Seeing God?

"That is impossible," declared my 6 year old, William.

We were holding Family Home Evening, watching a movie about the life of Joseph Smith. We came to the pivotal scene where Joseph Smith prays in a grove of trees for answers, and Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to him. That is when William made his startling statement. 

"Impossible . . . that is impossible." He kept repeating the word over and over, like little boys do.  

I became concerned. I asked Charles to pause the movie, so I could talk to William, and address his questions.  

"William, what do you mean it is impossible to see God?" 

He replied, "You cannot see God. He is in Heaven. He doesn't come to earth." 

I answered my very inquisitive child, "Yes, William, He does come to the earth, and He does show Himself to very special people." 

I could see the wheels turning in his little head. He was trying to make sense of how God could come to earth from Heaven. He was trying to figure out the logistics of it. Earth here, Heaven there . . . Hmmmmmmm. 

William thought for awhile and said, "Well . . . I guess Joseph Smith must have really needed God to visit him, so He came." 

There you go. Yes. Exactly, William. That is exactly right. 

I know that Joseph Smith did, in fact, see God the Father, and His son Jesus Christ. I know that it is not impossible to see God. I know that He is my loving Heavenly Father, and that He sent his son to Earth to save us from our sins and our weakness. I know that we can return to live with them one day, in Heaven, with our loved ones. 

As the world strays farther and farther from truth and righteousness, the message of the gospel may seem more extreme and foreign to those not exposed to even a particle of faith -- faith that was once more common amongst the general population. I am sure that the message of the gospel contained in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints seems impossible to believe, for some (for many). As the people of the world separate themselves from God, and become a darker, godless, people -- light will grow more unfamiliar and abstract. 

People have two choices: They will turn from the light, or embrace it. 

I pray for the new force of LDS missionaries, and that those who are seeking (and those we aren't!) will find their way to God, and be happy! 

As we watched the video on Monday, I tried to view Joseph's life and message as a stranger looking in. What would I think if I saw, read, or heard this message for the first time? 

In reality, it might be hard to believe. There are a lot of details in the story. Pretty extreme and miraculous details, if you ask me. 

But there are a lot of details to life, aren't there? Yes, lots of details to daily life. Restoring the gospel of Christ to the earth requires a lot of details. You don't have to know all the details to know it is true. Just like I don't know all the scientific details about how the sun shines and operates, I still know that it will rise in the morning -- without a doubt.  

I can't quote every scripture in existence, but like the sun rising in the morning, they are true -- without a doubt. 

When I was a young girl I saw a similar video of the Joseph Smith story. I knew when I saw the pillar of light descending from Heaven -- that it really happened. I cannot fully explain the feelings that stirred in my young-girl heart, but I just knew it. It was as if someone from above whispered in my ear, "You know this is true, you know it." And a burning feeling enveloped me, like a blanket of truth that covered my whole body. I knew in that moment that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, like unto Moses. I knew that God is a God of miracles. I knew that the stories of God are not fantasy -- but fabulous, and astonishingly miraculous. I knew/know that God works in mysterious ways. He works in ways not always understood by man. 

A fourteen year old boy prays and sees God? Yes. He translated Gold plates (into the Book of Mormon) that are a record of the people in the Americas? Yes. He parted the Red Sea? Yes. He flooded the whole earth, except an Ark full of animals, and a few people? Yes. He creating the Heavens and the Earth? Yes. He is Alpha and Omega? Yes. 

With God nothing is impossible. As William kept repeating the word "impossible" it made me realize even more how God can do all things.  He can do anything, and bring to pass His work in whatever way He sees fit. He is all knowing, and all powerful. There is nothing too small, or too great, that is not within His care or concern. 

My great, great, great, grandfather John Murray Murdoch heard the story of Joseph Smith, and The Book of Mormon from his brother in-law, James Steele. He heard it, he believed it, he was baptized a member of the Church. He then traveled from his beloved homeland, Scotland, to America -- to surround himself with prophets and apostles, and to travel to "Zion." He met with horrific trials along the way (finding his dead daughter's body in a vat of boiling fertilizer), but he knew Jesus was the Christ, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the Book of Mormon was true, and he was willing to sacrifice all for his knowledge of his Heavenly Father's true Gospel. 

James Steele, the man who shared the gospel with my Grandfather (whom I will rush to find in Heaven to hug and say THANK YOU!)  died along the journey to the west after giving his food and clothing to his wife and children. He is pictured in this well-known LDS art image, often hanging in Chapel hallways. James Steele is the one being buried, with his wife, Anne (John Murray Murdoch's sister) and children left behind. These are my people. My people of faith. 

John Murray Murdoch's mother, Mary Murdoch, also a convert, walked many miles before perishing on the journey. Her last words were, "Tell John, I died with my face toward Zion." She was my Great, great, great, great grandma. Wee Granny, she is called. 

Why do I share this bit of family history, and the Joseph Smith story? Because I want you to know that faith brews in my veins. When I say that I know Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, it is not just because I know it. It is because my ancestors gave their lives because they knew it. They lived and died for the Gospel of Christ. So when I say, I know with "every fiber of my being" that God lives, it is because every fiber of my being is made up of those who have gone before me -- those who lived and breathed faith. Faith is in my very blood. I can hear my ancestors whispering in my ears that it is true. 

I know it. I know that the gospel found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the truth. 

If I deny my faith, I deny myself, and I deny the blood of faith rushing through my veins. 

Sound strange? It is true. 

I know it. I live it. I love it. 

And, William, God did visit Joseph Smith because he needed Him to. You are right. So very right. 

For that, I am eternally grateful. Forever. 

Here is the video we watched for FHE.