Preparing a Prophet

The end of the semester has finally come, meaning that I have been in the process of preparing my final lecture of the semester on D&C 138 and Official Declaration 2.  I knew that one of the things I wanted to do with D&C 138 was to give some background on why this specific revelation may have come to President Joseph F. Smith rather than others.  I knew that his story was critical to the preparation to receive this revelation.  I knew that President Smith had experienced the trial of death more than anyone should ever have to experience that trial, beginning in 1844 with the death of his father when he was just five years old.  I knew that the context of World War One, the 1918 Flu Epidemic, and the death of his son Hyrum Mack Smith in 1918 all played a role in the timing of this revelation.  Further, I knew that at the time of that revelation, President Smith was critically ill himself and would die a little more than a month later, perhaps causing him to contemplate the Spirit World more than usual.

One thing that I hadn't realized, however, was just how deeply personal this story was.  As I studied up on President Smith, I learned that he had lost 13 children during his life, the last being the death of his Apostle son Hyrum Mack.  Wanting to help that number come alive, I decided to choose one of his children and look through President Smith's rich diaries to give a specific example of how difficult this challenge had been for him.  The entries I found were humbling and emotional.  Here are four examples regarding the death of his beloved daughter Rhoda.

“This morning my little Rhoda was again taken suddenly very sick. . . . while in a meeting of the brethren of the Twelve and the attorneys, a messenger brought me word that my little Rhoda was having convulsions.  I hastened home calling for H. J. Richards who accompanied me, and found the baby very sick, although her temperature was only 102.  I administered to her and she seemed better.”

Joseph F. Smith, diary, June 28, 1879.

“Another restless night with the baby. . . . I began to feel alarmed about her.  She is very sick, and my sympathies run away with my faith.  Still I keep administering and exercising all the faith I can, and I believe she will recover.  At least I claim that blessing at the hand of the Lord.  I do not want to bury my children.”  Joseph F. Smith, diary, June 30, 1879.

“I again watched with the baby until 4 a.m. . . . About 11 p.m. the baby commenced coughing and continued without ceasing nearly all the remainder of the night, which completely exhausted her, and this morning we are almost ready to despair at her recovery.  She was never so low before, nor have we ever had a child so low recover.  Still I will hope and pray.  She is a most beautiful, intelligent and attractive little child, and for nearly 1 year has she been the loved pet of all the family.  I have often shrunk from the thought that we loved the little darling too much, for our hearts are set upon her.  And now I pray God to spare her to us.” Joseph F. Smith, diary, July 3, 1879.

“I had scarcely laid down when I was called, as soon as possible I dressed and entered the sick room.  I found my precious, beloved darling beloved one dying.  I took her on the pillow and walked the floor with her, she again revived, but only lingered about an hour and died in my arms at 1:40 a.m.  Now God only knows how deeply we mourn.  This is the 5^th death in my family.  All my little ones most beloved!  O God help us to bear this trial! . . . O! who can tell the aching sorrows of the heart torn and lacerated to the very core by the cruel merciless hand of death!  O! how we loved that brightest, sweetest darling babe!”  Joseph F. Smith, diary, July 6-7, 1879.

As I read those diary entries, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the grief that President Smith was experiencing in this moment.  What absolute anguish this must have produced for him.  And he had to go through this experience 8 more times following the death of his little Rhoda.  Surely there must have been days when he wondered why the Lord was continuing to try him with the same kind of heart-wrenching experience.  Surely there was some other way that he could be tried, sparing the lives of his little children.

I don't know all of the reasons why someone would be called to undergo something like that 13 times, but I do know that God never calls His children to pass through any affliction without some greater purpose in that trial.  In the process of these experiences, President Smith's mind surely became fixed upon the Spirit World to which his beloved children had been taken.  Nearing the end of his life, I can only assume that his thoughts turned more and more toward his upcoming reunion with his parents, Rhoda, Hyrum Mack, and his other children who had preceded him in death.  Then, in the opportune moment, God opened President Smith's eyes and gave him answers regarding the place where those loved ones had gone and the work that they were performing there.  I can hardly imagine a more comforting answer.

And so if there are trials and challenges in our lives that just seem to repeat themselves constantly, burdens continually recur, perhaps we can take heart from the story of President Smith.  Perhaps we can know that even while answers may not come immediately, they will come.  And perhaps God is preparing us to see what others have not seen, to know what others have not known, and to experience what others have not experienced, that they too might be blessed by the revelations which flow.

Brett