Prior to his martyrdom, Joseph Smith had THREE prophetic and highly symbolic last dreams…
To read the full account of Joseph Smith’s Last Dream, please click here.
To read a short bio on Paul Thomas Smith (the narrator of this video), please click here.
To read some of the parallels between Joseph Smith’s First Vision and Last Dream, please click here.
While doing research for Joseph Smith’s Last Dream I learned of a remarkable account of Emma Smith’s own last dream. The dream is so beautiful and so helpful in clearing misunderstandings about Emma that I felt compelled to share it through a video.
I am grateful to Kim and Bryan Smith, Andrew Knaupp, and Ardis Parshall for their part in the creation of this video.
You can read the full account of Emma’s last dream by clicking here.
Despite the beauty of Emma’s dream, there are some who debate its validity for a number of reasons. As with many events in church history, this account was not recorded until many, many years after it had occurred. The story itself comes to us third-hand: Emma told it to her nurse, her nurse told it to Alexander, Alexander told it to RLDS youth who later published it for others to read.
Furthering the criticism of this dream, Ryan Nilsson, of Loyal to the Word, wrote this scathing review:
“One thing that is often held to Emma’s credit is the account that on her deathbed she saw Joseph coming to her. It should be a point of hesitation to believe Emma Smith’s testimony about seeing Joseph in vision, when she had been lying for years about his involvement in plural marriage. However, at the time of her death, Emma did not even recognize her own children, therefore she was clearly not in her right mind (Emma Smith: An Elect Lady, Susan Easton Black, p. 85). Even if Joseph did in reality appear to her, that fact in and of itself would not be indisputable proof of her acceptance into God’s kingdom.”
With that in mind, Gracia N. Jones, an author and a direct descendent of Joseph and Emma Smith wrote this in her book:
“I have been asked whether it is possible Emma was delusional when she had this experience. It is natural to wonder about this, since it is uncommon for most of us to experience such a marvelous thing. I had to give it serious consideration. I’ve always accepted it at face value, feeling a tremendous joy in understanding the principles it teaches–and assurance of life hereafter and the promise that families can be together forever.
“These are things we all long to know and believe–and they are things that are absolutely impossible to prove in any empirical sense. One simply cannot prove a spiritual experience. It all must rest upon faith.
“However, as I pondered the question and the situation, I realized that most of the time, if one is trying to support an idea, they will used language and evidence that favors their opinion. In the case of Alexander Hale Smith, who told this story while speaking to a group of RLDS young people about six years before he died, he was not in an environment where he hoped to prove a point or be believed. He was simply sharing what, to him, was a sacred experience. At that time he did not even teach the doctrine of families being together for eternity, so theorizing that he used the story to prove a point is not very likely…
“…we can most likely assume he was not embellishing, but rather telling the story as it happened to him” (Jones, Gracia N. Emma and Lucy. American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, 2005. Print., pgs. 190-191).
And Ardis Parshall of Keepapitchinin.org, wrote this:
“As for the evaluations of Emma’s life and character: Emma is one of those people who has been abused by history, I think. Instead of wanting to know who the real woman was, people want to use her for political purposes: To some people…she was that awful woman who lied about polygamy and who kept Joseph’s children out of the Church. To others…she is depicted as a heroic goddess who could do no wrong. Both extremes are wrong, I think.”
Personally, I agree with Ardis’s middle-ground approach to Emma’s life: to demonize her would be wrong and to polish her up into some sort of brazen statue would be wrong. Seeing her (and her husband) as human–as people with struggles, hopes and dreams just as real as ours–is the best approach we can take, because it helps us relate to them and learn from them.
Paul Thomas Smith, an author and a chief researcher of Emma Smith’s life, shares some of his thoughts and insights concerning the life Emma Hale Smith.
So I end where I started. This account of Emma Smith’s last dream is so beautiful and so helpful in clearing misunderstandings about Emma because it helps us to see her not as some distant, mysterious historical figure, but as a human being: as someone who had struggles, hopes and dreams just as real as ours.
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| Joseph and Emma Smith, a sketch by Andrew Knaupp |
In the summer of 2007, while working for retired church history instructor and author, Paul Thomas Smith, I came across this little-known account of Joseph Smith. Few pieces of literature have ever touched my mind and soul as deeply as this has and I’ve longed to share this account with others.
That being said, I am profoundly grateful for the help of Paul Thomas Smith, Rob Gardner, Jon McNaughton and Bruce Newbold for their help in creating this video.
Here is a video narrated by author and former church history instructor, Paul Thomas Smith, concerning some of the symbolism and meaning behind Joseph Smith’s last dreams.
For additional background on this dream, please visit: http://sethadamsmith.blogspot.com/2011/06/joseph-smiths-last-dream.html
Born with cerebral palsy, Shannon struggled her entire life with writing and speaking…until she decided to go on a mission for the Mormon Church. Listen to her remarkable story!
Shannon’s story is a deeply personal one for me; I’ve wanted to make a video of it for a very long time. Why is this story so personal to me?
Because Shannon is my sister.
Shannon when she was a toddler.
When Shannon was born she was small enough to fit entirely in her father’s outstretched hands. By she was three and her younger sister, Stephanie, was about two, my mother began to notice differences between Shannon and Stephanie. Stephanie was beginning to count, talk and identify many colors and shapes, yet Shannon struggled earnestly to remember and say things she had been taught repeatedly.
When Shannon began her first grade in Elementary School many students and teachers were beginning to believe that Shannon could not talk because she had been so quiet.
In preparation for a particular spelling test, my mother worked with Shannon, for three consecutive weeks, through various teaching methods, to help her learn how to spell certain words. They would study for a few hours until bedtime and then, after Shannon had insisted to do so, they would wake up around six in the morning to practice the words again before she would go to school.
Shannon's words.
With heavy emotion, my mother remembers the time when she then went to pick up Shannon from school after the spelling test. She stepped out of the car to greet Shannon but seeing her moving slowly, with her head down, my mother stooped down to see what was wrong. When their eyes met, Shannon burst into tears and said: “Mommy, I forgot the words. How come I can’t remember like the other kids?”
In the many years and many doctors which followed, Shannon was eventually diagnosed cerebral palsy. This disability has proved to be challenging for both her and the family as she has struggled with remembering and communicating. These limitations have restricted her from being able to drive or attend college as well as pursue what some would call a “normal life.”
However, to Shannon, these have not been limitations, but rather obstacles to be overcome. She graduated from high school with honors and gained a firm understanding of sign language. Shannon has used this skill in several jobs that she has held and has taught others with disabilities.
When Shannon was 25 years old she began to feel a yearning to do something more with her life. She said: “I [had] always wanted to go on a mission ever since I was very young. I had prayed and told the Lord exactly what I wanted to do in my prayer…of course, the Lord had other plans for me and said: “No, you’re going on a mission.”
Shannon, being amazed at such a call, can easily be likened to Enoch, who, in response to the Lord’s calling: “bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in they sight…for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant? And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee…Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled…” (Moses 6:31-32)
Shannon pointing at her mission: The New York, New York North Mission.
So Shannon, always being obedient with a “nothing wavering” attitude (James 1:6), made the arrangements and walked to her appointment with the Bishop to obtain her papers and begin her mission preparation.
Several months later, the family gathered around Shannon as she opened her mission call. We had all assumed that Shannon would be called to a quiet, country community—so when she read “New York, New York, North Mission” we couldn’t believe it.
Later Shannon laughed: “…when I read my mission call Mom said to read it again because I must have said it wrong. But I told her: Mom, the Lord needs me here. I’ll be fine. I’ll be watched over. “I just gotta go and do what the Lord says.” (1 Nephi 3:7)
But as the reality of her call settled in, Shannon recalled: “When I got to the MTC, I thought Lord, what am I doing? And then when I got out on my mission…I thought: Lord, really, what am I doing? …Am I really ready for this? Am I really knowledgeable about going out and preaching the gospel and sharing the gospel. I mean, I’ve read the scriptures but I’m not good in understanding all that goes into the scriptures. Some missionaries say big words and know just what to say and here I was a very shy missionary. It was a bit scary going into a big city. It was like going on a foreign mission.” But Shannon continued to obey and serve in New York City.
Then something incredible happened.
In her own words: “We had gone to a zone meeting and our mission president had asked us to pray specifically for someone that we could teach the gospel to and to really pray hard and think about someone we could teach. And so I took on the challenge and I prayed…I said “Lord, I am a very shy missionary, I am not fluent. I don’t say big words, I’m just really shy and I want to be able to be guided by the Spirit to whomever you will send to me that I can teach the gospel and that he will understand me and be receptive of the Spirit. And so I prayed that day for someone I could reach and teach the gospel to.
“… [My companion and I] got on the subway later that day. I felt that I should just sit down and open my scriptures. I didn’t know why but I felt that I should just sit down and open my scriptures and just read and not just a few minutes after I had opened my scriptures a young man sat down beside me. He turned to me and asked me what I was reading and I just told him I was reading the scriptures and didn’t realize at the time I was sharing my testimony of the gospel and telling him what the gospel meant to me by just talking to him.”
As they continued to talk the man told her: “I have been searching for this gospel and this is something that I want to hear and my girlfriend would love to hear also.” At this point the young man grew quiet and then told Shannon that they probably could not teach his girlfriend because she was deaf and only knew sign language.
Feeling the Spirit strongly she told the man that she knew sign language very well and had been taught it in high school many years ago. Now nearly ecstatic, the man said to her: “…then I’m sure my friends would also love to hear about [the] gospel!”
Shannon reported: “So I got his name and number and made appointments to teach not only him but his girlfriend and his two friends that were [also] deaf and they followed through with all that we had asked them to do, they had been going to church and you name it. I am certain that that guy and his girlfriend got married and that all four of them were baptized.”
Shannon and her parents at the MTC.
Though Shannon did not speak, but rather signed to those she taught, she was able to be not only an instrument in the Lord’s hands but was able to, in part, fulfill a prophecy given by Nephi: “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.” (2 Nephi 27:29)
Shannon was honorably released from her mission in January of 2002. She went on to get her CDA (Child Development Associate) and has a job working with children. She continues to serve and is a blessing to everyone with whom she associates. Her mission and her life’s mission have been beautifully adorned with many hundreds of miracles as she has continued to “…serve the Lord, God” (Moses 6:33) as Enoch of old, who (just like Shannon) was made strong in his weakness.
“And…powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.” (Moses 7:13)
Additional scriptural references:
Ether 12:27
D&C 35:13
This is a selection from the book “The Seven Paths of the Anasazi Way” published by The ANASAZI Foundation. This is one of the most beautiful stories that I have ever read.
"A Lone Man" - A sketch by Jon McNaughton.
When the heavens stopped beating down on me and the sky finally cleared, I collapsed to the earth in exhaustion. How long I slept I do not know. It might have been hours or it might have been days. But I did not rest in my sleep. I walked far.
"Climbed" - A sketch by Jon McNaughton.
And I awoke desiring to step anew.
For in my sleep I met a legend among my people–a man long revered, with a name so sacred it is spoken only in praise or song. In my dream, I climbed the slope of a mountain. My father climbed with me. I did not know the purpose of our journey, but it seemed as if he did. I say “seemed” because we didn’t speak. We walked in silence, although not the warring kind I had known in my youth. It was rather the silence of reverence. After what seemed like both a long time and barely a moment, we reached the summit. My father stopped, and with an outstretched arm invited me to proceed beyond the next bend.
I did as I was bidden.
As I turned the corner, I was overcome by the presence of an incredible being–a being that I instinctively knew to be the holy one from our legends. I recall that he was in some sort of conversation with another person. But as I turned the corner he turned towards me, and I was given to know that ht was waiting specifically for me. He radiated an incredible light, yet the light was neither blinding nor harsh. It was inviting, soft and loving. Nevertheless, it was bright beyond description.
"Embraced by the Creator" a sketch by Jon McNaughton.
I felt in that moment love as I had never known it. It drew me to him. I rushed to him and we embraced. I think that I fell at his feet, but I can no longer remember for sure. I shall never forget that embrace, however, nor his eyes, for they were pure love. But amid the glory of the experience, there was an element that left me trouble. For while I knew by instinct that I was in the arms of the holy one, I remember wondering while we were embracing whether it really was him. In that moment of uncertainty, I knew that something in the way I had been living my life held me back from experiencing his fullness, and my heart shuddered in anguish.
Then I awoke.
"Anasazi" by Jon McNaughton
My young friend, I wish you were hear me so that you could see the conviction in my eyes and hear the feeling in my voice. I truly saw what I have described to you. It was a dream yes, but so much more of a dream than any other dream I have known. I had never before experienced such joy, and have never before felt such pain. When I had collected my thoughts, I lifted my voice to the sky, thanking the Creator that I had been given another day to leave behind what had held me back. For you see, I was carrying in the pockets of my heart mementos of a life lived in backward walking.
If I was to move forward, I needed to leave all that was backward behind.
I did that that very day, and have had to repeat the offering many times since. Perhaps in this regard, as well, you and I are alike. Perhaps there are aspects of your life that need to be started anew. Make an offering of all that is old within you. Whatever you carry that invites a backward walking, leave behind.
The embrace that awaits is too sweet to miss.
