This document is a lesson plan for teaching about the Restoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith. It discusses Joseph Smith's First Vision and how he was confused by the different religious sects. It recounts how he prayed and was visited by God the Father and Jesus Christ, who told him none of the churches were correct and that he would help restore Christ's true church. The document emphasizes that while other religious leaders tried to reform their churches, Joseph Smith was chosen to usher in a new dispensation and restore priesthood authority, ordinances, and Christ's true church through revelation.

1. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Welcome to Our
Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8: Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)

2. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
About the Class Instructor
• My name is Jimmy Smith
• Founder of Latter-day Saint Mission Prep website
• I live in Texas in the United States
• I served my mission to Argentina, 1995-1997

3. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
About this Mission Prep Class
• Following the Church’s
Missionary Preparation
Teacher Manual
• Teaching my two teenage
children and record the
lessons for others to enjoy
• This video, my website, and
other content I create is
NOT a publication of The
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints

4. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Before We Begin: Make Sure You
Have a Way to Take Notes

5. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Review of Previous Lessons
The Missionary Purpose—to Invite Others to Come
Unto Christ
Lesson 1:
Our Need for the Atonement of Jesus Christ
Lesson 2:
Learning by the Spirit of God
Lesson 3:
Teaching by the Spirit of God
Lesson 4:
The Role of the Book of Mormon in Missionary Work
Lesson 5:
Preparing for Life as a Missionary
Lesson 6:
Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 1)
Lesson 7:

6. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
A Young Missionary’s
Testimony of Joseph Smith
• There was a “young missionary who came from a
small, rural community …[One day] he called at the
home of Elmer Pollard in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Feeling sorry for the young men who, during a
blinding blizzard, were going house to house, Mr.
Pollard invited the missionaries into his home. They
presented to him their message. He did not catch the
spirit. In due time he asked that they leave and not
return. His last words to the elders as they departed
his front porch were spoken in derision: ‘You can’t
tell me you actually believe Joseph Smith was a
prophet of God!’”
“Come, All Ye Sons of God,” President
Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 2013

7. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
A Young Missionary’s
Testimony of Joseph Smith
• “Our country boy spoke to his companion: ‘Elder, we
didn’t respond to Mr. Pollard. He said we didn’t
believe Joseph Smith was a true prophet. Let’s return
and bear our testimonies to him.’ …Fear struck their
hearts as they approached the door from which they
had just been ejected. They knocked, confronted Mr.
Pollard, …and then with power borne of the Spirit,
our inexperienced missionary spoke: ‘Mr. Pollard, you
said we didn’t really believe Joseph Smith was a
prophet of God. I testify to you that Joseph was a
prophet. He did translate the Book of Mormon. He
saw God the Father and Jesus the Son. I know it.’
“Come, All Ye Sons of God,” President
Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 2013

8. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
A Young Missionary’s
Testimony of Joseph Smith
• “Some time later, Mr. Pollard,
now Brother Pollard, stood in
a priesthood meeting and
declared, ‘That night I could
not sleep. Resounding in my
ears I heard the words “Joseph
Smith was a prophet of God. I
know it. I know it. I know it.”
The next day I telephoned the
missionaries and asked them
to return. Their message,
coupled with their
testimonies, changed my life.’”
“Come, All Ye Sons of God,” President
Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 2013
Image from the Gospel
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9. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Questions to Discuss / Ponder
• If you were one of these missionaries who was
rejected by Mr. Pollard, what would you have done?
• Why do you think the missionary’s testimony of
Joseph Smith had such a profound effect on Mr.
Pollard?

10. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith’s First Vision
• The story of Joseph Smith’s First Vision
• Hannah: Events leading up to the First Vision
• Abe: The First Vision and Immediate Aftermath
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11. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith—History 1:5
“There was in the place where we lived an unusual
excitement on the subject of religion. It commenced with
the Methodists, but soon became general among all the
sects in that region of country. Indeed, the whole district of
country seemed affected by it, and great multitudes united
themselves to the different religious parties, which created
no small stir and division amongst the people, some crying,
“Lo, here!” and others, “Lo, there!””
Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

12. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith—History 1:8
• “During this time of great excitement my mind was called
up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; …still I kept
myself aloof from all these parties. …In process of time
my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist
sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them; but
so great were the confusion and strife among the
different denominations, that it was impossible for a
person young as I was …to come to any certain
conclusion who was right.”
Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

13. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Questions to Discuss / Ponder
• What questions did Joseph Smith have and what
made it so difficult to decide which church to join?
• How might Joseph Smith’s questions be similar to the
questions that people in the world have today?
Zacarías Family

14. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith—History 1:11
“While I was laboring under
the extreme difficulties
caused by the contests of
these parties of religionists,
I was one day reading the
Epistle of James, first
chapter and fifth verse,
which reads: If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of
God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth
not; and it shall be given
him.”
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

15. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith—History 1:12
“Never did any passage of scripture come with more power
to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. …I
reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person
needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not
know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I
would never know; for the teachers of religion of the
different sects understood the same passages of scripture
so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the
question by an appeal to the Bible.”
Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

16. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith—History 1:13-14
• “At length I came to the conclusion
that I must either remain in darkness
and confusion, or else I must do as
James directs, that is, ask of God.”
• “So, in accordance with this, my
determination to ask of God, I retired
to the woods to make the attempt. It
was on the morning of a beautiful,
clear day, early in the spring of
eighteen hundred and twenty. It was
the first time in my life that I had
made such an attempt, for amidst all
my anxieties I had never as yet made
the attempt to pray vocally.”
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Media library on
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17. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith—History 1:15
• “I kneeled down and began to
offer up the desires of my
heart to God. I had scarcely
done so, when immediately I
was seized upon by some
power which entirely
overcame me, and had such
an astonishing influence over
me as to bind my tongue so
that I could not speak. Thick
darkness gathered around me,
and it seemed to me for a time
as if I were doomed to sudden
destruction.”
• What might be some reasons
that Satan attacked Joseph
Smith in this moment? Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

18. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith—History 1:16
• “Exerting all my powers to call
upon God to deliver me out of
the power of this enemy which
had seized upon me, and at the
very moment when I was ready
to sink into despair and
abandon myself to destruction
…I saw a pillar of light exactly
over my head, above the
brightness of the sun, which
descended gradually until it fell
upon me.”
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Media library on
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19. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith—History 1:17
• “It no sooner appeared than I
found myself delivered from
the enemy which held me
bound. When the light rested
upon me I saw two Personages,
whose brightness and glory
defy all description, standing
above me in the air. One of
them spake unto me, calling me
by name and said, pointing to
the other—This is My Beloved
Son. Hear Him!”
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
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20. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Joseph Smith—History 1:18-19
• “My object in going to inquire
of the Lord was to know which
of all the sects was right, ...[so]
I asked the Personages who
stood above me in the light,
which of all the sects was
right”
• “…I was answered that I must
join none of them, for they
were all wrong; …that those
professors were all corrupt;
that: ‘they draw near to me
with their lips, but their hearts
are far from me.’” Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

21. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Questions to Discuss / Ponder
• What did Joseph Smith learn from the First Vision?
• In what ways did the First Vision start to overcome
the consequences of the Great Apostasy?
• Why do you think missionaries teach about the First
Vision during their first lesson with investigators?
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22. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Previous Religious Leaders
and Reformers
• “For centuries the heavens
remained sealed. Good men and
women, not a few—really great
and wonderful people—tried to
correct, strengthen, and improve
their systems of worship and their
body of doctrine. To them I pay
honor and respect. How much
better the world is because of
their bold action. While I believe
their work was inspired, it was not
favored with the opening of the
heavens, with the appearance of
Deity.”
“The Marvelous Foundation of
Our Faith” by Gordon B. Hinckley,
Oct 2002 Gen Conf

23. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Why was Joseph Smith
Chosen by God?
• “Why did both the Father and the
Son come to a boy, a mere lad?
For one thing, they came to usher
in the greatest gospel
dispensation of all time, when all
of previous dispensations should
be gathered and brought together
in one. …The instrument in this
work of God was a boy whose
mind was not cluttered by the
philosophies of men. That mind
was fresh and without schooling in
the traditions of the day.” “The Marvelous Foundation of
Our Faith” by Gordon B. Hinckley,
Oct 2002 Gen Conf

24. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
The Apostasy and Restoration
• In what way was Joseph Smith’s work different from the
work done by previous religious leaders and reformers?
• “Even though many good people believed in Christ and
tried to understand and teach His gospel, they did not
have the fulness of truth or the priesthood authority to
baptize and perform other saving ordinances. They had
inherited a state of apostasy as each generation was
influenced by what the previous one passed on, including
changes in the doctrine and in ordinances such as
baptism. As God had done with Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, and other prophets, He called Joseph Smith to be
a prophet through whom the fulness of the gospel was
restored to the earth.” –PMG

25. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Summary of Things Reestablished
through the Restoration
from Preach My Gospel section on The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith
Priesthood authority, keys, and ordinances
The calling of twelve Apostles
Christ’s Church
The calling of a living prophet
The initiation of a new gospel dispensation

26. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
The Book of Mormon as a
Testament of the Restoration
“Knowing that doubt, disbelief, and misinformation would
remain after centuries of darkness, our loving Heavenly
Father brought forth an ancient volume of holy scripture
comparable to the Bible, which contains the fulness of the
everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. This volume of holy
scripture provides convincing evidence that Joseph Smith is
a true prophet of God. This record is the Book of Mormon:
Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” -PMG
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Media library on
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27. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Questions to
Discuss / Ponder
• Why and how is the
Book of Mormon
convincing evidence
that Joseph Smith is a
prophet and Jesus
Christ’s Church has
been restored through
him?
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

28. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
The Grand Promise at the End of
the Book of Mormon
• Moroni 10: 3 – 5
• Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these
things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them,
that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath
been unto the children of men, from the creation of
Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive
these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
• And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort
you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the
name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall
ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in
Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the
power of the Holy Ghost.
• And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the
truth of all things.

29. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Questions to Discuss / Ponder
• What steps must a person take in order to gain a
witness that the Book of Mormon is true?
• Why is it crucial for an investigator to read and to
pray about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon?
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Media library on
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30. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
“Two hundred years ago, on a
beautiful spring morning in 1820,
young Joseph Smith, seeking to
know which church to join, went
into the woods to pray near his
home in upstate New York, USA.
He had questions regarding the
salvation of his soul and trusted
that God would direct him.”
Image used by permission
from the Gospel Media library
on churchofjesuschrist.org

31. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
“We affirm that under the direction of the
Father and the Son, heavenly messengers
came to instruct Joseph and re-establish
the Church of Jesus Christ. The resurrected
John the Baptist restored the authority to
baptize by immersion for the remission of
sins. Three of the original twelve
Apostles—Peter, James, and John—
restored the apostleship and keys of
priesthood authority. Others came as well,
including Elijah, who restored the authority
to join families together forever.”
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32. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
“We further witness that Joseph Smith was given the
gift and power of God to translate an ancient record:
the Book of Mormon—Another Testament of Jesus
Christ. Pages of this sacred text include an account of
the personal ministry of Jesus Christ among people in
the Western Hemisphere soon after His Resurrection.
It teaches of life’s purpose and explains the doctrine of
Christ, which is central to that purpose. As a
companion scripture to the Bible, the Book of Mormon
testifies that all human beings are sons and daughters
of a loving Father in Heaven, that He has a divine plan
for our lives, and that His Son, Jesus Christ, speaks
today as well as in days of old.”

33. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
“With reverence and gratitude, we as His Apostles
invite all to know—as we do—that the heavens are
open. We affirm that God is making known His will for
His beloved sons and daughters. We testify that those
who prayerfully study the message of the Restoration
and act in faith will be blessed to gain their own
witness of its divinity and of its purpose to prepare the
world for the promised Second Coming of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ.”
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34. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Conclusion and Homework
• Pray and ask God if there is someone with whom you
might share
• a copy of the Book of Mormon
• your testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith
• Your testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ
• Act on the spiritual promptings you receive
• Church Talks, Videos to Check Out
• Gordon B. Hinckley’s Oct 2002 Gen Conf talk, “The
Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith”
• Videos “Come, All Ye Sons of God” Parts 1 and 2, available
on the Church website media-library
• Video “Invitation to Read the Book of Mormon: Jynx”
(8:06), The District 2, available on YouTube

35. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 8
Teaching the Message of
the Restoration (Part 2)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Thank You for Watching or Listening
• I have a testimony that these things are true
• Visit the Latter-day Saint Mission Prep Website at
• www.MormonMissionPrep.com