My testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith is a vast and quirky one and I don't know if I will have time to share it all with you. But I want you to know that I know He was and IS a Prophet of God, and furthermore He is the Prophet of the Restoration. There have been many prophets throughout the ages, but each at the beginning of a dispensation have been given a special calling. Elijah was given the keys of Sealing, Moses was given the keys of the gathering of Israel. When Jesus Christ was on the Mount of Transfiguration these two prophets came to testify to Jesus of His divine role (many people do not know, or do not believe, but Jesus Christ had to learn that He was Jesus Christ, just as we have to learn that we are children of our father in Heaven). Jesus Christ bestowed those keys upon Peter James and John. At the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, note how all those people had to be present. It was necessary. Even John the Baptist, a glorified, ressurected being, appeared and conferred the Aaronic Priesthood (A special, preparatory Priesthood, conferred upon Aaron and His seed; with John the Baptist, being the last worthy holder). The Prophet Joseph Smith testified of the importance of baptizing by correct Authority and stated that doing any such ordinance without proper authority might as well have been performed on a bag of sand for all the good it would do that individual.
Beyond that of Priesthood Authority, my testimony has grown in who I have found Joseph Smith to be. He was a man of integrity and a man of Faith. Most importantly he always acted out of Faith. There are two main opposites in the Universe (as I would see it) Faith and Fear. When you learn of the story of Joseph Smith's life, there was plenty to Fear, yet he stood firm in the Faith. There were plenty of times in Joseph Smith's life where he was imprisoned for months at a time and recieved no revelation or relief. Imagine trying to stay true to the gospel when you're imprisoned and fed disgusting food for months on end, and everytime you pray you get no answer. How long do you think you or I would last? As Job's wife counseled, would we rather "curse God, and Die?"
One of the last points which I will share with you will be that of the slander against the Prophet Joseph Smith. My Testimony is founded in God alone. No man can take it from me. When I want to know the truth of ANYTHING I kneel and pray and ask my father in heaven to tell me it is true. When I recieve THAT witness, then I know. Besides, What greater witness can you have than from God? I have heard about everything that I believe can be said against the Prophet Joseph Smith, some of it true, and some of it false. But, I have never come to the knowledge of it's fact or fiction until I have first followed the steps towards Revelation that my Father in Heaven wants me to follow.
God doesn't want me to know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet because everyone else said he was, or because he made a great church with helps thousands of people overcome great difficulties they face daily. God doesn't want me to know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet because he suffered great persecution, and followed exactly inline with what the Bible prophesies concerning the latter-day restoration.
God wants me to believe that Joseph Smith is His Prophet, because HE said so. Likewise, God wants me to know that the Book of Mormon is true, because HE said so, not because my parents said so, or my bishop, or my uncle, etc.
If you truly want to know whether He was a Prophet or not, pray about it. If you want to strengthen the testimony you already have, pray about it. If you want to know anything, pray about it. God answers prayers.
Ultimately, it's all very simple. If you call yourself a Christian then you believe in the fundamental princple of prayer. If you call yourself a seeker of truth than you believe in seeking the only source of pure, undiluted truth, God.
I spent 3 months in Dublin at the beginning of my mission. I taught a man named James McCann. He was the minister of another faith and spoke 7 languages (2 of which are dead languages). He was far more clever than myself. On 3 separate occasions he destroyed my testimony with his knowledge, and on 3 different occasions I rebuilt it through prayer and fasting, and THEN the knowledge came. About the 3rd time I was going to go back and show him how he was wrong (again) the spirit said to me: "are these answers for you, or for him?"
And it's that simple. I know Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God because He told me so. I don't know everything, but I know that whenever someone can "prove" to me with facts something about the Prophet that I may not fully understand- I can pray and God will tell me again that He is a Prophet, and THEN the knowledge will come. Faith, Then Knowledge.
Anyway, that's kind of it in a nutshell. It's a simple Testimony, and I could talk alot, but really it's just cause God said so. That's what I try to get across to the people I meet.
I love you all so very much. Keep strong in each of your individual testimonies.
-Elder Stephen C Beacham
Stephen, you are amazing, I love you. Thank you for sharing this. It makes sense, ask God.
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