D&C 10-11 Come Follow Me with SAM

 Section 10

Joseph Smith's Thanos moment?

Remember when the Avengers were soundly defeated in Avengers: Infinity War? They were all trying to save each other instead of putting their sacrifice on the line, and Thanos walked all over them. 

Remember how in Avengers: End Game, the theme of the trailer was 'whatever it takes'? They were willing to sacrifice everything this time around, and some of them did. Black Widow gave up her life to become a mother of the Universe, a uniquely beautiful image considering that in her past life, she was sterilized to be a more effective agent of chaos. And then of course there was Iron Man, the genius billionaire arrogant play boy who also arced his character beautifully into taking the infinity gauntlet and sacrificing his own life essence to end Thanos' evil forces. He couldn't have done that without seeing their world destroyed (well, half destroyed) by Thanos.

Well, back to reality, I believe this was Joseph Smiths Thanos Moment. I believe that Joseph wasn't ready to bear the burden that was about to be placed on him, and God needed to teach him a few things about the forces of darkness against him. Not just conspiring men or lying provacateurs, but also within himself, the type of sacrifice he would need to make to build the kingdom. He needed to realize that he would need to trust God completely through betrayal, beating, imprisonment, through the extermination attempt in Missouri, and the defamation in Illinois all the way to his death at Carthage.

Let me ask you, if that was the sacrifice required of a man, how would you tell him? How would you strengthen him to give that up? I think this was Joseph's Thanos moment. His world was destroyed, and he needed to be willing to do anything to build it back again.

Its a good lesson for us too. We don't know the sacrifices we'll be asked to make, but it could be everything, and it could be the right thing to give everything. There is only one solution to our problems, and that solution is us through Christ.

Why didn't God just restore the 116 pages?

I was asked once in Belgium about this incident from someone who had no doubt seen the south park episode detailing a somewhat comical version of these events. Admittedly, people can tell two narratives here, IF they ignore all other information and focus just on this story. The first narrative is that joseph smith was a fraud and couldn't reproduce the 116 pages because he made them up and couldn't remember. And, if you focus on just this story, it matches the facts. The second narrative was that Joseph was telling the truth about everything and received these revelations exactly as he said. And that matches the facts as well. So if you want to know the truth of what happened to the 116 pages, you have to look outside these stories by studying Josephs character throughout his life, by studying the 500+ pages we have from him, by studying Gods works and by asking the spirit to know if Joseph was telling the truth. 

After you have done that, we can get back to the question - why didn't God just restore the 116 pages? Why didn't he just stop the wicked men? 

I already answered above what I think the greatest meaning of the story is. I also believe that Joseph shouldn't be asking God to simply 'make his mistake all better'. If you are asking God for something just to cover your sins, that may not be the right attitude. Obviously we are all in need of mercy, and myself more than most, and I admit I do ask God to 'make things better' all the time, especially when I feel crushed by things I don't think I can carry. But remember Christ's example when the devil tempted him. Christ said 'Thou shalt not tempt the lord thy God', and where mercy is always needed, we should ask so that we can become a different person, not so that we can simply avoid consequences.