Joseph Fielding Smith was the tenth prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was known as an able writer and wrote numerous books.
Joseph Fielding Smith was born on July 19, 1876. His father was Joseph F. Smith, and his grandfather was Hyrum Smith, the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was raised to uphold and recognize the religious contributions of his ancestors, and he felt a powerful kinship to the Prophet Joseph Smith, Hyrum, and his father, Joseph F. Smith. He was an avid reader in his youth and loved to learn about the gospel. By the time he was ten, he had read the Book of Mormon from beginning to end twice.
He married Louie Emily (Emyla) Shurtliff in the Salt Lake Temple on April 26, 1898, and a year later left on a mission to England, where he served for two years. In April of 1906, he became assistant Church Historian. His wife tragically died in March of 1908, leaving behind two young daughters. In November, Joseph Fielding Smith married Ethel Georgina Reynolds, and together they had another five sons and four daughters. He was a careful and diligent teacher to his children and was rewarded by seeing all his sons and daughters remain faithful to the Church. His upstanding posterity is as much an achievement as his prophetic role or the books he authored.
On April 7, 1910, Joseph Fielding Smith was ordained as an apostle for the Church at 34 years of age, while his father served as president. When he was ordained, the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper criticized him and the Church for practicing nepotism, but Joseph Fielding Smith was determined to serve the Church in whatever capacity he was called. The vilification by the newspaper ignored his qualifications for the apostleship. Joseph Fielding Smith was foreordained for his calling as prophet—his mother had received a revelation that her son would become an apostle (Bruce R. McConkie, pp. 24-31). In a patriarchal blessing President Smith received at nineteen, he had also been told, “It shall be thy duty to sit in council with thy brethren, and to preside among the people” (John Smith, Patriarchal Blessing to Joseph Fielding Smith, Jan. 19, 1896; copy in Church Historian’s Library). [1]
To read more: MormonWiki
