There has never been a time when the name of Joseph Smith has been both good and evil spoken of by more people in more nations than now. And as many wonder about Joseph Smith – who and what he was, consider the significance of this story.

Beginning in June of 1839, the Latter-day Saints in Commerce, Illinois began to grow very ill with a mysterious disease they called the ‘Ague.’ Today we would know the malady as mosquito-borne malaria. It was not a trifling thing, as it brought many down to the grave. So many were afflicted that there were not beds sufficient nor nurses available for their care. Clean drinking water was in high demand, and since the waters of Mississippi River were not fit for consumption, water was brought from miles around and shared with the sick. The misery became so deep and pervasive among the citizens that “it was frequently declared that the persecutions in Missouri were small matters compared to the miseries endured at this period in Nauvoo.”

Benjamin Brown was among those brought down. He sunk so low that he was in a coma and all thought he was dying. “Doubtless,” he said, “I should have died, but one day Joseph Smith was passing by my door…and was called in, and, as I was afterwards informed, laid his hands upon me, and commanded me to rise and walk in the name of the Lord.”

And what happens next is remarkable by any standard. Benjamin said, “The first thing I knew was that I found myself walking on the floor, perfectly well, and within ten minutes afterwards I was out of the house visiting my daughter, whom I had not seen for nearly a month. I felt so full of joy and happiness, that I was greatly surprised that everyone else was not as full of praise as myself.”

Benjamin Brown received a miracle. He knew it, and he knew that God knew it. And though the world might be indifferent, scoff or seek to explain away his witness, still he knew. The lack of faith in the Savior’s priesthood troubled him. In irrefutable logic Benjamin responded thus:

“This man, Joseph Smith, was the one that the world says was an impostor, and a false prophet, and either deny that he ever performed any miracle, or, if any are too well attested to be denied, attribute them to the power of the imagination over the body. Was it the power of imagination over the body, that cured me, when I did not even hear Joseph's voice, or know that any operation on my behalf was going on, until I found myself well? The honest in heart will judge righteously.”

And, my friends, so they will, but let this modern world be duly warned that witnesses of truth cannot and should not be ignored.