Todays lesson was "He was a Prophet of God.": Contemporaries of Joseph Smith Testify of His Prophetic Mission.
The early Saints who knew the prophet and heard him speak testify of his prophetic calling and the power with which he imparted the word of God. Daniel D. McArthur, an early Church member who later led one of the first handcart companies to Salt Lake City said, "My testimony is that he was a true Prophet of the living God, and the more I heard his sayings and saw his doings the more I was convinced that he of a truth seen God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, as also the holy angels of God..."
Alexander McRae, one of those imprisoned in Liberty Jail with Joseph Smith: "Such was our confidence in [Joseph] as a Prophet, that when he said, 'Thus saith the Lord,' we were confident it would be as he said; and the more we tried it, the more confidence we had, for we never found him word to fail in a single instance."
Like the early saints, we can know that Joseph Smith is a prophet through whom the Lord restored the fulness of the gospel. Joseph Smith was an example we can follow in developing a Christlike character. He had a mission to perform on this earth and he never deviated from that path. Eliza R. Snow said, "he boldly and bravely confronted the false traditions superstitions, religions, bigotry and ignorance of the world--proved himself true to every heaven-revealed principle--true to his brethren and true to God, then sealed his testimony with his blood."
We were challenged by our teacher, Emily Berwick, to look at the prophet and his faithfulness in completing his mission and think about our mission here on this earth. How can be more faithful in fulfilling our mission? What can we do to further the work of the Lord, the work that Joseph spent his life teaching and gave his life as a testimony of?
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