they would not hear

Why is it so hard to accept correction, guidance, or change?

"Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and old slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time. And now when ye talk, ye say: if our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out. Behold ye are worse than thy; for as the Lord liveth, if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all number of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil." Helaman 13:24-26

Every day thousands of people reject the words of the prophets. Missionaries carrying the good news of the Savior of all Mankind are shot, beaten, spat upon, and have doors slammed in their faces. Would these same people have stoned the prophets and refused to listen to Jesus himself if they had lived in those days? Why? Accepting these messages means change and change is not always easy or comfortable.

"Therefore, I would that ye should know, that after the Lord had shown so many marvelous things unto my father, Lehi, yea concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, behold he went forth among the people, and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard. And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations; and he testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the things which he read in the book, manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the world. And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, ans stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away, But behold, I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith , to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance" 1 Nephi 1:18-20

While many do not listen to the missionaries and the prophets, some do. Joseph Smith, the first prophet in this dispensation, had mixed success. Many listened to his words, were converted, and chose to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Others drove him from place to place, persecuted him, imprisoned him , and finally killed him.

"Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear; for my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly. Thy brethren have rejected you and your testimony, even the nation that has driven you out; and now cometh the day of their calamity, even the days of sorrow, like a woman that is taken in travail; and their sorrow shall be great unless they speedily repent, yea very speedily. For they killed the prophets and them that were sent unto them; and they have shed innocent blood, which crieth from the ground against them." Doctrine and Covenants 136:32-36

Although the leaders of the states, communities, and even the nation could have stood up to protect the Constitutional rights of the early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, they did not. They rejected the prophet and his message of peace. The leaders of the church tried to use ever legal form of protection and protest against their persecutors. The leaders refused to uphold the law. The people of the United States killed God's prophet and drove His church from the land. The members traveled across the wilderness, many dying along the way, to a place that was desolate and unwanted. As with Jesus, Paul, and Lehi, Joseph Smith attempted to teach the world something they desperately needed. However, because they were comfortable in their sinful, carnal, and devilish ways, they would not hear and killed the messenger. This is a testimony of the truthfulness of Joseph Smith's claims of Godly and angelic visions, the translating of gold plates into the Book of Mormon, and his divine calling of prophet, seer, and revelator.