2.328 Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello my friends, it's great to have you with me.

Today let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. We come to a point in the Doctrine and Covenants that we all know is coming, but it doesn't make it any more easy. The martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum.

We're reading this week Doctrine and Covenants sections 135 and 136. Mormon 7 through Ether 2. So we're going to be finishing Mormon and beginning the Book of Ether.

We're going to start this week with a long thought, one out of Doctrine and Covenants section 135, but it will be a short Savory Salt episode. Long verse, short episode. Section 135, verse 3, says this: More save Jesus only for the salvation of men in this world than any other man that ever lived in it.

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 fullness of the everlasting gospel which it contained to the four corners of the world. 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, in death they were not separated. My friends, this is the testimony of Joseph Smith, the prophet and seer. I have a testimony of him as a living prophet.

I absolutely believe he saw God and Jesus Christ and received direct instruction from them. I believe he did translate the Book of Mormon through the gift and power of God. I believe the priesthood was restored to the earth to Joseph Smith.

I believe that that priesthood continues with a living prophet today. I wonder, I tend to think that Joseph saw the growth of the Church in the future. So it's hard to kind of say.

Sometimes we think, you know, did the founders of this ever imagine it could grow to that, right? Did the Founding Fathers of America ever picture what America is today? Did they ever see the cities grow and all those types of things?

Did Joseph see the growth of the Church? And I think in a lot of ways, the answer there is yes. As a seer of the Lord, I do believe that many times he spoke to the people of that time in a visionary way because he could see it.

But I'd love for you and for me to take some time. I put a link in here that goes directly to kind of the Church's published facts and statistics. But it's quite astounding to picture what has come from this small town farm boy.

The Book of Mormon is now fully translated, as of this recording, in 92 different languages for the earth to read. It is available in parts and sections in over 115 different languages. I talked before about my excitement on my mission to see the first official copy of the Book of Mormon translated into Mongolian.

I hope you have a testimony of Joseph Smith and his role in the Restoration. And if not, I would encourage you to take time to pray about it. Seek a testimony of him as a living prophet.

Seek a testimony of the Book of Mormon as the Word of God. I testify they are true and I'm grateful to Joseph. I'm grateful to Hyrum and all those that have sealed their testimony through their own blood.

That's all for today, my friends. Lift up your hearts and rejoice. Cleave unto the covenants you have made and together we will be savory salt.