New England in 1820 was a place of religious enthusiasm, but religious confusion as well.  There were so many churches to choose from, but Joseph Smith Jr, then fourteen, couldn’t decide on which church to join.  Every church was a little bit different, but deciding which one was true was difficult.  So Joseph Smith turned to the scriptures.  He found his answer in James 1: 5.  “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”  Joseph was determined to ask God.

Joseph Smith went to a grove of trees near his home.  And in praying about which church he ought to join, Joseph received a remarkable and unexpected answer.  He received a vision: “When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”  God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith personally.  They told him that none of the churches currently on Earth were true and that he should join none of them.

The First Vision, as Joseph’s experience is often called, was indeed a first vision.  And even for the first, Joseph faced persecution.  When he related his story, most people did not believe him.  Most people believed that miracles and visions had ceased and that God did not speak to man in such a direct way.  But Joseph knew what he had seen and, when he was seventeen, he received another vision.  This vision was not of the Father and the Son – but of an angel called Moroni.  Moroni told Joseph about a book, a record, of a people who had once lived on the Americas.  This record was written on gold plates and contained “the fulness of the everlasting Gospel . . . as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants.”

Joseph Smith found and eventually translated this record, which would become known and published as the Book of Mormon.  It was an account of the Nephites, who knew God and testified of Him, but also made terrible mistakes and were often worse than their enemies, the Lamanites.  Eventually, because of their wickedness, the Nephites were destroyed.  The Book of Mormon restored truths about Christ and his gospel that had been lost.

In the meantime, Joseph Smith received instructions to restore more than the Book of Mormon to the world.  The priesthood was also restored.  John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John of Christ’s apostles appeared — to return the power of the priesthood, which is the authority to act in God’s name.  Both the Aaronic Priesthood (which gives authority to preach and baptize) and the higher Melchizedek priesthood (which gives authority to give the gift of the Holy Ghost, among other ordinances) were given to Joseph Smith, who would give it to others.

The Mormon Church was officially organized in 1830, ten years after the First Vision.  There were, at first, only six members.  But the church grew very rapidly.  So did the revelations.  Joseph Smith was a prophet and the lesson that James 1: 5 taught him stayed with him for all his life.  He continually asked of God and received answers.  And the gospel was restored.

The Mormon Church (officially The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) started as and remains a church of continual revelation.  God spoke to Joseph Smith and gave him direction, not just for himself, but for the entire church.  Mormon prophets today continue Joseph Smith’s work, and like he did, speak with God.