Blessings of the First Vision and the Restoration

By Skywing Knights // November 24, 2024

Good morning!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday. Often times in my faith, members from the congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are asked to speak during our sacrament meetings. Recently, I had the blessing of doing so and as I did the last time I spoke at church, I thought I would share my talk here as well, as I did with my previous talk that I gave in church. This time, I was asked to discuss the blessings of the First Vision and the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This talk has been cleaned up for reading purposes and was given on August 11th, 2024. It is all that I can hope for that this helps you in some way.

 

 

Reflecting on the Question

For my talk today, I was asked to speak on how the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the First Vision seen by Joseph Smith of God the Father and Jesus Christ have come to bless my life today.

So I thought. And I thought some more. And I reflected on how those things have blessed me, in particular, the first vision.

The two words that came to mind to me at first were “Clarity and Direction”. From the first vision, a great amount of clarity entered my life and from that, direction.

 

Clarity and Direction

The first vision teaches us many things. It teaches us correct aspects of gospel doctrine that were lost. We learn from the first vision for example that God and Christ are in fact separate beings. And we learn that they have glorified bodies of flesh and blood. Indeed, we know for a surety from the first vision that we are created in God’s image and we are His children.

But perhaps, the thing that, at this point in my life, stands out the most to me about the first vision is that God speaks to His Children with mercy and love (Elder Uchtdorf). He began, not by saying “This is my beloved son, hear him.”, though that is important. Instead, He began by calling Joseph by name. Joseph, who was a 14 year old boy. Was of rudimentary education. Living in the boonies of New York. One of many children to his mother and father, not even the oldest of his siblings. He knew Joseph. And from that, I have gleaned that He also knows each of our names. He knows my name.

 

God Cares About Us

Because of the first vision, I also know that God cares about us. The first vision was the result of God using Joseph as a way to bless the entire world. He used Joseph to spread the knowledge of the fullness of the Gospel and Atonement of Jesus Christ. This enables us to have a trusted intermediary, a beloved friend and someone who loves us purely, who will advocate for us, and comfort us. Indeed, he wants us to have light, truth and love in our lives. Why else would he follow “Joseph,” with “This is my beloved son, hear him.”?

Further though, it also proves that God cares not just about ‘us’ as a collective, but as individuals. Once again, I go back to what He started with – the name Joseph.

 

My Lowest Point

God caring about Joseph Smith was for me at an early age, an indicator that He loved and cared about me too. My middle and high school years were the roughest points in my life. I remember one evening where I found myself sobbing on the floor of my room. I was praying to understand. ‘Why, why is my life like this, why is my life so hard? I feel so alone, why?” I prayed.

To my relief, I felt in that moment, what I can only describe as an immense feeling of the Holy Ghost comforting me, as if to say, ‘You are not alone.”

I would not have had that experience, had I not thought that God cared about me.

 

Our Youth Does Not Keep Us From God

In addition to knowing that God loves me, I learned, though perhaps not consciously, through the first vision, that age does not define how close we can be with our Heavenly Father. Joseph Smith was 14 years old. So clearly, we do not need to be old men and women. We can start today to grow our relationship with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. Indeed, that is what they want!

And the sooner we reach out to them, the sooner we can have that abundant clarity and direction. For “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5.) While the feeling I received in that previous experience was ‘You are not alone.’, I also received another impression. But it didn’t exactly come into words at the time. It was:

“I have a plan for you and it will be okay.”

 

My Plan vs. His Much Better Plan

My plan for my life in my youth was to “Go to BYU, serve a mission, and get married.” And it was that until my Senior year of High School. I got into BYU. But I didn’t go to BYU. I instead, went to a school where I was the only member of the church. This was due in part to receiving a confirming feeling from the Holy Spirit that I would be okay if I went there. And so I went to a different school. I didn’t serve a mission. And I have not gotten married. Though I wouldn’t say no to getting married, let me be clear.

The Lord taught me through that experience. And He did so in the manner in which I would be the most receptive to what He wanted to teach me. He showed me what a life without the Gospel would be like. Christ did so through allowing me to meet others living in ways not in line with the Gospel teachings. He showed me how the world’s direction towards ‘happiness’ is fleeting and it is one where we are often used and discarded.

 

Bringing Christ With Me

Ever since that time, I fought my way through the world to bring Him with me and as a result, I have been blessed. I held onto my relationship with God and Christ when I moved to Japan. And I found a community where I had none. I’ve held onto their teachings when I’ve been entrenched in Great and Spacious buildings, literally and figuratively, where decadence, immodesty and salacious scandalism is gloried. And I’ve been blessed to be a light to those looking for one in a world misdirecting them from where they can truly find happiness.

Because I trust and believe in Christ, I have been taught by Christ how to get through each day. I have learned to recognize that I have the agency to choose my attitude each day, the ability to choose how I approach each commandment given, how I will see each trial I face, either with irritation and annoyance or seeing them as blessings. Indeed, I have learned that I can choose happiness and gratitude, to forgive others, to love all of my brothers and sisters, and to trust in and glory God.

 

The First Vision Teaches Me That My Redeemer Lives

I do not know the exact plan that God has in store for me for my general life. But the path for me is clearer than it ever would have been without the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the purpose of my life because I know where I want to go and who I want to be. I know that God’s plan of happiness is in effect, is ongoing, and will not be thwarted. And I know I will see my loved ones again – that we are not sent down here to make meaningless choices or relationships, which would lose significance or be lost when we die.

I know that we are sent here to learn to be like our Savior, because that is the way to eternal happiness. Because of the restoration, because of the first vision, I know that my redeemer lives, and every day, I thank God for our Prophet, President Russel M. Nelson, to guide us in these latter days. This is part of my Testimony, which I bear, in the name of my Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ. Amen.

-Skywing