Twenty (1825)
The Brothers outlined Joseph’s schedule in meeting with them by instructing him to
watch a certain unique tree that was near his home. The way the Brothers tied up the
branches of the tree near the top would determine where Joseph was to meet the Brothers
for his daily instruction. They had determined three different places where they would
meet, assigning a different way the branches were tied to each specific place.
Joseph would never know until he woke up the next morning whether he was
going to class that day or not. He would awake and look out at the tree. If the small
branches near the top were bound, he would take note how they were tied and go to that
indicated location. If they were not bound, he would not meet them that day. The
Brothers would scout the area and choose the best place for the day based on the local
activity of the people who lived in the surrounding area. Men often roamed free to hunt
and explore at their leisure. The Brothers ensured that their meetings with Joseph were
never discovered.
The first lesson Joseph received was that nothing studied, learned, or acquired
during mortality is of any worth outside of this world.^72 Nothing gained in mortality does
us any good in an advanced human world, except for the experience of opposition and the
test of our free will. He learned that it is not what one knows that defines a human being,
but in how one uses what one knows in treating and interacting with other humans. The
book of Ecclesiastes doesn’t pull any punches in explaining that “the work that is wrought
under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”^73 And the final
words given in his homework drove home what John intended his student to learn:
And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there
is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the
conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for
this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.^74Joseph Learns of the Three Humanity Types
The Brothers needed to help Joseph understand that worldly knowledge is not the
“intelligence” that gives an advanced being glory.^75 (Referring to the quote: “The glory of God
is intelligence.”) Again, Joseph learned that the difference between advanced humans is not in
what they know (because all advanced humans equally know everything there is to know
about everything), but in how they use this knowledge. He learned that there are three ways that
humans, in general, use their intelligence: 1) For the sake of others, 2) For their own sake, or 3)
To have others serve them.^76 Joseph learned everything there was to know about advanced
human societies and how each of these humanity types interacts within these societies.
Joseph needed to learn these things because he would be associating with all three of
these humanity types during his tenure as a true messenger. He needed to be able to
present information that would serve all three types equally. For example, Joseph taught
that “the glory of God is intelligence, or in other words, light and truth.”^77 He taught that
God uses intelligence only for the sake of others,^78 and that if any man or woman had chosen
to become like God, then he or she would use intelligence only for the sake of others.^79
Joseph taught the “Saints” that most people would never choose to do something that
only serves others without first serving themselves. Thus he wrote, “many are called, but few
are chosen”^80 as presented above. If (using one of many examples), one invented a medicine