"If Joseph saw what he claimed to have seen, and I testify that he did, then in sharing his vision he did more than any man who has ever lived to reveal the nature, character, and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ to the world. As a consequence, we Latter-day Saints have some duties and responsibilities."President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) eloquently expressed himself in this regard:" 'I read this morning a part of Joseph Smith's testimony of the First Vision. You are all familiar with it. His going into a grove, pleading with the Lord, a light shining above him, and then the appearance of the Father and the Son. I read that testimony and thought of it. I said to myself, "If every one of us knew in our hearts that that statement is true, then we would know that all else which follows it, which came through the restoration of the gospel, is true also." And we would walk and live with greater faithfulness." 'Tithing would not be a problem with us. Temple service would not be a problem with us. Keeping the Sabbath day holy would not be a problem with us. . . . Missionary service would be no problem with us." 'All else that follows would be true. We would know it in our hearts if we had a solid, firm, immovable conviction of the truth and validity of that great vision wherein God the Eternal Father and the risen Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the boy Joseph Smith and the Father said, "This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"."
F. Burton Howard, "Hearing and Heeding the Message from the Grove," Ensign, Feb. 2009
1 comment:
Ooh, I needed this for my lesson!
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