Getting Personal With Christianity: Joseph Smith II

December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont, Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith Senior welcomed Joseph Smith Junior into mortality. I reflect on the mission of Joseph Smith each year on that day. Joseph Smith II was the man who the Lord saw fit to visit, along with His Son Jesus Christ, to usher in the fullness of times, or the complete restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ before the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, this time as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Joseph was a 14-year-old boy who had the faith to go to the Lord in prayer and receive an answer based on scripture he read from the Holy Bible. He was the prophet whom I had been looking for when I so foolishly decided to give up on Christianity. He is the prophet I discovered so miraculously after I read a book of scripture that he translated. A book that facilitated my conversion to Christ. I owe my faith in God, my Christianity, and all the blessings available to me and millions of others to the willingness of Joseph Smith Junior to follow God.

Let it be said of him the vilest and untoward things, as will be said and has been said, I record of him now that I know of divine knowledge that he did see God the Father and Jesus Christ in answer to his prayer as he claims he did. He also saw angels who ministered to him and he conversed with Jesus Christ about his salvation as his several accounts record.

I know it because God sent His Spirit to me, who spoke by the mouth of an angel, revealed it to me, and constantly reassures me that what He revealed to me is true. Without going into my personal account too much, when the missionaries revealed his vision to me, I also saw in vision Joseph Smith seeing God the Father and Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the priesthood authority to baptize and, eventually, to organize the Church of Christ as the authorized entity on Earth to transport the souls of men on the sown the Covenant Path of Jesus Christ back into the presence of God the Father.

As a disciple of Christ and a member of The Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Christian, I lend my witness that God has restored His authority to Earth. I testify I am a partaker in the Covenant and that the Atonement of Christ is effective in my life. I testify that through Jesus Christ only can salvation come to humanity—something I came only to know through reading The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Why do I add that here? It is the only reason I found God because a 14-year-old boy knew to ask Him a question that led to the tool that converted me to Jesus Christ. It is the most important event in my life because all other events hang onto the witness I received of Jesus Christ from reading that book. Joseph Smith Jr. is important to me. I think about that on the 23^rd of December.

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• To Repent Or Not To Repent
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• What Does It Mean To Repent?
  To repent is to turn away from, turn your back to a particular sin. What does it mean to turn away from something? This isn’t about actions and behavior; it’s about your character.
• Become like a Little Child: Teachings of King Benjamin
  In order to become one of God's chosen people or a saint Benjamin expresses that all MUST deny, put off, reject--or any other word of separation--the natural or basic man.

Race and the Priesthood Link On LDS.org!

Race and the Priesthood:

At the link above you will find a historic article on the official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding its policy of diversity presently and its disavowal of all the racist teachings about Blacks of African descent. 

It has come much later than many have wanted, but acknowledgement that Blacks are not curse or the representation of Satan on the Earth is  big step in the right directions.

Stated in the closing remarks of the long awaited article:

Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form. Race and the Priesthood:

The church generally has always taught that all people are equal before the Lord; however, the members of the church have interpreted what constitutes equality differently and from a majority point of view--White point of view.

An entire culture exists because of the racism of White Europeans in America. This token of solidarity for Black Mormons is but a small gift of peace of mind to true believers in the restored Gospel--a welcomed gift nonetheless! 

Related Reads

• The Truth about Being Black in America
  The fact that African Americans are called African at all is an indication of the limited explanation of this group's history. The nationalities of Black American ancestors are a mystery for the great majority of the group. Slavery stripped this grou
• The Genetics of Racism
  Are White people subconsciously teaching racism to each generation? Possibly some are. Is it a genetic trait that is passed on inevitably? Questionable at best!
• Black Latter Day Saints Page on Facebook
  Use to be that if you were Mormon, you were a Caucasian living in the Rocky Mountains in the Salt Lake Basin, the great state of Utah. That has started to change. Mormons can be found any and everywhere though in small numbers.
• The Obama Effect - What it Means to be Black
  Over the course of the four years President Obama has served our country, the attitudes of many African Americans have changed towards him.
• The Book of Mormon Helped me Love my Black Heritage
  Having faith in the church's teaching was not easy for me at the young age of 15 when outside pressures were teaching me that I had become estranged from reality by joining the

Transportation Issues. P-Day Eve. Missionary Stories:

Elders, Danisa, Myndu and Johnson. This picture was take at the mission  home before Elder Danisa and Elder Johnson went to Umtata.  Elder Myndu did not serve in Umtata. We were so happy. It was Sunday night. We just had a wonderful Dinner appointment at the Mbelasis home in Umtata.  We lived in the community of Northcrest in Umtata amid a well-off group of Xhosa speaking citizens.  It is a friendly neighborhood and the people generally respected and accepted us. We couldn't wait to get home to plan our P-Day--We celebrated P-Day eve as if it really existed. We planned out our whole day (including the proselytizing) and rested our heads with dreams of our perfect p-day.  David Thompsom I arose feeling a bit grouchy and irritable. For some reason, we all slept a little longer than usual. I went about aimlessly before my morning prayer, which I slept through mostly. I felt so unusually tired.  I looked at my companion, Elder Thompson, and winched at him for not waking up to wake me up on time. I then proceeded to the restroom. I passed the other Elders' room, Elders Streadbeck and Danisa surprised to see them still in bed.  Scott Streadbeck It was about 8:30 am. As I went past their room, and the spare room something seemed out of place. I went to the living room window after leaving the restroom and gazed out at such a beautiful day. Still something felt out of place. The day was too perfect outside. The sun, the birds, and the breeze--all too...well, great.  I looked off to the left, still gazing out of the window and noticed that I did not see the end of the mission car. I thought for a moment that the car was parked far in the driveway, so I went in the room where my companion still slept, Elder Thompson. I looked out the window and still saw no car. I started to worry. I then went in the spare room and looked. There was no way I could miss the car from that room, but I did. Oddly, enough it never occurred to me the car could have been missing.  I decided then to wake every one with "The car is gone."  The Elders jumped out of bed. "What did you say," asked Elder Streadbeck.  "The car is not in the drive way. Did you leave it outside because the gate is open," I returned.  "No, I wouldn't do that."  "The car is there," argued Elder Danisa. "It is not gone."  "Go look for yourself," I answered.  "What Happen," says Elder Thompson stumbling as he walked toward us--all of us straining to awaken fully.  "The car is gone," I said.  "You are not serious," questioned Elder Thompson.  "Yes, look for yourself."  "Elder Johnson if this is a joke you're playing it's not funny," Elder Thompson accuses.  "I don't even have a Cert to drive or know how to drive a stick," I returned angrily.  Finally, Elder Danisa and Elder Streadbeck went outside to see. To their dread, of course, it was not there.  We all sat around thinking what could have happened to it when Elder Danisa wisely stated, "It is stolen."  He then went into an angry spill about the totsis (gangsters) coming to our house to see how to get our things instead of seeking the gospel (we had several different groups of people to visit us during the course of the month).  To make a long story short, we called the Police and the Mission Office and received instructions. The Policeman, who came two hours late and uniformed, told us that the thieves might have put something called monkey's tail in our open window as we slept so as not to awake us. This would explain how they clipped the chain on the gate and opened the squeaky gate without Elder Thompson or me hearing it.  It also explained why we all felt so extremely tired in when we awoke. We never retrieved the car and our P-day was ruined. Elder Danisa said the car was probably in Durban being sold by the time the policeman came. I wondered why we were a target for theft.  I don't think it has anything to do with us being the only house in the neighborhood that didn't have a cage or garage for our car. That was just the beginning. Related Articles Missionary Stories: Umtata South Africa--The One Suddenly, in stumbled a beggar requesting funds for food! We had been in town long enough to know that such things could happen, but it took me half kilter regardless. Missionary Stories: We Felt Impressed Cape Town. It is an exiting city. Just about anything you find in a large city you can find in and around Cape Town. As a missionary serving in that area, I was about finding souls. Missionary Stories: Christmas Christmas was soon approaching, and packages and letters crowded the MTC. Celebrations and firesides filled the schedules. In our district meeting a special thing occurred as I felt moved upon by the spirit Choose the Right!: Missionary Stories: Street Contacting in Umtata's Square It was one of the hottest days that I could remember. Though it was February, it was the middle of Summer in South Africa! Elders Thompson, Streadbeck, Danisa and I had left service for the field around noon. Missionary Stories: We Felt Impressed Cape Town. It is an exiting city. Just about anything you find in a large city you can find in and around Cape Town. As a missionary serving in that area, I was about finding souls.