“As we celebrate this joyous occasion, the 200th anniversary of the First Vision, we should always remember the price Joseph and Hyrum Smith paid, along with so many other faithful men, women, and children, to establish the Church so you and I could enjoy the many blessings and all of these revealed truths we have today. Their faithfulness should never be forgotten!”
Elder M. Russell Ballard, “Shall We Not Go On in So Great a Cause?”, General Conference, April 2020
I was studying my patriarchal blessing the other day and I wanted to know exactly who the patriarch was. I wanted to know who Theodore Fawns Smith was. He is the great grandson of Solas Smith, who was Joseph Smith Sr.’s brother. Now, granted his grandfather had like 40 kids so the family is pretty big.
That made me start thinking of others in the Smith family who wasn’t Joseph Smith Jr. How were their lives impacted? What did they have to go through? Did they follow Joseph undoubtedly? I know Hyrum did without question or doubt. But did his cousins?
Well, knowing who Theodore was, to me, kind of personalized the Smith family a bit more, making me appreciate my blessing even more. It makes me appreciate more the price those guys paid for me personally.