Martin Harris’s final testimony

Martin Harris’s final testimony November 13, 2017

 

Emer's brother, a witness to the BofM
Martin Harris (a retouched and colorized photograph, prepared by Bryce M. Haymond for the Interpreter Foundation)

 

William Harrison Homer Jr. recorded Martin Harris’s dying testimony:

 

The next day July 10, 1875 marked the end. . . .  I stood by the bedside holding the patient’s right hand . . . Martin Harris had been unconscious for a number of days.  When we first entered the room the old gentleman seemed to be sleeping.  He soon woke up and asked for a drink of water.  I put my arms under the old gentleman, raised him . . . He drank freely, then, said, “Yes, I did see the plates on which the Book of Mormon was written; I did see the angel; I did hear the voice of God; and I do know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, holding the keys of the Holy Priesthood.”  This was the end.[1] 

 

[1] Cited at Tuckett and Wilson, The Martin Harris Story, 90.

 

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“New York Attorney General: Religious Freedom for One is Freedom for All: Elder Christofferson offers keynote at event honoring Attorney General Eric Schneiderman”

 

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“Religious Freedom Is the Hard Work of Citizenship, Church Leader Says: General Authority Seventy joins Catholics, Muslims, Jews and others at Detroit conference”

 

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“Mormon women’s leader speaks at European Parliament conference”

 

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I love the fact that she’s a native-speaker of Spanish who comes from the general region.  And it’s helpful, though sorrowful, that she can speak with a special kind of sympathy to this situation:

 

“Relief Society Leader Meets Earthquake Survivors in Mexico”

 

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This link will give you some idea of recent activities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 

“Mormons Around the World Country Newsroom Websites November 6, 2017”

 

I’m so happy to be a contributing member — however weak and inadequate and inconsequential — of such an organization.

 

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I love what was done here:

 

“Mormon Congregation Attends Jewish Shabbat Service in Church Meetinghouse”

 

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Viewed correctly and in the right mood, some of my critics can be a source of virtually endless mirth and enjoyment.  Here’s one, for example, who summarizes the argument of my recent post “Theories are like a pair of spectacles” as “Reality is a matter of perspective and, therefore, the Church is true.”

 

Go ahead, boys and girls.  See if you can derive “Reality is a matter of perspective and, therefore, the Church is true” from what I actually wrote.

 

Anybody who can do it will receive an all-expenses-paid 2018 premium model left-handed smoke shifter, as well as a coveted state hunting permit valid for the 2018-2019 snipe season.

 

 


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