Joseph Smith spent years searching for truth before he experienced the First Vision. What did he do after that experience? He was 14 years old and uneducated. He had received an answer to his prayer, but what was he supposed to do next?
Joseph Smith had to be trained to become a prophet.
I have often wondered why God would call a 14-year-old to be a prophet. But Joseph wasn’t a prophet at 14. He was still a teenage boy, and he had much to learn before he would be able to organize and lead the Lord’s church. The years between the First Vision (1820) and the organization of the church (1830) were used to train and teach Joseph before he became the first prophet of the restoration.
In a great collection of articles discussing Joseph’s life,1 Richard E. Bennett stated,2 “if Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet, then God assumed the responsibility of teaching and training him in that role. Put another way, the message of the gospel would have to be lived by the messenger of the gospel. The integrity of the Restoration would require nothing less.”3
I find great comfort in this. We all have to learn and grow, even the Lord’s prophet. Personally, I love reading about Joseph Smith’s weaknesses and imperfections, as it gives me comfort to know that God worked with him to help him grow and overcome those imperfections.
Persecution during his teenage years.
Later in Joseph Smith’s life (about two years before his death), he said, “deep water is what I am wont to swim in. It all has become a second nature to me; and I feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulation.”4 His life was filled with persecution, and it began as a teenager after he discussed his First Vision with a Methodist preacher:
“Some few days after I had this vision, I happened to be in company with one of the Methodist preachers, who was very active in the before mentioned religious excitement; and, conversing with him on the subject of religion, I took occasion to give him an account of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them.
“I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects—all united to persecute me.”5
Joseph doesn’t discuss this persecution much, but his mother Lucy recounts one incident in her biography of Joseph:
“At the age of fourteen an incident occurred which alarmed us much, as we knew not the cause of it. Joseph being a remarkably quiet, well-disposed child, we did not suspect that any one had aught against him. He was out one evening on an errand, and, on returning home, as he was passing through the dooryard, a gun was fired across his pathway with the evident intention of shooting him. He sprang to the door much frightened. We immediately went in search of the assassin, but could find no trace of him that evening. The next morning we found his tracks under a wagon where he lay when he fired, and the following day we found the balls which were discharged from the gun, lodged in the head and neck of a cow that was standing opposite the wagon in a dark corner. We have not as yet discovered the man who made this attempt at murder, neither can we discover the cause thereof.”6
Of Joseph’s life following the First Vision until 1823, Lucy says very little: “From this time until the twenty-first of September, 1823, Joseph continued, as usual, to labor with his father, and nothing during this interval occurred of very great importance—though he suffered every kind of opposition and persecution from the different orders of religionists.”6
Joseph Smith was concerned about his sins and the state of his soul.
It was his concern about his personal salvation that led Joseph to pray in the grove in 1820, and as he lived the life of a teenager, that worry continued:
“I continued to pursue my common vocations in life until the twenty-first of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, all the time suffering severe persecution at the hands of all classes of men, both religious and irreligious, because I continued to affirm that I had seen a vision.
“During the space of time which intervened between the time I had the vision and the year eighteen hundred and twenty-three—having been forbidden to join any of the religious sects of the day, and being of very tender years, and persecuted by those who ought to have been my friends and to have treated me kindly, and if they supposed me to be deluded to have endeavored in a proper and affectionate manner to have reclaimed me—I was left to all kinds of temptations; and, mingling with all kinds of society, I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature; which, I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations, offensive in the sight of God. In making this confession, no one need suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature. But I was guilty of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company, etc., not consistent with that character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as I had been. But this will not seem very strange to any one who recollects my youth, and is acquainted with my native cheery temperament.
“In consequence of these things, I often felt condemned for my weakness and imperfections; when, on the evening of the above-mentioned twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one.”7
Joseph Smith doesn’t say much more about this period of time. Richard E. Bennett states that during that period of “youthful adolescence, Joseph confesses that he mingled ‘with all kinds of society’ and ‘frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weaknesses of youth’. He does not go into detail as to what all those problems were, but most readers will readily identify with him. It is not only our sins that condemn us but likewise our foolishness, our rash judgments, those unkind and hasty words that may cut others deeply, our irrational behaviors, and wasting of time and talent. . . . Although Joseph asserts that he was not ‘guilty of any great or malignant sins,’ it appears evident that he had a magnified sense of his sins, for he ‘often felt condemned’ for his imperfections and earnestly sought ‘forgiveness of all [his] sins and follies.'”8
What was Joseph Smith’s life like during this period?
When reflecting on Joseph Smith’s teachings and life experiences, I try to imagine what life was like for him. We live in a significantly different world, and if we want to understand him, we need to try and understand the world in which he lived. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel9 has written an article in which he described three significant ways in which Joseph Smith’s world was different than ours:
“[Joseph Smith’s] world can be identified as having an abundance of three commodities that are rather scarce today.
“First, the premodern world had an abundance of natural darkness. Certainly there were bonfires, oil lamps, and later candles, but often people living in the premodern world experienced natural darkness in its totality. Today humans, particularly those living in a Western industrial nation, can hardly escape artificial light . . . . Street lights, headlamps, TVs, and even night lights in hallways have fundamentally changed the way we see the world at night. We simply do not observe the heavens as Abraham and Sarah, Jesus, Mary, Lazarus, and Joseph and Emma saw them. . . .
“The second commodity is natural sounds and silence. There was human activity in the premodern world that created sound—saws, chisels, and so on—but people often experienced the natural sound of their environment in ways most modern people never have. Today it is difficult to escape the noise of the modern world because of the prevalence of automobile traffic, sounds from various media outlets such as the radio, sounds of electrical currents in our homes, the ubiquitous iPod, and a variety of other sources. Even in some of the quietest places in America such as natural parks, airplanes can disturb both humans and animals.
“The third commodity is personal solitude. We live in a world that frowns on someone wanting to be alone. We are generally concerned when a friend or a family member seeks solitude, wondering if we should call the suicide hotline in his or her behalf. Because the patriarchs and matriarchs, the apostles and prophets experienced natural darkness, natural silence and sounds, and personal solitude, the visions of heaven may have opened to them more readily. Today, we are often distracted by the voices, the sounds, and the lights of a busy, noisy, modern world.
. . . .
“Joseph Smith’s world was often open to public view. Despite moments of personal solitude, family life was rather transparent, especially for the Smith family. They lived in small, crowded homes most of their lives, and during several years of their married life, Joseph and Emma lived with other people, sharing a home with a number of people. Joseph’s neighbors saw him walk to the outhouse in the backyard. Today halls, bedrooms, and locked doors create modern privacy largely unknown in the premodern world. People in Joseph Smith’s time witnessed the natural rhythms of life in a way most people today have likely not experienced. They watched children being born and people dying in their homes. Friends and family of the Prophet saw him sick, tired, irritated, even angry. They also saw him happy, playful, joyful, enthusiastic, solemn, and prayerful. They saw him dressed in his Sunday best, but also sometimes in tattered clothes.”10
So what?
For the most part, Joseph Smith lived a normal life during his teenage years, but that word “normal” would have meant something different in his day than ours. He was concerned about the state of his soul. This concern caused him to seek God in prayer in 1820, and he apparently reflected on that during the years that followed.
The lesson I learn from this is that even God’s prophets have weaknesses and imperfections and that God worked with him to help him learn, mature, and overcome his weaknesses. We can live normal lives, but we need to be focused on the state of our eternal soul. It needs to be on the top of our minds and we need to be thinking about it during the course of our lives. Only in that way can we allow ourselves to be influenced by God and do those things that will bring us closer to Him.
References
- “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer,” Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010, ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson.
- Richard E. Bennett, BYU Religious Studies Center, https://rsc.byu.edu/author/bennett-richard-e.
- Richard E. Bennett, “Joseph Smith and the First Principles of the Gospel, 1820–29,” in Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer, ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 23–50, https://rsc.byu.edu/joseph-smith-prophet-seer/joseph-smith-first-principles-gospel-1820-29.
- Doctrine and Covenants 127:2.
- Joseph Smith – History 1:21-22.
- Lucy Mack Smith, “The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother,” Zion’s Camp Books, Kindle Edition, chapter 17.
- Joseph Smith – History 1:27-29.
- Bennett, “Joseph Smith and the First Principles of the Gospel, 1820–29,” (internal citations omitted).
- Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, BYU Religious Studies Center, https://rsc.byu.edu/author/holzapfel-richard-neitzel.
- Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, “The Early Years, 1805–19,” in Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer, ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 1–22, https://rsc.byu.edu/joseph-smith-prophet-seer/early-years-1805-19.