My family and I had the opportunity to visit Salt Lake City last weekend. While at Temple Square, we watched the film “The Restoration” in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. From the film, I was again reminded of the selfless sacrifices early saints made because of their faith in the gospel. It’s hard to imagine what it would have been like to leave so much behind to move to a distant land; sometimes by choice and other times by force, due to persecution. In an excerpt from one of my ancestor’s journal, Charles Negus Carroll, who had traveled by boat and crossed the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. On his journey he lost his wife and three of his four children, he said, “It had been an uphill climb every step of the way. He remembered it all with a sad heart, but not with a sinking spirit; for when a man leaves father, mother, country, and all for a principle, he is pretty sure to be immovably convinced that the principle is right.”
Along with the sacrifices that early saints made, I especially marvel at the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is impressive to think of what he accomplished during his life and I am grateful for the sacrifices he made so that the gospel of Jesus Christ could be restored. Sitting the next day in the Conference Center for General Conference, the fruits of Josephs Smith’s life were evident. In D&C 135:3 it reads, “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain…”
I am grateful for the early pioneers and for the prophet Joseph Smith.
I know that it is through sacrifice and obedience to the principles of the gospel that our testimony in Jesus Christ grows. What a wonderful legacy to be a part of.
Emily Staheli
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