The following excerpts from an article written for The Ensign by Elder Bruce R. McConkie is the clearest statement on the salvation of little children that I have found.

Bruce R. McConkie, “The Salvation of Little Children,” Ensign, Apr 1977, 3

Nowhere does the Easter message of resurrection ring so triumphant.

Among all the glorious gospel verities given of God to his people there is scarcely a doctrine so sweet, so soul satisfying, and so soul sanctifying, as the one which proclaims—Little children shall be saved. They are alive in Christ and shall have eternal life. For them the family unit will continue, and the fulness of exaltation is theirs. No blessing shall be withheld. They shall rise in immortal glory, grow to full maturity, and live forever in the highest heaven of the celestial kingdom.

What is a child and who are children?

A child is an adult spirit in a newly born body, a body capable of growing and maturing according to the providences of Him whose spirit children we all are. Children are the sons and daughters of God. They lived and dwelt with him for ages and eons before their mortal birth. They are adults before birth; they are adults at death.

Are children tainted with original sin?

Absolutely not. There is no such thing as original sin as such is defined in the creeds of Christendom. Such a concept denies the efficacy of the atonement. Our revelation says: “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning”

Are all little children saved automatically in the celestial kingdom?

To this question the answer is a thunderous yes, which echoes and re-echoes from one end of heaven to the other. Jesus taught it to his disciples. Mormon said it over and over again. Many of the prophets have spoken about it, and it is implicit in the whole plan of salvation. If it were not so the redemption would not be infinite in its application. And so, as we would expect, Joseph Smith’s Vision of the Celestial Kingdom contains this statement: “And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.” (D&C 137:10)

Will they have eternal life?

Eternal life is life in the highest heaven of the celestial world; it is exaltation; it is the name of the kind of life God lives. It consists of a continuation of the family unit in eternity. Joseph Smith taught, “Children will be enthroned in the presence of God and the Lamb; … they will there enjoy the fulness of that light, glory, and intelligence, which is prepared in the celestial kingdom.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 200.).

Will children be married and live in the family unit?

Certainly. There can be no question about this. If they gain salvation, which is eternal life, which is exaltation, it means that they are married and live in the family unit.

Why do some children die and others live? Are those who die better off than those who remain in mortality?

President Joseph Fielding Smith once told me that we must assume that the Lord knows and arranges beforehand who shall be taken in infancy and who shall remain on earth to undergo whatever tests are needed in their cases. This accords with Joseph Smith’s statement: “The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth.” (Teachings, pp. 196–97.)

Will children ever be tested?

Absolutely not!  “Satan cannot tempt little children in this life, nor in the spirit world, nor after their resurrection. Little children who die before reaching the years of accountability will not be tempted.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:56–57.) Such is the emphatic language of President Joseph Fielding Smith.

What is the age of accountability?

In our revelation the Lord says, “They cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable before me.” (D&C 29:47.) There comes a time, however, when accountability is real and actual and sin is attributed in the lives of those who develop normally. It is eight years of age, the age of baptism. (D&C 68:27.)

What about the mentally deficient?

It is with them as it is with little children. They never arrive at the years of accountability and are considered as though they were little children.

When and with what stature will children be resurrected?

Because they will receive a celestial inheritance, they will come forth in the first resurrection, President Joseph F. Smith said: “Joseph Smith taught the doctrine that the infant child that was laid away in death would come up in the resurrection as a child; and, pointing to the mother of a lifeless child, he said to her: ‘You will have the joy, the pleasure, and satisfaction of nurturing this child, after its resurrection, until it reaches the full stature of its spirit.’

What, then, of this glorious doctrine concerning the salvation of children?

Truly it is one of the sweetest and most soul-satisfying doctrines of the gospel!

At the time of the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Apostles were located in various parts of the country.

Brigham Young, Orson Hyde, and Wilford Woodruff were in Boston.

Heber C. Kimball and Lyman Wight had left Philadelphia and were traveling to New York. William Smith at some point joined them, and they continued to Boston for an appointed conference that was held on 29 June. Seven members of the Twelve were present at the conference—Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, William Smith, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, and Lyman Wight.

Parley P. Pratt was returning to Nauvoo and was on a canal boat between Utica and Buffalo, New York.

George A. Smith was staying with members of the Church near Jacksonburg, Michigan.

Amasa Lyman was in Cincinnati.

The location of Orson Pratt on 27 June is not known, but on 29 June he attended the conference in Boston, so he must have been fairly close to Boston on the day of the Martyrdom.

John E. Page had been in Pittsburgh, where he edited and published the Gospel Light from June 1843 to May 1844. His exact location is not known, but in all probability he was in Pittsburgh or the surrounding area.

John Taylor and Willard Richards were in Carthage.

On the day of the Martyrdom, members of the Twelve were depressed and melancholic without knowing why. Elders Heber C. Kimball and Lyman Wight were traveling between Philadelphia and New York City when Elder Kimball felt mournful, as if he had just lost a friend. In Boston, Orson Hyde was examining maps in the hall rented by the Church when he felt a heavy and sorrowful spirit come upon him. Tears ran down his cheeks as he turned from the maps and paced the floor. In Michigan, George A. Smith was plagued with a depressed spirit and foreboding thoughts all day long. When he retired to bed he could not sleep. He said that “Once it seemed to him that some fiend whispered in his ear, ‘Joseph and Hyrum are dead; ain’t you glad of it?’” ⁵

5. History of the Church, 7:133; see also pp. 132–33.

Two days before the Martyrdom, Parley P. Pratt was moved upon by the Spirit to start home from New York State and coincidentally met his brother William on a canal boat on the day of the tragedy. Parley wrote that as they talked, “a strange and solemn awe came over me, as if the powers of hell were let loose. I was so overwhelmed with sorrow I could hardly speak. . . . ‘Let us observe an entire and solemn silence, for this is a dark day, and the hour of triumph for the powers of darkness. O, how sensible I am of the spirit of murder which seems to prevade the whole land.’” ⁶

6. Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, Classics in Mormon Literature series (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985), p. 292.

In sorrow Elder Pratt walked 105 miles across the plains of Illinois, hardly able to eat or sleep, wondering how he should “meet the entire community bowed down with grief and unutterable sorrow.” He prayed for assistance. “On a sudden the Spirit of God came upon me, and filled my heart with joy and gladness indescribable; and while the spirit of revelation glowed in my bosom with as visible a warmth and gladness as if it were fire. The Spirit said unto me: . . . ‘Go and say unto my people in Nauvoo, that they shall continue to pursue their daily duties and take care of themselves, and make no movement in Church government to reorganize or alter anything until the return of the remainder of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. But exhort them that they continue to build the House of the Lord which I have commanded them to build in Nauvoo.’” ⁸ Arriving in Nauvoo on 8 July, Parley helped Elders Richards and Taylor keep order in the stricken community.

George A. Smith learned of the Martyrdom from a newspaper account in Michigan on 13 July. At first he thought it a hoax, but when the report was confirmed, he hastened home with his three missionary companions. Overcome by worry and fatigue, he broke out in hives over his entire body. He could not even eat, but he traveled on, arriving in Nauvoo on 27 July. Soon he was meeting in council with the three Apostles already there. ⁹

In Boston rumors of Joseph Smith’s death began on 9 July. ¹⁰ During the week before confirmation came from family letters and more complete newspaper accounts, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, and Orson Pratt struggled within themselves about what the terrible news meant. Brigham recorded in his journal, “The first thing which I thought of was, whether Joseph had taken the keys of the kingdom with him from the earth; brother Orson Pratt sat on my left; we were both leaning back on our chairs. Bringing my hand down on my knee, I said the keys of the kingdom are right here with the Church.” ¹¹

Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, and Lyman Wight contacted each other, joined together, and hastened home by railway, stagecoach, boat, and buggy. Subsequent events proved the wisdom of their haste. They arrived in Nauvoo the evening of 6 August. Wilford Woodruff recorded his feelings:

“When we landed in the city there was a deep gloom seemed to rest over the City of Nauvoo which we never experienced before.

“. . . We were received with gladness by the Saints throughout the city. They felt like sheep without a shepherd, as being without a father, as their head had been taken away.” ¹²

12. Wilford Woodruff Journals, 6–7 Aug. 1844, LDS Historical Department, Salt Lake City; spelling, punctuation, and capitalization standardized.

Sickness and a Day of God’s Power

In the summer of 1839 the swamp area on the Nauvoo peninsula had not yet been drained. While the Saints gathered, cleared, drained, built, and planted, they were oblivious to the danger of the Anopheles mosquito. This tiny insect, which bred profusely in the swampland and along the Mississippi riverbank, transmitted parasites to the red blood cells of humans by its bite. The disease this caused, characterized by periodic attacks of chills and fever, is now known as malaria, but people in the nineteenth century called it and diseases with similar symptoms the ague (pronounced `a gyu).

Eventually Joseph Smith also became ill, but after several days confinement he was prompted to arise and extend help to others. The day of 22 July was, in the words of Wilford Woodruff, “a day of God’s power” in Nauvoo and Montrose. ¹² That morning the Prophet arose and, being filled with the Spirit of the Lord, administered to the sick in his house and in the yard outside. More sick people were down by the river, and there too he administered with great power to the faithful. One such, Henry G. Sherwood, was near death. Joseph stepped to the door of Brother Sherwood’s tent and commanded him to rise and come out; he obeyed and was healed. Elder Heber C. Kimball and others accompanied the Prophet across the river to Montrose. One by one they visited the homes of the Twelve and administered to those who needed a blessing. Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt, and John Taylor then joined Joseph in his mission of mercy.

Elijah Fordham (1798–1879) accepted the gospel in 1833 in Michigan. In 1835 he was ordained a seventy by Joseph Smith in Kirtland. Following his miraculous healing at the hands of Joseph Smith in Montrose, Iowa, Elijah moved to Nauvoo and worked on the temple until the Saints were forced from Illinois in 1846. He went to Utah in 1850 and continued faithful in the gospel the remainder of his life. Courtesy of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City

One of the most memorable of the healings in Montrose was that of Elijah Fordham. When the brethren arrived he was lying in bed unable to speak.

“Brother Joseph walked up to Brother Fordham, and took him by the right hand. . . .

“He saw that Brother Fordham’s eyes were glazed, and that he was speechless and unconscious.

“After taking hold of his hand, he looked down into the dying man’s face and said: ‘Brother Fordham, do you not know me?’ At first he made no reply; but we could all see the effect of the Spirit of God resting upon him.

“He again said: ‘Elijah, do you not know me?’

“With a low whisper, Brother Fordham answered, ‘Yes!’

“The Prophet then said, ‘Have you not faith to be healed?’

“The answer, which was a little plainer than before, was: ‘I am afraid it is too late. If you had come sooner, I think it might have been.’

“He had the appearance of a man waking from sleep. It was the sleep of death.

“Joseph then said: ‘Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ?’

“‘I do, Brother Joseph,’ was the response.

“Then the Prophet of God spoke with a loud voice, as in the majesty of the Godhead: ‘Elijah, I command you, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, to arise and be made whole!’

“The words of the Prophet were not like the words of man, but like the voice of God. It seemed to me that the house shook from its foundation.

“Elijah Fordham leaped from his bed like a man raised from the dead. A healthy color came to his face, and life was manifested in every act.” ¹³

They next visited Joseph B. Noble, who was also healed. Wilford Woodruff remembered this as the “greatest day for the manifestation of the power of God through the gift of healing since the organization of the Church.” ¹⁴

14. Woodruff, Leaves from My Journal, p. 65.

David F. Boone, “Prepared for the Restoration,” Ensign, Dec 1984, 17

Spiritual manifestations foreshadowed the return of gospel to earth

“About the time that Joseph Smith found the gold record, I began to feel that the time was drawing near, that the Lord would in some shape or other, bring forth his Church. I made some inquiry thro the country where I traveled if there was any strange work of God, such as had not been on the earth since the days of Christ. I could hear of none, I was living about 20 miles east of where the gold record was found.” 1

Although Solomon Chamberlain lived near the area where the beginning events of the Restoration took place, he heard nothing of them until, traveling to Canada to preach, he was moved by the Spirit to make an unscheduled detour. He went to Palmyra, where he met and visited with the Smith family. When he shared with them his own spiritual witness, he was surprised by their reaction.

“I … opened my mouth and began to preach to them,” Chamberlain wrote, “in the words that the angel had made known to me in the vision, that all Churches and Denominations on the earth had become corrupt, and no Church of God on the earth but that he would shortly rise up a Church, that would never be confounded nor brought down and be like unto the Apostolic Church. They wondered greatly who had been telling me these things, for said they we have the same things wrote down in our house, taken from the Gold record, that you are preaching to us. I said, the Lord told me these things a number of years ago, I then said, If you are a visionary house, I wish you would make known some of your discoveries, for I think I can bear them. They then made known to me that they had obtained a gold record, and just finished translating it here. Now the Lord revealed to me by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost that this was the work I had been looking for.”

He stayed with the Smiths for two days and listened to their message about the Book of Mormon. Then he accompanied them to the printing office where the Book of Mormon was being printed for the first time. “As soon as they had printed 64 pages, I took them with their leave and pursued my journey to Canada, and I preached all that I knew concerning Mormonism, to all both high and low, rich and poor, and thus you see this was the first that ever printed Mormonism was preached to this generation. I did not see any one in traveling for 800 miles, that had ever heard of the Gold Bible (so called). I exhorted all people to prepare for the great work of God that was now about to come forth, and it would never be brought down nor confounded.” 2

Solomon Chamberlain had left home with a feeling that a restoration of Christ’s church was imminent. But after meeting the Smith family, he gained a conviction that what he had previously felt was now a certainty.

Solomon’s feelings about a coming restoration of the truth were not uncommon during the period just prior to the dawning of the dispensation of the fulness of times. Similar feelings and experiences came to others who, in faith, sought to know the mind and will of God.

For centuries, the world had been bereft of the gospel, awaiting the day when the “restitution of all things” would be fulfilled. (Acts 3:21.) But it was not until the nineteenth century that such a promise became a tangible hope. At that time, it was made known to a limited number of truth seekers that a restoration would indeed occur in the immediate future—and some were even promised that it would happen in their own lifetime.

Wilford Woodruff, who later became President of the Church, had an impressive experience early in life that led him to look forward to the Restoration. An elderly gentleman, Robert Mason, with whom he often visited, told him about a strange vision he had received years earlier. “I was carried away in a vision,” the old man told him, “and found myself in the midst of a vast orchard of fruit trees. I became hungry and wandered through this vast orchard searching for fruit to eat, but I found none. While I stood in amazement finding no fruit in the midst of so many trees, they began to fall to the ground as if torn up by a whirlwind. They continued to fall until there was not a tree standing in the whole orchard. I immediately saw thereafter shoots springing up from the roots and forming themselves into young and beautiful trees. These budded, blossomed, and brought forth fruit which ripened and was the most beautiful to look upon of anything my eyes had ever beheld. I stretched forth my hand and plucked some of the fruit. I gazed upon it with delight; but when I was about to eat of it, the vision closed and I did not taste the fruit.”

At the conclusion of the vision, Mr. Mason had prayed that the Lord would give him the interpretation. “Then the voice of the Lord came to me saying: ‘Son of man, thou hast sought me diligently to know the truth concerning my Church and Kingdom among men. This is to show you that my Church is not organized among men in the generation to which you belong; but in the days of your children the Church and Kingdom of God shall be made manifest with all the gifts and the blessings enjoyed by the Saints in past ages. You shall live to be made acquainted with it, but shall not partake of its blessings before you depart this life. You will be blest of the Lord after death because you have followed the dictation of my Spirit in this life.’ ”

Then the elderly gentleman looked at the young man and made an unusual prophecy: “Wilford, I shall never partake of this fruit in the flesh, but you will and you will become a conspicuous actor in the new kingdom.” 3

Of course Wilford Woodruff was moved by what he had heard. “To me this was a very striking circumstance,” he later wrote. “I had passed many days during a period of twenty years with this old Father Mason. He had never mentioned this vision to me before. On this occasion he said he felt impelled by the Spirit of the Lord to relate it to me.”

In addition to hearing the old man’s prophecy that he would live to embrace the truth, young Wilford came to the same conclusion himself after his own sincere search: “I had given myself up to the reading of the Scriptures and to earnest prayer before God day and night as far as I could years before I heard the fullness of the gospel preached by a Latter-day Saint. I had pleaded with the Lord many hours in the forest, among the rocks, and in the fields, and in the mill—often at midnight for light and truth and for His Spirit to guide me in the way of salvation. My prayers were answered and many things were revealed to me. My mind was open to the truth so much so that I was fully satisfied that I should live to see the true Church of Christ established upon the earth and to see a people raised up who would keep the commandments of the Lord.”

The fulfillment of Father Mason’s prophecy was as unusual as the prophecy itself. “The vision was given to him [Father Mason] about the year 1800,” Elder Woodruff wrote. “He related it to me in 1830, the spring in which the Church was organized. Three years later when I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, almost the first person I thought of was this prophet, Robert Mason. Upon my arrival in Missouri with Zion’s Camp, I wrote him a long letter in which I informed him that I had found the true gospel with all its blessings; that the authority of the Church of Christ had been restored to the earth as he had told me it would be; that I had received the ordinances of baptism and the laying on of hands; that I knew for myself that God had established through Joseph Smith, the Prophet, the Church of Christ upon the earth.

“He received my letter with great joy and had it read over to him many times. He handled it as he had handled the fruit in the vision. He was very aged and soon died without having the privilege of receiving the ordinances of the gospel at the hands of an elder of the Church.

“The first opportunity I had after the truth of baptism for the dead was revealed, I went forth and was baptized for him in the temple font of Nauvoo.” 4

Benjamin Brown was another who received assurances of the coming restoration of the gospel. “A knowledge was given me that the ancient gifts of the Gospel—speaking in tongues, the power to heal the sick, the spirit of prophecy, &c., were just about to be restored to the believers in Christ. The revelation was a perfect knowledge of the fact, so sure and certain, that I felt as though the truth had been stereotyped upon me. I knew it from the crown of my head to the sole of my foot—in the whole of my system, being filled with the Holy Ghost! I can compare it to nothing better than the change made on a clean sheet of paper by a printing press, leaving an indelible impression behind.” 5

Part of that knowledge had come to him as a result of an experience he had had earlier. When he was about twenty-five years old, he had “a vision” of his brother who had died fourteen or fifteen years earlier. In the vision, his brother was praying. “I heard his voice clearly and distinctly, and listened attentively.

“In the course of his prayer, he referred to a great work to be done on the earth during the last days, quoting several Scriptures. I did not, however, fully comprehend the meaning of them, until, coming into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, years after, I saw the applicability of his words to the views of that people, with regard to the restoration of the Gospel gifts, and great work of gathering the Saints of all nations in the last days, and the fulness of the latter-day glory, for he particularly prayed for the hastening of these things. Soon he disappeared from my view, when suddenly … a sound, as of a rushing mighty wind, with some accompanying influence, seemed to fill the house and myself, and I heard a voice saying—“This is the spirit of understanding.” 6

Daniel Tyler, an early Saint who became prominent in later Church history, recorded that after his father and grandfather had studied the scriptures, they came to believe that the Church as established by Jesus Christ was not on the earth. Their reason for so believing was that none of the ancient signs that were exhibited by the followers of Christ were then manifest.

Brother Tyler further recorded: “My grandfather … prophesied that he would die, but my father [Andrew] would live to see the true church organized with all the apostolic gifts and blessings.” Young Daniel heard and believed the prophecy, and identified the true gospel when it was later restored and taught. Ironically, his father resisted it, even threatening to disown family members who were baptized. “Soon after,” Brother Tyler wrote, “my grand-father appeared to my father in a dream, and told him that this was the people he prophecied of while living, and my parents were baptized.” Other family members, including Daniel, followed. 7

Before hearing the message of the Restoration, Lorenzo Dow Young, a younger brother of Brigham Young, was concerned about religion and studied the Bible diligently. But he didn’t feel right about being baptized in any church. “Although religious in my nature, … sectarian religion seemed empty and void,” he wrote. “… I had joined no church, although I had professed religion, attended meetings, and preached when I had an opportunity.” Indeed, his preaching yielded great fruit. Sixty people desired baptism after hearing some of his sermons, but he excused himself from performing the ordinance, saying “that I had never joined any religious denomination, and did not feel authorized to administer it.”

A Campbellite preacher baptized Lorenzo’s converts, organized them into a branch of the Campbellite church, and tried to convince Lorenzo to be baptized himself and to go on a preaching circuit. “I told him I would not preach his doctrines. If I preached at all, I should preach the whole Bible as I understood it. … A spirit worked with me to do all the good I could, but not to join any religious denomination. It prevailed within me against all temptation this time.”

When he was introduced to the Book of Mormon, he was cautious. “I read and compared the Book of Mormon with the Bible, and fasted and prayed that I might come to a knowledge of the truth. The Spirit seemed to say, ‘This is the way; walk ye in it.’ ” He was later baptized.

Years before, Lorenzo had had a dream which, in retrospect, helped prepare him to accept the restoration of the gospel: “In the autumn of 1816, when about nine years old, I had a peculiar dream. I thought I stood in an open, clear space of ground, and saw a plain, fine road, leading, at an angle of 45 degrees, into the air, as far as I could see. I heard a noise like a carriage in rapid motion, at what seemed the upper end of the road. In a moment it came in sight. It was drawn by a pair of beautiful, white horses. The carriage and harness appeared brilliant with gold. The horses traveled with the speed of the wind. It was made manifest to me that the Savior was in the carriage, and that it was driven by His servant. The carriage stopped near me, and the Savior inquired where my brother Brigham was. After informing Him, He further inquired about my other brothers, and our father. After I had answered His inquiries, He stated that He wanted us all, but He especially wanted my brother Brigham. The team then turned right about, and returned on the road it had come.

“I awoke at once, and slept no more that night. I felt frightened, and supposed we were all going to die. I saw no other solution to the dream. It was a shadowing of our future which I was then in no condition to discern.” 8

Another young boy, John Taylor, had a vision pointing to the Restoration which he too failed to understand until years later. “When but a small boy,” writes his biographer, B. H. Roberts, “he saw, in vision, an angel in the heavens, holding a trumpet to his mouth, sounding a message to the nations. The import of this vision he did not understand until later in life.”

We can only guess the impact such an experience would have had upon him when, years later, he joined the Church and found that what he had seen in vision was a supporting tenet of the restored gospel and the fulfillment of prophecy as seen by the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos.

At the age of seventeen, while serving as a Methodist preacher in England, he had an additional witness which he did not understand at the time. “I have a strong impression on my mind,” he told a companion, “that I have to go to America to preach the gospel!”

His biographer explains the significance of those feelings: “At the time he knew nothing of America but what he had learned in his geography at school; and emigration to that country had not been thought of then by his family. So strong was the voice of the spirit to him on that occasion that it continued to impress him as long as he remained in that land; and even after he arrived in Canada, a presentiment that he could not shake off, clung to him that he had some work to do which he did not then understand.” 9 John Taylor later became the third President of the Church.

Another who became convinced that the Restoration was at hand was Asael Smith, grandfather of Joseph Smith. Asael was a deeply religious man who strictly encouraged scripture study among his family members. Although he felt partial to the Universalist faith, he generally kept himself aloof from the sects of his day because he was unable to reconcile their conflicting teachings with the truths found in the scriptures.

But Asael Smith had great hope for the future. His great-great-grandson, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, wrote of him: “At times the spirit of inspiration rested upon him. On one occasion Asael said: ‘It has been borne in upon my soul that one of my descendants will promulgate a work to revolutionize the world of religious faith.’ Perhaps he did not expect to live to see that day, but such proved to be the case.” 10

Indeed, shortly after the organization of the Church and the restoration of priesthood authority, his son Joseph Smith, Sr., and grandson Don Carlos Smith visited him and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. While reading it, the old gentleman rejoiced, stating that he was certain the work of his grandson Joseph was of God. According to another grandson, Elder George A. Smith, when the aged gentleman “heard of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, … he said it was true, for he knew that something would turn up in his family that would revolutionize the world.” 11 Thus the prophecy was fulfilled.

The prophet Joseph further supports the account by his cousin in his narration of the event. “My grandfather, Asael Smith, long ago predicted that there would be a prophet raised up in his family, and my grandmother was fully satisfied that it was fulfilled in me. My grandfather, Asael, died … after having received the Book of Mormon, and read it nearly through; and he declared that I was the very Prophet that he had long known would come in his family.” 12

Because of advanced age and poor health, Grandfather Asael Smith was not baptized; he died in October 1830 at the age of 86, firmly believing in the restoration of the gospel. A daughter-in-law who was present at the time of his death recorded: “F[at]her Asael Smith … on his deathbed declared his full and firm belief in the everlasting gospel and also regretted that he was not baptized when Joseph his son was there and acknowledged that the doctrine of universalism, which he had so long advocated, was not true. For although he had lived by this religion 50 years, yet he now renounced it as insufficient to comfort him in death.” 13

Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, also had special dreams pointing to the Restoration of the gospel. On one occasion, after praying in behalf of her husband—“that the true gospel might be presented to him and that his heart might be softened so as to receive it, or, that he might become more religiously inclined”—she was informed in a dream that “the pure and undefiled gospel of the Son of God” would be made known to him, and that “when he was more advanced in life, [he] would hear and receive [it] with his whole heart, and rejoice therein; and unto him would be added intelligence, happiness, glory, and everlasting life.” 14

Of course, Joseph Smith, Sr., and his wife Lucy accepted the gospel when their son Joseph taught it to them—as did many others who had been prepared beforehand for the Restoration. The signs, wonders, and gifts of the Spirit were of themselves testimonies of the source of the Restoration. These gifts and blessings have been promised to men in all ages of the world. They were evident in the early ages of the world, during the meridian of time, prior to the restoration of gospel keys and authority, and they continue today. The proper use and understanding of these gifts and blessings will help to edify the Saints and help to fulfill the promises of the Lord to his obedient children.

[illustrations] Illustrated by Kay Watson

[illustration] The coming restoration of Christ’s church was revealed to Solomon Chamberlain in a vision. After visiting with the Smith family and hearing the teachings of the gospel, he received a witness that this was the work he had been looking for.

[illustration] Robert Mason received a vision of the Restoration in 1800. In 1830 he was prompted to relate it to Wilford Woodruff and to prophesy that young Wilford would embrace the truth and play an important role in building the kingdom.

[illustration] Benjamin Brown saw his deceased brother in a vision, praying about a great work to be done on the earth in the last days.

Potential enemies notwithstanding, quarreling and contention within the camp became its most vexing problem. Several men feared possible dangers, some complained about changes in their life-style, and a few questioned the decisions of their leaders. For forty-five days they marched together, and the inevitable personality clashes were exacerbated by the harsh conditions they encountered. Grumblers often blamed Joseph Smith for their discomfort.

Sylvester Smith (no relation to the Prophet), a sharp-tongued group captain, frequently led the dissension. He complained that the food was poor, preparations for the journey were inadequate, and Joseph’s watchdog kept him awake at night. On the evening of 17 May, Joseph was called upon to settle a dispute among some of the brethren. He said that he found a “rebellious spirit in Sylvester Smith, and to some extent in others. I told them they would meet with misfortunes, difficulties and hindrances, and said, ‘and you will know it before you leave this place,’ exhorting them to humble themselves before the Lord and become united, that they might not be scourged.” ²¹ The following day the prophecy was fulfilled: nearly every horse was sick or lame. The Prophet promised if they would humble themselves and overcome their discord, their animals would immediately be restored to health. By noon the horses were nimble once again, with the exception of Sylvester Smith’s mount, which soon died.

Contention soon arose again when Sylvester Smith threatened to kill Joseph’s dog. On 3 June a frustrated Joseph Smith stood on a wagon wheel and scolded the men for their lack of humility, their murmuring and faultfinding: “I said the Lord had revealed to me that a scourge would come upon the camp in consequence of the fractious and unruly spirits that appeared among them, and they should die like sheep with the rot; still, if they would repent and humble themselves before the Lord, the scourge, in a great measure, might be turned away; but, as the Lord lives, the members of this camp will suffer for giving way to their unruly temper.” ²² This sad prophecy would be fulfilled within a few weeks. ²³

For a few of the Saints, the Lord’s command not to do battle was the final trial of their faith. Disappointed and angry, they apostatized. As a result of their insurrection the Prophet again warned the camp that the Lord would send a devastating scourge upon them as a consequence of their unrighteous complaints. The day before the revelation was given two men contracted cholera. Three days later several more were struck with the dreaded disease, which was carried in contaminated water. The epidemic spread, causing severe diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps. Before it ended, about sixty-eight people, including Joseph Smith, were stricken by the disease, and fourteen members of the camp died, one of whom was a woman named Betsy Parrish. ³⁸ On 2 July, Joseph Smith told the camp that “if they would humble themselves before the Lord and covenant to keep His commandments and obey my counsel, the plague should be stayed from that hour, and there should not be another case of the cholera among them. The brethren covenanted to that effect with uplifted hands, and the plague was stayed.” 39

[Church History in the Fulness of Times p.145-149]