MOM'S COMMENTARY March 27,
Dear son,
Its a good year to be a Gonzaga fan. They actually made it to the Final Four for the first time in their history. That means right now the worse they can do is 4th place in the nation. They actually have a good shot at their next game which would make them 2nd and were not holding our breath. This is pretty exciting.
We've had a lot of rain which has finally gotten rid of all of our snow. Boy we've had lots of flooding all over the northwest.
The girls are on a Lacross team. Its a new learning thing for me. The way you carry the sticks it just seems like its meant to beat someone over the head. That's my first impulse and the ball is just too small to see.
Do the kids in Kenya play soccer. I know they did in Ethiopia.
How was Zone conference.
How are your investigators coming along. Is your baptism for April 2 still on.
WEEKLY QUOTE:
"In our battle against evil, we must always remember that we have help from both sides of the veil. Our allies include God the Eternal Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. Our allies also include the unseen armies of heaven. "fear not," Elisha told a fearful young man as they faced an army of evil, "for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" (2 Kings 6:15-16) " Pres. Eyring
Be obedient, follow your mission president, love your companion and serve the great people of KNM.
Love you exceeding abundantly,
MOM
Joseph: GO ZAGS!
Thats cool that the girls are playing Lacross, They will have to teach me when i get home haha!
yes the kids play lots of soccer here, although most of the time they play with homemade balls made of plastic bags wrapped in rubber.
Zone conference was very very good, we had a change in our Schedule that i think is very nice.
our investigators our...Stubborn i guess, we have to postpone the Baptism this week, he failed to come to church this week. made me sad...
we havent been able to teach all the lessons we needed to have the Kid we are working with in Ilima baptised next week so it looks like we have to postpone that too, so we probably wont have any baptisms this transfer (it ends on the 9th) and i suspect i will be leaving.
I Love you mom!
IN THE WORKS
The next two email I send to you will be about your name sake, ‘Joseph’ Smith. I want you to understand the following quote…
D&C 135:3 Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it….
I will endeavor to explain, through a number of quotes and commentary upon those quotes why Joseph is the man who “has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.” I think that the magnitude of his assigned work, and this statement, are not fully realized by most us.
PART I
Pre-mortality Joseph
President Brigham Young thus observed concerning Joseph Smith: “It was decreed in the counsels of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that he, Joseph Smith, should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive the fulness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eye upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father’s father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham[back] to the flood [or Noah], from the flood [Noah, back] to Enoch, and from Enoch [back] to Adam. He has watched thatfamily and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was foreordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation” (in Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1954, p. 108; emphasis added).
President John Taylor said: “Joseph Smith in the first place [in the pre-exsistance] was set apart by the Almighty according to the counsels of the gods in the eternal worlds, to introduce the principles of life. … God selected him for that purpose, and he fulfilled his mission and lived honorably and died honorably. I know of what I speak for I was very well acquainted with him and was with him a great deal during his life, and was with him when he died. The principles which he had, placed him in communication with the Lord, and … with the ancient apostles and prophets; such men, for instance, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Adam, Seth, Enoch, andJesus and the Father, and the apostles that lived on this continent as well as those who lived on the Asiatic continent. He seemed to be as familiar with these people as we are with one another. Why? Because he had to introduce a dispensation which was called the dispensation of the fullness of times, and it was known as such by the ancient servants of God” (in Journal of Discourses, 21:94; emphasis added).
While “the Gods” foreordained Joseph to his work in the pre-exsistance they had also foreordained many others to hold keys of the work in their assigned dispensations. Never where all the keys upon the earth at the same time (with the possible exception of the time that Christ Himself walked upon the earth in mortality). As well as the above named heavenly visitors we should note that list is only a partial list - remember, that John the Baptist came; peter, James and John came; Moroni and many others too came. Each bestowing the keys they held or doctrines that they knew, under the direction of Christ, upon Joseph.
Joseph then became the first man to hold all the necessary keys at one time. Each prophet since that time has held the keys as given to them by Joseph and passed down to our prophet today. Each of these latter-day prophets operates in the “dispensation of the fullness of time” under the direction of Joseph. Each of them then bears testimony (testament) of Josephs divine calling and work.
“There is another sense in which Joseph Smith was known to the ancients: he was schooled and tutored by them during his own mortal ministry. Save Jesus Christ only, the world has never known a more competent scriptural authority than Joseph Smith. It is one thing to read a book of scripture and quite another to be personally instructed by its authors. Who among the world’s scholars and religious leaders can lay claim to having stood face to face with Adam, Enoch, Noah, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John? Who can speak with authority about life in ancient America because of lessons learned from Nephi, Mormon, Moroni, and no doubt other ancient American Hebrews? Many of Joseph’s heavenly visitors laid their hands on his head and conferred their priesthood keys and authorities.” (Elder Robert L. Millet).
The mortal work of Joseph
The mortal Joseph Smith knew the scriptures, he knew their precepts and he knew the authors, the prophets, and he knew the central character—the Lord Jesus Christ. He was prepared by them all for his work.
D&C 135:3 …In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!
Maybe not fully explained in this verse is that we have more scripture from Joseph then we have from any other writer of scripture. We have more priesthood authority from Joseph then ever held by man prior to him. His dispensation has lasted longer then most (except the ancients who lived hundreds of years themselves - like Adam and perhaps Noah) and Joseph’s dispensation will last until Christ comes again. Even the dispensation that began when Christ Himself started the Church during His mortal life ended in apostasy. To think that nothing can stop Joseph’s work is a testament to his work. BUT it is also a testimony of the very nature of our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ who can plan for our human failures, our use of agency and our rebellion AND STILL have the gospel prepare the way for the glorious 2nd coming and make our redemption possible.
Joseph clarified gospel truths better then anyone. There have been prophets throughout history that knew gospels doctrines but called the same doctrine by varying names. Joseph standardized much of the terminology. It leaves us with a much easier time distinguishing what scripture means and what time frame a scripture refers to.
When Christ was killed He left behind the apostolic priesthood. He also went to the ‘New World’ and organized the same thing. Over time apostasy drove the true doctrines, church and the government of Christ into the “wilderness” (Rev. 12:6) or in other words sent it right back to heaven - the world rejected it. By 100 a.d. the old world is in apostasy and by 400 a.d. the new world is too. For hundreds of years the world remained in apostasy. For more them 50 generations truth was lost from the earth. For more them 50 generations there where no authorized priesthood holders. Then in 1820 the first vision occurs. Slowly the vapors of darkness begin to be penetrated. Light comes to the world. Then in 1830 the Church is organized with priesthood power. Joseph pealed back the vapors. The rest of the story you know and now teach.
Joseph’s life was full of accomplishments. There are probably many more then those we have listed before us here.
Love,
Dad
