DEPTH OF JOSEPH SMITH LAUDED
The importance of Joseph Smith in the history of mankind is greater than even LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley can fully grasp, a church leader told a group of church history enthusiasts Saturday.
https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C3949%2C%2C00.html
The link is not working so I will put another one to check the article:
https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635159134,00.html
It is interesting that Elder Ballard was the one making that statement. He was not afraid to also mention that he does not think any LDS President from the past (including Pres. Hinckley) can fully grasp what Joseph Smith has done for this Church. I am pretty much convinced this is something he must heard Pres. Hinckley mentioned or something he must have talked personally with him about. I just do not believe he would make such a statement without knowing for sure how the Prophet feels about the whole issue.
MORMONS HONOR BICENTENNIAL OF FOUNDER'S BIRTH
Faithful Mormons on Friday celebrated the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of the fastest-growing religions in the world.
Ref. https://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/23/mormons.ap.ap/index.html
"In 1844 Joseph Smith conferred all the keys of the priesthood upon Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and their fellow Apostles. The Prophet said: 'I have lived until I have seen this burden, which has rested on my shoulders, rolled on to the shoulders of other men; . . . the keys of the kingdom are planted on the earth to be taken away no more for ever. . . . No matter what becomes of me' (quoted by Wilford Woodruff in Deseret News, Dec. 21, 1869, 2). Sadly, three months later, on June 27, Joseph Smith the Prophet and his brother Hyrum were martyred at Carthage, Illinois."
Ref. (Robert D. Hales, "Preparations for the Restoration and the Second Coming" Ensign, Nov. 2005, 90-91)
"I love the words of President Brigham Young, who said, 'I feel like shouting Hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet whom the Lord raised up and ordained, and to whom He gave keys and power to build up the kingdom of God on earth' (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 343).
"To this fitting tribute to our beloved Joseph, I add my own testimony that he was God's prophet, chosen to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days."
(Thomas S. Monson, "The Prophet Joseph Smith: Teacher by Example," Ensign, Nov. 2005, 69-70)
"[Joseph Smith] was a young man, then a poor farm boy with very little education. He had nothing. His parents had nothing. He lived in a rural community, scarcely recognized outside its borders. And yet the angel [Moroni] said to him that 'he was a messenger sent from the presence of God . . . ; that God had a work for [Joseph] to do; and that [his] name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people'
(Joseph Smith--History 1:33).
"How could such a thing be? Joseph must have wondered. He must have been absolutely stunned. "And yet it has all come to pass. And far greater will yet come to pass."
Ref. (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Benediction," Ensign, Nov. 2005, 103)