INTRODUCTION

Every journey begins somewhere, with a step, a thought, a desire, a commitment. The journey back into the presence of God, for mortals, begins with four first steps we call them the first principles and ordinances. There are others to follow how many we have no idea. Joseph Smith said:

Steven C. Harper is married to Jennifer Sebring. He is a professor of Church history and doctrine and Brigham Young University, where his primary work is to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in ways that help students develop resilient faith in and become lifelong disciples of the Savior. He is also the editor in chief of BYU Studies and executive editor of The Wilford Woodruff Papers. From 2012 to 2018, he was the managing historian and a general editor of Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days. From 2002 to 2012, he was a volume editor of The Joseph Smith Papers. He has written several books, including Let’s Talk about the Law of Consecration, Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants, and First Vision: Memory and Mormon Origins.

There are very few things I can stand at a pulpit and testify I know are true. Among them are that I know my Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother love me with an infinite, unfathomably deep and perfect love, and they are far more merciful to me than I deserve. The second is that I know that Jesus Christ, my brother and Savior, died for me, knows me—my pains, shortcomings, sins, weaknesses, joys, and strengths—entirely, and that He has never and will never abandon me.

Books, articles, and numerous Internet websites work to undermine faith in Joseph Smith’s first vision, but historically there have been just three main arguments against it. The minister to whom Joseph reported the event responded that there were no such things these days. More than a century later and in a literary style that masked her weakness in following the historical method, Fawn Brodie wrote that Joseph invented the vision years after he said it happened. A generation later, Wesley Walters charged Joseph with inventing revivalism when, Walters claimed, a lack of historical evidence proved that there was none and therefore there was no subsequent vision as a result. By now it has become a foregone conclusion for some that there are no such things as visions, that Joseph failed to mention his experience for years, and that he then gave conflicting accounts that failed to match historical facts. 1 But these three claims assume much more than they prove.

As a faith, it has alternately fascinated and worried Americans since it first arose in a New York time more than a century earlier. It’s been denounced as a cult even as it is embraced by millions. It’s been the butt of jokes and parodies, been the ironic source of an entire Broadway musical and, with the candidacy of Republican Mitt Romney for the presidency, been in the news for months.

It can be tempting to become casual with our efforts to live the gospel and develop Christlike attributes.

“Many of our young people are more familiar with Google than with the gospel, more attuned to the Internet than to inspiration and more involved with Facebook than with faith,” Elder Ballard said during a devotional. He talked of how youth will increasingly come face to face with challenging topics within the gospel, and that, as leaders, teachers, and parents, we must not be afraid to openly discuss such topics and encourage youth to ask questions and search them out using reliable media.

“They killed him on a ruck march?” I heard myself say, almost as if I weren’t the one speaking.

"As our children learn to understand gospel doctrines, they become more self-reliant and more responsible. They become part of the solution to our family challenges and more resilient to worldly temptations. Those simple truths embedded in their hearts will allow them to see clearly who they are and will fan the fire of their faith."