What event in 1820 is happening here?
The First Vision
Why did this event happen?
What feelings is Joseph Smith
expressing in the following statement
about how people treated him
because he told them about this
event?
“I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and
they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying
that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling
me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to
say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a
vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make
me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew
that God knew it, and I could not deny it… .”
What is this event that happened in 1823?
Following the First Vision in 1820 Joseph Smith
continued to pursue his common vocation in life
until the 21st of September 1823.
That night he supplicated God for forgiveness of
his sins and follies and a manifestation.
He was visited by the angel Moroni who said God
had a work for him to do; that his name should be
had for good and evil; that Joseph was to
translate the Book of Mormon;
and then he was taught the first principle of this dispensation – that Elijah was to
return. “If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.”
(JS history 27-39)
In 1995, in the Let Your Hearts Rejoice video, Gordon B.
Hinckley said,
“To me it is significant that in the opening of this
dispensation, the foretelling of this remarkable family history
work occurred on the initial visit of Moroni to the boy Joseph
Smith on the evening of September 21, 1823...
(Moroni) told of the Book of Mormon record, and after
speaking in some detail concerning this, he quoted from the
Book of Malachi
I repeat my brethren and sisters, it is tremendously
significant to me that this declaration, this repetition of the
wondrous words of Malachi concerning work for the dead,
was given to the boy Joseph four years before he was
allowed to take the plates from the hill.
It was given before he received the priesthood, before he was
baptized, and well before the church was organized. It says
much concerning the priority of this work in the plan of the
Lord.
President Hinckley continues:
Can anyone doubt the importance with which it
is regarded by the Almighty?
God in His infinite wisdom had a plan under which the full benefits of
the Atonement wrought by His beloved Son might be made available
to all the sons and daughters of God of all generations of time.
Without this work, the Lord indicated that the whole purpose of
creating and peopling the earth would be frustrated - would be
wasted... .
That which goes on in the House of the Lord - and which must be
preceded by research - comes nearer to the spirit of the sacrifice of
the Lord than any other activity of which I know... Great is our
mission and tremendous our responsibility!”
What is this place?
Do you know what happened
in this place on April 3, 1836?
Kirtland Temple
After distributing the Lord’s Supper to the Church, Joseph Smith retired to the
pulpit, the veils being dropped, and bowed himself, with Oliver Cowdery, in
solemn and silent Prayer.
On this day, an Easter Sunday, the resurrected Savior appeared to the Prophet and
Oliver in the Kirtland Temple and announced, "I am he who liveth, I am he who was
slain; I am your advocate with the Father. Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are
clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice." D&C 110:4-5
"After this vision closed, the heavens were
again opened" and at the Lord's direction the
ancient prophets Moses, Elias, and Elijah
appeared, one by one, to the Prophet Joseph
and to Oliver Cowdery and committed the
"keys of this dispensation" to carry forward
"ordinances instituted in the heavens before
the foundation of the world." D&C 110:11-13
In 1836
Elijah Returned
“This fulfilled Malachi’s prophecy that
Elijah would be sent ‘to turn the
hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the children to the fathers, lest
the whole earth be smitten with a
curse.’” – James E. Faust
“Elijah came to enable families to be
eternally linked beyond the bounds
of mortality. Indeed, the opportunity
for families to be sealed forever is
the real reason for our research.”
– Russell M. Nelson
Elijah the Prophet fulfilled prophecy by restoring the keys of the
sealing power to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery
in the Kirtland Temple. (Doctrine & Covenants 110:13-16)
The Saints were driven from Kirtland. They finally gathered in Nauvoo and amidst the struggles,
construction of the Nauvoo Temple began in the spring of 1841 on a hilltop overlooking the
Mississippi River. They finished the baptismal font about 9 months later and in D&C Section
128, given in 1842, Joseph repeats his appeal that we turn our hearts to our fathers.
Between December 1845 and February 1846, nearly 6,000 Latter-day Saints received their
endowments in this house of the Lord before moving west. They had been told to evacuate or
face extermination. The temple was dedicated in the spring of 1846.
Before these people
removed from Nauvoo
they made covenants and
were endowed in the
temple.
In our lives, we are just
as much pioneers as
they. We must be the
same covenant people
as they were.
Things which matter
most should not be
sacrificed to things
which matter less.
President Hinckley said, “In this work there must be commitment.
There must be devotion. We are engaged in a great eternal struggle
that concerns the very souls of the sons and daughters of God. We
are not losing. We are winning. We will continue to win if we will be
faithful and true. We can do it. We must do it. There is nothing the
Lord has asked of us that in faith we cannot accomplish.”
Ensign June 2007.
Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple, Bookcraft, said, “There somehow
seems to be the feeling that genealogical work is a responsibility for
another person or time.
That is not so.
Family History work is another responsibility for every Latter-day Saint.
And we may do it successfully along with all the other responsibilities
that rest upon us.
You can do this work.
You can do it without becoming a so-called ‘expert’ in it.
But the decision, the action, must begin with the individual.
The Lord will not tamper with our agency.
If we want a testimony of genealogical and temple work,
do something in that work.”
Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 640 says, “We are responsible for the
blessing, the eternal blessing, of all who have lived upon the earth, the
uncounted, unnumbered generations of men and women who have lived
upon the earth, and all who will yet live upon the earth. How great is our
responsibility. We must work a little harder to accomplish it.”
Family History work is not about guilt.
We don't do this because we will feel guilty if we don't, nor should we feel
guilty for not having it done yet at this time or moving as fast as someone
else.
This is NOT a race. It is a life long process.
We need to feel after our own ancestors. We choose to turn our hearts. As
we do we have been promised they will help us in all the affairs of our lives.
The spirit will help you do as much and as fast as you can. But you do need
to provide the commitment and determination to do this work.
When you feel overwhelmed, then you need to stop for the hour or the day
or the week (but schedule a time to return to it). Then start again. We ALL
feel overwhelmed at times, but like the pioneer – press on.
One step at a time. Focus on small tasks that build a strong 4-generation
record instead of trying to do a task that overwhelms you. Develop the
skills of time management, the attitude of humility and persist in being true
to your covenant to turn your heart to your fathers. Start with a covenant
and follow that with doing something weekly.
The purpose of family
history is to identify our
ancestors, link them into
families, and provide temple
ordinances for them.
In the April 1998 general
conference, President
Gordon B. Hinckley
declared:
“If temple ordinances are an essential part of the
restored gospel, and I testify that they are, then we must
provide the means where they can be accomplished.
All of our vast family history endeavor is directed to
temple work. There is no other purpose for it. The
temple ordinances become the crowning blessings the
Church has to offer.” (Ensign, May 1998, 88).
And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the
fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.
Doctrine & Covenants 2:2-3
Will you please covenant with the Lord that you will
turn your heart to your fathers and then that you
will provide ordinances for them?