Joseph Smith Jr. was a poor farm boy with a serious
question. Which of all of the churches around should he join? He never
considered that his answer would be none of them. When he went to the Lord with
a genuine question he was actually visited by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
After his vision, he told only a few people, but word got out and spread
quickly leading to heaping persecutions against this young boy. 8 years later,
Joseph was newly married and he and Emma were expecting their first child. He
had gotten the plates as well as the seer stones and had begun translating with
Emma as his scribe. Persecution had continued to mount, and really the only
person outside of Joseph’s family that actually believed him was Martin Harris.
Martin Harris was a true friend to Joseph as well as a
blessing. Before he had arrived, Joseph was losing hope. He would never be able
to publish the transcript of the Book of Mormon on his own. If Joseph sold
absolutely everything he had, the publishing cost was going to be 15 times what
he was worth. There was just no way. Then, Martin arrived and offered to pay
for it all.
There was one problem. Martin’s wife, Lucy, and some other
family members were having a hard time with all of it. Why was Martin willing
to give so much time and money to something they had never actually seen? This
is where the trouble began. Joseph wanted so badly to be able to show them, but
he had been commanded to not show anyone the plates. So, he and Martin thought,
“Well, what if we just showed the translation they had done so far?” That might
be okay, right? Then, they will read and know it was truth!
Joseph asked the Lord and was given the answer of no. But
why? Wasn’t this a righteous desire? He couldn’t afford to lose the faith and
backing of Martin! After asking three times, he is finally told that Martin could
take the 116 pages they had translated so far on one condition. Martin has to
covenant with the Lord to only show them to his wife and just a select few
other family members and has to keep them locked up. Martin goes off and not
only shows those 5 people, but actually breaks the drawer they were locked in
because his wife was out and had the key to show someone he wasn’t supposed to
show them to in the first place.
We all know the story. Those pages end up being stolen, and
become the lost 116 pages. So, what can we learn from this? I am sure there are
many, many lessons, but I will focus on just three.
In the time they had waited for Martin to return with the
pages, Emma had had her baby. The baby died, and Emma almost did. In a time of
such personal turmoil, Joseph also worried about his standing with God because
he had lost the ability to translate since Martin had left. 22 year old Joseph must have felt
like he had ruined absolutely everything!! But, as he reached out to Heavenly
Father as he had done other times before, the very
first sentence of the revelation states: ”The works and the designs and the
purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught.” This is
the first lesson, each of us have agency. We make decisions every day, some
minor, and some with lasting effects. But, Heavenly Father has a plan, and His
plan will not be foiled by choices we make. Some of our choices make it harder
on us, but ultimately, his plan will work out. In this instance, thousands of
years before the pages were lost, Heavenly Father had Nephi write some of what
was in the plates of Lehi which comprised the lost pages. In response, Nephi
writes, “ And now, I Nephi, do not make
a full account of the things which my father hath written, for he hath written
many things…of which I shall not make a full account. But I shall make an
account of my proceedings in my days. Behold, I will also make an abridgment of
the record of my father.” 1 Nephi 1:16-17 (see also D&C 10)
The second lesson is in verses 7 & 8. “For behold, you
should not have feared man more than god. Although men set at naught the
counsels of god, and despise his words—yet you should have been faithful; and
he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of
the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time of trouble.” Do
not fear man more than God because if we put our faith and trust in our
Heavenly Father, he will be with us in every time of trouble. I am sure all of
us have been subjected to peer pressure at some time or another. Do we fear
what our friends or coworkers will think of us more than what Heavenly Father
thinks of us? Do we sometimes ask and ask and ask the same question hoping for
a different answer from him? I know I have! At this point, Joseph could have
said, I don’t know how this is going to work out, but you know what? I’ve seen
Jesus, and I know he can find a way to make it all work out. He was more
practical. Remember, he was just a poor farm boy! He allowed the pressure of
how difficult everything was going to be to overwhelm what God actually wanted
him to do. Heavenly Father sometimes asks us to do hard things. He asks us to
put him above all. Above being popular or stylish or funny or well-respected or
rich or powerful. This is the most important choice we will make in this life.
The third and final lesson I chose is found in D&C 3:9-10- God is
merciful, and no matter what mistakes are made, if we repent, we are still
chosen. Joseph was so wrapped up in all of the bad things that had happened
that he had quite frankly forgotten that God is still merciful. So, like the
loving father he is, Heavenly Father reminds him. He says, “Thou art Joseph,
and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of transgression,
if thou art not aware thou wilt fall. But remember, God is merciful; therefore,
repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which
I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to
the work.” Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. He knew Alma the Younger
would be a prophet even as he was going around persecuting the church. He knew
Jonah would go and preach to the people of Ninevah even as he ran to board a
ship going the opposite direction. He even knew a young Tommy Monson was going
to be a modern-day prophet as he set fire to a field. We all have a work to do!
We might mess up, but if we repent and keep trying, we are still chosen!
Heavenly Father doesn’t give up on us. He didn’t even give up on Martin Harris,
the man who lost the pages, the man who was said to be wicked in this and other
revelations given to Joseph. Ultimately, Martin even becomes one of the three
witnesses that actually got to see the plates! Elder Holland once said,
“However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have
missed, however many mistakes you feel you have
made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family
and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond
the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the
infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.”
In summary, we lost 116 pages of scripture because of this
mistake. I am sure there were valuable lessons on those pages, but we need to
always remember:
1 1. There is a plan in place. No one, no matter how
much agency they use could keep the Book of Mormon from coming, and no one
today can keep the work from progressing and the second coming from happening!
You are not powerful enough to ruin Heavenly Father’s plans.
2. 2. Don’t fall in to peer pressure. At the end of
the day, your question to yourself should be: How should I appear before the
Lord? And when you aren't sure what you should you you should follow the words of Anna from Frozen, “I'll walk through this night stumbling blindly toward the light and do the next
right thing. And, with it done, what comes then? When it's clear that
everything will never be the same again. Then I'll make the choice to hear that
voice and do the next right thing.” Heavenly Father knows we aren’t
perfect. He is used to working with imperfect people! The best part of it all
is he meets us where we are and leads us to the next right step supporting us
all along the way.
3. 3. After we make mistakes and feel like something
is lost whether it be lost hope, lost faith, a lost testimony, nothing is so
lost that Heavenly Father’s plan for you is ruined. If we make an effort to
repent, to keep trying, and to get back on the path, we are still chosen.
In the words of Emily Belle Freeman, “His heart is full of
wisdom for his words preserved on holy pages can bring comfort, direction,
counsel, and guidance. His heart is full of understanding for every silver
lining turned forth from sable cloud comes from Him. His heart is full of
tenderness for he sends blessings from heaven and ministers with mercy. His
heart is full of hope for even if today the obstacle seems impossible to
surmount, he has promised that tomorrow he will work wonders among you. His
heart is full of compassion for he sends angels who come running and continue
to minister. His is a heart we can trust because his purposes fail not, and
nothing can separate us from his love.”
