When Joseph Smith decided to pray for wisdom as a boy, he could not have imagined the scope of the answers millions believe he received. The task of overturning monogamy as the sole legitimate form of marriage was surely not something the teenager thought he would ever be asked to do.  My life experience leads me to credit Joseph Smith’s sincerity, so I’ll not use terms like “allegedly” and “supposedly,” which convey the constant idea that Joseph was lying.

[This page is still a working document. Details and dates will be added, but I decided to let you see this page while it is in process.]

April 4, 1819 – Joseph prays for wisdom to know which church is right. Date is based on maple runs for that year.

September, 1823 – Joseph is visited by an angel who quotes Malachi’s promise, that the hearts of the children must be turned to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children. Joseph is shown the location of gold plates and told he must bring his brother, Alvin, to retrieve them at a future time.

Alvin dies.

Joseph is told he must bring someone with him and that “he will know who she is when he meets her.” Based on recollection of his close friend, Knight.

Joseph marries Emma Hales