As the print edition of this issue of the Church News appears, it is 165 years to the day since the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Carthage, Ill., on June 27, 1844.

Today, perhaps more precisely than at any time in history, the prophecy of the visiting angel Moroni is being fulfilled that Joseph's name "should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people" (Joseph Smith — History 1:33).

With the advent of the Information Age and the pervasiveness of the World Wide Web, material about the Prophet Joseph Smith is widely and instantly accessible today. Regrettably, much of it distorts history and capitalizes on misunderstanding in an effort to vilify the Prophet, bringing to pass that portion of Moroni's prediction.

Conversely, the restored Church of Christ is larger today than at any time in its 179-year history. Consequently, more people today than ever before recognize and revere Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the dispensation of the fulness of times, the vessel God chose for establishing His Church, restoring His gospel and bringing priesthood authority again to the earth.

Joseph Smith's mission was foretold in ancient times by another prophet named Joseph, he who was sold into Egypt (see 2 Nephi 3). With striking clarity, that earlier Joseph prophesied that in latter-days, the Lord would raise up a choice seer, one who would be named Joseph and would be called after the name of his own father. The latter-day Joseph would bring the Israelite descendants to a knowledge of the covenants the Lord had made with their fathers (see verses 7 and 15).

Consistent with that prophecy, the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in March 1829, "This generation shall have my word through you" (Doctrine and Covenants 5:10).

It was a mission the Prophet fulfilled with honor, but not without paying a dear price, as he was victimized by persecution culminating in his death. It is that sacrifice we remember on this day.

Today, the scene of that sacrifice, the jail in Carthage, Ill., is preserved as a Church historic site, a visitor attraction, where the anniversary of the martyrdom is commemorated annually by local Church leaders and missionaries.

In Nauvoo, just a 20-minute drive to the west of Carthage, stands the magnificent Nauvoo Illinois Temple, completed in 2002 on the precise location and with an identical exterior to the sacred edifice that was still under construction when Joseph and Hyrum were killed.

Among other things, the temple is, like the preserved Carthage Jail, a monument to the Prophet's mission and sacrifice. By design, its opening dedication session was planned and conducted by President Gordon B. Hinckley to coincide with the precise day and hour — June 27 at 5 p.m. — when the Prophet and his brother were killed.

Some today dispute Joseph's status as a martyr. They reason that the Prophet and his supportive companions resisted the advance of the murderous mob that took the lives of Joseph and Hyrum and that a martyr would have given up his life willingly.

Yet, the deaths of such recognized martyrs as the apostle Paul illustrate that a martyrdom consists not so much in willingly giving up one's life as it does in refusing to renounce one's convictions and beliefs as a condition for being allowed to remain alive. In this, Joseph qualifies in every whit.

We, therefore, declare in the words of W.W. Phelps' laudatory hymn:

Praise to his mem'ry, he died as a martyr;

Honored and blest be his ever great name!

(Hymns, "Praise to the Man," No. 27)

On this anniversary day, the words of Joseph Smith's current successor in the presidency of the Church, President Thomas S. Monson, are especially appropriate: "We are provided comfort as we realize that Joseph Smith's martyrdom was not the last chapter in this account. Although those who sought to take his life felt that the Church would collapse without him, his powerful testimony of truth, the teachings he translated, and his declaration of the Savior's message go on today in the hearts of over 12 million members throughout the world who proclaim him a prophet of God" (October 2005 general conference).