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Estella Wilkes
January 11, 2005
Good afternoon, brothers and sisters. We are very pleased to meet with you today. I want you to know that as we look out over the audience, we think that you look wonderful. We noticed. Thank you for how you have come prepared today to the devotional.
I would like to express appreciation for the prayers that have been offered in our behalf and for the beautiful rendition of Joseph Smith’s First Prayer that has been played. As I give my message, you will understand how much it meant to me that they would choose that selection. I am grateful for the spirit that we have felt.
A few days after our sixth son Scott was born, we took him home from the hospital. We were greeted at the front door by our excited children. I sat on the sofa in our living room and began unwrapping the quilts for Scott’s brothers and sisters to meet him. Five-year-old Amanda sat by me. As she saw her brother, she said, “Oh, mama, I am so excited. Even though I have never seen him before, I love him already.” Even though we have not met many of you, we love you already. We pray for you, that you will be happy. We pray that you will work hard, that you will do your very best, that you will be safe, and that this semester will bless your life.
Thank you for being so kind to us. Thank you for your “hellos” as you see us on campus and in some of the buildings. I am grateful for the administration, staff, and faculty. Thank you for your support and all the help you have given to us.
A number of years ago, Bob and I had the opportunity to visit the Smith family cemetery in Nauvoo, Illinois, where the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr., his wife Emma, his older brother Hyrum, his mother Lucy, and his father Joseph Sr. are all buried. The cemetery is not owned by our church. It is a very sacred and beautiful place. I will never forget some of the thoughts I had while I was standing there paying respect to that wonderful family. Those thoughts centered on the remarkable contribution that the family of Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith Sr. made toward the restoration of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The picture of Joseph Smith kneeling in the sacred grove is familiar to most of us. The results of his prayer have been felt throughout the world. Have you ever wondered what inspired a young boy to turn to prayer when he was troubled and doubting? Some have suggested that his mother planted the seeds. When Joseph was nine years old and his sister Sophronia was ten, she was dying with typhus fever. His mother wrote that she and her husband clasped hands, knelt by the side of Sophronia’s bed, and poured out their hearts to Heavenly Father in prayer asking Him to spare their daughter’s life. From that moment, Sophronia improved and completely recovered.
Joseph also came down with typhus fever, and the infection spread to his leg. Caring for her children had drained Mother Smith, and she became very sick herself. Hyrum took care of his younger brother to help his mother. He stayed with Joseph night and day. He would hold his brother’s leg between his hands, pressing on it to help ease the pain. Joseph’s own faith and the faith of his family helped him endure the terrible pain when the operation on his leg took place. Perhaps it was that time from feeling Hyrum’s loving companionship that Joseph and Hyrum began a wonderful companionship and bond that lasted through the end of their lives.
Lucy worried about her husband Joseph Sr. and wanted him to join her in attending religious meetings. She often went to the grove of trees near their home to pray. She wrote:
I retired to a grove not far distant, where I prayed to the Lord in behalf of my husband—that the true gospel might be presented to him and that his heart might be softened so as to receive it, or, that he might become more religiously inclined (Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, p. 43).
When the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored, Joseph’s father became a faithful member. Lucy Mack Smith’s prayers were answered through the prayer of her son.
Think about the kind of home wherein Joseph was reared. He saw his parents kneeling in prayer. He knew his mother went to the grove to pray to Heavenly Father. The family read from the Bible. They sang hymns, and they discussed the scriptures. The children were brought up in an atmosphere of love and faith. They worked together, and they had fun together. There was loyalty between the children and their parents. After Joseph Smith experienced the First Vision, he said, “. . . I went home” (Joseph Smith History 1:20). He found his mother there. He leaned against the fireplace and began to share his experience with her. His mother listened to him. She asked him questions, and she believed her son. His mother shared in his sorrows, in his suffering, in his persecutions, and in his success and joys. She gave continued encouragement, support, and strength to her son.
Joseph Smith Sr. was in tune with the Spirit too. He knew that his young son spoke the truth. He, too, endured persecution and ridicule because of his son’s experience. Yet he was unwavering as he lovingly supported and defended his son.
Through the things that Joseph and his family suffered, they gained strength. When neighbors and friends ridiculed Joseph, he would always turn to his family and home for support.
Each of us is the product of the home where we grew up. During the coming weeks, I hope you feel gratitude for your home and family. I encourage you to express appreciation to your moms, dads, and others for their encouragement, support, and help in making it possible for you to be at this university.
Now you are living in a new home and setting. May you and your roommates or spouse create the kind of home that Joseph Smith grew up in by doing the little things that will create an atmosphere of love each day. In a Relief Society meeting in one of the BYU-Idaho campus wards, the sisters shared what they were doing to strengthen their relationships with roommates. Some were having personnel and family prayers every day, reading the scriptures together, trying to eat one meal together daily, consistently attending their Sunday block of meetings, attending the weekly devotional together, and keeping the commandments so the Holy Ghost could be with them.
In the Doctrine and Covenants, section 64, verse 33, we read: “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” Do the little things each day that will bring an atmosphere of love and increase the faith within your apartments and homes. Our homes and apartments should be places where a person can share their thoughts and feelings and find renewed strength to face the world. Our homes and apartments should be places where there is comfort, understanding, and acceptance. Our homes and apartments should be where best friends live and where we learn to be our best selves.
What a remarkable contribution the Smith family made toward the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ! I know Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God. I know we have a living prophet today, President Gordon B. Hinckley. I know our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ live. I know they love each one of us. I bear this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.