Mormonism
Mormonism started in the early nineteenth century, when all the religious fervor and conflicting religious statements, filled the region of New York State. A young teenager was growing up in the midst of all that and his name was Joseph Smith Jr. He was the fifth child of Lucy and Joseph Smith, who were hard-luck farmers. His family moved a lot because of his father’s business ventures, which were failing. Joseph and his siblings, along with his father would spend time together during the summer, using divination tools and seer stones, which are meant to bring, or convey special light.
It was then Joseph Jr. was determined to see where he stood with God and see which church he should attend, if there was any church. He prayed for some advice and over the next few years, he saw signs. It was during springtime; Joseph Jr. was just fourteen when he was walking through the woods when he saw a beam of light coming down from heaven. It had a picture of God and Jesus Christ, which Joseph understood as two different people. This became known as the First Vision.
On September 21st, Joseph Jr. receives a vision from an angel named Moroni. Moroni spoke of a book written on gold plates. It was buried in the deep hillside. The book contained people who used to be in America and also contained “the fullness of the everlasting Gospel.” The next day, Joseph Jr. finds the book written on gold plates in a box of a hill called Hill Cumorah. It was just three miles from his family’s farm.
But he was told by Moroni that he can’t take the book written on gold plates yet. Joseph Jr. must return to Hill Cumorah on September 22, each year, for the next four years. He also has to wait for the instructions on a mission that God has ready for him. But, he didn’t want to wait. He tried to take the book, but received a shock instead and was thrown back.
Then in October, Joseph Jr. and his father go on a treasure hunting trip, but no treasure is found. Instead Joseph Jr. met twenty-one year old, Emma Hale. A year later, they get married against her father’s wishes. Four years have passed and Joseph Jr. digs up the gold plates. He was then warned by Moroni to not show anyone the gold plates.
He didn’t show anyone, but he showed these weird glasses, spectacles to his mother, which have stones in them that are precious. The stones were to help Joseph Jr. translate the book on the gold plates from the “reformed Egyptian.” Then there was a rumor going around of a golden Bible around the neighborhood. Emma and Joseph had to flee to Harmony with the help of a farmer Martin Harris. Joseph Jr. gets help from Martin, decoding 116 pages of the book.
But Martin was foolish, taking the 116 pages to show his wife, who didn’t believe him. He ended up losing the pages. Then on June 15th, Joseph Jr. gets the book taken away for his punishment of losing the papers. On September 22, he gets the book and the decoding device back from an angel. A year later, a teacher named Oliver Cowdery arrives in Harmony and writes down what Joseph Jr. decodes from the book.
They end up finishing the book in June. They then meet John the Baptist, who tells them that they will restore the Melchizedek Priesthood and when it is, they can “lay hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. John says that Joseph Jr. will be “the First Elder of the Church” and Oliver will be the second Elder. Then Oliver and Joseph Jr. get baptized in the Susquehanna River. After that, in August, Joseph Jr. gets a publisher and starts publishing the book.
In the year of 1860, on March 26th, the Book of Mormons is published. Each copy was selling for $1.25. It contains God’s guidance, religious history of civilizations and their history, God’s dealings with the people who lived in America during 600 B.C. and 400 A.D. It also lists the prophet who wrote it on the gold plates, a man by the name of Mormon. On April 6th, Joseph Jr. and Oliver go on a mission with four other missionaries to the west.
In the year of 1860, on March 26th, the Book of Mormons is published. Each copy was selling for $1.25. It contains God’s guidance, religious history of civilizations and their history, God’s dealings with the people who lived in America during 600 B.C. and 400 A.D. It also lists the prophet who wrote it on the gold plates, a man by the name of Mormon. On April 6th, Joseph Jr. and Oliver go on a mission with four other missionaries to the west.
In his time there, Joseph Jr. gets arrested for “being a disorderly person.” for his teaching, but he got set free. They go to Ohio, to the Indians with the Book of Mormons, then Missouri. And Mormonism started to grow in the places they visited. He leads the group of missionaries from Missouri to Independence. Joseph knew this was a special place, because God had said that it will be a gathering place for Mormons, including the site of “New Jerusalem”.
800 people moved to New Jerusalem, while Joseph just stayed in his house, which was in the town of Kirtland. In Missouri, where they have a printing press, the Mormons book called The Book of Commandments is being printed out. But it is somehow destroyed. The Mormons are driven out of Missouri, ending up at Clay County. They manage to get The Book of Commandments and piece it together for publishing.
In 1837, Mormons begin evangelizing in England. By that time, Oliver Cowdery has turned against Joseph, accusing him of adultery. Joseph doesn’t listen; he just pays attention to the Ohio Mormons, who had followed him. They all settled in the Far West of Caldwell County. They had peace with the non-Mormon people.
Every one of the Mormons is warned of a “war of extermination” with the hostile people. On August 6th, the hostile non-Mormon people try to stop the Mormons from voting, which makes it end bloody. After that, the Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs ends up ordering the Mormons to leave or be wiped out. Now the non-Mormons are all stirred up, thanks to the governor. At church, the non-Mormons massacre church members at Haun’s Mill.
They killed 17 people, including children who were unarmed. There is a lot of opposition against the Mormons. Joseph is arrested charged for treason and sentenced to death. But, luckily, his life was spared when the officer who was supposed kill him refuses to. Joseph now only has to be in jail for five months. Joseph died on June 27th, 1844 in Carthage, Illinois, once again persecuted.
Sources for information:
http://www.pbs.org/mormons/timeline/index.html
http://mormon.org/beliefs/book-of-mormon
Sources for the pictures:
http://lifeafterministry.com/2013/04/05/translating-gold-plates/
http://www.pbs.org/americanprophet/jospeh-smith.html
Below is a wordsearch on the history of the religion of Mormonism.
Mormonism started in the early nineteenth century, when all the religious fervor and conflicting religious statements, filled the region of New York State. A young teenager was growing up in the midst of all that and his name was Joseph Smith Jr. He was the fifth child of Lucy and Joseph Smith, who were hard-luck farmers. His family moved a lot because of his father’s business ventures, which were failing. Joseph and his siblings, along with his father would spend time together during the summer, using divination tools and seer stones, which are meant to bring, or convey special light.
It was then Joseph Jr. was determined to see where he stood with God and see which church he should attend, if there was any church. He prayed for some advice and over the next few years, he saw signs. It was during springtime; Joseph Jr. was just fourteen when he was walking through the woods when he saw a beam of light coming down from heaven. It had a picture of God and Jesus Christ, which Joseph understood as two different people. This became known as the First Vision.
On September 21st, Joseph Jr. receives a vision from an angel named Moroni. Moroni spoke of a book written on gold plates. It was buried in the deep hillside. The book contained people who used to be in America and also contained “the fullness of the everlasting Gospel.” The next day, Joseph Jr. finds the book written on gold plates in a box of a hill called Hill Cumorah. It was just three miles from his family’s farm.
But he was told by Moroni that he can’t take the book written on gold plates yet. Joseph Jr. must return to Hill Cumorah on September 22, each year, for the next four years. He also has to wait for the instructions on a mission that God has ready for him. But, he didn’t want to wait. He tried to take the book, but received a shock instead and was thrown back.
Then in October, Joseph Jr. and his father go on a treasure hunting trip, but no treasure is found. Instead Joseph Jr. met twenty-one year old, Emma Hale. A year later, they get married against her father’s wishes. Four years have passed and Joseph Jr. digs up the gold plates. He was then warned by Moroni to not show anyone the gold plates.
He didn’t show anyone, but he showed these weird glasses, spectacles to his mother, which have stones in them that are precious. The stones were to help Joseph Jr. translate the book on the gold plates from the “reformed Egyptian.” Then there was a rumor going around of a golden Bible around the neighborhood. Emma and Joseph had to flee to Harmony with the help of a farmer Martin Harris. Joseph Jr. gets help from Martin, decoding 116 pages of the book.
But Martin was foolish, taking the 116 pages to show his wife, who didn’t believe him. He ended up losing the pages. Then on June 15th, Joseph Jr. gets the book taken away for his punishment of losing the papers. On September 22, he gets the book and the decoding device back from an angel. A year later, a teacher named Oliver Cowdery arrives in Harmony and writes down what Joseph Jr. decodes from the book.
They end up finishing the book in June. They then meet John the Baptist, who tells them that they will restore the Melchizedek Priesthood and when it is, they can “lay hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. John says that Joseph Jr. will be “the First Elder of the Church” and Oliver will be the second Elder. Then Oliver and Joseph Jr. get baptized in the Susquehanna River. After that, in August, Joseph Jr. gets a publisher and starts publishing the book.
In the year of 1860, on March 26th, the Book of Mormons is published. Each copy was selling for $1.25. It contains God’s guidance, religious history of civilizations and their history, God’s dealings with the people who lived in America during 600 B.C. and 400 A.D. It also lists the prophet who wrote it on the gold plates, a man by the name of Mormon. On April 6th, Joseph Jr. and Oliver go on a mission with four other missionaries to the west.
In the year of 1860, on March 26th, the Book of Mormons is published. Each copy was selling for $1.25. It contains God’s guidance, religious history of civilizations and their history, God’s dealings with the people who lived in America during 600 B.C. and 400 A.D. It also lists the prophet who wrote it on the gold plates, a man by the name of Mormon. On April 6th, Joseph Jr. and Oliver go on a mission with four other missionaries to the west.
In his time there, Joseph Jr. gets arrested for “being a disorderly person.” for his teaching, but he got set free. They go to Ohio, to the Indians with the Book of Mormons, then Missouri. And Mormonism started to grow in the places they visited. He leads the group of missionaries from Missouri to Independence. Joseph knew this was a special place, because God had said that it will be a gathering place for Mormons, including the site of “New Jerusalem”.
800 people moved to New Jerusalem, while Joseph just stayed in his house, which was in the town of Kirtland. In Missouri, where they have a printing press, the Mormons book called The Book of Commandments is being printed out. But it is somehow destroyed. The Mormons are driven out of Missouri, ending up at Clay County. They manage to get The Book of Commandments and piece it together for publishing.
In 1837, Mormons begin evangelizing in England. By that time, Oliver Cowdery has turned against Joseph, accusing him of adultery. Joseph doesn’t listen; he just pays attention to the Ohio Mormons, who had followed him. They all settled in the Far West of Caldwell County. They had peace with the non-Mormon people.
Every one of the Mormons is warned of a “war of extermination” with the hostile people. On August 6th, the hostile non-Mormon people try to stop the Mormons from voting, which makes it end bloody. After that, the Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs ends up ordering the Mormons to leave or be wiped out. Now the non-Mormons are all stirred up, thanks to the governor. At church, the non-Mormons massacre church members at Haun’s Mill.
They killed 17 people, including children who were unarmed. There is a lot of opposition against the Mormons. Joseph is arrested charged for treason and sentenced to death. But, luckily, his life was spared when the officer who was supposed kill him refuses to. Joseph now only has to be in jail for five months. Joseph died on June 27th, 1844 in Carthage, Illinois, once again persecuted.
Sources for information:
http://www.pbs.org/mormons/timeline/index.html
http://mormon.org/beliefs/book-of-mormon
Sources for the pictures:
http://lifeafterministry.com/2013/04/05/translating-gold-plates/
http://www.pbs.org/americanprophet/jospeh-smith.html
Below is a wordsearch on the history of the religion of Mormonism.
mormonismwordsearch.doc | |
File Size: | 29 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Joseph Smith Jr.