December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

PROPHET OF THE LORD, BY DAVID LINDSLEY
18
IKnew
The following artwork features
the Prophet Joseph
Smith and is accompanied
by narratives from Latter-day Saints
who knew him. While some accounts
were written near the time of the
event and others long after, they all
speak of Joseph Smith’s noble character
and countenance. All bear testimony
that he was a prophet of God.
Bathsheba W. Smith, wife of the
Prophet’s cousin George A. Smith,
wrote:
“The Prophet was a handsome
man—splendid looking, a large man,
tall and fair. He had a very nice complexion.
His eyes were blue, and his
hair a golden brown, and very pretty.
“My first impressions were that he
was an extraordinary man, a man of
great penetration; was different from
any other man I ever saw; had the
most heavenly countenance; was
genial, affable and kind; and looked
the soul of honor and integrity.
“I know him to be what he
professed to be—a true prophet
of God.” 1 ■
NOTE
1. Quoted in They Knew the Prophet, comp.
Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus
(1974), 122.
JOSEPH TOOK HIS HANDKERCHIEF FROM HIS POCKET, BY CLARK KELLEY PRICE
Above: Margarette and Wallace McIntire got
stuck in the mud near Joseph’s store in Nauvoo.
Margarette wrote: “We began to cry. . . . But
looking up, I beheld the loving friend of children,
the Prophet Joseph, coming to us. He soon had
us on higher and drier ground. Then he stooped
down and cleaned the mud from our little,
heavy-laden shoes, took his handkerchief from
his pocket and wiped our tear-stained faces.
He spoke kind and cheering words to us,
and sent us on our way to school rejoicing”
(in Andrus, 127).
FAMILY VISIT TO LIBERTY JAIL, BY JOSEPH BRICKEY
Above: Amidst his suffering in Liberty Jail,
the Prophet found joy in a visit from
Emma and their son. He loved his family.
Speaking of a happier time, Brother
Benjamin F. Johnson wrote of a Sunday
morning when he was sitting with the
Prophet in the Mansion House in
Nauvoo. Two of the children came to the
Prophet “as just from their mother, all so
nice, bright and sweet. Calling them to
my attention, he said, ‘Benjamin, look at
these children. How could I help loving
their mother?’ ” (in Andrus, 88).
Right: Telling of the last free days of the
Prophet and his brother Hyrum in 1844,
Mercy R. Thompson wrote: “The two
brothers then started to cross the river, . . .
[but] they returned to Nauvoo. . . . My
feelings were indescribable, and the very
air seemed burdened with sorrowful
forebodings” (in Andrus, 121).