mORMISM
JOSEPH SMITH SR. IMPRISONED FOR HIS FAITH(Compiled and written by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, dkenison@xmission.com)The summer of 1830, following the organization of the Church, brought furtherparticularly for the Smith family. Joseph Smith, Sr., father of the Prophet, was one of hisOn one occasion that fall, he was at home with his wife Lucy, and had been "rather ill." Aneighbors came to call, mostly critical of the reputation of the Smith family. One "Quakercame with a note for a fourteen-dollar debt owed him by Joseph Sr., demanding payment,apparently was not in great need of the money. Father Smith offered to pay the man sixwas all he had, and arrange to get the rest as soon as possible.According to Lucy, the Quaker man responded, "No, I will not wait one hour; and if thoupay me immediately, thou shalt go forthwith to the jail, unless (running to the fireplace andviolent gestures with his hands towards the fire) thou wilt burn up those Books ofwilt burn them up, then I will forgive thee the whole debt."Mr. Smith emphatically declined the offer to free himself of t
Joseph called these visions ``interviews,'' suggesting an exchangeoccurredensuring that a 17-year-old boy understood what he was being taught. TheProphet'sgrandfather, Asael Smith, supposed the newly framed Constitution of the United States tobe ``thestone cut out of the mountain without hands,'' and directed his children to hold it as aprecious jewel. A few months after the marriage, Joseph went to Manchester onbusiness for his father. In his younger days he was famed as awrestler, and,Jacob-like, he never wrestled with but one man whom he could not throw. ''15 William noted that Father Smith had ``faith in the universal restorationdoctrine. ''In family gatherings Joseph described in detail ancient American inhabitants and theircustoms. Joseph said later, "Ishudderedwhen I first heard these heavy doors creaking upon their hinges; but then I thought tomyself, I wasnot the first man who had been imprisoned for the truth's sake; and when I should meetPaul in theParadise of God, I could tell him that I, too, had been in bonds for the Gospel which hehadpreached. Moroni returned 2 more times that night and repeated to Joseph the exactmessage given the on the first visit, adding information each time. 30The work which Joseph Smith began in his youth is even now proceeding to the ends ofthe earth,just as Moroni outlined on that early September night. 25JS-History 1: 26; and see The Papers of Joseph Smith, p.
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september 22,
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Acceptance Essays
