November 4, 2015

Every Monday, I get some of my friend's emails who are out serving missions and I love reading their testimonies. They all have such great experiences and for some time, I have been tempted to believe that I could never have the same type of experiences as the ones I had on my mission. Thank goodness, God has helped me to see that that is not true. He is always there and if I open my eyes, I can see Him. 

Today, I was sitting in my Doctrine and Covenants class and we were discussing section 135, which talks about the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum. It was interesting to learn about the details of this event and to see how his character remained faithful and obedient even through this trying time. I had this weird moment where the Spirit took me back through all the different things I had learned about Joseph throughout my life- good and bad. 

Yes, Joseph made mistakes. There are a lot of things I don't understand about him or about early church history. On my mission and now, I realize how easy it is to not believe in him. It's easy to let the "hard things" skew your opinion about the Prophet and the legitimacy of the Church. 

But let me tell you, when I truly learned what happened that early spring morning in April of 1820, my life changed. I realized for the first time that that morning meant that God was there and that He loved us enough to speak to us again. The Restoration that took place thereafter was a restoration of His Gospel. It amazes me that we have full access to His grace because a young boy had a question and God felt that it was time to restore all things again. 

Whenever I pray about that first vision, I feel an overwhelming sense of peace. I know that Joseph really did see God and I know that he assisted God in building up His kingdom once again on this Earth. I know that Joseph was a good man and a prophet of God. 

I am amazed by his service to God and I can't believe that he gave his life for the cause! I believe that one day, we will be able to understand all things. Until then, I trust in the feeling that I get whenever I pray about him. 

So for all the bad out there about Joseph Smith, I trust in the good that I know. I know that God trusted Joseph enough to pioneer this dispensation of the Gospel and for that I am so grateful. 

I was grateful for this little experience that God reminded me of my deep faith and testimony. I have realized that if I am open and willing to listen, the Lord will reconfirm the things that I know to be true and teach me more. It's been cool to see this occur in a real-life setting.