Without Disclosing My True Identity
“I’ve seen God,” chimed in the young teenager who was passing by. He stopped
briefly, with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye that accompanies teenage pride.
“Oh you have, have ya?!” one of the men laughed.
“Then may we have the convenience of knowing what he looks like?” mocked another.
“He looks just like a man does, but cleaner and more refined,” answered Joseph.
“God is not a man!” chimed in the minister, “but a Spirit.”^13
“No he’s not!” argued Joseph. “Don’t you believe that Jesus was God’s son sent to
earth? If you do, how can you believe that a man’s son does not look like his father?”
For the next few minutes Joseph had their full attention. A good part of the men
folded their arms and said nothing as they listened to information coming out of the mouth
of the “Smith boy” that they had never heard before, but which rang true to their hearts.^14
When the minister realized that Joseph’s wisdom seemed to trump his own, he
attempted in every way to distort scriptural passages^15 to disprove the things Joseph was
telling them. Before long, the minister had succeeded in turning the men against Joseph and
convincing them that he was possessed by the devil.
One of the men was Thomas Burlock, a close friend of the minister and one who had
received a few blows from another Smith boy, Alvin, during an argument a few months
previous. The two had encountered each other in a similar debate and the religion-tainted
man did not take well to Alvin’s ability to confound him with atheistic common sense.
Alvin’s short temper and some well-placed punches made good on the rest of the argument.
This time, however, Burlock was determined to get the upper hand and ultimately prove
that he and the minister were right—dead right.
That evening, Joseph came to understand better than ever the extreme danger he
exposed himself to by telling people what he knew. Those in charge, who can observe any
circumstance and thought among mortals, knew the young, inexperienced true messenger-
in-training needed to learn a valuable lesson. It had grown dark and Joseph was about to
realize firsthand the wisdom in abiding by the counsel he had received from Christ during
their meeting of the First Visitation. More about this will be said later on as we set the stage
for the details of this Visitation. However, after this experience, which led to being shot at,
Joseph would never again attempt to persuade another of the real truth, even when he knew
he could confound the ignorant without effort.^16
Thomas Burlock, sufficiently drunk so as not to be in his right mind, followed the
young Joseph home from a good distance. What Burlock didn’t know (due to his
drunkenness) was that Timothy was following him at a very short distance. Moreover, the
Three Nephites often receive advanced help in the way that they keep themselves unseen by
others; for nigh unto two thousand years they had learned how to “blend in” with mortals
and communicate with advanced beings, as needed.
Without being noticed, Timothy had made his way between Burlock and Joseph; and
just as Burlock raised his gun to shoot, Timothy conveniently shooed the Smith family cow
into the line of fire. Burlock didn’t see the cow and was really too drunk to take a good shot
at Joseph anyway. When the light of the door opened to let Joseph in the house, Burlock
turned and staggered away as fast as he could. Unbeknownst to Lucy, who reported the
incident, it wasn’t the shooter who left the tracks that were discovered the next day under
the wagon. Rather, it was Timothy, who had stayed there most of the night to ensure that
Burlock didn’t return again to finish his murderous job.
Because of how free will operates among the human beings in this Universe,
Timothy, as a semi-mortal, could not report Thomas Burlock as the shooter, knowing that if