The First Vision: A Joseph Smith Papers Podcast LDS Mormon FIrst vision bicentennial

THE FIRST VISION podcast (a six-episode miniseries) launches! The Joseph Smith Papers starts off the bicentennial of Joseph Smith’s 1820 vision

Released in the bicentennial year of Joseph Smith’s vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ, the podcast recreates the world in which Joseph Smith was seeking answers to the pressing questions of his soul. Listeners will be invited to understand the First Vision from the perspective of historians.
View Post
Joseph Smith's Last Dream Seth Adam Smith

Joseph Smith’s Last Dream

Two days before his martyrdom, Joseph Smith told W. W. Phelps about a prophetic dream he had a few nights prior. W. W. Phelps did not publish the account until 1862, but when he did, he titled it: “Joseph Smith’s Last Dream.”
View Post
Joy Purpose LDS Mormon Nelson

Joy. It’s our purpose!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you today? How about the past week? The past year? Or overall? Would you (and those around you) consider you to be a generally happy person overall? Maybe you’re just not a “happy” kind of person. Maybe you’re not a total grump, but maybe on the overall personality spectrum, you’re a bit closer to the Mr. Grinch end than the Relief Society President end. Maybe you’re holding out hope that you would be eventually happy. You know, once your sons have returned from their missions. And your quorum takes their ministering assignments seriously. And your husband stops leaving the toilet seat up. Or maybe you’re just enduring life right now and looking forward to that day of release when you will finally be able to rest in eternal felicity in heaven because sure then you will be happy, right?
View Post
2010 07 004 the restoration 768x432 still

The restoration was MESSY (and that’s OK)

Years ago, I heard a Bishop say: “Brothers and sisters, the restoration was messy.” I didn’t think much about his wording at the time. But over the few years following (including my mission), I encountered a lot of people wanting to “educate” me about early Church leaders. Joseph Smith was the most common target, of course. They cited all sorts of stories about him that seemingly “proved” he was a lying, womanizing con man. I mostly brushed off these claims during my mission. Those critics were not historians. I knew their agenda. I figured they were mostly lies, or at least huge distortions of the history. So, when I got home from my mission, I bought an 800-page history of Joseph Smith. It was written by an active stake patriarch and Church historian who worked on the Joseph Smith Papers project, so I figured his book would blow away all those false accusations with the fiery testimony of truth. But I was surprised to find that instead of tearing down all the stories the critics had told me, history largely confirmed them. And you know what? That’s OK!
View Post
Summer jams

Signs and Spiritual Eclipses (from Power In The Book)

Ever seem like God was always showing signs to people in the scriptures? Kind of wish you could see one yourself? The Nephites demonstrate to us that’s actually a bad idea. Put on your spiritual eclipse glasses, because in today’s Power in the Book of Mormon​ post, we’re going into the Book of Mormon to talk about miraculous signs (and why we should be grateful there aren’t a lot of them).
View Post
Smooth smoothies

“Many Revelations Daily”

When is the last time you remember receiving revelation? If a reporter or a friend or one of your children were to ask you, what could you say? Has it been a few hours? Days? Years?
View Post