Joseph Smith

LDS Quotes About Joseph Smith

“He [Joseph Smith] stood upon his feet some three hours. The room was filled as with consuming fire, his face was as clear as amber, and he was clothed upon by the power of God. . . . ‘I have had sealed upon my head every key, every power, every principle of life and salvation that God has ever given to any man who ever lived upon the face of the earth. . . . Now, I have sealed upon your heads every key, every power, and every principles which the Lord has sealed upon my head. . . . I tell you, the burden of this kingdom now rests upon your shoulders; you have got to bear it off in all the world, and if you don’t do it you will be damned.’”

Wilford Woodruff

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Joseph Smith Portrait

I told them I was but a man, and they must not expect me to be perfect; if they expected perfection from me, I should expect it from them; but if they would bear with my infirmities and the infirmities of the brethren, I would likewise bear with their infirmities.

Joseph Smith  |  History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 5, Page 181

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“In an 1831 revelation, the Lord told Joseph Smith that most of the world was under sin, ‘except those which I have reserved unto myself, holy men that ye know not of.'”

Terryl and Fiona Givens

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Joseph Smith Portrait

“The South holds the balance of power. By annexing Texas, I can do away with this evil. As soon as Texas was annexed, I would liberate the slaves in two or three States, indemnifying their owners, and send the negroes to Texas, and from Texas to Mexico, where all colors are alike.”

Joseph Smith  |  Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 334

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Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“As we remember and honor the Prophet Joseph Smith, my heart reaches out to him in gratitude. He was a good, honest, humble, intelligent, and courageous young man with a heart of gold and an unshaken faith in God. He had integrity. In response to his humble prayer, the heavens opened again. Joseph Smith had actually seen a vision. He knew it, and he knew that God knew it, and he could not deny it (see Joseph Smith-History 1:25). Through his work and sacrifice, I now have a true understanding of our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ, and I can feel the power of the Holy Ghost and know of Heavenly Father’s plan for us, His children. For me, these are truly the fruits of the First Vision.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf  |  "Precious Fruits of the First Vision", Liahona, Feb 2009, 2–6

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“To me, that is Joseph Smith’s significance for our time. He stood on the contested ground where the Enlightenment and Christianity confronted one another, and his life posed the question, Do you believe God speaks? Joseph was swept aside, of course, in the rush of ensuing intellectual battles and was disregarded by the champions of both great systems, but his mission was to hold out for the reality of divine revelation and establish one small outpost where that principle survived. Joseph’s revelatory principle is not a single revelation serving for all time, as the Christians of his day believed regarding the incarnation of Christ, nor a mild sort of inspiration seeping into the minds of all good people, but specific, ongoing directions from God to his people. At a time when the origins of Christianity were under assault by the forces of Enlightenment rationality, Joseph Smith returned modern Christianity to its origins in revelation.”

Anonymous, Joseph Smith, Richard Lyman Bushman  |  “A Joseph Smith for the Twenty-First Century”

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“In our day, the steadying arm of the Lord reaches us through the ordinances of His holy temples. Said the Prophet Joseph to the early Saints in Nauvoo, ‘You need an endowment, brethren, in order that you may be prepared and able to overcome all things.’ How right he was! Being blessed with the temple covenants and endowed with power made it possible for the Latter-day Saints to endure tribulation with faith. At the end of her own pioneer journey, Sarah Rich recorded, ‘If it had not been for the faith and knowledge that was bestowed upon us in that temple… our journey would have been like… taking a leap in the dark.'”

Elder Robert D. Hales  |  "Faith through Tribulation Brings Peace and Joy," Ensign (CR), May 2003, p.15

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Reflecting on Joseph Smith, Parley P. Pratt recorded: “He taught me many great and glorious principles concerning God . . . and the heavenly order of eternity. It was at this time that I received from him the first idea of eternal family organizations. . . . It was from him that I learned that the wife of my bosom might be secured to me for time and all eternity. . . . I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved—with a pureness—an intensity of elevated, exalted feelings, which would lift my soul form the transitory things of this grovelling sphere and expand it as the ocean.”

Parley P. Pratt  |  Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt

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How oft have wise men and women sought to dictate Brother Joseph by saying, “O, if I were Brother Joseph I would do this and that;” but if they were in Brother Joseph’s shoes they would find that men or women could not be compelled into the kingdom of God, but must be dealt with in long-suffering,

Joseph Fielding Smith  |  Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.241

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I have often wondered why Joseph and Hyrum and their families had to suffer so much. It may be that they came to know God through their suffering in ways that could not have happened without it. Through it, they reflected on Gethsemane and the cross of the Savior. As Paul said, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”

Elder M. Russell Ballard  |  Shall We Not Go On in So Great a Cause?

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