Without Disclosing My True Identity
Phineas Young’s hands, who then lent it to his brother Brigham who, upon reading it,
was turned into a believer and eventually one of Joseph’s most ardent followers and a
would-be leader.
Receiving “Personal Revelation” From the Lord
When those who read the Book of Mormon were convinced of its truthfulness, they often
had a desire to share its message. However, it was also frequently their desire to seek out the
young prophet in order to meet him and ask for a personal revelation of their own from God.
Many of these became the early missionaries who helped to distribute the Book of Mormon. But
in all cases, they never gave the book for free. If one could not pay for the book, it was not given.
Eventually, enough copies were sold to convince the “right” men at the right time of the truth of
the Book of Mormon and its prophet-translator; and of these “right” men, many would be
responsible for bringing numerous converts to the fledgling Church of Christ.
The criteria of opportunistic circumstance told Joseph where “the Lord” wanted
missionaries to go into the world to share the “everlasting Gospel as delivered by the
Savior” in the Book of Mormon. Admittedly, he sent the men wherever their hearts desired. A
man would approach Joseph with the desire to serve the Lord. Joseph would then interview
the man, analyzing his current circumstances, his background, his family, and the feasibility
of traveling to areas familiar to the man—usually where the man had friends and other
family members. From the interview, Joseph would then receive a “[personal] revelation
from the Lord”^4 for the man and send him on his way.
It was these informal interviews and subsequent revelations that eventually evolved
into the practice of giving Patriarchal Blessings,^5 which are now available to every
LDS/Mormon member seeking advice “from the Lord” as to his or her station in life. A
specially assigned Church Patriarch now has the task of interviewing the person and
administering the blessing, presumed to be a direct “personal revelation from the Lord”
about the person’s life.
The first missionaries went forth and shared only the message of the Book of Mormon
and its prophet-translator. This was because, although a legal church entity had been
established according to the laws of the land, an organized religion and church had not yet
been formally established with an operational structure. These missionaries did exactly
what Joseph intended for his work, hoping that the people would see the greater significance
in the “everlasting Gospel as delivered by the Savior” in the Book of Mormon rather than
forming another church and religion.^6 But again, as always, the people eventually got what
they desired, which in turn, caused them to stumble.
Modern-day LDS Missionaries
With the progress of the LDS Church into modern times, missionary work became
more about getting people to join the Church rather than getting them to abide by the
“fullness of the everlasting Gospel.” In more recent times, the LDS/Mormon missionaries
individually purchased the copies of the Book of Mormon, which they would share with the
people and then sell under the guise of asking for a donation; then would gift the book if the
interested party did not have the money to buy it. At present, it is the policy of the LDS
Church (the wealthiest church per capita in the world) to give the books away free of charge
to any interested.