The Youth of Joseph Smith

A Young Man Prepared
The Youth of Joseph Smith, The Prophet

a presentation given by Debra Woods
at the Fort Lauderdale Stake Girl's Camp in 1996

When did the Lord know that Joseph Smith was to be the prophet to usher in the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter-days?

Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Israel who was carried away captive into Egypt, saw the latter days and prophesied about a great seer who the Lord would raise up. He would be a descendant of Joseph himself. He said, "that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, . . . and his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me . . ." 2 Nephi 3:

Was it a coincidence that Joseph Smith's father was Joseph as well?

Joseph's own grandfather, Asael Smith, predicted that one of his descendants would "promulgate a work to revolutionize the world of religious faith."

Brigham Young said:

"It was decreed in the counsels of eternity . . . before the foundations of the earth were laid . . . Joseph Smith should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive . . . the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eye upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father's father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the flood Enoch, and from Enoch to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was fore-ordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation ." Joseph inherited a fine heritage from both his parents. His ancestors were government officials, military leaders, property owners, religious leaders, honest, respected, educated, and seekers of truth. They came to the American colonies in the 1600's and fought in the revolutionary war for personal liberty, religious freedom, and freedom of conscience.

His parents were well-bred, and well raised, and united in marriage in January 1796 at Tunbridge, Vermont. They lived on a handsome farm for seven years where they had two sons and a daughter. After this time the family faced financial reverses that caused them to labor hard for their living ever after.

Joseph was born in Sharon, Vermont on December 23, 1805 on the 100 acre farm his grandfather rented to his parents. Joseph's family worked hard, together with their neighbors, to exist in Vermont. Most of his schooling was at home, although he did attend the community school where he learned to read, write, and cipher.

By the time Joseph was seven years old, his family had moved two more times. While living in Lebanon, New Hampshire, the entire family came down with typhoid fever. Joseph's oldest sister, Sophronia was sick for ninety days and nearly died. Joseph was sick for only two weeks, but shortly after his fever went away, he fell, screaming, with an agonizing pain in his shoulder. The pain later shot like light into the marrow of the bone of his leg. Doctors attended him for several days, lancing the painful spot and draining it of matter several times. It so happened that a well known surgeon named Dr. Stone was in the area at the time, and being consulted he concluded that Joseph must have his leg amputated to save his life.

Joseph's mother pleaded "Dr. Stone . . . can you not, by cutting around the bone, take out the diseased part, and perhaps that which is sound will heal over, and by this means you will save his leg?" The surgeon agreed.

In those days, there was no form of anesthetic available. The doctors intended to tie the little seven year old Joseph to the bed and give him brandy to deaden the pain somewhat so they could perform the operation. But Joseph refused and asked if his father would hold him tight on his lap and his mother would leave the room, "For I know she cannot bear to see me suffer so." And so that is what they did. He remained still enough, though he screamed, for the doctors to successfully complete the operation. He immediately began to heal, though he spent the next three years on crutches and had a slight limp the rest of his life.

Was it a coincidence that Joseph learned at such an early age what it meant to endure serious pain with dignity?

Several more moves, and consistent crop failures drove the Smith's to seek out a living in Western New York, and when Joseph was ten years old, the family had moved to Palmyra, New York, with very few of their belongings "and barely two cents in cash."

Joseph was ever after keenly aware of his humble upbringing. His father opened a "Cake and Beer Shop" in town where they sold root beer and confections. This along with what he and his oldest sons could earn hiring out for harvesting, well digging, and other common employment, and with the contribution of Joseph's mother who had a talent for painting oilcloth coverings for furniture they were able, as Joseph himself put it:

"To labor hard for the support of a large family . . . it required the exertions of all that were able to render any assistance for the support of the family therefore we were deprived of the benefit of an education. . . . . we were under the necessity of laboring with our hands, hiring out by day's work and otherwise, as we could get opportunity. Sometimes we were at home and sometimes abroad and by continued labor, were enabled to get a comfortable maintenance." And after two years of hard labor and penny pinching, they were able to purchase 100 acres of unimproved land two miles south of Palmyra. They built a small two-room log cabin on the property and moved in. There were dirt floors, rough hewn lumber furnishings, meals prepared in iron kettles hanging over glowing embers in the fireplace, wooden plates, straw beds, no pictures on the wall and nothing to read but the family Bible an almanac and a few school books shared by all. They cleared timber, raised wheat, tapped the maple trees for sap to make maple sugar, and continued to hire themselves out for hard labor. The family was paying for their land in installments. Alvin, the oldest son, made it possible to make the second installment by working for 50 cents a day, a high wage back in those days. They increased their labors and received much help from neighbors, but when it came time to make the last installment, they were unable to come up with enough money, so they lost the farm. The land was purchased by another man who allowed them to rent it from him.

Was it a coincidence that Joseph was brought up in relative poverty and obliged to work hard for a modest living and unable to get much of an education?

What kind of boy was Joseph Smith? The people who knew him at this age described him this way:

"He had a jovial, easy, don't care way with him that made him a lot of friends."

His mother described him as remarkably quiet and well disposed.

He said of himself that he possessed "a native cheery disposition."

He inherited a large physical frame, was strong and athletic, had light-brown wavy hair, striking blue eyes partly hidden by long lashes, was fair complexioned, and had a congenial nature. Even in his youth he was considered handsome. Someone who knew him said "He was as quick as a squirrel and as strong as a mountain lion."

He enjoyed athletic competition but was never combative toward anyone. But if he saw a person taking unfair advantage of someone weaker than themselves, he was aroused to intercede. At the age of 37, Joseph recalled this incident from his childhood, "When I was a boy, I once fought with a man who had whipped his wife. It was a hard contest; but I still remembered that he had whipped his wife; and this encouraged me, and I whipped him till he said he had enough."

Joseph's family was religious but did not fully embrace the religious practices available to them at that period of time. Lucy and a few of her children attended the Presbyterian church meetings. Joseph Senior experienced many personal visions and dreams leading him to feel that the churches of the day lacked the teachings and practices of the church Christ established with his apostles as described in the New Testament, and affiliated with no organized church. But he maintained family Bible reading and prayer daily in the home.

By the age of twelve Joseph began in earnest to be concerned about religion in his life. He went to the different churches in the area and studied their teachings. He could not find anything that brought satisfaction. He said:

"This was a grief to my soul. Thus from the age of twelve years to fifteen, I pondered many things in my heart concerning the situation of the world of mankind, the contentions and divisions, the wickedness and abominations, and the darkness which pervaded the minds of mankind. My mind became exceedingly distressed, for I became convicted of my sins." Joseph stopped attending church meetings for awhile and told his mother "I can take my Bible, and go into the woods, and learn more in two hours, than you can learn at meeting in two years."

As he studied the Bible it seemed to him that mankind had apostatized from the true and living faith of Christ. He wondered and came to doubt if any of the several denominations of professed Christians was built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught in the New Testament. He said:

"I felt to mourn for my own sins and for the sins of the world, for I learned in the scriptures that God was the same yesterday, today, and forever, that he was no respecter of persons, for he was God." The History of Joseph Smith in the Pearl of Great Price describes in Joseph's own words what he went through at this time. The area caught fire with religious excitement and though the different groups said that it did not matter what church a person joined, just so long as they joined one congregation or another, the fact of the matter was that there was no agreement whatsoever about religion, and there was a great deal of arguing of who was right. Each church seemed to be campaigning for converts, and just as in the political campaigns of our day, they spent as much time shouting what was wrong with their competition as they did in describing what was right about their own point of view.

Joseph may not have had a sophisticated education, but it took only his honest heart to see that something was very wrong. Shouldn't Christianity make people more Christlike and loving and charitable? Should it not cause people to do good and get along? What he saw was a far cry from this. And he was very confused. He said:

"I knew not who was right or who was wrong, but considered it of the first importance to me that I should be right in matters involving eternal consequences."

In his confusion he came upon the passage of scripture in the New Testament, James 1:5 "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"

He said:

"Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passage of Scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to "ask of God," concluding that if He gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture." Was it a coincidence that Joseph had a strong religious heritage and had been brought up in an honest home where he was taught to find truth within the covers of the Holy Bible? Was it a coincidence that he lived at that time, and in that place, where for the first time in the history of mankind, religious freedom was available, and the Scriptures were also available to the common man? Where people were seeking the truth on their own without having it dictated to them by political and religious leaders?

We know what transpired after this. We have heard the story many times before, how this fourteen year old boy arose in the morning one clear spring day in 1820, and went into a secluded wood where he knew he could be alone to utter his very first vocal prayer, to find an answer to the question that had been troubling him for so long. How he was seized by a dark force and was nearly overcome until a pillar of bright light descended from above and rested upon him, revealing two personages who he understood were God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. How they answered Joseph's question about which Church was right to join, by revealing that they were all wrong and he must not join any of them. How he was told that the fulness of the Gospel would someday be made known to him.

Try to imagine, girls, what an impression this must have made on this young man. He had faith that his prayers would be answered, but he never expected such a spectacular answer. It had never occurred to him that the true church was not on the face of the earth. It had not occurred to him that he might see God and Christ. It certainly did not occur to him that he would be singled out in any way to receive a totally unique experience that would change the world forever. He was a poor, simple, uneducated farm boy. He was a cheerful honest boy who worked hard and knew nothing of wealth, fame, notoriety, sophistication, revolutionary ideas, and so forth. He had little time to waste away dreaming. It could not have entered his mind that anything more than a simple prompting would result from his attempt at vocal prayer.

Do you think he wondered what people would think if he related to them what had happened? If this had happened to you, would you be afraid to tell your parents and family? Joseph could not keep it to himself for long. And when he told his parents about his remarkable experience, they believed him. What does this say about Joseph? He was an honest truthful boy, and his parents had no reason to doubt the truth of what he said. His brothers and sisters as well had complete confidence in Joseph's honesty and seeing that their parents accepted his account, they believed him as well.

But that was nearly the extent of the trust Joseph enjoyed after this incredible experience for several years. A few days later, he was talking to one of the local preachers about the recent religious excitement in the area, and Joseph narrated his experience to him. The minister was hostile and declared with contempt that "it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them." Joseph was innocent enough to think that if he spoke the truth he would be accepted. He trusted that a good man could be trusted and would want to know the truth of what Joseph had seen and heard.

He got a very quick and hard education that this was not the case. He was soon subjected to cruel persecution which increased with time. He was the object of scorn and abuse. His sacred experience was being distorted and ridiculed. And the ministers and religious leaders were the worst. He was even shot at with the intention of taking his life, that is how angry the people were.

But even though his honesty was answered so violently, Joseph would not change his story. He knew what he had seen, and could not understand why anyone would want him to deny the truth. He did not dare to deny what he had seen and heard.

"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, neither dared I do it, at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation." Those who weren't violently opposed to Joseph considered it trivial or regarded him as a visionary lad who conjured extravagant noonday fantasies. There was one neighbor lady who remembered the controversy and that her father contended that "it was only the sweet dream of a pure-minded boy." She stated that when her father was chastised by one of their church leaders for being so close to the "Smith boy" and his family, her father defended his position by saying that the boy was the best help he had ever found...when Joseph Smith worked with them the work went steadily forward and he got the full worth of the wages he paid."

Now, here was a boy who had no mortal leader to whom he could appeal, to whom he could look to be taught the truth. Joseph was left alone to ponder and wait for more information for three and a half years. He had been promised the fulness of the gospel would be revealed to him. He had been told that he was chosen to perform a great work. And then . . . nothing, for three and a half years.

His life went on, he continued, amidst all this persecution, to work for a living, though it now became harder to find work. Was it by chance that Joseph went through this period of waiting? What do you think it did for him?

He was a teenager. He was a social boy. He enjoyed his friends. He had a good sense of humor. By the age of seventeen he was almost full-grown. He was six feet tall with blue eyes and soft wavy hair. He was all muscles and had a large well formed chest. He enjoyed sports and had few equals as a jumper and wrestler, and no superiors. He sometimes felt self-condemned for what he considered follies and vices. He felt bad about them at the time and always after because he knew that he was called of God, and it didn't seem in character to be involved in boyish errors. What he meant by this was the tendency to have "a light, and too often, vain mind, exhibiting a foolish and trifling conversation . . . being guilty of levity and at times associating with jovial company." Finally the waiting ended. On September 21, 1823, at the age of seventeen, he went to bed in a room that he shared with some of his brothers, and after they fell asleep, he lay in a serious contemplation, greatly wrought up by the same subject that had long concerned him, his call to commence the work of the Lord. His heart was drawn out in fervent prayer. Near midnight when he verbally appealed to Almighty God to forgive all his sins and follies, and desiring to know how he stood with God. Interestingly, after the passing of three and a half years, he was confident that he would receive a vision in answer to his prayer.

Again we come to a part of Joseph's history that we are very familiar with. How the room brightened and a personage appeared in the light standing above the floor. How this personage introduced himself as Moroni, and informed Joseph that God had a work for him to accomplish. How he told him of the book written on plates of gold buried in a nearby hill that told of the early inhabitants of America and contained the fulness of the everlasting gospel. And many other things. How this meeting was repeated exactly two more times that night, and then again in the morning while he was trying to work in the fields with his father and brother but could not function. How he told his father and his father said it was of God. How he went to the exact spot on the Hill Cumorah and found the plates.

Moroni had warned Joseph that he must not have any other intention in obtaining the golden record than to glorify God and build up his kingdom on the earth. He warned him that Satan would sorely tempt him because of his father's needy circumstances to use the plates to get rich, but if he did this, he could not posses the record.

As it turned out, when Joseph finally revealed the plates in the stone box, his first impulse was to reach out and lift the record out. But as he eagerly attempted to grasp the treasure, he received a violent jar which took his strength away. After a rest, he tried again and was jolted more violently than before. He tried one more time and finally exclaimed, "Why can I not obtain this book?"

"Because you have not kept the commandments of the Lord," answered a voice nearby. He looked up and saw the angel Moroni. He instantly recalled all the instructions he had received the night before, and remembered that in fact, as he walked along on his way to the hill, he had been dreaming of wealth, of release from poverty, both for himself and his family, of ease and comfort, security, and importance in the world. He remembered the warning and knew he had allowed himself to fall into temptation. His repentance was swift and he stood up in humbled submission. He prayed, and the heavens opened and the glory of the Lord shone round about and rested upon him. As he gazed in awe and admiration, the angel said, "Look!" and Joseph found himself looking upon the Prince of Darkness surrounded by his innumerable train of associates.

The angel explained,

"All this is shown, the good and the evil, the holy and impure, the glory of God and the power of darkness, that you may know hereafter the two powers and never be influenced or overcome by that wicked one. Behold, whatever entices and leads to do good, is of God, and whatever does not is of that wicked one." The vision of the awfulness and misery of those led away by the prince of darkness impressed upon his mind and stayed in his memory always after. Joseph understood clearly that the record could only be obtained through prayer and faithful obedience to the commandments. The angel explained that the record could not be interpreted by the learning of that generation and if allowed to pass into unholy hands could be of no value except as precious metal. Moroni further instructed Joseph about the importance and power of the book, and though the workers of iniquity would seek to destroy Joseph, he was assured that he would be preserved if he faithfully kept the commandments given to him.

He was told to return in exactly one year to the hill to receive additional instruction from Moroni. When he returned to his home that evening he related his experiences to his family. They all believed him. They all knew Joseph would not and could not make up a fabulous story of seeing an angel and all who were old enough to know right from wrong had implicit confidence in Joseph's statements.

Almost every night Joseph talked to his family about the "great and glorious things which God had manifested to him," and he warned them never to "divulge what he told them as the world was so wicked that when they came to a knowledge of these things they would try to take our lives."

From this point on, Joseph received instructions from the Lord by inspiration and by visitation from heavenly personages. The angel Moroni communicated with him often. And each year in September, Joseph visited the hill receiving further enlightenment concerning his labors with the ancient record. Many ancient prophets and apostles appeared to Joseph during this time. Figures from the Book of Mormon revealed themselves to him and unfolded the majesty and glory of the events that should transpire in the last days" and acquainted him with particulars about the people mentioned in the golden record. He was as familiar with these ancient prophets as people are today with their most intimate friends." They told him of their living conditions and he would relate this information to his family. His mother relates:

"He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them." In October of 1825, at the age of 19, Joseph was hired to work in Pennsylvania. He stayed in the home of Isaac Hale where he met Isaac's daughter Emma. Emma was a year and a half older than Joseph. She was said to be a beautiful woman, above average in size, dignified in body, with bewitching dark eyes and raven hair. She was an attractive personality, intelligent and capable. For one year she attended an academy for girls where she received training in social behavior. It was said of her that she never used slang and was very particular about her grammar and choice of words. She had the reputation of being a meticulous housekeeper and an excellent cook. She, like her mother, was a member of the Methodist Church, had a good singing voice, and sang in the village choir. Her mother was for fifty years a consistant member of the Wesleyan Church. It was said of her by a neighbor, "I never visited her but I thought I had learned something useful."

A courtship started which her family strongly disapproved of because of Joseph's claims to have had a vision. Though Joseph returned to New York with his employer, he continued to court Emma and on January 18, 1827, at the age of 21, they were married in South Bainbridge, New York. They went to live with Joseph's family in Manchester.

It was that September that Joseph returned to the hill Cumorah for the fourth time and this time the plates were delivered up to him by Moroni.

By this time Joseph had grown into a man, and soon began the work he had been called to do those 7 years earlier in the Sacred Grove. Had the Lord prepared him for this work? Was he, an unlearned man able to translate the golden record when the learned were not as was prophesied by Isaiah? Was he able to keep it from falling into the hands of wicked men? Was he protected from destruction as Moroni had promised him if he were faithful? Was he able to receive the Keys of the Restoration of all things? Did he complete his mission? Have the prophecies of the great and marvelous work and a wonder to roll forth and cover the earth come to pass?

Despite his humble upbringing, despite his difficult life, the persecution, the trials, the temptations, all these things DID come to pass as they were foreordained to do. The prophet Joseph Smith was prepared by the Lord, through noble blood lines, righteous parents, and circumstances that were by no means coincidental throughout his early years, to be able to step forward and accept his calling and perform his great latter-day mission.

I have a testimony that Joseph Smith was chosen, called, and received all the keys necessary to restore the fulness of the gospel to the earth in preparation for the second coming of the Lord. I testify that he did receive an actual record of the ancient inhabitants of this continent, and by the power of God, translated it into what we now know as The Book of Mormon. I testify that through him the Savior restored again on the earth, Christ's true church and that this church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that church of which we are members. I am grateful for this knowledge.

And in studying about Joseph as a young man, I come to a personal recognition that it is no wonder that at the age of 16, I myself was drawn to this church after many years of diligent searching, not unlike the searching of the 14 year old Joseph, to find the church that was right, that I should join. That not unlike Joseph, I innocently related my experiences to my peers and religious leaders and received the very unexpected and unpleasant reaction of scorn and contempt. And not unlike Joseph, I could not deny what I knew to be true. I hope that I can continue, like Joseph, to remain faithful despite the difficulties and temptations of this life, and fulfill my mission here, and meet him in the world to come.