---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - John Henry Evans
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 33
number: 10
published: 1930-08
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: "John Henry Evans, “Joseph Smith: A Modern American Prophet,” *Improvement Era* 33, no. 10 (August 1930): 677–679."
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3310unse
  transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers.
  identifier: improvementera3310unse
start_page: 677
end_page: 679
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1930-08)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3310unse
  publication_year: 1930
  note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1930, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# Joseph Smith: A Modern American Prophet

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Joseph Smith A Modern American Prophet By JOHN HENRY EVANS II IN the Smith home is an attic room. It is not much to boast of. If you go to certain parts of it, you cannot stand up straight without hitting your head on the slanting roof. An old-fashioned four-poster bed is in one corner — the kind you see nowadays only in the picture books or in antique- ly furnished rooms. • Joseph is in bed. There is no one else in the room. He is prone on his back. "RUT he is not asleep. On the •^ contrary, he is very much awake. If there were a light of any kind in the room, even of the tallow candle or a dip or the pine knot of the period, you could see that the blue eyes are wide open and staring. More than likely he is looking up through that dirt roof on the loo- cabin up into the star-lit September sky, as is the wont of persons who are minded like him. And he could, too, if his eyes were not dimmed now and then by moisture that gathers from somewhere and that he rubs off with the back of his hand. Oth- er times they are brilliant enough. Clearly there is trouble in those eyes. Has something gone wro~>g with him during the day — some- thing between him and one of the family? For he is very sensitive and easily upset where his feelings are concerned. To-night he has gone to bed earlier than usual, after a hard day's work in the field, for he is deter- mined to have it out with him- self over something that has dis- turbed his peace of mind. A S he lies there, hands clasped ■* *■ under his head, he thinks and feels intensely. His mind runs back over the last three and a half years since that bright spring morning in the grove. Many things have happened to him. One in particular. He recalls his conversation with the Reverend Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams is a Methodist minister in Manchester, and is a particular friend of Joseph's — or was a par- ticular friend. For he had taken a great interest in him during and immediately after the revival. "Joseph," tbi? man had said to him over and over again, "you ought to have religious experience. Everybody does — or wants to. Folks'll think after a while thaf you are an unbeliever, an infidel, one of the unregenerates. That's what they'll think. Why don't you come to church to-night, and hear me preach? Maybe you'll get religion there. And that might lead to an experience." JOSEPH had said nothing — had made no promise of any kind. He was that wav. There was real- ly nothing to say, it seemed. For he had in truth not taken any part in the revival. He had not wanted to. Not that he had been unmoved by the revival. He had been very much moved. But he had not "barked" like many of the men there, nor engaged in the "holy laugh," nor fallen in a faint over the descriptions of hell, nor gone to the "penitent bench" to weep and be prayed over. He just could not bring himself to do any of those things. And he wanted an "experience" the worst kind, too. But he had gone to Mr. Wil- liams' church that night, and he had got something there that led to an "experience." He had heard the minister preach from a text in the Epistle of James — which had most profoundly influenced his young mind and which actually brought on the vision in that clump of trees on his father's farm. A ND then, after that great in- 1 _ cident, Joseph had met Mr. Williams. He was glad of this opportunity to tell the reverend gentleman of that event, because the minister had really been instru- mental in putting him in a frame of mind to receive the vision. And no doubt the preacher, on his part, would be glad to know that some- thing he had done had been help- ful to the boy, whom he wanted so much to influence. Very likely, too, Mr. Williams would be pleased to learn that the true Church of Christ was to be re- stored to the earth before long. "Mr. Williams," he had said as soon as he could bring the conversation round to the subject of religion, "I have had an 'experience' at last. And it came about through that sermon of yours the other night, too." HPHE preacher was much pleased. J- He smiled very graciously, for he thought a great deal of this boy, who held out much, promise. "That's good," he said; "tell me about it." So Joseph had told him every- thing— how he had been exercised over religion, how he had gone to the church that night and heard him preach from the Epistle of James, how he had gone home and read and re-read the passage, how he had thought and thought over the words of the apostle, how he had gone to the grove one morn- ing and prayed to know which of the churches was the true one, how a vision had burst upon his sight of the Father and the Son, and how the Church would be restored through him. The minister's face was a puz- zle while the story was going on. At first it wore a look of pleasure. That was when Joseph said how the preacher's text had helped him. But later it changed, till towards the end it wore a very black look. And when he spoke it was with anger. * He said: "Young man, you have had a vision all right, but it was a vision of the devil. It was not a vision of the Lord. God does not give a vision to any one nowa- days, least of all to a boy who does not even belong to the church. We don't need them any more. And as for the church of Christ being restored through you — that is perfectly ridiculous, preposterous! I want to tell you, you're on the road to hell; and what's more, I don't want to have anything to do with you. You can go to hell for anything I care." And he had got up and gone away in a great huff.

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678 The Improvement Era for August, 1930 JOSEPH had been thunderstruck. He could not understand. He was altogether non-plussed. What had he done, anyway? He had only told the truth. He had only related an experience he had had. That was all. Other people's re- ligious experiences had not been flouted that way. At least, he had not heard of their being flouted by any one. They had been accepted at once. The more he thought of the circumstances, the less he seemed to understand about it. When he passed the Reverend Mr. Williams the next time, that gentleman refused to look his way at all. And the next thing he heard was that his former friend had preached a sermon about ig- norant boys pretending to have visions these days and putting out that they knew more than min- isters of the gospel. Of course, every One knew whom the minister referred to. For Jo- seph, in " the meantime, had told others of his friends about the vision. That was, he thought, the proper thing to do, because it would show that he was not an unbeliever, an infidel, and one of the unconverted. It put him in the class of the "elect," and not with the unregenerates. "gUT they had treated him with the same scorn and contempt as Mr. Williams had exhibited. More- over, they spurned him, as one who might contaminate them. "There goes Joe Smith," they would say, as if that was enough to point him out from everybody else. And it was. What a dif- ference it made how you pro- nounced words! Before, those four words meant something quite dif- ferent. They signified, "Come, let's join him — he's a jolly good fellow." Other preachers, besides Mr. Williams, spoke sarcastically of his vision. They actually warned their congregations against the boy. It was all very strange, and altogether beyond his comprehension. One comfort there was in it all — that his father and mother and the rest of the family believed him. And, anyway, they knew him best. They knew that he would not make up a thing like that, that he would not lie in so important a matter as religion. '"FHREE years and a half this life ■*■ had gone on for him — this life T JL HE song, "Peace, be Still," brought me back to a little sail 1 took on the Lake Geneseret. I there opened my Testament and read to my brethren of Jesus stilling the storm on that same lake. I imag- ined myself back to that time, when he was lying in the boat asleep, and his disciples were afraid they would be swallowed by the waves. As we sailed along our Arab friends were afraid to go far from shore. They said we might have just such a storm any time, and hence they wanted to hug the shore. We sailed near enough to land to have the beautiful oleanders drop into the boat. Lessons of this kind should be instilled into the hearts of chil- dren. We want them to be able to still the storm of passion, to con- trot themselves. We want them to be trained in our Sunday Schools to have faith and to put their trust in our Master, who has power to overrule even the storms of perse- cution for our good. — Pres. An- thon H. Lund, Sunday School Con- ference, Apr., 1903. of isolation from others whose as- sociation he formerly had, of scorn and contempt, even hatred! Often he felt very lonely, always he felt perplexed and grieved over what had happened. But why had he not received any more communications from heav- en? Lately he had thought much about that. For he had been told in the vision that the true Church of Christ would be restored through him. But when? And how? Maybe it was because he had not lived as he ought to have done. He had been almost forced to associate with boys whose com- pany he would not have sought under other circumstances, and that had influenced him to a light- mindedness sometimes that did not comport very well with the fact that he had seen God and Jesus Christ. Doubtless that was the rea- son why he had not received any more divine communications. He was sorry that he had not been better. He would pray. He would confess his sins and weak- nesses and ask the Lord to forgive him and restore him to the divine favor. 'THROWING aside the covers, he rises to his knees in bed, puts his hands together in front of him, and prays aloud. It is a simple prayer — simple,. because he is an uneducated boy. But it is an earnest, sincere prayer. Joseph prays only when he cannot help it, when he feels impelled to do so by an inner power and need, by a power he cannot resist. He is not one of those who pray merely because they are supposed to pray. He confesses to not having been as serious-minded as became one who has seen God face to face, to having thought too little on his great mission in the earth as that mission had been suggested to him in the great Vision. And he be- seeches the Lord to forgive him for his weakness in yielding to temp- tation and to manifest to him in some way that he really has been forgiven. Then he returns to his former position under the light covers. XJE waits. There is no doubt - whatever in his mind that God will somehow make himself known to him. Nor is he to be disappointed. For, as he lies there expectant, he perceives that his room is getting light. Lighter and lighter it grows, till it is like the noonday for brightness. He marvels greatly. He turns his head and looks about the room. There in front of him by the bedside is the glo- rious figure of a man, standing above the floor in utter defiance of the law of gravitation. Over all the room it is light as day, but immediately around the person who has just entered is a pillar of very bright light, which is easily distinguishable from the surrounding light. The head, the feet above the ankles, and the hands above the wrists, are bare as also the bosom, which is not cov- ered by the exquisitely white robe that the visitor has on. It is the figure of a man of middle height and weight. Yet what a man! For evidently he has come into the room, not from the stairway en- trance, but either directly through the ceiling or the sides of the build- ing. AT first Joseph is afraid. For * he has not been expecting an open vision this time. Indeed, he has not anticipated the way in which his prayer will be answered. He will be content if only it is an- swered, for he does not wish to direct the ways of the Lord. The thing has been so sudden as to take him off his guard for the moment

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The Improvement Era for August, 1930 679 His fear, however, is instantly dispelled when the heavenly mes- senger speaks. The voice is con- ciliatory and the manner pleasing and affable. "Joseph," he says, "I am an angel sent from the presence of God with a message to you. My name is Moroni. I once lived as a man on this continent, but I died, and have been raised from the dead. "My people were called the Nephites. They, with the Lamanites, are the ancestors of the present American Indians, as your people have named them. They came from Jerusalem six hundred years before Christ. I myself lived here in the fourth century after our Savior's birth. My people were destroyed on account of their wickedness. "When my people, the Nephites, lived here, they wrote their doings and sayings on plates of gold. These they handed down from one generation to another, till they reached my hands. My father, whose name was Mormon, made an abridgment of all the records of my an- cestors, and gave it to me, with other records, to finish, and then to hide away in the earth, so that future peoples, especially those of my own race, might read them and come to a knowledge of their forefathers and also to a knowledge of Christ. "The time has now come for this record to be revealed. It lies buried in a hill not far from here. You are to receive this book of gold plates from my bands, and to translate the language on it into your own tongue and publish it to the world. "With this book is deposited two stones in silver bows. These stones fastened to a breastplate constitute what the ancients called the urim and thummim. Whoever possesses these was called by us 'a seer,' and God has prepared them for the purpose of translating the record. "In consequence of the work which the Lord is about to require at your hands, your name shall be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues; it will be spoken good and evil of among all peoples." HHHE angel quotes many sayings ■"? from the prophets of ancient Israel — Malachi, Isaiah, and the writer of the Acts. These predic- tions, he says, are on the point of being fulfilled. "The time is not yet," he goes on, "for you to obtain the book of gold plates. But when you do obtain it, you must not show it to any one, except as you may be permitted to do so. If you do, you will be destroyed." That is the substance, though not the exact language, of the an- gel's message to Joseph Smith on this occasion. And then, Moroni having finished, the light in the room appeared to gather round the person of the heavenly visitor, and he ascends upward through the ceiling in a column of brilliant light. JOSEPH lies there musing on the singularity of the scene through which he had just passed and marveling greatly over what he had been told, when he suddenly dis- covers that his room is again be- ginning to get light. Then, in an instant, the same heavenly mes- senger is again at his bedside. He repeats the very same things he said on the first appearance, without the least variation. Hav- ing done so, he adds that great judgments are coming upon the earth — great desolations by fam- ine, the sword, and pestilence. And again he disappears as before. By this time so deep are the impressions on the young man's mind, that he lies there utterly overwhelmed with astonishment at what he has both seen and heard. But to his surprise, the same per- sonage reappears in the room and repeats the same things that he has twice related. This time he adds this warning: "In consequence of the indigence of your father's family, Satan will try to tempt you to obtain the plates for the purpose of getting rich. But you must have no other purpose in obtaining them than to glorify God. You must not be influenced by any other motive than to build up His kingdom. Otherwise you cannot get them at all." 'HPHE angel then disappears for the ■*• third and last time. Almost immediately Joseph hears the roos- ters crow, which is a sign that day had dawned. The visitation of the messenger from God has occupied the whole night. In a little while the boy rises and dresses. And after breakfast he goes out into the field to work with his father and his brother Alvin. But how greatly has the world changed for him! A _LL Nature speaks the voice of dissolution. The highway of his- tory and of life is strewn with the wrecks that Time, the great despoil- er, has made. We listen sorrow- fully to the Autumn winds as they sigh through dismantled forests, but we know their breath will be soft and vernal in the Spring, and the dead flowers and withered foliage will blossom and bloom again. And if a man die, shall he, too, not live again. Is earth the end of all, and death an eternal sleep. Not so, but beyond the grave in the distant Aiden, hope provides an Elysium of the soul where the mortal shall as- sume immortality, and life become an endless splendor. — D. W. Voor- hees. Be Fruitful and Multiply By Joseph S. Peery 'T'HE first great commandment of A the Lord is, "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth." (Gen 1:28.) A married couple who refuse to have children dis- obey God's first commandment, and will have intense regrets both in this life and in the life to come. In advancing years, to see others have the joy of children in their homes that they might have had will be punishment in this world. In the next life, how can they face their Maker and explain their re- fusal to aid him in populating the earth? Then in sorrow and regret they will know the full meaning of the words: "Of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these, it might have been." Delays are dangerous. A mother in Israel, Mrs. David Harold Peery, says, "A young couple who delay having children often bring a curse on them so that the wife gets in a condition whereby she cannot have children. If she obeys God's com- mandment and willingly has chil- dren, appreciating this great bless- ing as a gift from God, the Lord will help her provide for those children and she will make a much better success than the woman who refuses the blessing of motherhood. She will be honored by the com- munity, by her children and grand- children and by her Maker." Unfortunately there are some couples who are anxious to have children, but this blessing is with- held from them. Such a couple can have this joy by taking an- other's child into their home and hearts. They make the child happy and thereby they become happy. They receive the joys of parent- hood. They took a child of God and reared it in all care and tender- ness. They will receive the com- pensation of good works and learn the full meaning of the words: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Matt. 26:40.)