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Of Christ’s effort to restore the fulness of His Gospel and build Zion on earth He
said to Joseph Smith: “Unto this end have I raised you up, that I might show forth my
wisdom through the weak things of the earth.” Few men began life in as low and humble
a state as did the Prophet Joseph. Nine living children in his Father’s family, after 1821, in
rugged frontier conditions, made the constant labor of each member necessary in order to
survive. “Suffice it to say,” Joseph noted, “I was merely instructed in reading, writing and
the ground rules of arithmetic, which constituted my whole literary acquirements.” His
cousin, George A. Smith, spoke of him at the beginning of his career as "a ploughboy,...
one who cultivated the earth, and had scarcely education enough to read his Bible."