"Man is that he might have joy." ~ Joseph Smith
Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844) was born on this day in Sharon, Vermont. Smith said his parents "spared no pains to instructing me in the Christian religion."
Deeply spiritual and passionate, Smith in 1820 received his first calling, a vision of God the Father and Jesus. Three years later, an angel appeared to him and told him of gold plates, inscribed with God's ancient teachings.
He once said, "God is in the still small voice."
Smith transformed this "gift of God" into the Book of Mormon. Published in 1830, he called his creation "the most correct of any book on earth." In the same year, young Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.
"I learned in the scriptures that God was the same yesterday, today, and forever," he said.
The controversial Smith was called a prophet by his followers and viewed with contempt by others. He ran for President and was assassinated. His follower and successor, Brigham Young pioneered to Utah to lay the framework for the Mormon Church.
Smith believed: "The liberty that comes through obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest measure of liberty that can come to man."
