Reasons to Believe

Perhaps it is the fact that flowers are starting to pop up again and the trees are beginning to blossom--or perhaps it the fact that Spring Break is this week--but things feel really good today.  I've been alive long enough to know that these moments will inevitably be replaced by stressful challenges, which will, in turn, be replaced by more happy moments.  In order to help us progress and grow, our Heavenly Father has wisely allowed us to experience a wide range of emotions and experiences, each allowing us opportunities to grow closer to Him.  One thing that made a difference for me this week was a short day trip on Friday down to Austin.  The chance to see a new place and have new experiences was exciting, even if it was just for the day.  It was nice to get out and drive through country that I hadn't seen before.  For a person who seldom travels, I realized there is a lot of value in going someplace new and trying something new, even if it is just for a day.

Since September, I had the privilege of teaching the 14-15 year olds in Sunday School (until two weeks ago I was asked to move over to the adult gospel doctrine class).  One of the things that I realized in teaching the teens was just how useful the story of the First Vision was in teaching them.  As a missionary I loved sharing that story because the Spirit testified so deeply of its truth every single time we shared it.  And He did so with the teens.  But the more I taught them, I came to understand another reason why that story was so powerful with them.  They relate to it in a very profound way because Joseph was their age when he had that experience.  He asked questions that they have asked.  He struggled and studied and finally prayed, just as they have done.  While the visionary experiences that resulted from his efforts were unique to Joseph, the story of how he arrived at those experiences is everyone's story.

The more I have grown in the gospel, the more that story has come to resonate with me.  One of my favorite accounts of the First Vision is the 1832 account, particularly the way that he described his efforts to find the truth.  Joseph wrote (with some changes in spelling):

"At about the age of twelve years my mind became seriously impressed with regard to the all important concerns for the welfare of my immortal soul which led me to searching the scriptures, believing as I was taught, that they contained the word of God. . . . I pondered many things in my heart concerning the situation of the world of mankind, the contentions and divisions, the wickedness and abominations and the darkness which pervaded the minds of mankind.  My mind became exceedingly distressed for I became convicted of my sins . . . and I felt to mourn for my own sins and for the sins of the world for I learned in the scriptures that God was the same yesterday today and forever, that he was no respecter of persons, for he was God, for I looked upon the sun the glorious luminary of the earth and also the moon rolling in their majesty through the heavens and also the stars shining in their courses and the earth upon which I stood and the beast of the field and the fowls of heaven and the fish of the waters and also man walking upon the face of the earth in majesty and in the strength of beauty whose power and intelligence in governing the things which are so exceedingly great and marvelous even in the likeness of Him who created them, and when I considered upon these things my heart exclaimed well hath the wise man said it is a fool that saith in his heart there is no God.  My heart exclaimed all these things bear testimony and bespeak an omnipotent and omnipresent power, a being who maketh laws and decreeth and bindeth all things in their bounds, who filleth Eternity who was and is and will be from all eternity to eternity and when I considered all these things and that that being seeketh such to worship him . . . therefore I cried unto the Lord for mercy for there was none else to whom I could go . . . and the Lord heard my cry."  (Joseph Smith, History Circa Summer 1832)

For one thing, this account reminds me that Joseph could be a little wordy and loved flowery descriptions--something I understand.  But much more importantly, I love the way that the Prophet approached the questions and doubts that he had as a young boy.  Not all, but a few, who experience doubts seem ready to abandon everything that they know the second a question or doubt arises that they are unable to answer.  Joseph had doubts and questions for at least a couple of years, but he approached them in a way that strengthened rather than undermined his faith.

First, Joseph went to the scriptures and began studying.  He was no scholar, and particularly not at this point in his life.  But no matter how challenging the task of study may have been for Joseph, he studied and he studied with the faith that he would learn and then obey truth.  Second, Joseph was honest with himself not only about the conditions in the world around him, but far more importantly, he was honest about his own life and his own sins and his own need for mercy.  That kind of honesty is seldom easy, but it is the only way to find real answers because it is the only way for us to ask the real questions.  Third, Joseph found reasons to continue believing and to have faith.  If for a moment or two we struggle with this principle or that commandment, we need to do what Joseph did and find those things that we do believe, allowing those beliefs to give us reasons to believe further.  Finally, Joseph approached the Lord in mighty prayer and found answers.

What a blessing this story of the Prophet's First Vision is.  Such sacred experiences are seldom things that we share in public.  But I am grateful beyond belief that the Prophet shared this sacred vision and his efforts to discover the truth with us because his story is our story.  We can follow his example and we can receive revelations and have experiences that will change history, not only for ourselves, but for those who will come after us.

Brett