I read one time that fast and testimony meetings in the early church days would last for 5, or even 8 hours. They would continue to bear testimonies until all who wanted to had done it. Back then it would have been Joseph Smith presiding over the meetings and people could stand up and say their testimony of him. As soon as I had that thought another one hit me. The testimony of the early saints about the Prophet Joseph Smith is the same testimony I have of him. I feel overwhelming joy at that thought, it’s the same today as it has always been.
Joseph Smith is a true prophet of the Lord. He did restore the church of Jesus Christ on the earth. The more I learn about him and his life the more I grow to love him and to feel that I can call him Brother Joseph, just as those who knew him did, and I can also feel that same kinship to him.
"A word or two about Joseph Smith. Perhaps there are very few men now living who were so well acquainted with Joseph Smith the Prophet as I was. I was with him oftentimes. I visited him in his family, sat at his table, associated with him under various circumstances, and had private interviews with him for counsel. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God; I know that he was an honorable man, a moral man, and that he had the respect of those who were acquainted with him. The Lord has shown me most clearly and completely that he was a Prophet of God, and that he held the Holy Priesthood and the authority to baptize people for the remission of their sins and to lay hands upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, that they might receive a knowledge themselves in relation to these things." (Lorenzo Snow, In Conference Report, October 1900, 61.)
“I am a lover of the cause of Christ and of virtue chastity and an upright steady course of conduct & a holy walk, I despise a hypocrite or a covenant breaker” (Dean C. Jessee, “The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith,” ed. 1984, pp. 246).
“Marvin S. Hill and I were intrigued with the little-known fact that five men went to trial in Illinois for the murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. For over 10 years we scoured libraries and archives across the nation to find every scrap of information about this trial and those involved in it. We studied the actions and words of Illinois citizens who knew Joseph Smith personally, some who hated him and plotted to kill him, and others who loved him and risked their lives to witness the trial of his accused assassins. Nothing in our discoveries in the original court records or in the testimony at the lengthy trial disclosed anything that reflected dishonor on the men who were murdered.” See Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill, Carthage Conspiracy [1975]. (Dallin H. Oaks- April 1996 General Conference “Joseph, the Man and the Prophet” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/joseph-the-man-and-the-prophet?lang=eng)
Note: There are two references here because the first was included in the conference address and I wanted both resources to be available.
“The negative commentary about the Prophet Joseph Smith will increase as we move toward the Second Coming of the Savior. The half-truths and subtle deceptions will not diminish. There will be family members and friends who will need your help. Now is the time to adjust your own spiritual oxygen mask so that you are prepared to help others who are seeking the truth.” (Neil L. Andersen- October 2014 General Conference “Joseph Smith” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/joseph-smith?lang=eng#2-10991_000_23andersen)
“Imagine what Joseph must have thought when the angel then told him that his name would “be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues.” Perhaps the shock in Joseph’s eyes caused Moroni to repeat again that both good and evil would be spoken of him among all people.” (Neil L. Andersen- October 2014 General Conference “Joseph Smith” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/joseph-smith?lang=eng#2-10991_000_23andersen)
“The good spoken of Joseph Smith came slowly; the evil speaking began immediately. Joseph wrote, “How very strange it was that an obscure boy … should be thought … of sufficient importance to attract … the most bitter persecution.” (Neil L. Andersen- October 2014 General Conference “Joseph Smith” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/joseph-smith?lang=eng#2-10991_000_23andersen)
“He was 14 at the First Vision and 17 at the first visit from the angel Moroni. He was 21 when he received the golden plates and just 23 when he finished translating the Book of Mormon (in less than 60 working days). Over half of the revelations in our Doctrine and Covenants were given through the Prophet while he was 25 or younger. He was 26 when the First Presidency was organized and 30 when the Kirtland Temple was dedicated. He was just over 33 when he escaped his imprisonment in Missouri and resumed leadership of the Saints gathering in Nauvoo. He was 38 1/2 when he was martyred.” (Dallin H. Oaks- April 1996 General Conference “Joseph, the Man and the Prophet” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/joseph-the-man-and-the-prophet?lang=eng)
“In the midst of trying to fulfill the staggering responsibilities of his sacred calling, he had to labor as a farmer or merchant to provide a living for his family. He did this without the remarkable spiritual gifts that sustained him in his prophetic calling. The Lord had advised him that “in temporal labors thou shalt not have strength, for this is not thy calling” (Dallin H. Oaks- April 1996 General Conference “Joseph, the Man and the Prophet” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/joseph-the-man-and-the-prophet?lang=eng)
“When Joseph warned the Saints against mortal imperfections, he did not raise himself above them, and they loved him for it. He cautioned a group of Saints newly arrived in Nauvoo against the tendency to be dissatisfied if everything was not done perfectly right. “He said he was but a man and they must not expect him to be perfect,” an associate recorded. “If they expected perfection from him, he should expect it from them, but if they would bear with his infirmities and the infirmities of the brethren, he would likewise bear with their infirmities” (Dallin H. Oaks- April 1996 General Conference “Joseph, the Man and the Prophet” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/joseph-the-man-and-the-prophet?lang=eng)
“Before I recognized the tutoring of the Spirit testifying to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, my youthful heart felt that he was a friend of God and would therefore, quite naturally, also be a friend of mine. I knew I could trust Joseph Smith.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf- April 2005 General Conference “The Fruits of the First Vision” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/the-fruits-of-the-first-vision)
“Joseph, however, did not waver. He later wrote, “I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true. … For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.” Despite the physical and mental punishment at the hands of his opponents which the Prophet Joseph Smith endured throughout the remainder of his life, he did not falter. He taught honesty—by example.” (Thomas S. Monson- October 2005 General Conference “The Prophet Joseph Smith: Teacher by Example” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/10/the-prophet-joseph-smith-teacher-by-example?lang=eng)
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