Elder Neil L. Andersen: Joseph Smith

When I started this challenge I didn't realize how hard it was going to be. It's my own fault. I've been lazy and I need to break that habit and develop a new one. It feels so difficult because it is so easy to get busy and caught up in my everyday life. I have work and other responsibilities to attend to and, unfortunately, I sometimes allow myself to forget to devote time to my relationship with Heavenly Father. I intend to correct this practice. I do need to honor my responsibilites to work but my greatest loyalty should be to my Heavenly Father. The only way I can express this loyalty is through my obedience to His commandments and respect for His scriptures. That requires time and commitment. 

I know I can do it, and I know you can do it. Keep reading people. Studying the modern day scriptures that are the conference talks will bring you closer to Heavenly Father. They will, and can, strengthen your relationship with Him, if you let them.

Elder Neil L. Andersen: Joseph Smith

Read or watch the full talk here

I am not even close to being a church history expert but I love learning about Joseph Smith, and his wife Emma.  A few years ago I actually went on a church history trip with my best friend Amanda. The locations we visited spanned Joseph's life from his birth to his death. It was an amazing experience and I can't recommend it enough.

Joseph and Emma endured much but they lived their faith and accomplished great things. They are wonderful examples for us all. 

In his talk, Elder Andersen informs us that when Joseph was first visited by the angel Moroni, he was told that his name would "be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues." 

I would like to take this opportunity to testify that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. My experiences on that church history trip were powerful. I knelt in prayer in the Sacred Grove and I will never forget what I felt there. I know that he was a Prophet of God and I can never unknow it. Nor do I want to.

Now you must ask youself what you know? what you believe about Joseph Smith. According to Elder Anderson, "each believer needs a spiritual confirmation of the divine mission and character of the Prophet Joseph Smith." 

Elder Andersen goes on to say that, "a testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith can come differently to each of us. It may come as you kneel in prayer, asking God to confirm that he was a true prophet. It may come as you read the Prophet’s account of the First Vision. A testimony may distill upon your soul as you read the Book of Mormon again and again. It may come as you bear your own testimony of the Prophet or as you stand in the temple and realize that through Joseph Smith the holy sealing power was restored to the earth. With faith and real intent, your testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith will strengthen. The constant water balloon volleys from the sidelines may occasionally get you wet, but they need never, never extinguish your burning fire of faith."

Brothers and Sisters, you can gain a testimony of the divine mission of Joseph Smith. You just have to be willing to sincerly ask and pray for a testimony of his work.