Joseph Smith leg surgery

In 1811, when Joseph Smith Jr. was six years old, the Smith family moved to Lebanon, New Hampshire. The family finally had the funds to enroll the children in school, and were making plans for the future. Hyrum Smith began attending school at an academy in Hanover and the other children went to the common school in the village. However, the schooling stopped in 1813, because typhus fever broke out and all the children caught it.

The plague felled thousands in the valley and was extremely serious.Joseph was only sick for a short time when he began to recover. One day, he suddenly cried out in pain, and told his family that his shoulder hurt. The family called for the doctor, who told the family that Joseph had sprained his shoulder. Joseph protested, saying that he had done nothing to his shoulder, but the doctor treated it as a sprain.

The pain in Joseph’s shoulder did not stop but rather continued for another two weeks, when the doctor was called for again. The doctor examined the shoulder and found a fever sore. He lanced the sore and Joseph reported that the pain immediately left his shoulder and moved to his left shin. Just a short time later, the leg began to swell and Joseph suffered another two weeks of almost constant pain. During this time, Joseph’s mother often carried him, and was exhausted from caring for all the ill children.

She became ill as well, so Joseph’s older brother Hyrum took over the care of his brother.A surgeon was called for and Joseph’s leg was opened and drained. The pain stopped, but as soon as the wound began to heal the pain came back. The surgeon came again and repeated the procedure, this time cutting into the leg all the way to the bone, but the results were the same as the first time.Multiple surgeons then examined Joseph’s leg and concluded that the infection had made its way all the way to the bone and that the only way to save Joseph’s life was to amputate the leg.

Joseph’s mother protested and begged the surgeons to try a new surgery they’d mentioned. This new surgery would remove the dead bone and infected flesh. The hope was that the bone that was left would regenerate. The surgeons had never performed this surgery before.They decided to attempt the surgery. Joseph requested that he not be bound during the surgery, but would have his father hold him instead. Joseph also refused liquor to deaden the pain. He asked his mother to go somewhere where she would not hear his cries of pain, because he was concerned at how exhausted she was and knew that she could not stand it. The surgery was performed and Joseph immediately began to recover.

There was no sign of the infection, but the leg took a long time to heal and Joseph was on crutches for three years. He limped for the rest of his life.The cost of doctors and treatment left the family destitute again. Their destitution limited the educational opportunities of all the children and forced the Smith family to relocate again. However, their poverty caused them to end up in Palmyra, very close to where the gold plates (Book of Mormon) were buried, so the hand of God can be seen in the family’s afflictions.

The story of Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith Jr.
1805-1844

Born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, to Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith Jr. grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York.Though in his youth Joseph was largely deprived of a formal education, he was instructed in reading, writing, and the ground rules of arithmetic. Joseph's mother said that he was often "given to meditation and deep study."

Affected by the great religious excitement taking place around his home in Manchester, New York, in 1820, fourteen-year-old Joseph was determined to know which of the many religions he should join. He encountered a passage in the Bible instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God" (James 1:5). Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph went to a secluded woods to ask God which church he should join. According to his account, while praying Joseph was visited by two "personages" who identified themselves as God the Father and Jesus Christ. He was told not to join any of the churches.

In 1823, Joseph Smith said he was visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. In 1827, Joseph retrieved this record, inscribed on thin golden plates, and shortly afterward began translating its words by the "gift of God."3 The resulting manuscript, the Book of Mormon, was published in March 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.

Joseph married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and devoted husband. They had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture; sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples; served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. He was a controversial figure in American history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was persecuted much of his adult life and was killed along with his brother Hyrum by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844.

Welcome.

I have created this blog with the intent to share the truth about Joseph Smith the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...aka "The Mormons."

I DO NOT worship Joseph Smith! I revere him as a Prophet of God just like Moses, Abraham, Issac and Jacob.

I will post true stories about Joseph Smith along with quotes relating to the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Check back...as more will be forthcoming!

Thanks.