Joseph Smith Biography

TWELVE

(1817)

Lucy did not comprehend her son’s mission. Those in Joseph’s family, like others, were not prepared to

know the truth. Joseph’s early experiences led him to distrust American capitalism and motivated him to

seek to implement a better way. He kept aloof of the religious excitement in New York.

No honest biographer can speculate about Joseph’s early years. His mother was
the only one, among those who have discussed Joseph’s life in public, who had the
right and the knowledge to comment about his early life; yet her own biography states
concerning his childhood:

I shall say nothing respecting him until he arrived at the age of fourteen.

However, in this I am aware that some of my readers will be

disappointed, for from questions which are frequently asked me, I

suppose that it is thought by some that I shall be likely to tell many very

remarkable incidents which attended his childhood; but, as nothing

occurred during his early life, except those trivial circumstances which are

common to that state of human existence, I pass them in silence.^1

Joseph’s Family Never Knew the Whole Truth

Throughout the fulfillment of his role as a true messenger, Joseph never revealed
to his mother what he was not allowed to reveal to anyone else. Lucy Mack Smith had
no clue as to the importance and the true purpose of Joseph’s role. Yes, Joseph even kept
the extraordinary event of the First Visitation of an advanced human being from his own
mother! In so doing, he demonstrated the manner in which he would fulfill his role
throughout his life—in complete compliance with the mandates he received from the
advanced beings who kept watch over his work.^2 These required that he not disclose his
“true identity,” as has been explained previously.
Evidence of the undisclosed nature of Joseph’s true mission is found in all that he
did not disclose. The LDS/Mormon people will never know from their written records
and histories, nor would they otherwise be able to understand, why Joseph did not share
the real truth about his experiences with others, especially with his own family members.
Joseph later reported in his own words what he said to his mother when she questioned
him after receiving the First Visitation and being physically weakened at the event:
“Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.”^3
It wasn’t until 1838 (18 years later) that Joseph formally explained what had
happened to him as a youth; but even then, he did not disclose the real truth.^4 (See Appendix
3, “Why True Messengers Do Not Reveal the Real Truth” for a discussion of this.) The
people were not ready or willing to know what really happened in Joseph’s youth. The
LDS/Mormon people had “hardened their hearts, and to them was given the lesser portion
of the word until they knew nothing concerning the mysteries.”^5