Good News!!!
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored.

Without authority or divine direction, Christianity struggled to survive with conflicting opinions on even the most basic teachings of the gospel. Without priesthood authority or the full gospel, people had to rely on human wisdom to interpret the scriptures, principles and ordinances. Many false ideas were taught as truth, and much of what we know about the true character and nature of God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost was lost. Essential doctrines like faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost became distorted and important doctrines were lost entirely.

For centuries people struggled to keep Christendom alive and to understand the Lord's will in their lives but then, inspired people, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, recognized that practices and doctrines had been changed or lost and tried to reform the churches to which they belonged. But without the authority of the Priesthood which the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ possessed, His Gospel and Church could not be returned to their original form.

But nonetheless, The REFORMATION was underway...

Men were being "inspired". Men such as Christopher Columbus*, who knew he was being acted upon by a higher power, became a forerunner to open up the way for the Restoration of the Gospel to proceed.

Elder Orson Pratt, a modern day Apostle has said, "Some of [the religious reformers] were wrought upon to come to this continent for the purpose of securing to themselves religious freedom and religious right; and inspired by the Almighty, as was Columbus, who discovered this land, they planted their feet upon - the American soil...

"While the iron hand of despotism thus held the nations within its withering grasp, enslaving both body and soul, the great God, near the close of the fifteenth century, moved upon the mind of Columbus, and inspired him to fearlessly launch forth upon the great expanse of unknown waters on the west of Europe; and guided by the invisible agency of the Holy Spirit, he revealed to the down trodden, despairing nations, a new world."

*Read Columbus' own words regarding his "calling" by the Spirit. A PDF file loads extraneously and is a worthy read. Go Here.

Among the religious reformers previously mentioned, (Martin Luther and John Calvin) were other men of God who were actively trying to restore lost truths. Among those were John Wyecliffe, William Tyndale and John Winthrop, to name just a few. Also, we submit that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the inspired signers of The Declaration of Independance must be added to this long list of men being "acted upon by the Holy Ghost".

We"d like to make special note of William Tyndale, English Bible translator and Martyr to the cause of truth who made it his life's work to translate the Holy Bible into English so all may have a chance to read and know the scriptures. Previous to this time the scriptures were only available to the clergy of the church. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1521, and soon began to speak of his desire, to translate the Scriptures into English. The "official church" did not want their followers to have access to scripture. It is reported that, in the course of a dispute with a prominent clergyman who disparaged this proposal, Tyndale said, "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost."

Tyndale began a self-imposed "exile" from the church and spent months in hiding in order to complete his "mission" of translation. He was, eventually betrayed by a "friend" who was the agent of Henry VIII or church ecclesiasticals or, possibly, both. Tyndale was arrested and imprisoned in the castle of Vilvoorden for over 500 days under horrible conditions. He was tried for heresy and treason in a ridiculously unfair trial, and convicted. Tyndale was then strangled and burnt at the stake in the prison yard, Oct. 6, 1536. Why was he thus treated by those who claimed to be the "true" church on earth at the time? May we suggest that it was because the church feared that they would lose control of the people if they had access to divine truths within the Holy Bible that were not being taught to them at the time.

If a Restoration of all God's Truths and His Church spoken by the Apostle Peter in Acts 3:9-231, should ever come about, His Word first must be available to all of His children, and not to clergy only. Thus the Holy Bible was finally provided to those speaking English through the efforts of Henry VIII who himself had separated himself from the church in Rome and established the Church of England as the state church of his country. These scriptures eventually came to be known as the King James Bible (1611) and were made available to all those who could read English, thus making it possible that a "Plowboy" finally was able to read and study the Word of God in the Bible himself. One such plowboy came to know them quite well, and wanted desperately to know which of all the churches of his day taught the truths as were found in the Bible, and sought the Lord in faith and deep prayer and discovered for himself through his First Vision, that God was about to Restore all things through him.

We now submit to you that this young plowboy was lead by the providence of Jesus Christ through "devine positioning" to be the restorer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom here on earth. There would never be a better place than Colonial America for this restitution to come about; a country blessed above all other countries for its religious freedom. There would never be a better time for God to restore His Gospel; a time of enlightenment, a time of religious diversity; a time when a young farm boy, who was confused by all the proclamations of "truth" by the various denominations trying to persuade him to join with them, could feel free to take his unspoiled heart before the throne of God and ask his Father in Heaven which one of these many churches was correct and feel sure that he would receive the answer he needed. And so this young lad, the son of a frontier farmer and being only 14 years of age, retired to a quiet grove of trees behind his parents' farm, knelt down on the earth and proceeded to do just that: Ask His Father. What followed was the beginning of one of the greatest events, save the birth, life, death and ressurection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ only.

Young Joseph, born in 1805, through the ministration of Holy Beings was called by God to restore His Church, the Holy Priesthood and the fulness of the Gospel.. He was called out of obscurity to proclaim to the world that the time of the restoration was at hand and that he was called to be the Prophet of the last dispensation of the Gospel, even Joseph Smith Jr.

A hypothetical Question: If the boy next door told you he was called by God to restore His true Church on earth, would you believe him? Probably not. Neither did many people in Jesus' day Nazareth believe their neighbor, Yeshua ben Yeh-ho-saf'2, the carpenter's son, was the Messiah. But He was.

Neither did many believe the testimony of young Joseph Smith.

After centuries of spiritual confusion, people were in desperate need of Jesus Christ's original truths. When God selected a 14-year-old boy in 1820 as His messenger, most people refused to listen. Joseph Smith lived in the United States, which was the only country to proclaim religious freedom at the time. His family was deeply religious and constantly sought the truth.

Joseph had to decide which of the many Christian denominations to join. After careful study, Joseph Smith still felt confused as to which Christian church he should join for they taught many conflicting points of doctrine, and the chaos of reason was so difficult for him, that he knew the only way to truthfully ascertain which Church was the Lords, was an appeal to Heaven..

He later wrote, "So great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was... to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong.,. In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?" (see Joseph Smith's History 1:10 - return using the 'Back button')

He turned to the Bible for guidance. He read in the book of James, 1:5: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him". With simple faith he decided to do just that. In the spring of 1820 he went to a nearby grove of trees and knelt in prayer. He described his experience:

"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other-This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

In his vision, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared. The Savior told Joseph not to join any of the churches. Although many good people at that time believed in Christ and tried to understand and teach His gospel, they didn't have the fullness of truth nor the authority to baptize and perform other saving ordinances. This fact is astounding, that for nearly two thousand years, authority to officiate in all the Saving Ordinances of the Gospel were not to be hand on earth before the "Restoration of All things" began to happen at this time.

This vision in 1820 marked the beginning of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth, which God authorized to be established ten years later in 1830 by a wiser, heaven-tutored Joseph Smith, which, once again, is allowing everyone to receive the joy and blessings that come from living it, and the sweet communion that can only exist in a Zion of our God.

For his complete story, see "Joseph Smith's History" using the Link below.

Young Joseph received his answer directly from the Son of God, even Jesus Christ. It is also our solemn testimony and declaration that we know that the Heavens again are Open to mankind and that New Light is shedding forth on the earth. We know and declare that Joseph Smith was called to be the Prophet of this last dispensation known as the "Fulness of Times"
†† and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's Restored Church in this Dispensation.

Although the country's Founders gave us a Constitution with certain Inalienable Rights - rights guaranteed by God Himself, e.g., Free Speech, Freedom of Religion, etc., it would be the boy-Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., and his followers who would test these Rights in the Crucible of Persecution... but his Work, which is the Work of God continues to roll forth, like "Daniel's Stone"†† and today is nearly covering the entire earth.

Note: See References below for more information on the visionary Reformers.

To receive your own Testimony of what you've thus far read here,
you must read Joseph Smith's own Testimony and then pray about it...

The following Video prepared by the Church can help you
visualize in your mind and heart what truly did transpire in the year of 1820.
The following is an Off-site Video - to return here, close its Window...

View the Restoration Video from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

References:

"William Tyndale - Fire for the Ploughman"
"English Bible History - William Tyndale"
"
John Wycliffe - English Bible Pioneer and Martyr"
"
Martin Luther - Visionary and Reformer.
"John Winthrop's 'City on a Hill' sermon"

1. Acts 3:19-23 - 19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Return

2. Yeshua ben Yeh-ho-saf' - Note that this is merely an assumption or suggestion as the writer was not there: Jesus' Hebrew name had a given name with the 'Ben' meaning 'son of' and his father's given name which was Yeh-ho-saf' (Joseph). This more than likely was the naming protocol of Jesus' day. The name Yeshua (/aka/ Joshua means in the Hebrew tongue, "Yah'veh-He will Save". As ancient Joshua saved Israel, so does Yeshua, the Son of God save us all. Return

††"Fulness of time" - The Last Dispensation - Ephesians 1:10 - "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him."

Daniel's Stone (Daniel 2:34,35)
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

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§ John Winthrop's City upon a Hill, Massasschusets Colony - 1630


"Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke and to provide for our posterity is to followe the Counsell of Micah, to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke humbly with our God, for this end, wee must be knitt together in this worke as one man, wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion, wee must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities, wee must uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekenes, gentlenes, patience and liberallity, wee must delight in eache other, make others Condicions our owne rejoyce together, mourne together, labour, and suffer together, allwayes haveing before our eyes our Commission and Community in the worke, our Community as members of the same body, soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as his owne people and will commaund a blessing upon us in all our wayes, soe that wee shall see much more of his wisdome power goodnes and truthe then formerly wee have beene acquainted with, wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us, when tenn of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantacions: the lord make it like that of New England: for wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us; soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdrawe his present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a byword through the world, wee shall open the mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the wayes of god and all professours for Gods sake; wee shall shame the faces of many of gods worthy servants, and cause theire prayers to be turned into Cursses upon us till wee be consumed out of the good land whether wee are going: And to shutt upp this discourse with that exhortacion of Moses that faithfull servant of the Lord in his last farewell to Israell Deut. 30. Beloved there is now sett before us life, and good, deathe and evill in that wee are Commaunded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another to walke in his wayes and to keepe his Commaundements and his Ordinance, and his lawes, and the Articles of our Covenant with him that wee may live and be multiplyed, and that the Lord our God may blesse us in the land whether wee goe to possesse it: But if our heartes shall turne away soe that wee will not obey, but shall be seduced and worshipp other Gods our pleasures, and proffitts, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, wee shall surely perishe out of the good Land whether wee passe over this vast Sea to possesse it;

Therefore lett us choose life, that wee, and our Seede, may live; by obeyeing his voyce, and cleaveing to him, for hee is our life, and our prosperity."

John Winthrop

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6 April 2011
Yeoman Bee Jake
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