Testimony of Emma Smith

     One thing that is unique about the Maxwell Institute Study Edition of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is that the testimony of Emma Smith is held within it. It is interestingly an interview conducted by her son Joseph Smith III. The interview asks skeptical questions such as the following:

• "Had he not a book or manuscript from which he read, or dictated?”
• "Could he not have had? and you not know it?”
• "Are you sure that he had the plates at the time that you were writing for him?”
• "Could not father have dictated the Book of Mormon to you, Oliver Cowdery and the others who wrote for him, after having first written it, or having first read it out of some book?”
• "I should suppose that you would have uncovered the plates and examined them?
• "Did Mr. Smith forbid your examining the plates?” (A question from her second husband)

     Before I get into Emma Smith’s answers, I would like to quote a couple verses of scriptures that I was led to review with my wife from the “Come, follow me” program this morning. They are verses 2 Nephi 27:20-21, which is the following quotation:

“Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee. Touch not the things which are sealed, for I will bring them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work.”

     These verses allude to the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was truly led by the gift and power of God to translate and preserve the golden plates. The work could not have been fulfilled without it.

Emma Smith describes Joseph as one, who “could not write nor dictate a coherent and well worded letter, let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon.” She does not recall Joseph Smith forbidding her from uncovering the golden plates.

     She described the gift and power of God, working through Joseph Smith, for he used a stone. A seer stone is a gift of God to prophets to see visions. It is alluded to and described in the Book of Mormon in the Book of Mosiah chapter 8 verse 13

“Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.”

It is also alluded to in the Bible, but I am not trying to persuade the sceptic. I am trying to be informative. Joseph Smith did not look through the stone on the golden plates to see it translate the ancient language. Emma described the translation process as “he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the [seer] stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us.” She expounded that he “would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he would at once begin where he had left, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him.” The translation of the Book of Mormon came through the stone similar to how we read on our phones. Where does the information come from? The translation came from the gift and power of God. The testimony of Emma Smith was an interview of seemingly skeptical questions; however, I am not seeking to persuade the prideful. I am trying to inform the humble to help them understand the origin of the Book of Mormon and the implications thereof, for the introduction illustrated it beautifully as the following: 

"We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)
Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah." (Introduction of the Book of Mormon)

     Emma Smith’s testimony is that she “believe the Church to have been established by divine direction. I have complete faith in it.”

     I have faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well. Faith comes by the word of God, and I have felt the Spirit of God to bring it into my heart as I have prayed to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ.