Despite hard trials and difficult separations from her husband, Emma Smith remained faithful to the Lord. It is well known that Emma Smith was the wife of Joseph Smith, the first president of the Relief Society, and the compiler of the first LDS hymnbook. Yet we don’t often hear her words directly. In… Continue reading
Learn about and browse the pages of the first hymnal of the Church. Shortly after her baptism in July 1830, Emma Smith was called by God to compile a hymnbook to edify the Church. The Lord says in Doctrine and Covenants 25:12, “My soul delighteth in the song of the heart;… Continue reading
Preserved through years of toil, travel, and persecution, The Joseph Smith Papers provide answers to questions about early Church history. Joseph Smith once told a congregation, “You don’t know me—and you never will.” Joseph’s life may remain a mystery to some, but The Joseph Smith Papers —a vast collection of revelations,… Continue reading
Like many of us, Joseph Smith struggled to keep a consistent journal. But what he wrote in his 1832–1834 journal can tell us much about him. Church leaders often counsel us to keep a faithful record of our lives. President Spencer W. Kimball instructed the youth to keep a journal,… Continue reading
Learn about this landmark address by Joseph Smith on the nature of God. The nature of God and man has been one of the most hotly contested religious doctrines throughout the ages. The question “Who am I?” is as universal to the human condition as is “What should I have… Continue reading
In a letter to his wife, Emma, the Prophet Joseph Smith shows his willingness to humbly submit to the will of the Lord. In 1832, Joseph Smith and other Church leaders traveled from Ohio to Missouri and back. They were delayed in Indiana for one month on their journey home because Newel… Continue reading
The Joseph Smith Papers project is one of the most significant ongoing projects the Church has ever taken on to preserve its history. Find out how historians are making it happen. Have you ever tried reading old family records? These records can be nearly impossible to read. The ink is… Continue reading
Scholars at the Joseph Smith Papers propose what might have been included in the Book of Commandments if the printing office had not been destroyed by a mob. In July 1833, vigilantes razed William Phelps’s home where he was printing copies of Joseph Smith’s revelations that were then known as… Continue reading
Sometimes we don’t understand the spiritual promptings we receive. But Joseph Smith’s example shows us that as we trust and follow those promptings, we can know for certain that we are doing God’s will. We all have desires, many of them righteous ones. You may want to serve a mission… Continue reading
Before Joseph Smith ran for US president, he established an organization in Nauvoo to govern the temporal concerns of the Saints. He called the group “the Council of Fifty.” I remember the first time I learned about Joseph Smith’s seer stones, polygamous relationships, and other uncomfortable tidbits of Mormon history. I… Continue reading
