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Joseph Smith Tells His
Own Story
Part 1 -- Beginnings
I was born in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and five, on the twenty-third day of December, in the town
of Sharon, Windsor County, state of Vermont. My father, Joseph
Smith, senior, left the state of Vermont, and moved to Palmyra,
Ontario (now Wayne) County, in the state of New York, when
I was in my tenth year. In about four years after my father’s
arrival at Palmyra, he moved with his family into Manchester,
in the same county of Ontario. His family, consisting of eleven
souls, namely: My father, Joseph Smith, my mother, Lucy Smith,
(whose name, previous to her marriage was Mack, daughter of
Solomon Mack,) my brothers, Alvin, (who is now dead,) Hyrum,
myself, Samuel Harrison, William, Don Carlos, and my sisters,
Sophronia, Catherine, and Lucy.
Some time in the second year after our removal to Manchester,
there was in the place where we lived an unusual excitement
on the subject of religion. It commenced with the Methodists,
but soon became general among all the sects in that region
of country; indeed, the whole district of country seemed affected
by it, and great multitudes united themselves to the different
religious parties, which created no small stir and division
amongst the people, some crying, “lo, here,” and
some “lo, there;” some were contending for the
Methodist faith, some for the Presbyterian, and some for the
Baptists.
(Continue...)
| Part
2: |
The Vision in the Grove |
| Part
3: |
The Angel Moroni Appears |
| Part
4: |
The Book of Mormon |
| Part
5: |
The Aaronic Priesthood Restored |
| Part
6: |
The Book of Mormon Witnesses |
| Part
7: |
The Organization of the Church |
From the Death of Joseph
Smith, Jr. to the Reorganization
How God Cleansed His Church and Set it
in Order
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"And I have made the earth rich, and, behold, it is
my footstool; wherefore, again I will stand upon it; and I
hold forth and deign to give unto you greater riches, even
a land of promise; a land flowing with milk and honey, upon
which there shall be no curse when the Lord cometh; and I
will give it unto you for the land of your inheritance, if
you seek it with all your hearts: and this shall be my covenant
with you, Ye shall have it for the land of your inheritance,
and for the inheritance of your children for ever, while the
earth shall stand; and ye shall possess it again in eternity,
no more to pass away" (Doctrine and Covenants 38:4d–e).
(More...)
A Voice of Warning Unto
All
Doctrine and Covenants 1
Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him
who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea,
verily I say, Hearken ye people from afar, and ye that are
upon the islands of the sea, listen together; for verily the
voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape,
and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall
not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated; and
the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow, for their
iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret
acts shall be revealed; and the voice of warning shall be
unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have
chosen in these last days, and they shall go forth and none
shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them.
Behold, this is mine authority, and the authority of my servants,
and my preface unto the book of my commandments, which I have
given them to publish unto you, O inhabitants of the earth;
wherefore fear and tremble, O ye people, for what I the Lord
have decreed, in them, shall be fulfilled. And verily, I say
unto you, that they who go forth, bearing these tidings unto
the inhabitants of the earth, to them is power given to seal,
both on earth and in heaven, the unbelieving and rebellious;
yea, verily, to seal them up unto the day when the wrath of
God shall be poured out upon the wicked without measure; unto
the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto every
man according to his work, and measure to every man according
to the measure which he has measured to his fellow-man.
(Continue...) |
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