Joseph Smith : Prophet of the Restoration

This is one of my favorite movies.  The Bible speaks of the "restitution of all things."(Acts 3:21)  The Bible also says that there would be a general or great Apostasy, or a "falling away."(2 Thessalonians 2:3)

In Ezekiel 37 The Lord speaks to His Prophet of two books of Scripture, the Stick of Judah and the Stick of Ephraim.  The Stick of Judah is the Bible, because it was written by the Jews.

What then is the Stick of Ephraim?

What book of Scripture did the tribe of Ephraim write?

The Stick of Ephraim is the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon was written upon the American continent.

The Book of Mormon was brought forth in modern times by a Prophet of God.

The Book of Mormon was Translated by the Gift and Power of God.

This movie is a depiction of what Joseph Smith went through in order to restore the Church to the Earth.

ENJOY

Click HERE for a free copy of the Book of Mormon

Killer Bunnies and the Pursuit of Salvation

So...not very many people know about Killer Bunnies. 

Not very many people have a Perfect assurance of Salvation either.

You see when you first begin playing Killer Bunnies you have the Starter deck, which includes the Blue and Yellow card sets.  You have two booklets to help you learn how to play, Six different colored, twelve sided dice, and Twelve different Carrot Cards.

Some of the cards can be rather difficult to understand how to play them, or even know what exactly they are supposed to do.

Once you begin getting better however, you have the option to add the Red Booster deck.

Plus a few other decks.

Which in turn adds a few more 'special' cards to the Game.

When you finally add all Nine of the Expansions to your deck of Killer Bunnies, you have something around 1000 cards in the deck.

This is a lot like the Restoration of the gospel, or maybe like someone joining the church.  In the beginning it might be a bit overwhelming.

For almost 1800 years all anyone had known as Scripture was the Bible.  But even before the Time of Christ there were Prophets who consistently added to Scripture.



The 5 Books of Moses



Moses covered over 2000 years in his writings alone.

Then you have other Prophets who added Scriptures.



Confused Yet??



Then after Christ called His Twelve Apostles and performed the Atonement, the Apostles started writing their Testimonies and it was Canonized into being Scripture, now known as the New Testament.

(click here for more information)

So most of the world only knows about this set of Scriptures.

Kinda like having just the Starter set of Killer Bunnies.

But just like with killer bunnies you have more to add!!

Adding the Book of Mormon to Scripture is like adding Booster decks to Killer bunnies. Sometimes it gets confusing.  But the deck is so much better to play with when you have all the extra content.

So the more you play, or go through life, the more you learn about the way things work.  So try to find all the Truth that you can, and then live by that Knowledge.

"Life is an open book test."

Ezekiel 37:15-19, Isaiah 29:11-12, 2 Nephi 27:14-20, Moroni 10:3-5

The Testimony of Eight Witnesses

The Testimony of Eight Witnesses

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.

Christian Whitmer

Jacob Whitmer

Peter Whitmer, Jun.

John Whitmer

Hiram Page

Joseph Smith, Sen.

Hyrum Smith

Samuel H. Smith

The Testimony of Three Witnesses

The Testimony of Three Witnesses

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.

Oliver Cowdery

David Whitmer

Martin Harris

The Book of Mormon

So what is the Book of Mormon?

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.

The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, then a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language.

In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God. The record is now published in many languages as a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that all who will come unto him and obey the laws and ordinances of his gospel may be saved.

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as “The Testimony of Three Witnesses” and “The Testimony of Eight Witnesses.”

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3-5.)

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.

That is what the Book of Mormon is , and why I encourage everyone to read it.

To request a Free cpoy of the Book of Mormon, go to: http://mormon.org/free-book-of-mormon/

The Gospel of Jesus Christ Requires WORK

So some people think we are in a huge depression.  Others think it's just a little recession.  I think it doesn't matter because if you are doing as God would do, He will bless you with everything you need.

Even though we don't always get everything we want when we want it, God will provide for our necessities.  In the Book of Mormon there was a people who took an oath to never take up weapons of war ever again.  These people were called the Anti-Nephi-Lehites, and they had the promised protection of the Nephites.  When their mutual enemy, the Lamanites, came to war against them, the Nephites struggled to defend themselves as well as those who they had sworn to protect.  When the time came that the Anti-Nephi-Lehites wanted to take up arms to aid their brethren, Helaman forbade them lest by breaking the covenant, or promise, which they had made with the Lord, they would have been slain.  However, they had many sons who had not entered into this covenant, and these sons valued the liberty of their fathers, even more than their own lives, and they 'enlisted' to join the army against the Lamanites.  See Alma 53:14-16.

Thus we see that once you say you are going to do something, you need to do it.  We also see that the liberty of the fathers was protected by the hard work that their sons gave in service.  However we cannot look to someone else to fulfill the requirements the Lord has set to enter His kingdom.

When Joseph, son of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, was sold into Egypt, he served in several positions where everything was 'commited into his hand'.  After more than a couple years since seeing his family he was brought before Pharaoh to interpret a dream.

The dreams of Pharaoh, and Joseph's interpretation, are as follows:(the teal is my own interjections)

"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine(good cows), fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

And, behold, seven other kine(sick cows) came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:

And the lean and the ill favoured kine(sick cows) did eat up the first seven fat kine(good cows):

And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears(good corn) came up in one stalk, full and good:

And, behold, seven ears(bad corn), withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

And the thin ears(bad corn) devoured the seven good ears(good corn): and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.

And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;

And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass."

-- Genesis 41:17-32

Here we see that everything the Lord does is done by the 'mouth of two or more witnesses'.  He gave Pharaoh two dreams, plus the testimony of a Prophet.  Three witnesses were given that there would be a time of plenty, and then a time of famine.

"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

"Let no man deceive you by any means: 

for that day shall not come,

except there come a falling away first,"

-- 2 Thessalonians 2:3

And thus we can plainly discern,

that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God,

and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness,

and then have fallen away into sin and transgression,

they become more hardened,

and thus their state becomes worse

than though they had never known these things."

-- Alma 24:30

Here we have more than two times that the Lord has told us there would be a falling away, or an apostasy, before His second coming.

"And he shall send Jesus Christ, 

which before was preached unto you:

Whom the heaven must receive

until the times of restitution of all things,

which God hath spoken

by the mouth of all his holy prophets

since the world began."

-- Acts 3:20-21

"I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren"

-- Deuteronomy 18:18

The famine of hearing the words of the Lord is over, the church that Jesus Christ established has been restored again to the earth, which is the restitution of all things, including the Priesthood which is Authority to perform sacred ordinances in the name of Christ.

We are told to "WORK out your own salvation"(Philippians 2:12), and the way has been shown in the scriptures.  The Book of Mormon stands as SECOND witness of Jesus Christ.  Through the Book of Mormon we find that we must indeed have FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ, REPENT of our sins, be BAPTIZED by someone holding the proper authority to do so, receive the GIFT of the Holy Ghost, and ENDURE to the END.

I promise that if anyone is struggling with life right now, be it because of family problems, lack of employment, depression, or addiction, by reading the Book of Mormon for 5 minutes a day you will find peace, hope, and balance in your life and family.

The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth.  Just like someone doing a car restoration after the car has been ruined or left to decay, Christ restored His gospel and His church to the earth after centuries of confusion and spiritual decay.

God is our loving Heavenly Father.  He wants what is best for us.  In order for us to grow and progress we had to leave Him and come to earth where we go through trials and temptation.  We are able to communicate with Him through prayer, and He communicates with us through scriptures written by His prophets.

"Herein is love, 

not that we loved God, 

but that he loved us, 

and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins."

-- 1 John 4:10

The gospel taught by prophets is there to bless the family.  "THE FAMILY is ordained of God." (The Family: A Proclamation to the World).  This means that we can have some of the most sacred experiences within our own families. 

Heavenly Father has revealed the gospel several times.  Each time He reveals it to a prophet is called a dispensation.  When people reject the prophets and their teachings, it is called an apostasy.  Adam was the first man, and the first prophet on the earth.  He taught his children to follow the Lord.  After some time Noah was called to preach this same gospel of repentance and only eight individuals were saved from the flood because of the apostasy of the inhabitants of the world.  Later Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were each called as prophets, to teach the people.  Moses was called as a prophet to deliver Israel from Egypt, and to lead the people back to the land of their inheritance.  As inspired by God, Moses brought forth the ten commandments.  Jonah was commanded to Preach the Gospel to the inhabitants of Nineveh.

"Arise, go unto Nineveh,

that great city,

and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee."

-- Jonah 3:2

Jesus Christ came as the Son of God in the flesh, as the promised Messiah.  He taught a higher law than the Law of Moses.  He performed miracles, set up a church, and called twelve apostles, to whom he gave priesthood authority to run His church.  While on the earth He was the head of the church and they looked to Him for direction.  After He performed the Atonement, died, and was Resurrected on the Third day, He was still the head of His church.  He appeared to His apostles and taught them for forty days, teaching them what they had not previously learned about preaching the gospel to the rest of the world.  The apostles looked to Christ for what should be done within His church after His death, just as they had looked to Him while he was living on the earth.

Not long after the Saviors death however, the people rejected the Apostles just as they had rejected Christ.  Several were killed and all died without conferring the priesthood authority Christ had given them to anyone else.  This period where the priesthood, or the authority to act in the name of God, was gone is known as the Great Apostasy.  This is because of the widespread rejection of the servants of the Lord, as well as His teachings.

"For I think that God 

hath set forth us the apostles last, 

as it were appointed to death: 

for we are made a spectacle 

unto the world, 

and to angels, 

and to men."

-- 1 Corinthians 4:9

This period of Apostasy was ended by God calling another Prophet to the earth.  In the year 1820 near Palmyra, New York, there was an unusual excitement on the subject of religion.  A young boy named Joseph Smith was searching with his family for which church was right.  Joseph read in the bible where it said clearly, "one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5).  This cause him to wonder which of the many different churches was right.  One day he was reading James 1:5, which says, "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 then decided that if anyone lacked wisdom, he did.  After some time of reflecting upon this scripture he decided to do as James had directed, and ask God what to do.

He went early one morning to a grove of trees near his home.  He knelt down and began praying to our Father in Heaven.  As he prayed he saw a vision.

This is a description of his experience in his own words:

"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
...When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

That morning God the Father and His son Jesus Christ appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith.  He was called to restore the church that had been lost back to the earth.  To do this he would be required to translate the Book of Mormon.  The Book of Mormon stand side-by-side with the Bible.  They both teach and testify of Jesus Christ.  If anyone desires to know if Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, all they need to do is read the Book of Mormon and pray, asking with a sincere heart and really intending to do something about the answer they receive.

^"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.

But let him ask in faith, 

nothing wavering. 

For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea 

driven with the wind and tossed."

-- James 1:5-6

"And when ye shall receive these things, 

I would exhort you that ye would ask God, 

the Eternal Father, 

in the name of Christ, 

if these things are not true; 

and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, 

with real intent, 

having faith in Christ, 

he will manifest the truth of it unto you, 

by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost 

ye may know the truth of all things."

-- Moroni 10:4-5

I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed me in my life and with my family.  I can say with a surety that the Book of Mormon is true and really is inspired by God.  I love my Savior Jesus Christ for all He has done for me.