Praise to the Man

I know it is Christmas time and a post about Christ is more befitting of the season, but I had to most my testimony about Joseph Smith and why I praise (not worship) him. I was reading the Sunday School lesson about Josheph Smith today and there is a quote from President Benson that really touched me: “The First Vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith is bedrock theology to the Church. The adversary knows this and has attacked Joseph Smith’s credibility from the day he announced the visitation of the Father and the Son. … You should always bear testimony to the truth of the First Vision. Joseph Smith did see the Father and the Son. They conversed with him as he said they did. It is the most glorious event since the resurrection of our Lord. Any leader who, without reservation, cannot declare his testimony that God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith can never be a true leader, a true shepherd. If we do not accept this truth, … if we have not received a witness about this great revelation, we cannot inspire faith in those whom we lead.”

I was thinking about this as a primary leader and just as a member of these Church. If I can't say within my heart that I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, then all the other truth's in the church are nice principles. Without a true testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon is just a neat book with some good lessons. BUT I do have a testimony of Joseph Smith. I have felt the Spirit burn within me and witness that Joseph Smith did go to the Sacred Grove, he did pray for instruction on which church to join and he did receive an answer from God. I know all of these things in my heart and in my head. I have felt it when I pray and I have understood it when I read and ponder. It is because of this knowledge that I know that I belong to the restored Church of Jesus Christ on this earth today. I praise Joseph Smith for his courage and faith. I praise him for his strength and persistence to share what he knew despite persecution. It it because of his strength that I was raised in a family and taught from a young age about his visitation from God and Jesus Christ. I cannot express my feelings of gratitude for the lessons I was taught as a child and for the testimony that I gained as a teenager (and continue to gain daily.) I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and deserves to be praised.

Watch this video.