Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith

by Joseph F. Smith

Now, the beauty of this to me is that I know these things, that I am satisfied of them, and so long as I possess the spirit of truth I have no fear that any doubt or uncertainty will ever enter my mind in regard to these principles. There is only one course that I might pursue which would bring about mistrust and fear, trembling and doubt, in relation to these things. And that would be for me to deny the truth and cut myself loose from the guiding influences of the Holy Spirit, for I do know that so long as a man is under the guiding influence of the Spirit of God he never can deny these truths which God has revealed to him, and in that condition he is not subject to the power of Satan. It is only when he transgresses the law of God, and dismisses these principles from his thoughts, that he becomes subject to the powers of evil, that his mind becomes darkened, and he begins to doubt and fear. But, let a man have the Spirit of God in his heart, that Spirit which reveals the things of God unto men, and makes them to know the truth as God himself knows it, he never can doubt those things which God has revealed. Therefore, I rejoice in these truths, for I know they are true.

I know that Brother Heber and his companion, if they are faithful to the light they possess and to the covenants that they have entered into before the Lord, will just as assuredly inherit the joy and the possession and the glory of this little one that has now departed, as that they see its little form lying here before them this moment. Everyone who has the spirit of truth in his soul must feel this to be true.—Remarks at the funeral of Daniel Wells Grant, child of Heber J. Grant, and Emily Wells Grant, in family residence, Salt Lake City, March 12, 1895.—Young Woman's Journal, Vol. 6, pp. 369-374.

STATUS OF CHILDREN IN THE RESURRECTION. The spirits of our children are immortal before they come to us, and their spirits, after bodily death, are like they were before they came. They are as they would have appeared if they had lived in the flesh, to grow to maturity, or to develop their physical bodies to the full stature of their spirits. If you see one of your children that has passed away it may appear to you in the form in which you would recognize it, the form of childhood; but if it came to you as a messenger bearing some important truth, it would perhaps come as the spirit of Bishop Edward Hunter's son (who died when a little child) came to him, in the stature of full-grown manhood, and revealed himself to his father, and said: "I am your son."

Bishop Hunter did not understand it. He went to my father and said: "Hyrum, what does that mean? I buried my son when he was only a little boy, but he has come to me as a full-grown man—a noble, glorious, young man, and declared himself my son. What does it mean?"

Father (Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch) told him that the Spirit of Jesus Christ was full-grown before he was born into the world; and so our children were full-grown and possessed their full stature in the spirit, before they entered mortality, the same stature that they will possess after they have passed away from mortality, and as they will also appear after the resurrection, when they shall have completed their mission.

Joseph Smith taught the doctrine that the infant child that was laid away in death would come up in the resurrection as a child; and, pointing to the mother of a lifeless child, he said to her: "You will have the joy, the pleasure, and satisfaction of nurturing this child, after its resurrection, until it reaches the full stature of its spirit." There is restitution, there is growth, there is development, after the resurrection from death. I love this truth. It speaks volumes of happiness, of joy and gratitude to my soul. Thank the Lord he has revealed these principles to us.

In 1854, I met with my aunt, the wife of my uncle, Don Carlos Smith, who was the mother of that little girl that Joseph Smith, the Prophet, was speaking about when he told the mother that she should have the joy, the pleasure, and the satisfaction of rearing that child, after the resurrection, until it reached the full stature of its spirit; and that it would be a far greater joy than she could possibly have in mortality, because she would be free from the sorrow and fear and disabilities of mortal life, and she would know more than she could know in this life. I met that widow, the mother of that child, and she told me this circumstance and bore testimony to me that this was what the Prophet Joseph Smith said when he was speaking at the funeral of her little daughter.

One day I was conversing with a brother-in-law of mine, Lorin Walker, who married my oldest sister. In the course of the conversation he happened to mention that he was present at the funeral of my cousin Sophronia, and that he heard the Prophet Joseph Smith declare the very words that Aunt Agnes had told me.

I said to him, "Lorin, what did the Prophet say?" and he repeated, as nearly as he could remember, what the Prophet Joseph said in relation to little children. The body remains undeveloped in the grave, but the spirit returns to God who gave it. Afterwards, in the resurrection, the spirit and body will be reunited; the body will develop and grow to the full stature of the spirit; and the resurrected soul will go on to perfection. So I had the statement of two witnesses who heard this doctrine announced by the Prophet Joseph Smith, the source of intelligence.

Eventually I was in conversation with Sister M. Isabella Horn. She began to relate to me the circumstance of her being present at the funeral that I refer to, when Joseph spoke of the death of little children, their resurrection, as little children, and of the glory, and honor, and joy, and happiness the mother would have in rearing her little children in the resurrection to the full stature of their spirits. "Well," she said, "I heard Joseph say that. I was at that funeral." Sister Isabella Horne told me this.