Twenty-Two (1827)persecution and nearly total rejection by all the inhabitants of the earth—and eventually as
he would even face his impending murder.
Exactly 21 days before his graduation day, therefore (on September 1, 1827), Joseph
attended class for the final time and received this final and most important lesson. The
Brothers instructed Joseph t o inform his family that he would be gone for the better part of
that day and that they should not worry if he did not return until the next day. The Brothers
could not withhold the smiles on their faces as they explained the importance of this day to
Joseph. Now that he knew them well, Joseph smiled back, almost laughing, and questioned
them incessantly, with great anticipation, concerning what it was all about. He knew that
there were still three weeks left before the time that they would meet again with Moroni, so
the Brothers’ secret and all their smiling heightened his curiosity.
So that they would not be disturbed by anyone, the Brothers had scouted out a secluded
meadow near the area where they met annually with Moroni. There they instructed Joseph to lie
on the ground and relax. While lying there, the Brothers shared with Joseph each of their own
personal experiences when they, too, received their final lesson that prepared them for their
own roles as true messengers. With tears of joy swelling up in their eyes and smiles on their
faces, the Brothers explained how “the heavens were opened, and they were caught up into
heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.”^55 They also were not allowed to reveal these
things, as “it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power
that they could utter the things which they saw and heard.”^56
The Brothers informed Joseph that it was now his turn to have the same experience. The
Brothers looked skyward as if they were seeing something take place in the heavens. That’s the
last thing Joseph remembered while lying on the ground trying to relax. While everyone else in
the State of New York, in the United States, North America, in the Western Hemisphere of the
earth, was preparing for the Sabbath day, their mortal senses could not detect the Universe
folding in on itself, or better, bending, to allow Joseph’s final lesson to occur.
At about 6:00 P.M., on Saturday, September 1, 1827, Joseph Smith, Jr. was taken from
this planet and placed upon the planet where he was first created as a human being. There he
met the advanced woman who was his eternal mother/creator and the advanced man who
could be considered his eternal father/creator. He was accompanied by Christ and Moroni,
the former standing on his left and the latter on his right. There he saw and heard
unspeakable things that he never revealed to another soul while he was alive as Joseph. Even
if he could have revealed the experience to others, he would not have had the power or the
means of communication to completely and properly describe what he both saw and heard.
Those Waiting on Earth
As the Brothers peered up into the sky, they were looking for what they knew was
occurring, the bending of the Universe to place our Creators’ planet right on top of our own.
Yes, they knew this was occurring, but that’s not what they saw. Their bodies are confined
to this mortal world and the laws by which it exists. All they saw was Joseph’s body
disappear and then reappear about 4 hours later.
From his original place on the ground, Joseph opened his eyes and found the
Brothers peering down on him, excitedly and with sincere anticipation. His smile met theirs,
and that was all that needed to be said. Joseph was now fully prepared as a true messenger.
He never forgot that day. He was now fully prepared to perform his part of a glorious plan
intended for his mortal siblings.