A Young Folks" History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
by Nephi Anderson.
CHAPTER I.
A PARABLE.
Once upon a time the owner of a very large garden planted therein a tree, the fruit of which was very precious and of great value to all who ate of it. For a time, the tree grew and bore much good fruit. But the owner of the garden had an enemy who went about secretly sowing seeds of weeds and all manner of briers and brush, that they might spread all over the garden and kill out the good tree which the master had planted. The enemy also persuaded many of the workmen in the garden to neglect the good tree, and let the briers and weeds grow up around it and so prevent its growth. Thus in time the once precious fruit of the good tree became wild and scrubby, no better than the enemy"s trees which grew around it.
Years pa.s.sed, and the master, grieving that the precious fruit should have become so worthless, determined to plant the good tree once more in the garden. He did not try to clear away a spot for it amid the old, overgrown parts of the land, but he called upon certain workers to go to a distant part of the garden where nothing had been planted for a long time, and there prepare the ground for the planting of the tree.
These workers were faithful to their master and did as they were told. Very few of the enemy"s noxious weeds were growing in the new soil, so it was not such hard work to clear the ground and prepare a place for the master to plant his tree.
To be better protected against the enemy, the master told his workmen to build a high, strong wall about that part of the garden. This was all done; and then one beautiful spring day the owner came with his servants. They had with them the precious tree taken from some other garden where it had grown without hindrance from weeds. The tree was planted and put in charge of other servants to tend it. The warm sun shone on it, the rains came from heaven to water it, and the tree took firm root and grew.
Now all the boys and girls who read this book will understand that the little story I have just told is what is called a _Parable_, meant to make plainer some facts and truths. I can not tell you all about that tree here, how it grew and bore fruit, and how many people came and ate of its delicious fruit, notwithstanding the enemy came again and tried to check its growth. I say, I cannot tell it to you in the form of a parable, but will tell it as it actually happened. You may, if you like, imagine in your own minds the rest of the parable, but the real story you will find more interesting than any made-up tale can be.
First, let me explain to you the meaning of the parable.
The garden means the earth, and the owner is the Lord, who came to the earth about nineteen hundred years ago to die for the sins of the world. He also planted the good tree, that is, He brought the gospel and taught it to his followers. The enemy is the evil one, the devil, who stirred up men to work against the gospel and to kill those who obeyed it. He also mixed his lies with Christ"s truths, until in time the pure gospel was not to be found on the earth.
This was the condition of the world for hundreds of years. Then the Lord wished to restore the true gospel and again establish his Church on the earth. He therefore chose a place where all would have the right to believe the truth and be protected in that liberty. The Lord, therefore, moved upon Columbus to discover this land of America.
The servants spoken of, whom the Lord sent to prepare the land for the planting, were all those great and good men whom you have read about in your American history: Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and many others.
You will remember how these men loved right and liberty, and how they worked so hard for it; and in reading the history of these men we can plainly see that the Lord was with them and helped them. These men built the high wall, which means that they made just laws that would protect the people and let them worship G.o.d in any way they thought right.
Thus was the way prepared for the gospel to be restored again to the earth; and the Lord himself came from heaven, also his servants Moroni, Peter, James, and John to bring the glad tidings to all who live on the earth.
Then the Lord called some more servants to preach the gospel to the world and build up his Church. The first and greatest of these servants is known by the name of Joseph Smith, the Prophet. How the Lord called him to this great work and delivered to him the gospel will be told you in the next chapter.
Topics.--1. The Parable. 2. Explanation.
Questions and Review.--1. Name some of Christ"s first disciples. 2: Tell how some of them were killed. 3. How long was the world without the gospel?
4. Tell how Columbus discovered America. 5. Who were the Pilgrims? 6. What was the Revolutionary war about? 7. What is the Const.i.tution of the United States? 8. Find out what it says about religious liberty. 9. Why is America the "Land of liberty?"
CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST VISION.
At the time when Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States, there was born among the Green Mountains of Vermont a boy who was to become the great prophet of the last days. The hills and valleys of Vermont look beautiful in the summer, but at the time here spoken of they were no doubt covered with snow, for it was the 23rd of December, 1805, in the town of Sharon, Windsor county, that Joseph Smith first saw the light of the world.
Joseph was named after his father, whose name was Joseph. His mother"s maiden name was Lucy Mack. Joseph had five brothers and three sisters whose names were Alvin, Hyrum, (then Joseph), Samuel, William, Don Carlos, Sophronia, Catherine and Lucy; so you see that there was a large family for the father and mother to take care of. Joseph"s parents were poor and had to work hard for a living, so when the boys were old enough they had to help on the farm; this they willingly, did. For this reason Joseph did not go to school much, but he learned to read, to write fairly well, and to work some examples in arithmetic. Though Joseph did not get much of an education at school, yet he was a great student; and then G.o.d became his teacher, so that before he died, as you will see, he became one of the most learned men in the world.
When Joseph was ten years old they all moved from Vermont to Palmyra, in the western part of the state of New York. Four years later they moved again to the small town of Manchester, in Ontario, now Wayne County, New York.
While the family was living at Manchester there arose a great religious excitement all through the country. The different religious sects held many meetings and tried to get people to join them. Joseph was now in his fifteenth year and he also became interested, as his parents had always taught him to believe in G.o.d and the Bible. Joseph thought he would like to join the true church of Christ, but what troubled him was to know which of all these sects was the true church. He could see that all of them could not be true, as G.o.d surely would not have a great many churches, one striving against the other; also, no doubt, he had read in the Bible that there was but "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," etc., which the Lord accepted. Joseph went first to one meeting, then to another. His mother and some of his brothers and sisters had joined the Presbyterians, but Joseph could not make up his mind what to do.
But there is a way by which anyone may find out which is the true church and therefore which to join, and every boy and girl that reads this book should remember it. It is this: Ask G.o.d. Joseph did not know this until one day while reading in his Testament he came to the fifth verse in the first chapter of James, which reads as follows:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of G.o.d, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
This was just the thing. G.o.d had surely led him to read that verse. Joseph certainly lacked wisdom, and here was a way to find out what he wanted to know about the sects. The Lord would tell him. All he had to do was to ask.
How simple it was!
On a beautiful morning in the spring of the year 1820, Joseph decided to ask the Lord for wisdom. He went out into a grove near his father"s house, and after looking around to make sure that he was alone, he kneeled down on the gra.s.s under the trees and began to pray. No sooner had he begun than some awful power which he could not see took hold of him and made it nearly impossible for him to speak. It soon became dark around the boy, and Joseph thought the unseen power would kill him; but he struggled hard and tried to pray to G.o.d for help.
Just at that moment Joseph saw a great light coming down from above, and then the evil power left him. The light was brighter than the sun, and as it came down and touched the tops of the trees, Joseph wondered why it did not burn them. Then it shone all around him, and in the light, standing in the air above him, he saw two persons who looked like men, only they were shining with a glory that can not be described. One of them, pointing to the other, said to the boy:
"_Joseph, this is my Beloved Son; hear him_."
Joseph then asked which of all the religions was right, and great was his surprise when he was told that none was right; that they all had gone astray from the truth; and that he must join none of them. Joseph was told many other things, among which was that some day the true gospel would be made known to him. Then they left him alone in the woods.
What a wonderful thing! G.o.d the Father and his Son Jesus Christ had actually come to Joseph. He had seen them and they had spoken to him. That same Jesus of whom he had read in his Bible had come from heaven and his Father had come with him to introduce him to the boy praying in the woods!
This was the first vision and the beginning of the gospel in our day; and by thinking carefully about this vision, we may see that it teaches us many things. First, that G.o.d has a body like unto man"s. Second, that the Father and the Son are two persons, not one, as many in the world believe. Third, that the many religions which man has made are not accepted by G.o.d. Fourth, that G.o.d has not ceased to give revelations to men on the earth.
Topics.--1. Joseph"s Boyhood. 2. The Vision. 3. What may be learned from the vision.
Questions and Review.--1. When and where was Joseph Smith born? 2. To what places did Joseph move? 3. What led Joseph to ask G.o.d for wisdom? 4.
Repeat James I:5. 5. Why can not all the sects in the world be right? 6.
Did the Father and the Son come to Joseph solely because of this prayer?[1]
7. Why did the evil one try to destroy Joseph? 8. What may we learn from this vision?
CHAPTER III.
THE ANGEL MORONI.
When Joseph told of his vision to some of his friends he was surprised to find that they did not believe him, but made fun of what he said. The strangest thing to the boy was that the preachers of religion, instead of being glad at such glorious news, told him it was from the devil, and that G.o.d did not give any more revelations from heaven. All such things had ceased with the apostles of old, they said. Another strange thing was that these preachers began to tell untruths about him, and seemed to hate him for what he told. Still Joseph would not deny his story. "I have actually seen a vision," he said again and again. "I know it, and I know that G.o.d knows it, and I dare not deny it."
So three years went by.
On the evening of September 21, 1823, after Joseph had retired to his room, he prayed earnestly that the Lord would forgive him his sins and show him if he was yet accepted of him. While he was yet praying a very bright light came into the room, and immediately a person stood in the air by his bedside. As this person was an angel--a being who had died and had been resurrected with an immortal body--it is interesting to know how he looked.
Joseph describes him as a man having on a robe whiter than anything he had ever seen. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrists. His feet were also bare a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. Not only was his robe very white but his whole person shone with great glory. The room was very light, but not so bright as close around the angel"s person.
The angel called Joseph by name, and said that he was a messenger sent from G.o.d to him, and that his name was Moroni. He told Joseph that G.o.d had a work for him to do, and because of this work, good and evil would be spoken about his name in all nations. The angel then told him of a record written on gold plates which were hidden in a hill not far away. This record was a history of the peoples who had lived on this continent, of whom the Indians were a part. With the plates was an instrument called the Urim and Thummim, which G.o.d had prepared for the translating of the records. After a time these things would be given to Joseph, but he must take great care of them and show them to no one except those to whom the Lord would direct. Then Moroni showed Joseph, by a vision, the place, where the plates were hidden.
After giving much other instruction, the light in the room began to gather in towards the person of the angel, leaving the room again in darkness, except just around the heavenly visitor, who soon disappeared in a shining path into heaven.