Joyful Wells | Sharing Cups of Water

Most Mormons are familiar with Martin Harris's involvement in the early days of the Restoration, but some aspects of the story should receive more attention. Here's my take.  The plates were given to 21-year-old Joseph on September 22nd, 1827. He began translating them about two months later, in late December [1], with help from his pregnant wife, Emma, and close friend, Martin Harris, who were his  scribes. Emma was his first scribe from the beginning, and Martin stepped in for her on April 12th, 1828, a few months later.  It's helpful to know the date Martin stepped in for Emma because, as it turns out, this was when she entered her third trimester. Evidently, help was needed, and Martin could be trusted to assist in the work and be close to the family during this time.  On June 14th, after translating nearly every day and completing 116 pages, the work needed to stop. Emma is now about to give birth.  As Martin prepares to leave,...

During the early days of translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph encountered a problem. David Whitmer describes the situation this way: "He [Joseph Smith] was a religious and straightforward man. . . . He had to trust in God. He could not translate unless he was humble and possessed the right feelings towards everyone .  To illustrate so you can see: One morning when he was getting ready to continue the translation, something went wrong about the house and he was put out about it. Something that Emma, his wife, had done.  Oliver and I went upstairs and Joseph came up soon after to continue the translation but he could not do anything. He could not translate a single syllable.  He went downstairs, out into the orchard, and made supplication to the Lord; was gone about an hour - came back to the house, and asked Emma's forgiveness and then came upstairs where we were and then the translation went on all right.  He could do nothing save he was humble and faithful." (Sai...