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The Lord raised up Joseph Smith specially to do the work that he performed. He was ordained and appointed before he was born to come upon the stage of action in this age of God's mercy to man, through the loins of ancient Joseph, who was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to lay the foundation of this great and glorious dispensation -- a dispensation that will be marked and distinguished in the annals of human history for its grand and mighty, and also its serious and awful events.
Source: G. Homer Durham, ed. The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1946. 28.
It has been my faith and belief from the time that I was made acquainted with the gospel that no greater prophet than Joseph Smith ever lived on the face of the earth save Jesus Christ. he was raised up to stand at the head of this great dispensation the greatest of all dispensations God has ever given to man. He remarked on several occasions when conversing with his brethren: "Brethren, you do not know me, you do not know who I am."
As I remarked at our priesthood meeting on Friday evening, I have heard him in my early days while conversing with the brethren, say, "I would to God that I could unbosom my feelings in the house of my friends." Joseph Smith was ordained before he came here, the same as Jeremiah was.
Source: G. Homer Durham, ed. The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1946. 43.