Episode Eight: If Any of You Lack Wisdom: Joseph Smith said, “At about the age of twelve years my mind became seriously impressed with regard to the all important concerns for the welfare of my immortal soul, which led me to searching….I pondered many things in my heart concerning the situation of the world of mankind—the contentions and divisions.” This episode of History of the Saints is about that world—the world of 1820, and how it led and prepared Joseph Smith for his experience in the Sacred Grove.

Scholars" Steven Harper, John W. Welch, Richard Bennett, Brian Cannon, Gerrit Dirkmaat, Larry Porter, Jan Shipps

Episode Seven: The Early Years on Palmyra: Palmyra, New York was first settled in 1789 and was called Swift’s Landing after its founder, General John Swift. Then in 1796 the name was changed to Palmyra. By the summer of 1816, word had spread of cheap productive farmland in Palmyra. It was a place of promise and a thriving and growing community. The Smith’s were settled in the village of Palmyra by the spring of 1817. This is the story of those early years in Palmyra leading up to the First Vision.

Scholars: Larry Porter, Donald Enders, Richard L. Anderson, Donald Cannon

Episode Six: The Early Years of the Joseph Smith Sr. Family: Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack were married January 24, 1796 at Tunbridge Vermont. They began their life together with a $1000 wedding present and part ownership of a “handsome” farm, but within a few years they had lost that farm. Those early New England years were difficult enough that by 1816 Father Smith would seek his fortunes in a new land. This is the story of the early years of the Smith family and those circumstances that took them to Palmyra, New York.

Scholars: Richard L. Anderson, Alexander L. Baugh, Larry Porter

Episode Five: The Grandfathers of Joseph Smith: President Brigham Young said of Joseph Smith, “The Lord had his eyes upon him and upon his father and upon his father’s father and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham….He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man.” (DBY 108) This episode of History of the Saints is about the ancestors of Joseph Smith and how that heritage influenced him.

Scholars: Richard L. Anderson, Gene Sessions, Donald Q. Cannon.

Episode Four: The Prelude to the Restoration: Elder Mark E. Petersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “The Restoration of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in these latter days together with the advance preparation of conditions which made it possible, was indeed a divine drama which had many stages and many scenes, some of which were world shaking.” What were some of those moments of providential history that prepared the way for the latter- day restoration? That is this episode of History of the Saints.

Scholars: Andrew Hedges, John W. Welch, Brian Cannon, Richard Bennett, Gene Sessions, Ralph Hancock

Episode Three: The Rise of the Bible: Young Joseph Smith read from the Bible in the spring of 1820 and the history of this world was indisputably and dramatically altered. It may be assumed that everyone in 1820 had a Bible and that it had always been there—and in English, but of course as this episode of History of the Saints will show that was not the case. This episode tells the story of the rise of the King James Bible from the original authors to the time of Joseph Smith.

Scholars: Richard Bennett, Kent Jackson, Andrew Hedges

Episode Two: The First Vision: President Gordon B. Hinckley called the First Vision “The hinge pin on which this whole cause turns….Everything turns on the reality of that First Vision.” In this episode of History of the Saints we tell the story of that monumental and foundational theophany that is so important to Mormonism.

Scholars: Steven Harper, Dean Jessee, Don Enders, Andrew Hedges

Episode One: The Last Days of Brigham Young: Brigham Young governed the Church for 33 years—longer than any other man. He died August 29, 1877 in Salt Lake City. This episode is the story of the legacy and last days of President Brigham Young.

The Last Days of Brigham Young

The first season of the acclaimed History of the Saints documentary  television series begins where the last season of the Joseph Smith  Papers left off; the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith at Carthage, and follows  the Latter-day Saints through the last days of Nauvoo and across the  plains in search of their new home somewhere over the Rocky Mountains. History of the Saints: Gathering to the West contains  35 half-hour episodes and concludes with arrival of President Brigham  Young and the Vanguard Company into the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847.  The producers of this series have combined the most reliable historical  scholarship with music, art, and video, to bring you a product that is  at once instructive and inspiring.