Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail

During the almost five months that Joseph Smith was in Liberty jail, he spent much time reflecting on the experiences in his life that brought him to that point.  He also had time to write to members of the church about these thoughts.  He seemed to develop a more intense spiritual insight on suffering and affliction.  You may be wondering, what got him into prison in the first place?  I'll lay the facts out on the table.   The members of the church were gaining political and economic power in Missouri.  Local mobs resented their growing power and began "punishing" Joseph Smith and other church leaders.  Among these punishments were tarring and feathering, burning of mormon shops, and making threats to kill members of the church.  Governor Boggs sent out an extermination order allowing the citizens of Missouri to force Mormons out of the state.  Mormons were stripped of all weaponry and possessions to pay back the state.  Joseph agreed to meet with the militia to try and avoid bloodshed but, General Lucas ordered his execution.  General Doniphan refused, calling it murder,  and the leaders of the church were taken into custody instead.  There they were tried and convicted of treason.

You may decide for yourself but for me, my faith in Joseph Smith as a prophet set aside, I feel that there was nothing just about what happened in Missouri.  The saints suffered.  We can read journal after journal where members of the church described the scenes they witnessed and affliction they experienced by the hand of the angry mobs. I'd like to read a journal of any member of the community that suffered by the hands of one of the saints and I'm thinking it would be difficult to find one.  

While in Liberty Jail, Joseph Smith was comforted by the Lord, as recorded in D&C 121: 7-9.  "My son, peace be unto they soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and the, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.  Thy friends do stand by thee and shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."  While in prison he wrote, "it will be a trial of our faith equal to that of Abraham, and that the ancients will not have whereof to boast over us in the day of judgment, as being called to pass through heavier afflictions; that we may hold an even weight in the balance with them....for my part, I think I never could have felt as I now do, if I had not suffered the wrongs that I have suffered.  All things shall work together for good to them that love God". It is clear that Joseph felt the comforting words of the Lord and internalized that which the Lord revealed unto him by the spirit.  He came away strengthened.  Many of the sermons he gave after his experience in Liberty Jail were recorded and it is evident that his desire to serve God was even greater after he was persecuted for doing so.  The Lord promised him blessings if he endured and he had confidence that it would be so.  If his path were easy, he would not have come away with enough conviction and testimony to go forward with the Lord's work.  Suffering affliction tests as true disciple and we know that these trials are the refiners fire.  Joseph Smith could see this and he lived to inspire the saints to work through all the trials he knew were ahead.   

Doctrine and Covenants section 137

I believe that the Doctrine and Covenants is a valuable resource to anyone seeking to better understand the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The D&C is, like the Bible, a collection of revelations and spiritual/historical experiences given from God to man.  This collection expounds on teachings from both the Book of Mormon and the Bible and is a valuable resource for any religious scholar.

Section 137 explains the LDS perspective of heaven.  You may have heard that Mormon's believe there are "levels" in heaven or that Mormons believe you only get to heaven if you are Mormon but these are common misconceptions.  And, in case you missed that last part, the idea that Mormon's believe we are the only one's who make it to heaven is FALSE!  Let me tell you what is true:

In first Corinthians 15:39-41 we read of three glories; one celestial, one telestial, and one terrestrial which are the "levels" of heaven, if you will.  We believe that all good people will "make it" into heaven.  In section 137 of D&C we learn that the Lord "will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts".   In other words, if we have the desire to do good, to love unconditionally, to help those in need, to give of our excess, to volunteer our time, or anything else wholesome and worth while, and then turn those desires into actions, the Lord will bless us with eternal life in heaven.  

To receive the highest degree of glory, that being the Celestial kingdom, we must be true disciples of Jesus Christ.  We must try to emulate his attributes and follow his teachings.  The fullness of his truth is taught in his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and in order to be his true disciple, we must be baptized, as he was.  Once we have entered the covenant of baptism, we must enter into other covenants including those made in the temple.  Now, Joseph Smith had a vision of life in the Celestial kingdom where he saw his little brother, Alvin, who died before being able to enter into these covenants.  Joseph was a little confused because as he understood it, Alvin should not have been worthy to enter into the Celestial kingdom.  The Lord taught Joseph an important doctrine in verse 7,

 "All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God.  Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom".  

This is a beautiful piece of doctrine.  God wants to give us the choice.  We always have the choice between His way or the way of the adversary.  But sometimes, there are people who live their entire lives without fully understanding His way or without caring yet are still good people.  He won't punish good people for not joining the LDS faith.  He loves His children and gives us abundant opportunities to inherit all that he has.  We will always have the choice.

I am Mormon.  Or, to be proper, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  My parents both joined the church in their teen years which means many members of my family are not LDS.  I do not despair wondering if I will get to be in heaven with them.  I know that they are deserving of eternal life in heaven and if they desire to receive all the blessings of the Celestial kingdom, they will have the opportunity to do so.  I also think of my friend Lacy who died just after she was baptized.  She was eight years old; so young and innocent.  She has been promised, in section 137 that she will be an heir to the celestial kingdom.  

There is something called cognitive dissonance where a person's faith doesn't resonate with their reasoning.  I imagine that Joseph felt a bit of cognitive dissonance when seeing this vision of his brother.  In the end, the Lord's way makes sense.  He answers all the questions we are inclined to ask when we talk about heaven.  All the questions, the "what if's", are clarified in D&C 137.  The only question to ask now is why? The answer: because He loves us.

Special Collections

Today, our class took a little break from the normal routine and we met in the special collections section of the library.  I've spent time in this department before and it is a unique treat.  I was writing a paper on the pool of Bethesda for a religion class and looked on the BYU library website for some information.  I was led to a book that so happened to be a part of the special collections.  This meant that in order to read this book and pull information from it, I had to surrender my book bag and pens.  I could only take a pencil and my laptop into the special collections reading room. So as to make sure nothing happens to the books they are kind of high security about just anybody reading them.  However, it was worth the insight because I was able to look at a resource not everyone gets to see and from a unique perspective.  It was a bible dictionary from 1851! It was incredible.  I could almost see the hands of many readers searching this dictionary along side their Bible study.  Today, my experience in special collections broadened my horizon even more.  I saw bronze plates, books made of animal skins, clay stamps, and my favorite...journals.  I realized that records are kept for many many small and seemingly meaningless purposes but, one day, my records may prove valuable beyond measure to a reader I may not even know.  And, the beauty of it is, there are hundreds of easy ways to keep records these days.  I've written many thoughts down in letters, on note cards in my scriptures, in blog posts, online notes, e-mails, talks, lessons for church, and in other little journals.  I should find a way to collect all of these writings into one volume for my posterity to enjoy.  Perhaps one day my work will wind up in the special collections.     

My experience at the library

Today, our class took a little break from the normal routine and we met in the special collections section of the library.  I've spent time in this department before and it is a unique treat.  I was writing a paper on the pool of Bethesda for a religion class and looked on the BYU library website for some information.  I was led to a book that so happened to be a part of the special collections.  This meant that in order to read this book and pull information from it, I had to surrender my book bag and pens.  I could only take a pencil and my laptop into the special collections reading room. So as to make sure nothing happens to the books they are kind of high security about just anybody reading them.  However, it was worth the insight because I was able to look at a resource not everyone gets to see and from a unique perspective.  It was a bible dictionary from 1851! It was incredible.  I could almost see the hands of many readers searching this dictionary along side their Bible study.  Today, my experience in special collections broadened my horizon even more.  I saw bronze plates, books made of animal skins, clay stamps, and my favorite...journals.  I realized that records are kept for many many small and seemingly meaningless purposes but, one day, my records may prove valuable beyond measure to a reader I may not even know.  And, the beauty of it is, there are hundreds of easy ways to keep records these days.  I've written many thoughts down in letters, on note cards in my scriptures, in blog posts, online notes, e-mails, talks, lessons for church, and in other little journals.  I should find a way to collect all of these writings into one volume for my posterity to enjoy.  Perhaps one day my work will wind up in the special collections.