The editor of United by Faith: The Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family, released last week, Walker wanted to focus on the people who provided the teaching, strength and emotional support for Joseph.

Each chapter of the book focuses on one member of the Smith family—their life, experiences and testimonies.

“I don’t think there’s a more powerful witness than the Smith family,” Walker said. “All 10 of these family members supported [Joseph] completely … and believed in his prophetic role.”

Walker first became interested in doing this project when he was researching Joseph’s sister Catherine and he realized how much information about the Smith family was virtually unknown to the public.

Traveling to many Church sites, including Palmyra, Independence and Nauvoo, Walker and other contributing authors discovered documents, journals and letters that aided in the reflections of the Smith family members.

Walker and Roy Huff, associate academic vice principal, coauthored the chapter on Don Carlos. “It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know these [lesser-known] characters in church history,” Huff said. “[Don Carlos] played a much bigger role than we know.”

The book has nine authors, total including Walker, Huff and other prominent church historians and BYU-Idaho faculty.

Walker said it was interesting to learn about the life of Catherine — her life after the martyrdom, living next to the people who killed her brother, and the trials and experiences she and her family faced.

Walker has been continually impressed with the Smith family as he studied them. “One thing that keeps jumping out at me is that this was a good family. These were good people. Their character shines through throughout their lives,” he said.

Huff said he got to know Joseph in a totally different light, understand the deep love Joseph had for his family and see the workings of God to prepare the Smith family for the restoration.

With so much opposition, the Smiths were all there to support Joseph. “The other members of the family were placed there for a reason,” he said.

Walker also said that an unexpected aspect of the research was that it turned into a missionary tool. They were able to create friendships with descendants they met and share photos and research. None of them are taking the missionary discussions, but “their [ancestors’] faith in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon comes through in their stories. That’s a missionary tool in itself,” Walker said.

Walker will soon publish a companion volume to United by Faith that will focus more closely on the dynamics and identity of the Smith family as a whole.

There will be a book signing Tuesday from 12-1:30 p.m. in front of the bookstore.