Joseph Smith in Nauvoo
(This is the only new drawing today.)
We members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints consider Joseph Smith to be a great prophet. He was the instrument in the Lord's hands to
restore the true church of Jesus Christ.
We recognize that other Christian churches have much truth. We respect them and their members for all the
good that they do.
We believe that in 1820, when Joseph was only 14, he was saw
a vision and visited with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Joseph was told that the true church was not
on the Earth. . . but that in time he could be an instrument
in the Lord's hands to help restore the True Church of Christ.
Later, Joseph was visited by an ancient Native American
Prophet who eventually brought him gold plates with writing on them. By the power of God Joseph was able to
translate the plates and that translation became The Book of Mormon. The book is another testament of Jesus Christ
and his dealings with His people in the New world, somewhere in North and or
South America.
In our view the restored church has the complete truth and
we consider it a restoration of the church that Jesus established on the Earth
2000 years ago. We have some unique
beliefs that the Lord restored to the Earth via Joseph Smith. For example, we believe that marriage can be
eternal. We believe that Heaven is
organized by families. We are also
sealed to our children. We believe that
Heavenly Father and Jesus have physical glorified bodies.
We believe that we lived with our Heavenly Parents before we
came to Earth. We lived there in our
pre-mortal life as Spirit Children of our Heavenly Father and Heavenly
Mother. In Fact, we believe that one
day, if we receive the saving ordinances and keep the commandments, we can one
day return to live with our Heavenly Parents.
We also believe that we should be kind to everyone and love our neighbor
as ourselves. We try and keep the
sabbath day holy.
We believe that the Lord wants us to save ourselves for
marriage. That is, we believe that the
physical or sexual relationship between a man and a woman is powerful and
wonderful. When we make a physical body
for one of God's Spirit children in the sacred bond of marriage we are helping
with God’s. work.
Because we believe in the sanctity of marriage we sometimes
are accused of being prudes. If that
were true, how do we make all those children?
Latter Day Saints, or members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints believe that marriage is the highest sacrament. We don't think sex is just for procreation,
but giving the chance for other Spirit Children of our Heavenly Parents to come
to Earth is very important. The sexual
union of a married couple is sacred and truly wonderful to us. It is a bonding experience like no other in
mortality.
During Joseph Smith's day many religions thought that the
body was evil and that sex, even in marriage, was kind of a pact with the devil
and although they knew it was necessary, it was also considered unclean. Well, Joseph Smith turned that around and
said that the marriage relationship was necessary to our eternal
exaltation. He taught that the body,
far from being evil, was necessary for our eternal progression. And again, he taught that our Heavenly
Parents also had physical, glorified bodies.
Partly because of these teaching, Joseph Smith was arrested
in Nauvoo, and then martyred by a mob in 1844 in Carthage, Illinois. The members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints were forced to leave Illinois and they went clear across the
North American Plains to the valleys of the Rocky Mountains.
Joseph Smith also taught that Jesus is our elder
brother. Lucifer was also one of our
elder brothers. In the premortal life
Lucifer rebelled against God and was cast out to Earth. He took with him 1/3 of the hosts of heaven
and he and they became devils. They did
not pass through the veil of forgetfulness that WE all passed through when we
were born. So this is why the devils
knew who Jesus was when he came to Earth.
Jesus came to Earth to teach us and to pay the eternal price for our
sins because we mortals all sin. Because
of this Atonement of Jesus Christ we all can be forgiven of our sins if we
repent and strive to do better.
To us, the Atonement and resurrection of Christ also means
that we will all be resurrected one day and receive the level of glory we were
willing to accept. When we die we go to
the Spirit World and wait our resurrection.
While there we teach others about Jesus Christ.
We Latter Day Saints believe that Peter James and John,
original disciples of Jesus, appeared in glory to give Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery the priesthood power of God.
Joseph Smith restored the Original Church of Christ and all its ordinances
like baptism by immersion, conferring the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and sacred
Temple Covenants including Eternal Marriage.
Many of us have served an 18 month or 2 year mission, when
we were young, to teach other people about these truths. Some of us serve missions when we are elderly
too. So there are members of The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in many countries throughout the
world.
Below are some other drawings of some of the things I
mentioned above. These drawings are from
older posts. All the drawings on today's
post can be found in printable form by clicking on the buttons: .....Religion.... or ....All
Printables..... Remember that newer
pictures are at the bottom of the correct list.
Joseph Smith has his First Vision
Joseph Smith is visites by the Angel Moroni
Jesus in the New World somewhere. . .
as told in the Book of Mormon
Jesus in the New World somewhere. . .
as told in the Book of Mormon
Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery get the Melchezidek Priesthood
Joseph Smith restores Christ's Church
Pioneers crossing the Plains and then the Valleys of Wyoming
Handcart Pioneer Family
Temple with Family
Harry in the Spirit World
Together in the Celestial Kingdom
Final Note: I did not give a comprehensive history of the contributions of Joseph Smith and the church that he established. If you want to learn more contact missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
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