Ron and I LOVED it. Emily, not so much. She says that if we were to take her on the same trip NOW she would appreciate it a lot more. I think she's right.
Today, I would like to share an experience as we visited the Liberty Jail in Missouri. It was one of our last stops on our Church History tour before we flew home.
A rendition of the conditions Joseph Smith experienced while staying in Liberty Jail.
There were very few tourists visiting the Liberty Jail the day we visited. The wife of the Director for this particular visitor's center asked the young sister missionaries if she could be our hostess. I am so glad she did, because it was such a wonderful spiritual experience. She gave the three of us our own private tour.
After explaining what happened to Joseph and the other men as they spent several bitter cold months in Liberty Jail she shared a powerful testimony of Joseph Smith. Perhaps because we were so attentive she felt impressed to share the following story.
"A few months ago, we had a tour group come through. They were the direct descendants of Joseph and Emma Smith. As you know, there has been a rift between their family and the Church but in recent years, the rift is healing.
"One of the tour leaders recently joined the Church. He wanted his family to learn more about their family and church history, so he had arranged this tour. Because we knew they were coming, we asked a young sister missionary who is a direct descendant of Hyrum Smith to be their tour guide. She was understandably nervous. Hyrum's family had gone West with the Saints while Joseph's family had stayed in Illinois. How would they react when they found out who she was?
"The Spirit was strong as she led the tour and then shared her testimony of Joseph Smith. She knew he was a prophet of God and she payed tribute to his descendants. The tour leader then shared with this young missionary and his family how he came to join the church.
"He related that for years he was troubled about how Brigham Young could leave Emma and her family behind after Joseph's martyrdom. He needed to understand what had happened.
"One day, he was traveling in his car, listening to some music. Suddenly, the car radio shut off. He fiddled with the dials, but the radio simply stopped working. As he sat in the silence of his car, his mind went back to his great- great-grandmother Emma and again he pondered HOW could Brigham Young and the other church leaders just leave her behind?
"Suddenly, he heard a woman's voice. He said he knew it was Emma. Her voice seemed to come from the radio but he knew it didn't. The woman said, 'I was too tired to go west.'"
After spending nearly 1 1/2 weeks walking the streets that Emma had walked and comprehending more greatly how much Joseph and Emma had gone through, this story really touched me. My heart went out to her for all the trials and sacrifices she had gone through. I could understand how she could be so weary and so tired--after losing several children, her parents and now her beloved husband. I have shared this story a couple of times with others as a lesson that we shouldn't judge others harshly since we don't know all they are going through.
Imagine my joy when I opened up Meridian Magazine's website the other day and learned the "rest of the story." I invite you to follow this link and read what Bob Smith, the direct descendant of Joseph and Emma has to say about hearing Emma tell him "I was too tired to go west" and his decision to join the Church.
http://www.ldsmag.com/index.php?option=com_zine&view=article&Itemid=3&ac=1&id=7384
Too cool! Thanks for posting the link to the article!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED hearing the rest of the story. I'm glad you enjoyed reading the article. It really touched me.
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