Resurrection/Burial

In a discourse given by Joseph Smith on April 16, 1843 in the unfinished Nauvoo temple (the walls being only four to twelve feet high), he placed great importance on this subject and related a small portion of a vision he experienced that is to provide comfort and reassurance. Recorded by two eyewitnesses, no other accounts of this vision exist: “He wished all of the saints to be comforted with the victory they were to gain by the resurrection. It is sufficient to encourage the saints to overcome in the midst of every trial, trouble, and tribulation. Though thunders roar and earthquakes bellow, lightnings flash and wars are upon every hand, yet suffer not a joint to tremble nor let not your heart faint. For the great Elohim will deliver you and, if not before the resurrection, will set you eternally free from all these things: from pain, sorrow, and death. I have labored hard and sought every way to try to prepare this people to comprehend the things that God is unfolding to me. In speaking of the resurrection I would say that God hath shown unto me a vision of the resurrection of the dead and I saw the graves open and the saints as they arose, took each other by the hand, even before they got up or while getting up, and great joy and glory rested upon them.”¹ “Would you think it strange that I relate what I have seen in vision in relation [to] this interesting theme[?] Those who have died in Jesus Christ may expect to enter in all that fruition of joy when they come forth, which they have pursued here. So plain was the vision I actually saw men, before they had ascended from the tomb, as though they were getting up slowly, they took each other by the hand. And it was my father and my son, my mother and my daughter, my brother and my sister. When the voice calls, suppose I am laid by the side of my father. What would be the first joy of my heart? Where is my father, my mother, my sister? They are by my side. I embrace them and they me. It is my meditation all the day, and more than my meat and drink, to know how I shall make the saints of God to comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind…. O how I would delight to bring before you things which you never thought of, but poverty and the cares of the world prevent. But I am glad that I have the privilege of communicating to you some things, which if grasped closely will be a help to you when the clouds are gathering and the storms are ready to burst upon you like peels of thunder. Lay hold of these things and let not your knees tremble nor your hearts faint. What can earthquakes do, wars and tornadoes do? Nothing. All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue faithful. By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it. More painful to me [is] the thought of annihilation than death. If I had no expectation of seeing my mother, brother, and sisters, and friends again, my heart would burst in a moment and I should go down to my grave. The expectation of seeing my friends in the morning of the resurrection cheers my soul and make[s] me bear up against the evils of life. It is like their taking a long journey and on their return we meet them with increased joy. God has revealed His Son from the Heavens and the doctrine of the resurrection also. And we have a knowledge that these we bury here, God bring[s] them up again, clothed upon and quickened by the spirit of the great God.”²