Chapter II. THE VISITATION OF MORONI - EXISTENCE OF THE BOOK OF MORMON MADE KNOWN.

This is a remarkable chapter.  Joseph Smith is so utterly sincere and free from guile.  He is quick to confess his imperfections, and he is quick to seek the Lord for forgiveness of his sins.  He was a young man with a "native cheery temperament."  His letter to Oliver Cowdery that was published in vol. I, no. 3 of the Messenger and Advocate gives further insights into the Prophet's honest assessment of his own character.  Consider, for example, the candor of this passage:

"During this time, as is common to most, or all youths, I fell into many vices and follies; but as my accusers are, and have been forward to accuse me of being guilty of gross and outrageous violations of the peace and good order of the community, I take the occasion to remark, that, though, as I have said above, 'as is common to most, or all youths, I fell into many vices and follies,' I have not, neither can it be sustained, in truth, been guilty of wronging or injuring any man or society of men; and those imperfections to which I allude, and for which I have often had occasion to lament, were a light, and too often, vain mind, exhibiting a foolish and trifling conversation.

This being all, and the worst, that my accusers can substantiate against my moral character, I wish to add, that it is not without a deep feeling of regret that I am thus called upon in answer to my own conscience, to fulfill a duty I owe to myself, as well as to the cause of truth, in making this public confession of my former uncircumspect walk, and trifling conversation: and more particularly, as I often acted in violation of those holy precepts which I knew came from God. But as the 'Articles and Covenants' of this church are plain upon this particular point, I do not deem it important to proceed further. I only add, that I do not, nor never have, pretended to be any other than a man 'subject to passion,' and liable, without the assisting grace of the Savior, to deviate from that perfect path in which all men are commanded to walk." (see also: Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 1:40)

Even though he was not guilty of any great or malignant sins, and even though a disposition to commit such was never in his nature, he turned to God for forgiveness and to know of his standing before the Lord.  His supplications for forgiveness again opened the heavens, this time with instruction and intelligence from the angel Moroni.  God had a work for Joseph Smith to do, and Joseph Smith qualified for his work in the same way that all of us need to qualify for whatever work that God has for us to do.  

The repeated visits from the angel Moroni are instructive, and there is much more that I could write on this chapter.  But there are a couple of things that I would like to note here.  The first is that Joseph Smith's motives were pure.  The angel warned him that Satan would try to tempt him to get the plates for the purpose of getting rich, but the angel warned him:

"This he forbade me, saying that I must have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God, and must not be influenced by any other motive than that of building his kingdom; otherwise I could not get them."

In retrospect it is clear that Joseph Smith's only object in view was to glorify God, and that his only motive was to build the kingdom of God, otherwise, we would not now have the Book of Mormon.

Joseph Smith's father was also a man of God.  He directed his son to do as the angel had bid him.  The following passage is noteworthy:

"Accordingly, as I had been commanded, I went at the end of each year, and at each time I found the same messenger there, and received instruction and intelligence from him at each of our interviews, respecting what the Lord was going to do, and how and in what manner his kingdom was to be conducted in the last days."

Joseph Smith was simply doing the work that the Lord have given to him to do.  But he recognized that it was the Lord's work.  Moroni taught Joseph Smith what the Lord was going to do, and how the Lord's kingdom would be conducted in the last days.  It is the work of God, not the work of a man.

While Joseph Smith was employed in what his accusers called "money digging," he met Mr. Isaac Hale's daughter, Emma Hale.  She was in her twenty third year.  They were married on January 18, 1827.  Was it love at first sight?  I like to think so.  But this first meeting brought to mind a passage that I recall from a later tribute of the Prophet Joseph Smith to his wife Emma:

“How glorious were my feelings when I met that faithful and friendly band, on the night of the eleventh, on Thursday, on the island at the mouth of the slough [swamp], between Zarahemla and Nauvoo: with what unspeakable delight, and what transports of joy swelled my bosom, when I took by the hand, on that night, my beloved Emma—she that was my wife, even the wife of my youth, and the choice of my heart. Many were the reverberations of my mind when I contemplated for a moment the many scenes we had been called to pass through, the fatigues and the toils, the sorrows and sufferings, and the joys and consolations, from time to time, which had strewed our paths and crowned our board. Oh, what a commingling of thought filled my mind for the moment, again she is here, … undaunted, firm, and unwavering—unchangeable, affectionate Emma!" 

Now that's poetry.

It reminds me of something that Parley P. Pratt learned from the Prophet Joseph Smith:

"It was at this time that I received from him [Joseph Smith] the first idea of eternal family organization, and the eternal union of the sexes in those inexpressibly endearing relationships which none but the highly intellectual, the refined and pure in heart, know how to prize, and which are at the very foundation of everything worthy to be called happiness. …

It was from him that I learned that the wife of my bosom might be secured to me for time and all eternity; and that the refined sympathies and affections which endeared us to each other emanated from the fountain of divine eternal love. It was from him that I learned that we might cultivate these affections, and grow and increase in the same to all eternity; while the result of our endless union would be an offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, or the sands of the sea shore. …

I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved—with a pureness—an intensity of elevated, exalted feeling. … I felt that God was my heavenly Father indeed; that Jesus was my brother, and that the wife of my bosom was an immortal, eternal companion; a kind ministering angel, given to me as a comfort, and a crown of glory for ever and ever."

What a beautiful articulation of an even more beautiful truth.