“There hath appeared in our time and is yet among us, a person of great virtue called Jesus Christ who is said by the people to be a prophet and His disciples call Him the Son of God. He raiseth the dead and healed the diseased. He is a man of tall status of comely presence.

His looks strike veneration on those that behold Him and there is something that a man sees in Him, which affects one with an awe and love.

His hair is the color of a hazel nut, almost ripe. It lies plain to his ears and then cutteth into rings; it gives a delightful brightness and lies waving upon His shoulders and parts on the top of His head like the Nazarenes.

His brow is smoother and looks well, His face without spots of wrinkles, His cheeks adorned with a moderate red, His mouth and nose of comely size. His beard grows thick of the same color with His hair and parts in the midst. His aspect breathes a great deal of innocency and discretion; His eyes are quick and clear.

In His reprehensions He is terrible. In His admonitions He is kind and winning tempered with a pleasant and charming gravity. He was never seen to laugh but often to weep. The shape of His body is tall and His hands are lovely. He is modest and not over-forward in His discourse.  In short, you shall hardly imagine a more comely person.”

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I was watching, listening, to church related music on you-tube, and I came across one titled: Joseph Smith: Lamb for slaughter? Naturally my curiosity got the better of me. I was sure of the fact that it was about Cartridge Jail. I semi-suspected by the question mark, and the first lines of the video, that this was made by an anti-lds.

But I watched it anyways in order to see what they were accusing Joseph of now. The whole video was basically about how Joseph fired back upon the mob who murdered him. This did not impress me. I've seen them use this against him before, and I scrolled through the comments.

It is not that I enjoy the anti-lds comments people make. I only read them to better prepare myself for the accusations they'll make against me one day. If I know what they are going to accuse me of, then I'll be prepared to strike back with an answer.

One man unintelligibly stated this, "If you saw God and Jesus (the) Christ and spoke with them...would you be scared in jail? Of course not! But Joseph was scared!!

I answer to this is that he is wrong. If you knew that you would be shot to death after watching your brother die, you'd be afraid. Nobody is like Jesus, if I'd been in that situation I'd defend myself for as long as I could. Even if it was all for nothing.

Joseph Smith Jr. was not the only man in history to get scared after seeing God. Moses was scared to return to Egypt, after conversing with God and Christ, because he wasn't fluent in Hebrew. People don't go after him about that. I mean, why would someone feel fear after seeing God and Jesus (sarcasm).

Even Jesus felt fear. He had spoken to God on many occasions, probably seen and spoken to many of the old prophets, and he lived in a terrestrial state.

He had been shone (like Joseph) the way he'd die. He would get  whipped, beaten, nailed to a cross, and stabbed with a spear before he'd would die.

This frightened him so badly that he bled from every pore, and he asked God to take the cup from him, he did not want to be the Savior. In the end, he accepted he was going to die, and he went through that torture so we could be forgiven.

Every great man who has seen the face of God and Jesus, has felt fear. We are mortal, and just because you see the Alpha and Omega doesn't mean you're automatically unafraid of everything. A part of the challenge of life is to feel fear, but overcome it. Which is what all these men have done.

I've seen the three Nephites, spoken to a Nephite, seen the beginning, a part of the end, given an explanation about Satan (the conversation was blocked), sat with Christ, beheld the army of God, seen the four angels and John, been told the Holy Ghost was by my side, saw a part of Jesus' life, seen on three seprate accounts of men being tortured (and felt the anger the destroying angels felt witnessing it), seen an evil spirit in a car, and yet I'm downright terrified every night.

I'm scared to sleep in my room every night. I'm scared of leaving the closet door open, and I have to have noise because I'm scared to hear something in the silence of the night. I don't like being alone anywhere, and I hate speaking in public.

You'd think I wouldn't be fearful if I've seen so many things in my life, but I am. Everyone gets scared in their life even if they've witnessed God and Christ. A part of the trials and tribulations is fear. Some people cannot overcome it, and they fail their mission and purpose in life. Yet, some will rise above the fear, and fulfill the commandments of God.

1 Nephi 3:7 states, "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father:

I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

That is why they overcame their fear of the world and its inhabitants. They went and fulfilled God's commandments, knowing he has a reason for what he does. If I'd been in jail, knowing I was going to be shot to death, I'd be scared. If I was in Joseph Smith's position I would've shot back.
But this is merely my opinion.

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2 Nephi 3:12 

"Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord."    

Ezra Taft Benson

 "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. . . . We testify that when used together, the Bible and the Book of Mormon confound false doctrines, lay down contentions, and establish peace. 

"We do not have to prove the Book of Mormon is true. The book is its own proof. All we need to do is read it and declare it! The Book of Mormon is not on trial---the people of the world, including the members of the Church, are on trial as to what they will do with this second witness for Christ" (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 63).

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JST Matthew 16:26-29 

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. And now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments. Break not my commandments for to save your lives; for whosoever will save his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come. And whosoever will lose his life in this world, for my sake, shall find it in the world to come. Therefore, forsake the world, and save your souls; for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"   

Spencer W. Kimball

 "Now, my brothers and sisters, it seems clear to me---indeed, this impression weighs upon me---that the Church is at a point in its growth and maturity when we are at last ready to move forward in a major way. . . . But the basic decisions needed for us to move forward, as a people, must be made by the individual members of the Church. The major strides which must be made by the Church will follow upon the major strides to be made by us as individuals.

 "We have paused on some plateaus long enough. Let us resume our journey forward and upward. Let us quietly put an end to our reluctance to reach out to others---whether in our own families, wards, or neighborhoods. We have been diverted, at times, from fundamentals on which we must now focus in order to move forward as a person or as a people. 

"Seemingly small efforts in the life of each member could do so much to move the Church forward as never before" (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 176)

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Daniel 2:44

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."    

David O. McKay 

"There are those in the world who say that jealousy, enmity, selfishness in men's hearts will always preclude the establishing of the ideal society known as the kingdom of God. No matter what doubters and scoffers say, the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ is to eliminate sin and wickedness from the hearts of men, and so to transform society that peace and good will will prevail on this earth." (Gospel Ideals, p. 10)

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Deuteronomy 18:18-19

"I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him."    

 George Albert Smith

 "We are living not only in the day in which [Heavenly Father] has spoken, but we are offered the opportunity to listen to the voices of men who receive His inspiration when they teach us. If therefore we fall into and by forbidden paths we will not be able to blame anybody but ourselves, because if we are teachable, if we are humble, if we are willing to do what the Lord would have us do, we have the information at hand, not only in the records that have been handed down to us by those who have given their lives that we might have the truth, but we also have the privilege of listening to the voices of living oracles . . . There is only one pathway of safety for me in this day and that is to follow those whom the Lord has appointed to lead." (The Teachings of George Albert Smith, p. 68-69).

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1 Nephi 22:2  

"And I, Nephi, said unto them: Behold they were manifest unto the prophet by the voice of the Spirit; for by the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets, which shall come upon the children of men according to the flesh."     

Heber J. Grant

 "You will always be blessed and benefitted in following the advice and counsel of those whom God has chosen to preside over the Church. By honoring the man God has chosen, God will honor and bless you; and as you individually do your duty, you will grow and increase in the light and inspiration of the Spirit of God. As we grow and increase individually, so will the Church grow and increase. . . . Life eternal is what we are working for. Do not allow the wisdom, the riches or the education of the world, or anything else, to blind our eyes to the fact that this is God's work, and that the mouthpiece of God is on the earth; when he speaks, let us be ready and willing, with our time, our talents and all that has been given us, to labor to fulfill what God desires. I tell you, God will vindicate His mouthpiece" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant, p. 79-80).

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Philippians 2:1-5 

"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." 

Howard W. Hunter 

 "The purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to bring about love, unity and brotherhood of the highest order . . . As our Father loves all his children, we must love all people of every race, culture, and nationality, and teach them the principles of the gospel, that they might embrace it and come to a knowledge of the divinity of the Savior" (The Teachings of Howard W. Hunter, p. 100).

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1 John 1:5-7

 "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."  

Ezra Taft Benson 

"Be cheerful in all that you do. Live joyfully. Live happily. Live enthusiastically, knowing that God does not dwell in gloom and melancholy, but in light and love" (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 339).

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