Joseph Smith - Prophet, Servant, Friend Quiz

Answer: December 23, 1805

Joseph Smith, Jr was born in Sharon, Vermont to Joseph Smith, Sr and Lucy Mack Smith. As a boy, he once refused whiskey when having an infection cleaned from his leg and also refused to let the doctor amputate the limb.

Answer: James 1:5

Confused by the many religions in town vying over the people, Joseph turned to the Bible for guidance. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." The other scriptures were all quoted by Moroni when he visited Joseph.

Answer: Heavenly Father; "This is My Beloved Son, hear Him!"

I quote here exactly from "Joseph Smith - History" verses 15 thru 19 found in "The Pearl of Great Price": "After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction - not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being - just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other - This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong) - and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong."

Answer: Emma

Joseph met Emma Hale in Harmony, Pennsylvania while working for Josiah Stowell - looking for buried treasure. Joseph convinced Josiah that it was fruitless to look for treasure, instead of continuing to earn money that was needed by his family. He remained in the area working for Joseph Knight (my ancestor) so he could court Emma.

Answer: John the Baptist

Peter, James and John did visit Joseph and Oliver in the summer of 1829, but they conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood.

Answer: true

In a revelation given to Joseph in March of 1830, now "Doctrine and Covenants" Section 20, Joseph was instructed to form a new church on April 6 in 1830. To many Mormons, the text also implies that this was the anniversary of Christ's birth. The Church was formed in Fayette, New York and had only six members. Today the Church numbers eleven million worldwide.

Answer: Julia Murdock

Julia was, in fact, the only daughter of Emma and Joseph. She and her twin brother were given to the Smiths to raise when their own mother died during childbirth.

Answer: castration

The doctor contracted to castrate Joseph Smith backed out from doing it at the last moment. While he was being tarred and feathered, the door of the house was left open and Joseph Murdock, the young twin, already sick with measles, developed pneumonia and died days later. The next morning, Joseph's friends helped him clean up and he preached a sermon from the front porch.

Answer: Missouri

The Saints were driven from Ohio; Joseph even had to flee for his life. Dissident members seized the keys to the temple and faithful members were severely beaten. They fled to Far West, Missouri to join the Saints living there, but found little refuge. They were driven from Missouri about one year later.

Answer: Liberty

Joseph and several other prisoners endured four months in the prison basement. Joseph and Hyrum, who were both over six feet tall, could not stand upright. Their food was sometimes poisoned and once the guards tried to serve them human flesh. Their spirits were never broken and they were eventually allowed to escape. Sections 121, 122 and 123 of the "Doctrine and Covenants" were received by Joseph while imprisoned.

Answer: beautiful

Nauvoo is Hebrew for "beautiful" although it also indicates a feeling of rest. Commerce was a swamp at the time and hardly appeared able to live up to the grand name, but Nauvoo eventually became one of the most beautiful cities in the United States.

Answer: Red Brick Store

The Red Brick Store opened in January of 1842. The Nauvoo House was to be a hotel, but was not finished while the Saints lived in Nauvoo. The Bishop's Storehouse is where fast offerings are stored to be distributed to those in need.

Answer: 5

Their first baby died soon after birth in Pennsylvania. The twins born in Kirtland did not live and the young adopted boy, Joseph Murdock, died young. Julia Murdock was their only daughter. Their oldest son bore the name Joseph Smith III. He was followed by Frederick G. Williams Smith (named for Emma's doctor, member of the First Presidency) and Alexander Doniphan Smith (named for a great attorney that represented Joseph in Missouri).

Their next son, Don Carlos Smith (named for Joseph's younger brother), died at age eighteen months and was followed by a stillborn child.

Their last child, David Hyrum Smith was born after Joseph was killed.

Answer: A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief

"A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" is a very moving song about Christ. Especially fitting was verse six: "In pris'n I saw Him next, condemned, to meet a traitor's doom at morn. The tide of lying tongues I stemmed and honored him mid shame and scorn. My friendship's utmost zeal to try, He asked if I for Him would die.

The flesh was weak, my blood ran chill, but my free spirit cried 'I will'."

Answer: June 27, 1844

More than one hundred men (with faces blackened by mud and gunpowder to prevent recognition of individuals) from surrounding areas of Missouri and Illinois stormed the jail, killing both Joseph and his brother Hyrum and severely wounding John Taylor. Section 135:3 of the "Doctrine and Covenants" has this to say about Joseph: "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.

In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain.

He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated." Joseph was also a Candidate for President of the United States in 1844.