Having finished his mission, accomplished all in the flesh the Lord gave him to do, the Prophet Joseph Smith suffered the shedding of his blood at the hands of a wicked mob, June 27th, 1844, in Carthage, Illinois. Why was he slain? His doctrine, his promises, his life, his prophecies, all proved him to be a prophet of God before he died a martyr. Let the Scriptures answer the question: "For where a testament is, there must also of a necessity be the death of the testator." (Heb. ix:16.) God gave to the world through Joseph Smith a new testament of the plan of salvation. He gave the Book of Mormon, a record of the Gospel to the ancient inhabitants of America. He gave the Doctrine and Covenants, containing the revelations of God to the Saints of the last days. These do not supplant the Bible. They prove it true, and all agree in one. "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." Through Joseph, to this generation, came the witness of the Holy Ghost and the authority of the Holy Priesthood. By the continuation of that authority the Church exists today, with the Prophet Joseph F. Smith as its earthly living head. Every Elder of the Church can trace his authority back directly to Joseph Smith, who was ordained by the apostles Peter, James and John, who received it from the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith's testimony is weighty. It effects the whole world. The evidence must also be weighty, and it can now be said that no class of evidence was withheld. He gave all that any Prophet ever gave, including life itself. He sealed his testimony with his blood and his testimony is in force upon all the world. The sealing of his testimony with his blood also accords with ancient prophecy. John the Revelator was called into a high mountain to see the visions of the future. Read (Rev. iv:1). Also, among other things, the apostle says: "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." (Rev. vi:9-11.)