Without Disclosing My True Identity
visitations. The next day, Joseph was visited again during the day while he rested under an
apple tree.^44 Moroni asked him why he hadn’t told his father as he was instructed. Joseph
was afraid his father wouldn’t believe him and would mock him. Moroni assured Joseph
that his father had been prepared to believe every word he would say.
With Joseph Sr.’s personality, countered and complemented by Lucy’s, Joseph Smith,
Jr. had the right parents at the right time to imprint upon his developing characteristics
everything necessary for him to perform his role later in life.
NOTES
(^1) JSH 1:7.
(^2) DHC, 4:189. In this reference, Sophronia’s birth date is listed as the 16th. It was recorded in
Tunbridge as May 17, 1803. Depending on the edition of Lucy Mack Smith’s history, both the 16th and
18 th are listed (see Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 265, n. 104). The actual date was the 17th. See also Proctor, 46,
n. 3; 62; and 66, n. 1, respectively.
(^3) BOM, 2 Nephi 3:15.
(^4) Or, “Made by God.” Alternate spellings include Asaell, Asiel, or Asahel. See “Asahel,”
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 4 Jun. 2010, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 3 Dec. 2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asahel.
(^5) Depending on the edition, Lucy Mack Smith’s book spells this son’s name “Asael,” or
“Asahel.” Asahel was the correct spelling. See Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 262.
(^6) See Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 264, n. 101.
(^7) See Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 264 and n. 101.
(^8) See also TSP, 81:8–9, where Moroni predicts that the first two sons of Joseph Smith, Sr. and
Lucy Mack Smith would not receive the name of their father, Joseph, but the third son would be
given this name.
(^9) Or, “Exalted Brother.” See “Hiram,” Behind the Name, 9 Jan. 1996, Mike Campbell, 3 Dec.
2010 http://www.behindthename.com/name/hiram.
(^10) Alvin was born Feb. 11, 1798 and Hyrum was born Feb. 9, 1800. See Anderson, Lucy’s
Book, 264–5.
(^11) Alvin was seven years old and Hyrum was five years old at the time of Joseph Smith, Jr.’s
birth. Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 264–5.
(^12) Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 265.
(^13) Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack had eleven children, including their firstborn son, who
passed away at just a few months old in 1797. See Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 264–5.
(^14) Alvin’s importance to Joseph is confirmed in Mormon literature. “Alvin, my oldest
brother—I remember well the pangs of sorrow that swelled my youthful bosom and almost burst
my tender heart when he died. He was the oldest and the noblest of my father’s family. He was
one of the noblest of the sons of men. ...In him there was no guile. He lived without spot from
the time he was a child. ...He was one of the soberest of men, and when he died the angel of the
Lord visited him in his last moments.” Dean C. Jessee, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984) 563–4. (Also in DHC, 5:126–7.)
(^15) See JSH 1:5–13.
(^16) Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 230–1.
(^17) Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 257–8.