On this day on June 27, 1844, 181 years ago today, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith were martyred by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.

To commemorate the lives of Joseph and Hyrum, we held a special devotional today via Zoom with all of the missionaries in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. We were very grateful to be joined by Brother Richard Turley. Brother Turley is the former managing director of the Church History Department and has been commissioned by the First Presidency to write a biography of the Prophet Joseph Smith. For many years, Brother Turley was our faithful home teacher where he visited our family each month, taught us, and cared for us. We love him.

This last week, we prepared to commemorate this day by studying a different talk about the Prophet Joseph Smith each day. Missionaries were invited to listen to these talks as they were driving throughout the day and discuss them. This preparation proved to be very powerful. Here are the talks we reviewed together as a mission:

Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge, “The Prophet Joseph Smith”, April 2014 General Conference
Elder Tad R. Callister, “Joseph Smith – Prophet of the Restoration”, October 2009 General Conference
Truman G. Madsen, “Lectures on Joseph Smith the Prophet”, BYU Education Week, 1978
Elder Macus B. Nash, “Joseph Smith: Strength Out of Weakness”, Ensign, December 2017
Elder Neil L. Andersen, “Joseph Smith”, October 2014 General Conference
President Dallin H. Oaks, “Joseph, the Man and Prophet”, April 1996 General Conference
President Russell M. Nelson, “The Prophet Joseph Smith”, 2022 Mission Leader Seminar
Elder M. Russell Ballard, “Joseph and Hyrum: Exemplary Missionary Companions”, 2023 Mission Leader Seminar

We were very fortunate to have Brother Turley share his thoughts about Joseph Smith. He’s spent his lifetime studying the prophet’s life. He taught us about Joseph as a young man, the events that led to the First Vision, the different accounts of the First Vision, Joseph’s experiences after Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him, and what his example means to missionaries.

After the devotional, we asked the missionaries to share with us the impressions they had felt. Here is what they shared:

• Sister Avei: I loved that he talked about how the visions happened after he repented. He said that repentance didnt make him perfect but it made him worthy. He said repentance put him in the right mindset for those things to happen.
• Elder Maxfield: It’s our responsibility as servants of the Lord to show our humility that comes from our spiritual strength! Joseph’s calmness came from his devotion to the truth, and that gave him the ultimate strength.
• Sister Low: It was a reminder that we are fellow servants with the prophets, past and present. There is no greater call than to declare the truthfulness of the gospel of Christ, and how it can affect people’s lives. It was the call to Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and it is our call!!
• Elder Poll: I liked how he told the first vision in a way that made me feel as if I was there. Very detailed, very personal.
• Elder Farnes: I liked how he talked about how Joseph Smith’s spiritual capacity was much higher than we originally thought. Also like how he talked about how humble he was.
• Elder Kwant: Brother Turley said a very interesting phrase, “We have severely underestimated the prophet Joseph Smith.” Everything he went through, he went through believing, no matter how hard things got for him and his family. How can we go forth in such a great cause? How can we be believing and testify no matter how hard times get? The same way he did, through faith in Jesus Christ. Let us not underestimate ourselves when we have faith in our Savior.
• Elder Colling: I liked the way that he taught the Restoration in different perspectives/accounts that were very insightful and detailed about the character of the prophet Joseph Smith and also the person that he was and how God qualified him to do his work!
• Elder Scott: Joseph’s sincere desire to change and find truth allowed him to be ready to receive revelation from God. While he wasn’t perfect, he had prepared himself. Our own preparation can help us receive answers and help from God, too.
• Sister Ihrig: Joseph Smith could very easily have given way to pride and vanity, but he repeatedly chose to recognize and even publicize his faults. This was due to the fact that his greatest desire truly was to be forgiven and clean in the sight of God so that he may be worthy of salvation in His presence. He concecrated literally everything to the Savior and was blessed with even more humility and the forgiveness that he so desired.
• Elder Wilkins: I loved that Joseph Smith had every opportunity to lead with pride, but he didn’t. Humility is clearly an attribute of a prophet.
• Elder Collins: The Prophet Joseph Smith, although imperfect, was instrumental to bring forth the Restoration and open the dispensation of the fullness of times. His life truly was dedicated for a much greater work. His many sacrifices show us an example of a true disciple of Jesus Christ that magnified his calling and blessed his fellow man. The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion and the evidence of his divine calling. Through the infinite grace of God, Joseph Smith pushed forth the principles of Salvation into this dispensation. “Millions shall know Brother Joseph again!”
• Sister Gabbitas: Spiritual experiences are often followed by spiritual draught and we can learn with joy or sorrow! I loved that, knowing that nothing is “wrong” with me, and in some ways I can choose to keep learning with joy by standing strong, and that is okay to learn in sorrow as well. God’s got it as we also turn to Him!
• Sister Brizzee: When Joseph was seeking forgiveness for his sins, Satan worked even harder on him and maybe Joseph thought that something was wrong with him, but he then he felt the exquisite joy of forgiveness. Joseph was human as well.
• Sister Brunner: Joseph Smith truly was preordained to be a prophet, seer and revelator and through him we have the fullness of the gospel. That is something I will be forever grateful for.
• Elder Rodabough: Just before the first vision, Joseph Smith had to exert all the strength he had. When we exert all our strength in the work of the Lord, it really does take all of it, but then our eye is single, and then miracles come.
• Sister Petersen: I love in the first vision God the Father and Jesus Christ first told Joseph that his sins were forgiven. It’s such a powerful line and sharing with him that as he waited patiently, he would play a big role in restoring the fullness of the gospel here on earth again. I love how much God trusted the Prophet Joseph Smith and how much trust Joseph Smith and his family had in God.
• Elder Hales: It wasn’t explicitly mentioned, but as we were studying I learned that Joseph Smith had visitations from every prophet before him.
• Elder Harper: We’ve only scratched the surface of the Prophet Joesph Smith.
• Elder Eggleston: Joseph wasn’t a big reader, but rather he was a deep thinker and studied things out in his mind, I think this played a big factor in him receiving revelation and a big way we can recieve revalation as well
• Elder Andrus: I love how Brothet Turelys favorite characteristic of Joseph Smith was humility. I believe the reason why save Jesus Christ Jospeh has done more for the welfare of mankind is because he was asked to do more save Jesus Christ. He was able to do all that he was asked because he was humble enough to submit to the will of the Lord. Pretty neat if you ask me.
• Elder Harmon: What stands out to me is the power of study. As we seek divine help with our studys we will be edified thru the holy ghost. Joseph Smith was such a great example of this he changed his life thru the knowledge he gained because he had a true desire to fill his heart.
• Sister Larson: The reason that Joseph Smith and his history and work for the Lord touches the soul is because he was living through experiences that relate to the most common human experience: Seeking to know truth. He was so keenly relatable because he wasn’t perfect and grew to know his Savior through learning and seeking to do the will of the Lord, which is no easy thing for anyone. His humility allowed him to have confidence in standing up for what he knew to be true, even when he was hated and persecuted for it. He stands with great prophets of old like Moses, Noah, and Abinadi. I marvel that even Christ himself was rejected, Joseph had the opportunity like many before him to know what it means to give your life for the sake of the truth, and bebwilling to do it. Seek truth, the Spirit testifys of truth, defend truth, the pattern of prophets throughout the ages.
• Elder Brown: I love how Brother Turley pointed that that Joseph Smith was attacked like never before by the most evil spirit ever known and immediately after had to worry about getting burned but the pure brightness of the Lord but still Joseph explained “my soul was filled with love and for many days I could rejoice with great Joy and the Lord was with me” in his 1932 account.
• Elder Kerby: I absolutely love how humble the Prophet Joseph Smith was. Despite the life and history altering experiences he had, he never sought attention or praise, but rather quickly directed the glory to Jesus Christ, as this is His Church restored on the earth today. Under the umbrella of humility bloomed other spectacular characteristics in the Prophet Joseph, namely longsuffering, meekness, integrity, and perseverance. He knew who he put his trust and faith in, the Lord Jesus Christ. It takes humility to do so, rather than buckling under the pressures and accusations of the world.
• Elder Clawson: I like that Brother Turley continually mentioned the need for a spiritual witness of Joseph Smith’s calling as a prophet. Especially coming from someone who has so much knowledge and experience with history. There is no greater witness than one from God.
• Elder Newman: I loved learning that when Joseph Smith had the vision he went to a trusted mentor to talk with. But that mentor ended up ridiculing and persecuting him for what Joseph saw and told him. Imagine telling the person you trust the most this miraculous event and then they start calling you a liar and start persecuting you and started telling others about this vision and spreading rumors that this vision was of the devil. That hurts and that’s gotta be hard. But Joseph Smith knew what he saw, and he knew that God had his back and he stayed humble and strong in what he knew to be true and God magnified that.
• Sister Williams: I loved the emphasis on personal spiritual experiences. The first vision was a very personal answer to a humble boy’s prayer for forgiveness. As we humble ourselves before God, we can also be filled with his Spirit and sanctified. We can have personal spiritual experiences.
• Sister Pulver: I liked that Brother Turley talked about a pattern. He talked about prophets throughout time having a big spiritual experience, but then having periods of opposition and exhaustion afterward.
• Elder Martin: Im always grateful of the fact that like us all, Joseph also sinned a lot and had to learn from mistakes and seek out forgiveness over and over again. Just like him, we make mistakes, but we can learn, turn to Christ, and repent!
• Elder Avery: That, if anything, history has greatly underestimated the Prophet Joseph Smith.
• Sister Fraser: Spiritual experiences are tiring but worth it, and if we live worthily, those experiences will be magnified by the spirit.
• Elder Barnett: Humility is one of the most important attributes to being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
• Elder Phillips: “We are drastically underestimating the Prophet Joseph Smith.” – Brother Turley
• Sister Avery: That Joseph saw himself as less than ordinary, but the reality is that he was “spectacular” beyond anything that we can measure.
• Sister Heslop: With the information Bro. Turley shared, it makes Joseph Smith a very real person. We loved learning about his youth and all the hard things he faced. He truly was a man of humility and integrity.
• Elder Jack: It takes a long time to write a book. But not for the Prophet Joseph Smith!
• Sister Campbell: It must have been such a relief for Joseph Smith to learn about the Book of Mormon so that we don’t have to just take his word for it, but that any of us can come to receive a witness that Jesus Christ has restored his church to the earth again and called a prophet again. The heavens are open!
• Sister Nielsen: Never waiver in your testimony of God and Jesus Christ even when there’s opposition.
• Sister Brown: The First Vision wasn’t just an event, it was a milestone that opened the windows of Heaven and therefore opened the last dispensation. “The promised restoration goes forward through continuing revelation.” “It will never be taken from the earth again.”
• Elder Robbins: Truth is a knowledge of what is, what was, and what is to come.
• Sister Covington: It was Joseph’s humility that allowed him to be an instrument in God’s hands. He was so willing to do whatever was asked of him, and didn’t allow pride to get in the way!
• Sister Arnold: Opposition against truth stems from pride. Believing in God & staying true to our testimony in Him and His servants comes from humility.
• Elder Ransom: Though he was a Holy Prophet, he was also a man. Yet he did not let his flaws and shortcomings impose upon his character or stop the work of God. There is a reason that in this dispensation, God called a boy and a teenager to open it. That we can know that we are all of worth to Him. And that He will mold us if we let Him.
• Elder Wyeth: I loved how Brother Turley identified humility as one of Joseph’s chief characteristics. One only fitting of the chief prophet of the dispensation, and it’s been interesting to think how things may have played out differently had he not had his eye so single to the glory of God and the reestablishment of His kingdom. What a wonderful role model to conduct ourselves after! When I grow up I want to be like Joseph.
• Sister Christenson: No unhallowed hand can stop so great a cause.
• Elder Gardner: We prepare our hearts and minds for revelation by being willing and worthy. There must be a spiritual balance equal to our research of scripture.
• Sister Hansen: Learning with joy/learning with sorrow. Both can be great spiritual experiences and powerful for our growth.
• Elder McDonald: That in order to grow a greater faith in Jesus Christ, I need to better study and understand his mouth piece, Joseph Smith and grow a testimony of him and his works.
• Elder Clayton: Our Heavenly Father truly loves us more than we can comprehend. He is merciful to all that seek him earnestly, such as what we learned about Joseph Smith. When we prepare our hearts, we invite revelation into our lives.
• Elder Grant: There is so much more to the Prophet Joseph Smith than I knew before. The heavenly messengers that came, the support and power God gave to Joseph, and the humility that Joseph had to continue to do the will of the Father even through some very challenging times.
• Elder Harley: Joseph Smith was much more than we ever perceived him to be.
• Sister Bowler: Waiting is all part of the plan. Those waiting periods stretch and grow us more than we can understand.
• Elder Caldwell: For the salvation of our souls other than God and his son Jesus Christ, no man on earth has done more than Joseph Smith restoring his church bringing us forth truth and the knowledge as to how we should live this life to follow HIM!
• Elder Morgan: That even though we know Jesus Christ is the Savior, that He loves us dearly, and His purpose is to being to pass our immortality and eternal life, we make mistakes. We at times will feel unworthy or untrusted. The beauty of the Atonment of Jesus Christ is that when we choose to change, it immediately takes place in our lives. It is all centered around our agency.

Think how prophetic W. W. Phelps was when he wrote the line, “Millions shall know Brother Joseph again!” One of the blessings of being a missionary is we have the great opportunity to teach people about the Prophet Joseph Smith. As Preach My Gospel teaches us, we should refer quickly to the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration. This is our unique message to the world.