Joseph Smith

October 14, 2024 05:27 PM MDT
Joseph came to Katherine “panting for breath, … and in a gasping voice whispered hoarsely, ‘take these quickly and hide them.’”
5 Min Read
April 19, 2024 06:48 AM MDT
Read four takeaways from the Legal Records series on Joseph Smith, including when he broke tradition to let a woman testify.
3 Min Read
March 12, 2024 02:29 PM MDT
With all the buzz about the Kirtland Temple, here are the newly acquired fascinating artifacts you might have missed.
11 Min Read
February 15, 2024 09:20 AM MST
Moses, Nephi, and Joseph Smith are all names on the page for us today. But their struggles and faith were real. And we can learn from their lessons.
2 Min Read
Joseph and Emma’s time in the home was longer than they lived anywhere else together before Joseph was killed in 1844.
1 Min Read
June 27, 2023 06:00 AM MDT
To commemorate the martyrdom of Joseph Smith on June 27, here are some powerful quotes about him from every modern-day prophet from President Brigham Young to President Russell M. Nelson.
10 Min Read
June 26, 2023 01:06 PM MDT
Editor's note: This article was originally published in 2019.
3 Min Read
June 26, 2023 07:00 AM MDT
Here are some details leading up to Joseph Smith’s martyrdom that aren’t widely known.
6 Min Read
May 18, 2023 07:00 AM MDT
The inability to convey his ideas in writing was one of the horns of Joseph’s dilemma. The other was that he had been commanded to convey his ideas in writing.
10 Min Read
May 04, 2023 07:00 AM MDT
A recent article compares Joseph’s experience to some early American conversion narratives and concludes that Joseph’s accounts lack the angst and the typical “transformations of the heart.”
4 Min Read
April 19, 2023 12:00 PM MDT
The poem was signed with a rhyme: “And so forthwith, remember Joseph Smith.”
6 Min Read
November 29, 2022 10:04 AM MST
A statuary hall in India has installed a statue of Joseph Smith, honored as one who promoted world peace.
1 Min Read
November 15, 2022 11:16 AM MST
“O brethren, let us be thankful that it is as well with us as it is, and we are yet alive and peradventure, God hath laid up in store great good for us in this generation, and may grant that we may yet glorify his name,”
3 Min Read
October 12, 2022 12:59 PM MDT
Joseph Smith and others once visited Salem, Massachusetts, and took interest in the Salem witch trials. Here’s what they had to say about it.
1 Min Read
September 20, 2022 05:00 AM MDT
“It’s overly simplistic to say that the Presbyterian God abhorred people and the Methodist God didn’t, but the contrast helps us see a difference that meant a lot to Joseph.”
4 Min Read
July 28, 2022 12:40 PM MDT
Lachlan Mackay was anticipating a variety of responses when he and his uncle, Daniel Larsen, released a new daguerreotype last week that they believe is Joseph Smith after keeping it a secret for two years.
1 Min Read
July 22, 2022 01:47 PM MDT
Joseph Smith’s great-great grandson recently found a daguerreotype inside an old family locket—and he believes it’s a photo the Prophet himself.
1 Min Read
June 26, 2022 02:04 PM MDT
Joseph and Hyrum’s martyrdom made headlines all across the country—with most sources condemned the act as murder and a scandal.
5 Min Read
June 23, 2022 07:00 AM MDT
For Latter-day Saints today, the Pittsburgh Gazette interview is most notable for providing us with a detailed account of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.
5 Min Read
December 21, 2021 07:38 PM MST
On the 216th anniversary of his birth, see the Prophet drawn as a comic book character, sculpted in a cookie, and captured in an antique “portrait.”
2 Min Read
November 18, 2021 11:31 AM MST
All seven episodes of “Joseph: A guided journey to coming to know the prophet” hosted by Heidi Swinton are available now!
1 Min Read
October 18, 2021 05:14 PM MDT
This week, as we study the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants that originate in Liberty Jail for Come, Follow Me, we asked an expert to share with us the context of these chapters.
4 Min Read
September 21, 2021 04:16 PM MDT
From listening to her grandmother tell stories about the Prophet to teaching about his life for over three decades, Black has many reasons why she considers Joseph to be a phenomenal man.
1 Min Read
July 14, 2021 05:44 PM MDT
Through his paintings, Walter Rane has brought new life to religious art for Latter-day Saints and invited countless viewers to deepen their faith.
19 Min Read
June 09, 2021 05:14 PM MDT
Mauli Junior Bonner says when he first learned about enslaved pioneers, it strengthened him—he wanted to learn more about them, why they stayed, and what their experience had been like.
3 Min Read
April 27, 2021 12:00 PM MDT
Notwithstanding all Joseph Smith went through, he never turned against God and never denied his testimony that God and Christ had spoken to him.
9 Min Read
December 23, 2020 12:03 PM MST
This excerpt originally ran on LDS Living in December 2019 and is being shared again in honor of Joseph Smith's birthday.
12 Min Read
December 09, 2020 08:05 PM MST
You may have never heard of Topsfield, Massachusetts, but the small town of 6,500 residents now has a historic marker that honors the family of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
1 Min Read
October 12, 2020 02:46 PM MDT
Documents, Volume 11 of The Joseph Smith Papers covers a dynamic period in Joseph Smith’s life. At the outset of the volume, in September 1842, Joseph Smith was a hunted man and had to spend months in hiding avoiding arrest and extradition to Missouri. By February 1843, at the close of the volume, Joseph had experienced one of his greatest legal victories and was optimistically planning for additional growth and settlement in Nauvoo and the surrounding area. Throughout it all he remained energetically engaged in teaching the Saints and supporting the Church. Here are five surprising things we learn about Joseph Smith and Nauvoo in this volume of The Joseph Smith Papers.
7 Min Read
By  Yvonne Liu
September 22, 2020 12:00 PM MDT
This article was originally published by LDS Living in August 2018 and is being shared again in recognition of the anniversary of the day Joseph Smith received the gold plates.
6 Min Read
A special episode of the Book of Mormon Videos series has been published to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first appearance of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, to Joseph Smith, prophet and first president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
5 Min Read
September 11, 2020 12:00 PM MDT
Editor's note: Our bi-weekly Friday column, “Found in the footnotes,” explores some of the footnotes from remarks given by General Authorities and General Officers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
2 Min Read
July 01, 2020 08:43 PM MDT
In May 1829, Hyrum Smith traveled 160 miles from Palmyra, New York, to visit Joseph and Emma in Harmony, Pennsylvania, eager to learn more about Joseph's recent work and revelations as prophet. During Hyrum's stay, Joseph received a revelation for his brother, which is now known as section 11 in the Doctrine and Covenants.
1 Min Read
June 30, 2020 02:30 PM MDT
The Prophet Joseph Smith was the recipient of divine tutoring in remarkable ways.
1 Min Read
June 27, 2020 12:00 PM MDT
Find out what happened to each of the Smith children and where the surviving ones ended up in their adult years.
5 Min Read
May 20, 2020 08:02 PM MDT
In a new series on the Church History website, the consultation team at the Church History Library is sharing some of the most frequently asked questions received through its “Ask Us” service.
1 Min Read
May 14, 2020 04:52 PM MDT
On August 8, 1842, Thomas King arrested Joseph Smith. Soon after—perhaps even the same day—Thomas King helped Joseph avoid arrest. Two different individuals with the same name, Thomas King, played entirely different roles in Missouri’s second attempt to extradite Joseph Smith. Their stories are captured in the newest addition to the Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Volume 10.
5 Min Read
April 14, 2020 04:36 PM MDT
For Latter-day Saints, the Gold Plates are immediately associated with the translation of the Book of Mormon, but when someone asks, “What are the Gold Plates?” or “What is the significance of this ancient record?” how do you respond?
1 Min Read
Fun
April 03, 2020 02:32 PM MDT
This was Christopher Creek’s first attempted sculpting with this tasty medium.
2 Min Read
Editor's note: The Power of Stillness is the LDS Living Book Club's book of the month. Join the conversation on the LDS Living Book Club's Instagram.
3 Min Read
March 18, 2020 11:00 AM MDT
Editor’s note: Most of us are familiar with the story of the First Vision. Some might even have the account from Joseph Smith—History memorized. But that account is not the only time Joseph Smith shared his miraculous experience. Using nine different accounts, Muhlestein shares one harmonized story of the First Vision, including what led up to it and what Joseph learned from it, in his new book, I Saw the Lord. This excerpt offers an idea of what it might have been like for Joseph to have overwhelming, hopeless darkness dissipated by intense light as he first saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
7 Min Read
March 10, 2020 12:00 PM MDT
Joseph Smith was a teenager when he was seeking to find the truth. As teenagers often struggle with their faith today, we can let them find the answers as he did.
5 Min Read
February 28, 2020 06:13 PM MST
A Case for the Book of Mormon by Brother Tad R. Callister hit shelves almost a year ago. In the book, Brother Callister addresses and refutes counter-arguments and presents both physical and spiritual evidence to support that the Book of Mormon is true.
2 Min Read
January 28, 2020 12:00 PM MST
This story was originally published on LDS Living in February 2018.
5 Min Read
January 06, 2020 11:00 AM MST
Many Church members are familiar with the account of the First Vision contained in the Pearl of Great Price, but not all members are familiar with a version that combines all nine surviving accounts into one.
4 Min Read
December 19, 2019 04:27 PM MST
A new video released by the Church answers questions as to whether the Prophet Joseph Smith was a mason and how masonry is connected to temple worship in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
1 Min Read
November 18, 2019 04:19 PM MST
The following has been republished with permission from taylorhalverson.com and complements this week's Come, Follow Me study.
3 Min Read
October 30, 2019 02:12 PM MDT
At many times in my life, I have had to grapple with the humanity in our Church's history—the flaws and weaknesses that come with imperfect people attempting to establish a perfect church and gospel. As I've learned more about early Church history in all its complexity, it has humbled me to realize that if my life were subject to the scrutiny of historians and critics, my faults and missteps could fill novels. No one save Jesus Christ lived a blameless life. Thank goodness we belong to a Church filled with imperfect people, because none of us could belong in a perfect church filled with perfect people.
1 Min Read
By  LDS Living
October 22, 2019 12:02 PM MDT
President M. Russell Ballard shares his first name with his grandfather, Elder Melvin J. Ballard. Elder Ballard passed away when young Russell was not quite 11 years old. Since President Ballard's family was not active in the Church while he was growing up, he never heard his grandfather speak in general conference or give an address.
1 Min Read
October 21, 2019 02:00 PM MDT
About statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith that President M. Russell Ballard keeps in his office, President Ballard shares, “I look at them, and I think I hear them say, ‘Get going boy, and do something worthwhile. Tell the world what’s happened.’ So to me, I get nudged big time when I see them and see what they did and what they gave. Then I feel obligated to do everything I can to declare and to teach that the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is once again upon the earth.”
1 Min Read
Fun
August 29, 2019 01:30 PM MDT
Captain America, the Silver Surfer, Black Panther, Flash, Batman, Aquaman—and now Joseph Smith. These are some of the epic characters artist Sal Velluto has depicted in his career.
2 Min Read