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My Story Twice Begins in Nauvoo… Perhaps you already know me. For the past four years I have been making short LDS oriented films and sharing the gospel online. My purpose in writing this article is to let you know why I do what I do and to encourage you to do what you can do. My name is Seth Adam Smith and my story twice begins in Nauvoo.
Before my mission, in the fall of 2004, I had the rare opportunity to attend the now closed BYU Semester at Nauvoo. While there, I had many spiritual experiences awaken me to the reality of my pioneer heritage. I no longer saw Brigham Young, Eliza R. Snow, Heber C. Kimball and others as just figures in history that wore funny clothes—I saw them as real people; whose hopes, dreams, pains and struggles were as honest and as real as mine. One night, while enjoying some music on my walk, a popular song came on. As I listened to the lyrics, I walked by the grave of Joseph Smith; thinking about him, I realized that many of the thoughts expressed in the song could match up to the Prophet’s life. It had been a hobby of mine since high school to edit and produce short films with my friends. So, with a level of excitement, I sat down at a school computer and made what has become known as "Joseph Smith: A True Super Man," and I shared it with everyone at the BYU Semester at Nauvoo. A Life-Changing Event Shortly after this, I left on my mission to Russia, Vladivostok. But less than a year had passed before I came home due to many medical complications and other severe problems. When the shock of this wore off, I sank into despair. I couldn’t understand how God could let this happen to me. Nor did I know how I could recover from such a negative life-changing event. For nearly ten months I was consumed by depression and doubt and very little light entered my life. Father Tony and Saint Anthony
In an effort to help their struggling son, my parents offered to take me back to Nauvoo in October of 2006. Remembering the good times I had and the Spirit I had felt there, I gladly agreed. While there, I met with someone I had befriended a year earlier: Father Tony of the Catholic Church in Nauvoo. He invited me to his home and I let him know of my struggles. After a short pause he shared with me a story that I will never forget. "Seth," he began, "I’m named after Saint Anthony of Padua." Father Tony then went on to explain that when Anthony was younger, he wanted more than anything to preach the gospel. In fact, after joining the Franciscan Order in 1221, St. Anthony not only set off for Morocco to preach the gospel, he also intended on dying while doing it. However, upon his arrival in Morocco, St. Anthony became so ill that he had no choice but to return home. Devastated and sickly, St. Anthony took up work in the kitchen of a rural hospice of San Paolo, Italy living as a hermit, likely ashamed of his perceived failures as a missionary. Some time later, a great ordination was taking place where St. Anthony lived. But there was some misunderstanding over who would preach, and as a result the head of the hermitage quickly called upon St. Anthony to speak whatever the Holy Spirit should put into his mouth. Humbly, St. Anthony took to the pulpit and captured the collected audience with his moving words. From that moment on, St. Anthony began his journey into spiritual history as a man who preached to millions with riveting substance and eloquence. After he finished telling this story, Father Tony leaned in and said to me, "Perhaps the Lord is calling you on a different mission." Back to the Beginning That night, I found myself at the bench near Joseph Smith’s grave, pondering the words which Father Tony had shared with me. I thought about the church history videos I had made and the increasing popularity of websites like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and blogging. It was then that I determined to continue my missionary efforts.
When I came home from Nauvoo I produced a flurry of LDS oriented videos, immediately uploading them to YouTube and Google Video and sharing them through MySpace, Facebook and emails. The response was tremendous and overwhelming. Naturally, I received many responses from enemies of the Church, but I also got emails and comments from many sincere and loving Mormons from around the world. From October 2006 to February 2007, I received over 25,000 views and nearly one hundred subscribers. This, coupled with the love and support from my family, encouraged me to create more short films, spurred me on to greater heights and gave my life a sense of purpose. I found myself studying the gospel more and being invigorated by the truths that I learned. The more videos I made, the more my testimony grew. The more I served, the stronger I became. The more I exposed myself to the light and shared it with others, the less darkness and despair I felt for myself. A Different Mission Sharing the gospel online has not been without struggles. Each week presents a new challenge and there remains opposition in all things. The enemies of the Church continue to rail and defame, but the truth of God will continue to go forward. Recently, the Church has announced its own YouTube site with weekly video uploads and there is a formidable force of LDS bloggers currently and consistently working to share the gospel. I personally have had the great blessing to work closely with the More Good Foundation, a group of people dedicated to sharing the gospel through positive media online. Their contributions and continuing efforts have been tremendous and immeasurable. Early in 2008, Meridian Magazine became a beacon of light when it began to feature select videos from various authors and share them as a weekly cover story. Meanwhile, people like lds 9999, mormons 101, davidkat 99 and countless others have risen to the challenges and have gone above and beyond in making, sharing and promoting positive LDS media. When I began to produce and share my small collection of LDS videos in 2006, I was one in a very small group of LDS video producers. Since that time, my videos have gone from 25,000 views and one hundred subscribers to 3 million views and over 2,200 subscribers. I have produced well over 200 films on various video sharing sites while this past year I have focused, in particular, on making films for the Russian saints as a means of continuing my missionary labors. I have made films for Baylor University, the largest Baptist University in the world, and for charitable organizations like the Anasazi Foundation and the Forever Young Foundation. What Can You Do? Since the Fall of 2004 and my semester at Nauvoo, my life has come full circle and I am presently engaged in producing short films in HD for the Nauvoo University project currently underway. Of the many emails that I get, I am often confronted with a comment similar to this one: "Oh, if only I could make videos like you could, then I would be able to do this, or this, or this…if only I could do this…then I could do this…" My reply to that is what I learned from my friend, Father Tony: Do what you can. Don’t focus on what you can’t do. That will only bring despair. I wasted months of my life focusing on not being on a mission—focusing on what I couldn’t do. Perhaps you can’t make videos, but you might be a teacher like Father Tony was to me, or a great speaker like Saint Anthony. Perhaps you’re shy, but you could be a great example or someone that can testify simply and powerfully. Perhaps you have talents in art, music, dance, theatre, languages, writing or simply in being Christ-like. If so, perhaps the Lord is calling you on a different kind of mission. Perhaps the Lord is calling you to your mission. www.youtube.com/sethadamsmith
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Missionary
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