him.

Gradually the light descended toward him, increasing in brightness. By the time it reached the tops of the trees, the grove for some distance around was brilliantly lit. Joseph expected to see the trees burst into flames as soon as the light touched them. When they didn't, he felt he could endure the light too.

It continued to come down, slowly, slowly, until it rested upon the earth, with him in the midst of it. As the light fell on him, Joseph saw two beings, gloriously bright beyond description. They stood in the air above him. "Joseph," said one of them, pointing to the other. "This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him."

Joseph knew beyond a doubt that these beings were God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Weak and trembling, he tried to gather his thoughts together. He had come to ask for wisdom. He had not expected his fervent prayer to be answered in this way.

As soon as he could, he stammered out his question. "Which is the right church? Which should I join?"

He was told to join none of them. Jesus spoke, saying, "The churches draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." He said He was about to restore His true Church to the earth with the fulness of the gospel. Joseph, He said, would assist in the work, if he was obedient. Joseph wondered about his worthiness.

"Joseph, my son, thy sins are forgiven thee," Jesus said. "Go thy way. Walk in my statutes and keep my commandments. 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."

Jesus talked to Joseph for some time. Then the vision faded and Joseph found himself lying quietly on the ground, filled with a sense of wonder.

[HiJolly]

Gradually the light descended toward him, increasing in brightness. By the time it reached the tops of the trees, the grove for some distance around was brilliantly lit. Joseph expected to see the trees burst into flames as soon as the light touched them. When they didn't, he felt he could endure the light too.

Though the authors don't explicitly say so, the reason Joseph expected the trees to burst into flame is that the light was also HOT. That's the real deal.

HiJolly

[Hemidakota]

Concur since he thought he saw or described it to be a fire vice brilliant light.

"A pillar of fire appeared above my head; which presently rested down upon me, and filled me with unspeakable joy. 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." (Joseph Smith, "1835 Recital of' the First Vision," as recorded by Warren Cowdery, in Milton V. Backman, Jr., Joseph Smith's First Vision, p. 159.)

[Hemidakota]

"A personage appeared at my bedside"

"In this situation hours passed unnumbered—how many or how few I know not, neither is he able to inform me; but supposes it must have been eleven or twelve, and perhaps later, as the noise and bustle of the family, in retiring, had long since ceased.—While continuing in prayer for a manifestation in some way that his sins were forgiven; endeavoring to exercise faith in the scriptures, on a sudden a light like that of day. only of a purer and far more glorious appearance and brightness, burst into the room.—Indeed, to use his own description, the first sight was as though the house was filled with consuming and unquenchable fire. This sudden appearance of a light so bright, as might naturally be expected, occasioned a shock or sensation, visible to the extremities of the body. It was, however, followed with a calmness and serenity of mind, and an overwhelming rapture of joy that surpassed understanding, and in a moment a personage stood before him." (Oliver Cowdery, in Messenger and Advocate, 1 [Feb. 835]:79. See also Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 1:37.)

It seems that the First Vision and Moroni's appearance had the same effect on his physical body.

[HiJolly]

"A personage appeared at my bedside"

"In this situation hours passed unnumbered—how many or how few I know not, neither is he able to inform me; but supposes it must have been eleven or twelve, and perhaps later, as the noise and bustle of the family, in retiring, had long since ceased.—While continuing in prayer for a manifestation in some way that his sins were forgiven; endeavoring to exercise faith in the scriptures, on a sudden a light like that of day. only of a purer and far more glorious appearance and brightness, burst into the room.—Indeed, to use his own description, the first sight was as though the house was filled with consuming and unquenchable fire. This sudden appearance of a light so bright, as might naturally be expected, occasioned a shock or sensation, visible to the extremities of the body. It was, however, followed with a calmness and serenity of mind, and an overwhelming rapture of joy that surpassed understanding, and in a moment a personage stood before him." (Oliver Cowdery, in Messenger and Advocate, 1 [Feb. 835]:79. See also Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 1:37.)

It seems that the First Vision and Moroni's appearance had the same effect on his physical body.

Yes. That's why Moses knew when Satan appeared to him, that he was not the 'real deal' -- there was no Glory (or, heat).

HiJolly

[Hemidakota]

Concur...