A Young Folks History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Page 4

lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
This was just the thing. God 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 grass 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 God 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! God 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 God 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 God. Fourth, that God 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 God 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 God 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 God 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