Restoration

    We are God's children, and He loves us. Because He loves us, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to redeem us from sin and death. And He has given us teachings and commandments through His prophets so that we may have joy in this life and return to live with Him. The gift of God's Son, His teachings, and His commandments are what Mormons call the Plan of Salvation or the Great Plan of Happiness.

    Adam was the first prophet. And God taught him that through Jesus Christ all mankind may be saved through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. God also gave Adam the priesthood, or authority to act in God's name. Adam received commandments from God, such as the law of sacrifice, for Adam, Eve, and their children to obey. Adam and Eve accepted these teachings and obeyed the commandments, and they taught their children to do the same. Some of their children, like Abel, listened and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. But others, like Cain, rejected Adam and Eve's teachings.

    Those who rejected Adam and Eve's teachings separated themselves from those who accepted Jesus Christ and they fell into what is called apostasy. Apostacy is when we are separated from the truth and light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    But because God loves His children, even those who do not listen to Him, He called another prophet, Enoch, to teach them of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. Enoch also received the priesthood. When God calls a prophet, gives him the priesthood, and sends him to teach the Gospel to a people who are in apostacy, this is called a restoration. Enoch succeeded in bringing many to the knowlege of God's Plan of Happiness. He established the city of Zion, and they obtained heaven.

    After Enoch, the world again fell into apostacy, but God called another prophet, Noah, who restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ for those who survived the flood.

    The process of apostacy and restoration continued for thousands of years. God would call prophets who held the priesthood such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph of Egypt, Elijah, Elias, and so forth, and those prophets and their teachings would be rejected.

    When Jesus Christ was born, the world was again in apostacy. Jesus was a prophet, but He was also more than a prophet. He was the Son of God. Through Him, God restored the truths of the Plan of Salvation. Jesus established His Church, paid the price of sin, and was resurrected.

    But as you know, the world eventually rejected Jesus and His apostles, and it fell into apostacy.

    So what would God do? The same thing He did whenever His children fell into apostacy anciently. God called a prophet to restore the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    In the early Nineteenth Century, a young boy in upstate New York wondered which church to join. His name was Joseph Smith. The many churches in his area said that it didn't matter, as long as you accepted Jesus. But Joseph recognized that the several churches' good-will disappeared once people joined separate churches. The different churches fought over the meaning of the Bible and how to be saved.

    Joseph was so confused that he turned to the Bible himself. One day, Joseph read James 3:5 which says if anyone lacks wisdom, he can ask God, and God will give him the wisdom he seeks. Joseph decided that if anyone lacked wisdom, it was him and decided that he would ask God which church to join.

    On the morning of a sping day in 1820, Joseph, then fourteen years-old, went to a grove of trees and knelt to pray. As he prayed, he felt Satan attack him. He could not speak and feared that he would be destroyed. Joseph called out to God, and in the moment that he thought Satan would overcome him, Joseph saw a pillar of light above the brightness of the sun. And the light descended upon him. In the light, Joseph saw two Men standing above him in the air. One of them spoke, calling Joseph by name and pointing to the other, "This is my Beloved Son, hear Him!"

    In response to Joseph's prayer, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him!

    Among other things, Jesus taught Joseph that no church on the earth was true, and through Joseph, Jesus would establish His true Church on the earth again.

    Joseph was called as a prophet. Later, he would translate the Book of Mormon from ancient plates. Joseph also received the priesthood through the angelic visitations of John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. Because Joseph was a prophet, he taught of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. He also restored the Church of Jesus Christ as it had existed anciently.

    What God did through Joseph Smith was the same thing He had done whenever His children had fallen into apostacy: He restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation through a Prophet.