a period of preparation

A PERIOD OF PREPARATIONJ O S E P H G E T S T H E P L A T E S

WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN THESE TWO EVENTS?

LOOK UP YOUR VERSE(S) AND FIND THE C.I.U.F.A.

Context: What story is happening in the verse?

Identify: One doctrine (fact).

Understand: What principle of application (act) can be drawn from this account?

Feel: How has the power of this doctrine/principle presented itself in your life?

Apply: What do you think God wants us to do because of this verse or principle?

J.S.HistoryVs 28

Vs 29-30Vs 31-32

Vs 33Vs 46Vs 53

A PERIOD OF PREPARATION

JSH:28

“...persecuted by those who ought to have been my friends and to have treated me kindly”

APPLICATION: When have you been persecuted for choosing the right by those who should have been your friends?







“I was left to all kinds of temptations; and, mingling with all kinds of society, I frequently fell into errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature; which, I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations, offensive in the sight of God.”

ONE APPLICATION: Are mistakes good or bad?

“In making this confession, no one need suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature. But I was guilt of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company, etc., not consistent with that character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as I had been.”


JSH:29-30

ONE APPLICATION: What was Joseph praying for when Moroni came?







JSH:31-32ONE APPLICATION: “…When I

first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me”







That morning Joseph had trouble working. Joseph’s father told him to go back to the house. On the way home Joseph collapsed. When Joseph became aware of his surroundings, he saw Moroni standing before him for the fourth time. Moroni then repeated the same message he had given Joseph before and further commanded him to inform his father of the vision and commandments he had received.

APPLICATION? Do you share your life with your parents?

A PERIOD OF PREPARATIONJSH:33

APPLICATION? Are you OK with your reputation being tarnished because you are a Latter Day Saint?






A PERIOD OF PREPARATION[Elder John H. Groberg was on the island of Tafahi] “Once, a strange thought

occurred to me, ‘Why don’t you test the prophecy that the name of Joseph Smith should be known for good and evil throughout the world?’

He asked the family living in this home if they had ever heard of the president of the United States. They responded, “Who’s he?” and “Where’s the United States?” Elder Groberg reported:

“I tried to explain where it was, but they couldn’t understand. They asked how big an island it was. I replied that it was a very big island, thousands of miles away with millions of people living on it. I told them that many people there had never even seen the ocean and that many people didn’t know one another. They couldn’t comprehend that.”

He then asked them about the leaders of Russia and France, but they could not answer his questions.

A PERIOD OF PREPARATION“Next,” he said, “I asked about some sports figures, some movie stars, famous

business people, and other things. …

“There was not a member of the Church living on this island but I took a deep breath and said, ‘Have you ever heard of Joseph Smith?’

“Immediately their faces lit up. Everyone looked at me, and the father said, ‘Don’t talk to us about that false prophet! Not in our home! We know all about him. Our minister has told us!’ I could hardly believe what I was hearing. The scripture … sounded in my mind that Joseph’s name ‘should be had for good and evil among all nations’ (JS—H 1:33). To me this was a direct fulfillment of prophecy.

“I am convinced that you could hardly get a place more remote, more out of touch with modern civilization, than the little island of Tafahi. The people there knew nothing of the great leaders of the day—political, economic, or otherwise—but they knew the name Joseph Smith. I spent the next few days explaining more of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and before we left, a few of them knew his name for good” (In the Eye of the Storm [1993], 104–6)


JSH:46

ONE APPLICATION: Are you ever tempted to use your gifts for the wrong purposes?







“I left the field, and went to the place where the messenger had told me the plates were deposited; and owing to the distinctness of the vision which I had had concerning it, I knew the place the instant that I arrived there” (Joseph Smith—History 1:50). Near the top of the hill Joseph found a large stone, “thick and rounding in the middle on the upper side, and thinner towards the edges” (v. 51). It was the lid of a stone box. We can only imagine his excitement as he opened the box. There, having laid hidden for centuries, were the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate just as Moroni had explained.


JSH:53

ONE APPLICATION: What’s the difference between being ‘willing’ and being ‘able’?







As Joseph approached the Hill Cumorah, he had thoughts about the poverty of his family and the possibility that the plates or the popularity of the translation would produce wealth. When he reached down for the plates he received a shock and was thus prevented from taking them out of the box. Twice more he tried and was thrown back. In frustration he cried out, “Why can I not obtain this book?”

Moroni appeared and told him it was because he had not kept the commandments but had yielded to the temptations of Satan to obtain the plates for riches instead of having his eye single to the glory of God.


Repentant, Joseph humbly sought the Lord in prayer and was filled with the Spirit. A vision was opened to him, and the “glory of the Lord shone round about and rested upon him. . . . He beheld the prince of darkness. . . . The heavenly messenger [Moroni] said, ‘All this is shown, the good and the evil, the holy and impure, the glory of God and the power of darkness, that you may know hereafter the two powers and never be influenced or overcome by that wicked one.’ . . . You now see why you could not obtain this record.


His mother, Lucy, describes their evening conversations: “Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing [interesting] recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them.”


Treasure hunting, or “money‑digging”, was a craze in the United States at this time. In October 1825, Josiah Stowell, from New York, came to ask Joseph to help him in such a venture. Stowell was looking for a legendary lost silver mine that was thought to have been opened by Spaniards in northern Pennsylvania. Stowell had heard that Joseph was able to discern invisible things and desired his assistance in the project. The Prophet was reluctant, but Stowell persisted, and since Joseph’s family was in need, he and his father together with other neighbors agreed to go.

A PERIOD OF PREPARATIONJoseph boarded with Isaac Hale in Harmony. While boarding with the Hales, Joseph was attracted to Isaac’s dark‑haired daughter Emma. She was also attracted to him, although she was Joseph’s senior by a year and a half. The budding romance, however, was frowned upon by Emma’s father who disliked money digging and disdained Joseph’s lack of education. His cultured daughter was a schoolteacher, and he wanted better for her. Because of her father’s strong opposition to the marriage, Joseph and Emma eloped. They were married by a justice of the peace in South Bainbridge, New York, on 18 January 1827.

APPLICATION?


Long before sunrise on 22 September 1827, Joseph and his wife hitched Joseph Knight’s horse to Josiah Stowell’s spring wagon and drove the three miles to the Hill Cumorah. Leaving Emma at the base, Joseph climbed the hill for his final interview with Moroni. Moroni gave him the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate. Joseph was now responsible for these sacred objects and was commanded to use all his efforts to preserve them until Moroni returned for them (see Joseph Smith—History 1:59).


Willard Chase, a neighboring farmer, along with other treasure seekers, sent for a sorcerer to come and find the place where the plates were hidden. When the Smiths learned of the plot they sent Emma to get Joseph, who was working a few miles west of Palmyra. He returned immediately and retrieved the plates. Wrapping them in a linen frock, he started through the woods, thinking it might be safer than the traveled road. But just as he jumped over a log, he was struck from behind with a gun. Joseph, however, was able to knock his assailant down and flee. Half a mile later he was assaulted again but managed to escape, and before he arrived home he was accosted a third time. His mother said that when he reached home he was “altogether speechless from fright and the fatigue of running.

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1013,925

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Copies of the BofM printed between 1830 and 2011Price a 1st edition BofM sold for in 2007Languages the BofM printed inPercent of world that can read BofM in own languagePages in the BofMCalendar days it took Joseph Smith to translate the BofMWorking days it took Joseph Smith to translate the BofMPages translated per day by Joseph SmithPages per day translated with modern technologyScholars it took to translate the KJV BibleYears it took to translate the KJV BiblePages translated per day by KJ Bible scholarsDifferent titles for Christ in the BofMReferences to Jesus Christ in the BofMFrequency Christ is referred to in BofM (every 1.7 verses)Times the word “atonement” appears in BofMTimes “atonement” appears in KJV Bible (Romans 5:11)

PROPHETIC PROMISES

There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path.

Ezra Taft Benson, October 1986 General Conference

Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will [read the Book of Mormon] there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.

Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, August 2005

PROPHETIC PROMISES

PROPHETIC PROMISES

I offer you the Book of Mormon, a precious friend provided by a loving Savior. Within its pages is truth that brings comfort, guidance, peace, and yes, the companionship of other true friends. They will rekindle courage and mark the path to faith

and obedience. They will help you overcome the bitterness and anguish of transgression.More important, all of them, without exception, will lift your vision to the perfect friend—our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus the Christ.

Richard G. Scott, October 1988 General Conference

THE BOOK OF MORMONA N O T H E R T E S T A M E N T O F J E S U S C H R I S T

a period of preparation

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