Joseph Smith

I am saddened that the churches which claim Joseph Smith as their founder, namely the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, continues to besmirch and disparage his character by claiming that he was a polygamist when he was not. He was a true and faithful husband to his wife, Emma. He loved her and she loved him. He had no other wives and "knew" no other women. These churches also disrespect and discard his teachings, namely his ascent theology. 

God said to Joseph, “The ends of the earth shall inquire after your name, and fools shall have you in derision, and Hell shall rage against you, while the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under your hand. And your people shall never be turned against you by the testimony of traitors, and although their influence shall cast you into trouble, and into bars and walls, you shall be had in honor.” (D & C 122:1-4)

All who have spoken derisively of Joseph have done so foolishly. We must repent of our foolishness. We need to end the derision of Joseph. Let us become the pure in heart, the wise, the noble, and the virtuous who seek counsel, authority, and blessings constantly from under his hand.

My Father Died

I was born to goodly parents who taught me to love the Lord. From my youth I was taught to have faith in, pray to, and worship Jesus Christ. I was taught about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Our family held early morning scripture study, weekly Family Home Evening and nightly family prayer. My father, Mike, was a man of honor and integrity and was faithful to my mother, to the LDS Church, and was faithful to God.  Dad was a man without guile who had a solid belief in the Savior and served his fellow man all his days. Dad was loyal to the LDS Church and strove to help build up what he believed was the kingdom of God on the earth.  Even as “early on-set Parkinson’s” ravaged his body for over 25 years he faithfully attended church each week and studied the scriptures each day until he slipped into a coma just before his death.

My mom, Trudy, first noticed my dad in ninth grade LDS seminary when my dad bore his testimony of the Savior.  Mom was smitten and their love story began at that moment and lasted for over 56 years on this earth and is now continuing in heaven. Mom sacrificed her mental, emotional and physical health to bring eight children into this world. She struggled with fears, anxieties, and physical ailments that plagued her and were difficult for her to overcome. Through it all she never lost her devotion to the religious heritage her parents instilled within her. She remained loyal to the Mormon Church and to Dad. For some reason her faith and belief in Jesus Christ was not something she openly shared or talked about with me. My parents passed away within one year of each other, my mom on February 17, 2017 and my dad on February 22, 2018. I love and miss them.

My father was my hero. As a little girl I would wait at the bus stop every night, anticipating his return from a long day of work. I had a desire for him to be proud of me. I wanted to marry a man just like him. Since my mom’s passing last year, I have been taking care of my dad as much as possible. He lived at home until a bad fall last July and a subsequent hospital stay of several weeks. We then moved him into an assisted living center in order to have people who could be there to cook and clean for him and to help him when he fell. He sustained more injuries, as he fell several times each day.  I was feeling a great burden on my shoulders, taking care of dad’s house, his finances and his health. Last August, moving him into an assisted living center made my siblings and myself more aware of dad’s decline in health. My siblings were a great blessing to me and my father as they helped where ever and in what manner they could in his care.

On February 15 my dad was taken to a higher level care facility because he was having a severe Parkinson’s episode which mimicked seizures. Within 3 days he had slipped into a comma and never came out of it. He had a huge lump on his left temple with bruising down to his collar bone.  We believe he suffered a "bleeder" on the brain. I was by his side as much as possible that final week. Hours before his death I shared some private, final words with him. I worry that my parents felt like they had failed me because of the journey I have been on to find Christ. This journey has put me at odds with the LDS Church. In my parents’ minds, if I am not active LDS then I am not following Christ. I asked my dad to trust me, that I know what I am doing, that I know he doesn’t understand, but that I am seeking Jesus Christ. I encouraged him to find mom and together to seek Jesus Christ, to not allow the traditions of men to cause them to stop searching. I then read to him Ether 12:41, “And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen.”

My dad passed away 30 years to the day of the death of his own father and one week and one year after the love of his life, my mom. He was surrounded by almost all of his children, his daughter-in-laws and son-in-law, grandchildren and lots of love.

Know the Lord

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Faith is hardly found on the earth. The hearts of men and women wax cold, angry, bitter, jealous and untrusting. We blame God for everything wrong in our lives and fail to recognize or thank Him for the good, beautiful and wonderful. Is it any wonder that His spirit withdraws? As a parent do you want to continually bless an ungrateful child? Yet, God does, He is always there, waiting for His children to recognize His hand in all things in their lives, the good and the bad. We are here to learn to choose between good and evil, to learn discernment, to grow in love and charity and to return to His presence.

How can we pierce the veil if we fail to see Him all around us, in all and through all things? Christ stands at the door, our door, and knocks; will we open it unto Him? Will we bid Him enter? Will we sup with Him? How do we open the door? That is the age old question with which even Father Adam and Mother Eve grappled. How do we increase our faith until it is even as the Brother of Jared? Hear His voice, follow Him, obey Him, give heed to His messengers, true messengers, sent from His presence to teach us. Accept their teachings, giving thanks for them, and then obey His word with exactness, honoring Him and giving all honor and glory to Him. Take no thought for ourselves but for others. Be believing.  Seek Him and His kingdom and His glory will shine on us and come to rest upon us. Repent of all our wicked ways.  Prepare the way of the Lord.  Enter into His rest and help and encourage others to do so.

Christ loves His children and will work with them, dunging, pruning, planting until they are fully ripened. Those who choose to ripen in iniquity will be burned. Those who choose to ripen in truth and love, having faith in Christ, looking forward to the day of their salvation, will be spared, they will find their abode with Him in the Kingdom of His Father. Become wheat.  Ripen in faith, hope and charity. Stand firm and unshakeable in truth, knowledge and wisdom.

Allow God to write His law on our inward parts and to write it on our hearts. Know the Lord. He will forgive our iniquity and will remember our sin no more.