Without Disclosing My True Identity
that produced her version of Joseph’s life were dictated through a third person. Joseph’s own
variations of his life history were subject to the inability of his mortal brain to remember exact
events of his childhood and also to his mandate to give the people what they were prepared,
or not, to receive. However, the resurrected “Joseph” knows exactly what happened; and in
quoting him directly concerning the circumstances of his childhood, he emphatically said,
“these events do not matter in relevance to the purpose of my mission.”
The Importance of Joseph’s Mission
What does matter, however, is for the world to receive an opportunity to finally
grasp a complete and true understanding of his mission. What was it that he was asked
to do? Why was he asked to do it; and, most importantly, how would all the inhabitants
of the earth benefit from his mission?
His mother didn’t fully understand his mission.^3 She was oblivious to the true nature
of what her son was destined to do for the world. Reading her biography, or rather, the
compilation of what her biographer, Coray, wanted the world to know about Joseph, one
quickly realizes that Lucy was more interested in presenting an elegant canvas that she
painted herself rather than a candid photo. Like any mother, she wanted the world to see her
image of the man her son became and not as the monster and deceiver that the majority of
the people believed he was. She spoke much about herself as she also included a favorable
“self”-image, making many articulate attempts to justify her part in Joseph’s
foundationalization.
Regardless of what has been written about his early childhood, true or false, the
main relevance of his upbringing is that the people who needed to be around him were
there when needed. While some events are relevant to his mission, focusing on the
recitation of chronology, alone, does little to better our understanding of Joseph Smith
and what advanced beings overseeing his life were preparing him to do. Advanced
monitors of our mortal world knew what they needed from their “latter-day Moses”;
thus, those people and circumstances that would be instrumental in imprinting certain
characteristics and traits upon Joseph, and which would help him to perform his
mission, were each specifically chosen and placed in his life for a purpose.
This biography presents each chapter as a year in Joseph’s life, making mention of
only some of the events and facts that took place during each respective year. This will
prepare the reader for a better, more correct understanding of who, what, and how he
became the person he did in his mortal incarnation as Joseph Smith. However, if “events do
not matter,” then one might well ask, “what is relevant?” Events and references become only
“props” of this biography, sharing scant hints as to the true nature of Joseph’s mission.
Relevant information, therefore, might be considered as things understood by the
advanced beings who chose Joseph, such as that which is revealed in the opening
paragraphs of this chapter. Thus, a relevant history will give the reader an insight into
Joseph as a unique and timeless character such as has never been given before. Most
importantly, the reader will come to know how significant Joseph’s mission was for all
of the inhabitants of the earth.
This chapter, therefore, will focus heavily—not on 1813, but—on his mission as a
true messenger. The most important part of Joseph’s mission was the introduction and
eventual publication of the Book of Mormon. To each individual who reads it, and even
before opinions are formed concerning it, the Book of Mormon becomes the catalyst that