Torn From the Society of Thy Family

For me one of the most poignant scenes in the final days of Joseph’s life are the last moments that he had with his family. After deciding against fleeing with Hyrum, he came back across the river to Nauvoo to his family. The Saints book records this: “Joseph longed to preach once more to the Saints, but he stayed home with his family instead. He and Emma gathered their children together, and he blessed them. Early the next morning Joseph, Emma, and their children stepped out of the house. He kissed each of them. ‘You are coming back,’ Emma said through tears.” Joseph loved the Saints and he loved his family, and he couldn’t spend this last day in Nauvoo with both—I believe it is instructive for us all that it was with his family that he remained. Another source gives describes the poignant scene of his goodbye with Emma: “Edwin Rushton remembers Joseph asking his wife the following when he was on his way to Carthage: ‘Emma, can you train my sons to walk in their father’s footsteps?’ She answered, ‘Oh, Joseph, you are coming back.’ Joseph repeated the question three times, reiterating its importance. Even in his last moments, Joseph was concerned about his sacred responsibility to teach his children.” Joseph knew he was to be taken, and his heart yearned for his children to be raised in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That was what was most important in those final days.

                This of course was not the first time he was forced to leave his family to be sent unjustly to prison. He was torn from his family in 1838 in Missouri, and the Lord alluded to that experience as he languished in Liberty Jail: “If they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you?... know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (Doctrine and Covenants 122:6-7). That son was Joseph Smith III, and the Saints book describes that same scene this way shortly after Joseph and the others were captured: “Flanked by armed guards, Joseph was led through the ravaged streets of Far West to gather some belongings from his home. Emma and the children were in tears when he arrived, but they were relieved that he was still alive. Joseph begged his guards to let him visit with his family privately, but they refused. Emma and the children clung to him, unwilling to part. The guards drew their swords and pried them away. Five-year-old Joseph held his father tightly. ‘Why can’t you stay with us?’ he sobbed.” (Joseph III was just five days short of his sixth birthday at the time, which is probably why the book said he was 5 but the Lord said 6 in the revelation.) Joseph recorded the feelings he had being torn from his family in his journal in November 1839: “Who can realize my feelings which I experienced at that time; to be torn from my companion, and leaving her surrounded with monsters in the shape of men, and my children too, not knowing how their wants would be supplied; to be taken far from them in order that my enemies might destroy me when they thought proper to do so. My partner wept, my children clung to me and were only thrust from me by the swords of the guard who guarded me. I felt overwhelmed while I witnessed the scene, and could only recommend them to the care of that God, whose kindness had followed me to the present time; and who alone could protect them and deliver me from the hands of my enemies and restore me to my family.” He loved them earnestly and both of these experiences being sent to jail portray the deep concern and care he had for his family.

                These moments from Joseph’s life remind us that life is fragile and we should seek every opportunity to care for and draw close to our families. In an earlier revelation the Lord said this: “My servant Newel K. Whitney also, a bishop of my church, hath need to be chastened, and set in order his family, and see that they are more diligent and concerned at home, and pray always, or they shall be removed out of their place” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:50). We could probably all use that instruction from the Savior—to be more diligent and concerned at home while we have the chance.