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Joseph Smith Facts & Worksheets

Joseph Smith was an American religious leader and the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints

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Joseph Smith was an American religious leader and the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints in which he was a prophet. He published the Book of Mormon when he was only 24. Presently, his religion has attracted tens of thousands of followers from around the world.

See the fact file below for more information on Joseph Smith or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Joseph Smith worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Smith’s Early Life

  • Smith came from an ordinary New England family. In the 1780s, during the economic downturn, his grandfather lost his property in Topsfield, Massachusetts, which forced him to move to Vermont. 
  • His father, Joseph Smith Sr., established himself as a farmer, while his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, took care of him and his 10 siblings.
  • His family could not afford to send him and his siblings to school. He only received three years of formal schooling. He and his siblings were mainly educated at home from the family bible. 
  • A series of crop failures in Vermont drove the Smith family to move to Palmyra, New York. This region was a hotbed of religious enthusiasm, which caused some disagreements between Smith Jr.’s parents but still caught them up in the excitement. Although, it confused Smith on which claims he would believe.
  • When Smith Jr. turned seven years old, he suffered a crippling bone infection that left him on crutches for three years.  
  • Smith became interested in religion when he was 12. He also said that he was partial to Methodism and engaged in religious folk magic during his teenage years. 
  • It was common in his family to have visions or dreams where they believed that they had communicated with God. 

The Vision

  • In the Spring of 1820, while praying in a wooded area one night, Smith claimed that he received a vision of God and Jesus Christ telling him that his sins were forgiven. He also added that all the contemporary churches had turned aside from the gospel. This vision would become an important event for Smith’s followers as it will be regarded as the restoration of Christ’s church on Earth. 
  • Smith would later tell that an angel named Moroni visited him while praying on a night in September 1823, telling him the location of a golden book made with golden plates. He found a stone box near his father’s farm. 
  • After four years, the angel told him to translate the characters using the interpreters included in the stone box. 
  • During the translation period, Smith asked the aid of his wife, a neighbor, Martin Harris, and friends, Oliver Cowdery and Peter Whitmer Sr., father of David Whitmer.
  • These people, excluding Peter Whitmer Sr., would become the Three Witnesses. They signed a statement saying that an angel showed them the golden plates, and the voice of God confirmed the authenticity of the translation. 
  • Smith’s translation resulted in a 588-page volume called the Book of Mormons, published in March 1930.  He would always say that he did not write this book but merely translated it under divine guidance. 

Founding of the Church

  • On April 6, 1830, Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, making himself the first Prophet and First Elder.  His parents and his followers were among the first to join. 
  • Smith’s Book of Mormon brought notoriety to his name and attracted enemies. He was arrested and put on trial as a disorderly person. It would not be the last time Smith will be placed in prison for his faith.
  • Smith moved his family and constructed the first Mormon Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, to build a New Jerusalem but failed to do so. The residents found their presence intolerable and were threatened as the growing number of their members might give them a chance to control the town. 
  • The same happened in the different cities they tried to settle. When they moved to Missouri, the local Missourians and their governor ordered the Mormons to leave the state or be exterminated. Smith was once again imprisoned. He would have been executed if he had not fled to Illinois.   
  • The Mormons found their settlement site in a nearly abandoned town of Commerce on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. They renamed the area Nauvoo, a Hebrew word meaning “Beautiful Place,” where Smith would become Mayor.   
  • Converts from Europe and the other parts of the United States came and settled, making Nauvoo grow as one of the largest cities in Illinois. 

Personal Life

  • While in Pennsylvania in 1827, Joseph Smith met and began courting Emma Hale. Smith proposed marriage, but her father objected, saying that he does not have the means to support Emma. 
  • Smith and Emma Hale eloped and married on January 18, 1827. The couple started their married life living with Smith’s parents in Manchester but eventually moved to Harmony. Emma’s father offered them to live on his property and help Smith start a business. 
  • Smith and Hale had 11 children, an adopted twin, and nine biological children, but only five lived past infancy. 
  • He ran for president of the United States in 1844.  
  • Emma struggled with the fact that her husband needed to practice polygamy. However, she remained so devoted to her husband that she wore a lock of his hair after his death.  
  • Non-Mormon hostility in the surrounding county still existed. The angry locals brought charges of promoting riots against Smith and his brother. The authorities took them to Carthage for a hearing, but while being imprisoned, the mob shot the two brothers on June 27, 1844. 

Joseph Smith Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Joseph Smith across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Joseph Smith who was an American religious leader and the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Joseph Smith Facts
  • Joseph’s Bio
  • The Smith Inquiry
  • The Founder’s Life
  • The New Jerusalem
  • Discovering the Mormon Faith
  • Fact or Bluff
  • Characteristics of a Prophet
  • The Divine Books
  • A Prophet’s Testimony
  • Assassination of a Prophet

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Link will appear as Joseph Smith Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, December 23, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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