The Light Rested Upon Me

1. The Light Rested Upon Me JSH 1:1-26 F Burton Howard, BYU Women’s Conference, 2005

2. One Tiny Candle • By Darla Isackson • Determined to defeat daunting darkness, I feverishly tried to load it into buckets— Carried, dumped, loaded again Until I collapsed, exhausted. • Darkness stood undiminished. I wept in frustration, Proven powerless, my task impossible.

3. A friend appeared Holding one tiny candle, one flickering flame. I gasped as that wee speck of light dispelled darkness. • I threw my bucket far away and ran for candles. My friend's candle lost no light by lighting mine. We two passed our flames to candle after candle. • Each tiny flame ate hungrily, voraciously, big gulps of darkness, Replacing it with shimmering light. This effort not exhausting, but joyful! And I, a child of Light Recognized at last my one true task.

4. JS-H 1:15-17“The light rested upon me” • In the year 2000, a U.S. News & World Report published a front page article about the Church. The article included a notable quote from Rodney Stark, professor of sociology and religion at the University of Washington. Stark said that Mormonism "stands on the threshold of becoming the first major faith to appear on Earth since the prophet Muhammed rode out of the desert.“ • (U.S. News & World Report, Nov 13, 2000)

5. The Prophesied Apostasy • Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: • “And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” (Amos 8:11–12.)

6. The Prophesied Apostasy • For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Acts 20:29 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first 2 Thess 2:3

7. What were some of the consequences of the Apostasy? • a. There was no priesthood authority on the earth. • b.  There were no apostles or prophets on the earth. • c.  Essential knowledge about the nature of God was lost. • d.  The doctrines of the gospel were corrupted. • e.  Sacred ordinances, such as baptism, were changed. • f.  The original Church became divided into discordant groups.

8. What did they have during the days of apostasy? • … the shadow of apostasy settled over the earth. The line of priesthood authority was broken. But mankind was not left in total darkness or completely without revelation or inspiration. The idea that with the Crucifixion of Christ the heavens were closed and that they opened in the First Vision is not true. The Light of Christ would be everywhere present to attend the children of God; the Holy Ghost would visit seeking souls. The prayers of the righteous would not go unanswered. • Boyd K. Packer, “The Light of Christ,” Liahona, Apr. 2005, 8

9. Right time Right place Right man • Though they lived in the night they helped prepare for the dawn Before Joseph Smith was born, what events helped prepare the way for the restoration of the gospel?

10. Before Joseph Smith was born, what events helped prepare the way for the restoration of the gospel? • Renaissance • Reformers • Americas with independent people • Constitution and religious freedom

12. Roger Williams (1603?–1683), founder of the first Baptist church in the American colonies. Williams was educated at Cambridge University, apparently ordained in the Church of England, and set sail for North America in 1630 searching for religious freedom. These are his words: • “There is no regularly constituted church on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking.” • Andrew C. Skinner, “Apostasy, Restoration, and Lessons in Faith,” Ensign, Dec 1995, 25

13. Right time Right place Right man • Though they lived in the night they helped prepare for the dawn How was Joseph prepared to bring forth the restoration?

14. “I went home”JS-H 1:20 • "I presume our family presented an aspect as singular as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth—all seated in a circle, father, mother, sons and daughters, and giving the most profound attention to a boy, eighteen years of age: . . . . The sweetest union and happiness pervaded our house, and tranquility reigned in our midst." • Lucy Smith, History of the Prophet Joseph Smith, rev. George A. Smith and Elias Smith, (1902), 84.

15. "We should be grateful . . . for model families in the past, such as that of Joseph Smith Sr., who, along with his wife, Luck Mack Smith, gave a boy prophet love, leadership, example, and support. Suppose, after walking back from that theophany at Palmyra, young Joseph Smith had encountered task oriented ("Get the chores done!"), non listening parents? Or a jealous older brother? With all else he had to meet in the way of ridicule and persecution, could that lad have done his special work without the love and courage of a family that quietly, uncomplainingly agreed to share in his work and in his fate?“ • Neal A Maxwell (That My Family Should Partake, p2)

16. A Believing Family • My grandfather, said that he always knew that God was going to raise up some branch of his family to be a great benefit to mankind"("Sketch of the Auto-biography of George Albert Smith," Millennial Star, June 24, 1865, 407). • According to Joseph, after his grandfather Asael had read most of the Book of Mormon, "he declared that I [Joseph] was the very Prophet that he had long known would come in his family." • History of the Church, 2:443.

17. Joseph knew the power of prayer • Some have suggested that his mother planted the seeds. When Joseph was nine years old and his sister Sophronia was ten, she was dying with typhus fever. His mother wrote that she and her husband clasped hands, knelt by the side of Sophronia’s bed, and poured out their hearts to Heavenly Father in prayer asking Him to spare their daughter’s life. From that moment, Sophronia improved and completely recovered. • Estella Wilkes, Brigham Young University–Idaho Devotional, January 11, 2005.

18. Prayer in a Grove • I retired to a grove not far distant, where I prayed to the Lord in behalf of my husband—that the true gospel might be presented to him and that his heart might be softened so as to receive it, or, that he might become more religiously inclined • (Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, p. 43).

19. JSH 1:20“…I went home” • In our own homes, may we create the kind of home that Joseph Smith grew up in by doing the little things that will create an atmosphere of love…. • Estella Wilkes, Brigham Young University–Idaho Devotional, January 11, 2005.

20. Our homes should be places where a person can share their thoughts and feelings and find renewed strength to face the world. Our homes should be places where there is comfort, understanding, and acceptance. Our homes should be where best friends live and where we learn to be our best selves. • Estella Wilkes, Summit, Jan 2005

21. Prepared by adversity

22. The First Vision • "His prayer was for personal and tactical guidance. The response, however, was of global and eternal significance". • -Neal A Maxwell • What do we learn from the First Vision?

23. Nuggets of truth drawn from the gold mine of the First Vision Carlos E. Asay, Liahona, Apr. 1997, 10

24. God hears and answers prayers • What process did Joseph follow in his search for truth?

25. What process did Joseph follow in his search for truth?

26. I would like to begin by sharing with you a story of a woman living on the seacoast of Ireland at the turn of the last century. This woman was quite wealthy but also very frugal. Her neighbors were surprised when she was among the first in her area to have electricity installed in her home. Several weeks after having the power installed, a man from the electric company visited her to see how things were working. She assured him that everything was working well. • “I’m wondering if you can explain something to me,” he said. “Your meter shows scarcely any usage. Are you using your power?” • “Certainly,” she answered. “Each evening when the sun sets, I turn on my lights just long enough to light my candles; then I turn them off.”2

27. “To what degree am I being true to the abundance of light and knowledge made available to me through the gospel of Jesus Christ?” Specifically I ask myself, “Am I continually walking by the ‘flood of light’ made available through the restoration of the gospel by the Prophet Joseph Smith, or is the path on which I am walking lighted in ‘some other way’” (D&C 50:19)? • Daniel K Judd, BYU Dev, Dec 7, 2004

28. Seeking light: Ongoing process • Robert J. Matthews, former dean of Religious Education at BYU once stated: • President Heber C. Kimball said that we cannot survive on “borrowed light” [Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1967), 450]. That is, we cannot borrow testimony from someone else. It also means that we cannot continually borrow, even from ourselves from an earlier time. . . . If we drift we may not realize that faith was becoming thin within us, and perhaps we have only the memory of a testimony and not a live, current, dynamic testimony. • Daniel K Judd, BYU Dev, Dec 7, 2004

29. A Grove of My Own F Burton Howard, BYU Women’s Conference, 2005

30. Pres UchtdorfApril Gen Conf 2005

32. Arthur Henry King, a convert to the Church steeped in literature and writing style, and incidentally a faculty member here at Brigham Young University, wrote a brief critique about Joseph's account. He had this to say about Joseph's account of the First Vision: • "When I was first brought to read Joseph Smith's story, I was deeply impressed. . . . As a stylistician, I have spent my life being disinclined to be impressed. So when I read his story, I thought to myself, this is an extraordinary thing. This is an astonishingly matter-of-fact and cool account. This man is not trying to persuade me of anything. He doesn't feel the need to. He is stating what happened to him, and he is stating it, not enthusiastically, but in quite a matter-of-fact way. He is not trying to make me cry or feel ecstatic. That struck me, and that began to build my testimony, for I could see that this man was telling the truth".

33. Next Week:

35. The Zwickau chapel had an old air-driven organ. Every Sunday a young man was assigned to push up and down the sturdy lever operating the bellows to make the organ work. Even before I was an Aaronic Priesthood bearer, I sometimes had the great privilege to assist in this important task. • While the congregation sang our beloved hymns of the Restoration, I pumped with all my strength so the organ would not run out of wind. The eyes of the organist unmistakably indicated whether I was doing fine or needed to increase my efforts quickly. I always felt honored by the importance of this duty and the trust that the organist had placed in me. It was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment to have a responsibility and to be part of this great work. • There was an additional benefit that came from this assignment: the bellows operator sat in a seat that offered a great view of a stained-glass window that beautified the front part of the chapel. The stainedglass portrayed the First Vision, with Joseph Smith kneeling in the Sacred Grove, looking up toward heaven and into a pillar of light. • During the hymns of the congregation and even during talks and testimonies given by our members, I often looked at this depiction of a most sacred moment in world history. In my mind’s eye I saw Joseph receiving knowledge, witness, and divine instructions as he became a blessed instrument in the hand of our Heavenly Father. • I felt a special spirit while looking at the beautiful scene in this window picture of a believing young boy in a sacred grove who made a courageous decision to earnestly pray to our Heavenly Father, who listened and responded lovingly to him. • Here I was, a young boy in post–World War II Germany, living in a city in ruins, thousands of miles away from Palmyra in North America and more than a hundred years after the event actually took place. By the universal power of the Holy Ghost, I felt in my heart and in my mind that it was true, that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ and heard Their voices. The Spirit of God comforted my soul at this young age with an assurance of the reality of this sacred moment that resulted in the beginning of a worldwide movement destined to “roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth” (D&C 65:2). I believed Joseph Smith’s testimony of that glorious experience in the Sacred Grove then, and I know it now. God has spoken to mankind again! • Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Fruits of the First Vision,” Ensign, May 2005, 36

36. What process did Joseph follow in his search for truth?

37. Nuggets of truth drawn from the gold mine of the First Vision Carlos E. Asay, Liahona, Apr. 1997, 10

38.    Many truths were revealed in the First Vision. • One might ask what divine purposes were realized by the manifestation that took place in a grove near Palmyra, New York, in the spring of 1820. The full answer to this question comes only to those who understand the circumstances surrounding this singular happening. A long night of spiritual darkness, unusual religious excitement, divisions among professed Christians, ordinary farm folks seeking a greater knowledge of godly matters, and other unique conditions set the stage for the Prophet Joseph’s entrance into a drama that is still being played out. Among the many purposes fulfilled and the nuggets of truth drawn from the gold mine of the FirstVision are these: • Carlos E. Asay, “ ‘Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning!’ Joseph Smith’s First Prayer and the FirstVision,” Liahona, Apr. 1997, 10

39. 1. There are no winners in wars of words • 2. Satanic powers and darkness are real. • 3. Powers of light and truth are of God. • 4. The only true God and Jesus Christ appeared. • 5. The oneness of the Father and the Son was revealed. • 6. None of the churches of the day was right. • 7. Errors of existing churches were exposed. • 8. The testimony of James was true. • 9. Joseph Smith had a mission • 10. Joseph became a special witness for God and his Son, Jesus Christ.

40. These and other truths are associated with the firstvision of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Each of the 10 truths mentioned above constitutes a single powerful ray of living light that pierced the long night of darkness and apostasy that had held mankind in spiritual bondage for many centuries. All of the rays combined provided a floodlight of intelligence that has brought many men and women closer to God. As Orson Pratt summarized, “One minute’s instruction from personages clothed with the glory of God coming down from the eternal worlds is worth more than all the volumes that ever were written by uninspired men” (Journal of Discourses, 12:354).

41. Truths from First Vision • a. God the Father and Jesus Christ live. • b.  The Father and the Son are real, separate beings with glorified bodies of flesh and bones. • c.  We are created in the image of God. • d.  Satan and his power are real, but God’s power is infinitely greater. • e.  God hears and answers prayers and cares for us. • f.  None of the churches on earth had the fulness of Christ’s gospel. • g.  Revelation has not ceased.

42. Doctrine that will change our lives • God does hear and answer our prayers. Therefore, we should make prayer the framework of our daily lives • The devil is real. Beware of his temptations and same, for he seeks to destroy us. Searching the scriptures should be a daily prescription for spiritual health and welfare. • There is a God in heaven. Jesus Christ is His Beloved son. They are separate beings with glorified bodies. We are created in Their image and thus possess a divine heritage as the children of God

43. Doctrine that will change our lives • There was an apostasy. This fact was confirmed by the Lord when He taught the boy Joseph that none of the churches were true but, rather, were an abomination in His sight. There can be but one true church. • Hypocrisy is condemned of God. We are to be pure in heart – a Zion people • The heavens are open to those with faith. Personal revelation can be ours as we exercise faith according to the will of God.

44. What was learned from the FirstVision? • 1. The existence of God our Father as a personal being, and proof that man was made in the image of God. • 2. That Jesus is a personage, separate and distinct from the Father. • 3. That Jesus Christ is declared by the Father to be his Son. • 4. That Jesus was the conveyer of revelation as taught in the Bible. • 5. The promise of James to ask of God for wisdom was fulfilled. • 6. The reality of an actual being from an unseen world who tried to destroy Joseph Smith. • 7. That there was a falling away from the Church established by Jesus Christ—Joseph was told not to join any of the sects, for they taught the doctrines of men. • 8. Joseph Smith became a witness for God and his Son, Jesus Christ. • James E. Faust, “The Magnificent Vision Near Palmyra,” Ensign, May 1984, 67

45. How was Joseph’s prayer on this morning different from other prayers he had offered? (See Joseph Smith—History 1:14.) Why is private vocal prayer often helpful when we are offering up the desires of our hearts to God?

46. What happened as Joseph Smith began to pray? (See Joseph Smith—History 1:15.) How was he delivered from this powerful darkness? (See Joseph Smith—History 1:16–17. Display the picture of the First Vision.) What can we learn from this experience about overcoming the influence of Satan? Why is it important to keep praying in times of darkness or trial? (Invite class members to share experiences when prayer has helped them during such difficulties.)

47. Why was Joseph Smith told that he should not join any of the churches? (See Joseph Smith—History 1:18–19.)

48. Paul • Alma • Moses

49. Truths from First Vision • President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “I submit that in the few minutes that Joseph Smith was with the Father and the Son, he learned more of the nature of God the Eternal Father and the risen Lord than all the learned minds in all their discussions through all centuries of time” (Church News, 24 Oct. 1998, 6).

50. President David O. McKay, the ninth President of the Church, testified that the First Vision “answers all the [questions] regarding God and his divine personality. … His relation to his children is clear. His interest in humanity through authority delegated to man is apparent. The future of the work is assured. These and other glorious truths are clarified by that glorious first vision” (Gospel Ideals [1954], 85). • SS manual