Saturday, August 06, 2016 – Joseph Smith Sr. Family Reunion, Susan Easton Black, M. Russell Ballard

This morning at 5:45 we began preparing the grounds for the reunion of the descendents of Joseph Smith Sr. & Lucy Mack Smith. We had to hurry; we only had an hour and a half because the reunion members would start arriving at 7:15. At 7:00am Bro. Jordon Bodily arrived from FM and told us to put an additional 100 chairs out. Yesterday afternoon we were told to put out 250 chairs but now the attendance was expected to be closer to 400! Sis. Johnson and I got the last 80 chairs out of the storage room and we were still setting them up while guest were arriving.

While I was hauling chairs from the storage room to the lawn, about 75 yards, Sis. Johnson was unstacking and placing them in the seating area.  Much to Sis. Johnson’s surprise a lady came up and helped, it was Sis. Susan Easton Black. Yes that Dr. Susan Easton Black! She is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She is also an author of several books related to Joseph Smith, Jr. and the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  She is the church’s foremost authority on Carthage and Nauvoo. She is one of the preeminent speakers that was scheduled to address the reunion when it started at 8:00am.

Sis. Black and her husband George (also a professor at BYU who has published over 50 books!) pitched right in and helped Sis. Johnson. Sis. Black was beautiful and in her nice dress and her husband in his suit were undaunted as Sis. Johnson insisted she was alright and they didn’t need to help. But, they stayed at it, working side by side with Sis. Johnson, until the all the chairs were in place and aligned in nice straight rows. Sis. Black and her husband are wonderful people. Terms like celebrity, prominence, prestige or fame have no meaning to them; they are truly the “Salt of the Earth.” It was a very touching and emotional moment for Sis. Johnson, one she will remember and cherish.

Sis. Susan Easton Black’s talk at the reunion covered the tragic events of the three days leading up to the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, June 24^th to 27^th, 1844. I suppose the audience couldn’t have gotten a better or more detailed account of those last days of the Joseph’s & Hyrum’s lives without reading one of Dr. Black’s books.

The other preeminent speaker at the reunion was Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles.  He gave a wonderful and touching talk about Joseph’s brother Hyrum Smith. Elder Ballard is a direct descendant of Hyrum Smith. Elder Ballard told how, on the day Joseph and Hyrum left Nauvoo for the last time they traveled on horseback to Carthage. Before leaving, Hyrum was seated on his horse, he reached down and lifted his 5 year old son, Joseph F. Smith up onto his lap. He kissed his son, told him he loved him and said goodbye for the last time. They would never see each other again in mortality.

Elder Ballard went on to say, the events of that day were burned into the memory of a five year old Joseph F. Smith. Throughout his life, Joseph F. Smith, even though he was a prominent church leader, never wanted to go back to Nauvoo or Carthage. His memories were too painful. But finally, when Joseph F. Smith became the 6^th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints he went back to Carthage and went into the room where his father was murdered. Elder Ballard said that Hyrum’s blood stain could still be seen in the grain of the wood on the floor. President Joseph F. Smith knelt down beside the blood stained floor and wept and wept like a five year old.

These past two days with Elder M. Russell Ballard have been wonderful, inspiring and a high light of our mission in Carthage & Nauvoo so far.