Comment by Joseph Carter author of this blog - If you take the time to read this, you will learn that Joseph Smith returned from the other side of the Veil to retrieve Emma, when she was sealed to the Prophet and that this elect lady was priveledged to See her redeemer and savior Jesus Christ.
My Great-Great-Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith
Gracia N. Jones, “My Great-Great-Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith,” Ensign, Aug 1992, 30
Ever since the Prophet Joseph died as a martyr in Carthage, Illinois, some Latter-day Saints have felt disappointment that Joseph’s wife Emma did not go with the Church in the westward exodus of the Saints in 1846–47.
Emma and Joseph’s descendants grew up separated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Yet I knew little of these things, for our branch of the family was far removed from our Smith heritage. While growing up on a farm near Ronan, Montana, I knew I had a relative named Joseph Smith, but I don’t recall hearing the word Mormon or seeing a Book of Mormon until I was almost an adult.
Although organized religion was not a prominent part of my life, I remember yearning in my heart for a relationship with God. When I was seventeen, our family moved to Conrad, Montana, where I happened to get a baby-sitting job with a Latter-day Saint family. In August 1955, they introduced me to the missionaries, Elder James Waldron and Elder Dean Richins, who were excited to learn of my relationship to Joseph Smith. They told me of the First Vision and gave me a Book of Mormon.
Elder Waldron said, “This is a copy of the Book of Mormon. It was translated by the power of God by your great-great-grandfather, and it is true.” Upon taking the book into my hands, my whole being seemed to thrill through and through with an all-encompassing conviction: “It’s true! It’s really true!”
I was baptized 17 March 1956. After my conversion, whenever members of the Church learned of my relationship to the Prophet, they showed me unusual kindness because of the reverence they held for him.
However, I discovered there was a different attitude about Emma. One day, when I was in a Relief Society room, I happened to notice a picture of a dark-haired woman. Curious, I moved closer. On the nameplate I read the inscription: “Emma Hale Smith—Elect Lady—First President of the Relief Society.” Fascinated to see at last a picture of my great-great-grandmother, I thought, How beautiful she is! Feelings of love for her filled me. But my thoughts were interrupted when someone behind me said, “My husband says they ought to take that woman’s picture off the wall of the church.” Stunned by the tone as much as by the words, I was troubled and wondered what prompted this judgment of Emma.
Later, while reading the book History of the Prophet Joseph Smith by His Mother Lucy Mack Smith
