“Asking Questions, Finding Answers: The Pattern Joseph Smith Set,” Liahona, Jan. 2025.
Come, Follow Me
Asking Questions, Finding Answers: The Pattern Joseph Smith Set
A Pillar of Light, by Dan Burr, may not be copied
In 1820, Joseph Smith, the foreordained 14-year-old farm boy in upstate New York, received the miraculous First Vision that would mark a new beginning for the entire world. Here are three questions and answers about strengthening our testimonies of the First Vision.
What can we learn from Joseph Smith’s pattern of asking questions?
Joseph was seeking forgiveness for his sins and answers to his questions. He wanted to know which church to join. He attended different churches and turned to the Bible for answers. James 1:5 inspired him to ask of God, the source of all truth. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:10–13.)
As Joseph prepared to pray, he found a place that was quiet and still. Despite the opposition he faced at the start of his prayer, Joseph exerted “all [his] powers to call upon God to deliver [him]” (Joseph Smith—History 1:16) and received an answer to his question (see verses 18–19).
From Joseph’s experience, there is much we can learn about faith, prayer, and receiving answers. It’s important to note that while Joseph received answers to his initial questions in his vision of the Father and the Son, throughout his life he continued to seek answers from God in prayer. These answers came over many years as he kept seeking, obeying, and having faith that God would answer him.
President Russell M. Nelson taught, “The Prophet Joseph Smith set a pattern for us to follow in resolving our questions”:
Is the First Vision essential to my testimony?
The First Vision marked the beginning of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ that continues to this day. On that spring day in 1820, God talked with Joseph, answered His prayer, and gave guidance that led to the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth again.
If we believe the Lord talked to Joseph, then we can believe He talks to us. If we trust that He reestablished His Church through the Prophet Joseph, we can trust that He continues to guide us through our current prophet, President Russell M. Nelson.
Like Joseph Smith, living prophets receive revelation to guide the Church. President Russell M. Nelson said, “If Joseph Smith’s transcendent experience in the Sacred Grove teaches us anything, it is that the heavens are open and that God speaks to His children.”
With a testimony of the First Vision, our faith in the Lord, His Church, and the continuing revelation He gives to our prophets and apostles today is strengthened.
How can we gain a testimony of the First Vision?
While each person’s journey to conversion will be different, eventually everyone needs the confirmation of the Holy Ghost in order to gain a testimony of the First Vision and other gospel truths.
President Jeffrey R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught, “Honestly acknowledge your questions and your concerns, but first and forever fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe.”
Prayer is the key that opens the door to personal revelation about the First Vision—and every other question. Ask God. Ask Him if Joseph truly saw the Father and the Son. Seek the Spirit, trust the Lord, and keep trying. You can come to say as Joseph did: “I [know] it, and I [know] that God [knows] it, and I [cannot] deny it” (Joseph Smith—History 1:25).