THE FIRST VISION.
At the time when Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States, there
was born among the Green Mountains of Vermont a boy who was to become the
great prophet of the last days. The hills and valleys of Vermont look
beautiful in the summer, but at the time here spoken of they were no doubt
covered with snow, for it was the 23rd of December, 1805, in the town of
Sharon, Windsor county, that Joseph Smith first saw the light of the world.
Joseph was named after his father, whose name was Joseph. His mother's
maiden name was Lucy Mack. Joseph had five brothers and three sisters whose
names were Alvin, Hyrum, (then Joseph), Samuel, William, Don Carlos,
Sophronia, Catherine and Lucy; so you see that there was a large family for
the father and mother to take care of. Joseph's parents were poor and had
to work hard for a living, so when the boys were old enough they had to
help on the farm; this they willingly, did. For this reason Joseph did not
go to school much, but he learned to read, to write fairly well, and to
work some examples in arithmetic. Though Joseph did not get much of an
education at school, yet he was a great student; and then God became his
teacher, so that before he died, as you will see, he became one of the most
learned men in the world.
When Joseph was ten years old they all moved from Vermont to Palmyra, in
the western part of the state of New York. Four years later they moved
again to the small town of Manchester, in Ontario, now Wayne County, New
York.
While the family was living at Manchester there arose a great religious
excitement all through the country. The different religious sects held many
meetings and tried to get people to join them. Joseph was now in his
fifteenth year and he also became interested, as his parents had always
taught him to believe in God and the Bible. Joseph thought he would like to
join the true church of Christ, but what troubled him was to know which of
all these sects was the true church. He could see that all of them could
not be true, as God surely would not have a great many churches, one
striving against the other; also, no doubt, he had read in the Bible that
there was but "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," etc., which the Lord
accepted. Joseph went first to one meeting, then to another. His mother and
some of his brothers and sisters had joined the Presbyterians, but Joseph
could not make up his mind what to do.
But there is a way by which anyone may find out which is the true church
and therefore which to join, and every boy and girl that reads this book
should remember it. It is this: Ask God. Joseph did not know this until one
day while reading in his Testament he came to the fifth verse in the first
chapter of James, which reads as follows:
"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."
This was just the thing. God had surely led him to read that verse. Joseph
certainly lacked wisdom, and here was a way to find out what he wanted to
know about the sects. The Lord would tell him. All he had to do was to ask.
How simple it was!
On a beautiful morning in the spring of the year 1820, Joseph decided to
ask the Lord for wisdom. He went out into a grove near his father's house,
and after looking around to make sure that he was alone, he kneeled down on
the grass under the trees and began to pray. No sooner had he begun than
some awful power which he could not see took hold of him and made it nearly
impossible for him to speak. It soon became dark around the boy, and Joseph
thought the unseen power would kill him; but he struggled hard and tried to
pray to God for help.
Just at that moment Joseph saw a great light coming down from above, and
then the evil power left him. The light was brighter than the sun, and as
it came down and touched the tops of the trees, Joseph wondered why it did
not burn them. Then it shone all around him, and in the light, standing in
the air above him, he saw two persons who looked like men, only they were
shining with a glory that can not be described. One of them, pointing to
the other, said to the boy:
"_Joseph, this is my Beloved Son; hear him_."
Joseph then asked which of all the religions was right, and great was his
surprise when he was told that none was right; that they all had gone
astray from the truth; and that he must join none of them. Joseph was told
many other things, among which was that some day the true gospel would be
made known to him. Then they left him alone in the woods.
What a wonderful thing! God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ had
actually come to Joseph. He had seen them and they had spoken to him. That
same Jesus of whom he had read in his Bible had come from heaven and his
Father had come with him to introduce him to the boy praying in the woods!
This was the first vision and the beginning of the gospel in our day; and
by thinking carefully about this vision, we may see that it teaches us many
things. First, that God has a body like unto man's. Second, that the Father
and the Son are two persons, not one, as many in the world believe. Third,
that the many religions which man has made are not accepted by God. Fourth,
that God has not ceased to give revelations to men on the earth.
Topics.--1. Joseph's Boyhood. 2. The Vision. 3. What may be learned from
the vision.
Questions and Review.--1. When and where was Joseph Smith born? 2. To
what places did Joseph move? 3. What led Joseph to ask God for wisdom? 4.
Repeat James I:5. 5. Why can not all the sects in the world be right? 6.
Did the Father and the Son come to Joseph solely because of this prayer?[1]
7. Why did the evil one try to destroy Joseph? 8. What may we learn from
this vision?