This week's episode was brought to you by Living Scriptures, if you want to support us you can by subscribing to their streaming here bit.ly/3jEa8wO​ Come Follow Me Free Printable Lessons available here: www.livingscriptures.com/fhe-lessons/ The angry mob laughed in the moonlight as they tore apart the little rock dam that those dang mormons had built. As the last rock splashed downstream the group walked away feeling triumphant that no Mormon baptisms were gonna happen in Colesville! Satan was outraged that Christ’s church was again on the earth and he was doing everything he could to stir the pot and cause troubles. Joseph and Oliver travelled to Colesville for a special baptismal service where 13 people, including Emma Smith and the Knight Family, would be baptized. Damming a place in the stream near the Knight’s house, they made a pool of deep water for a makeshift baptismal font. Excitedly, the group walked down to the stream for the baptismal service, only to find that the dam was destroyed and they had no place to baptize. So, early the next morning, before the mob knew what was happening, they quickly rebuilt their “font”. “”Quiet” Hurry, let’s go quickly!” “Shh!” “That’s good enough!” However, the angry mob somehow found out and showed up during the baptisms yelling profanities and mocking the service. These early saints sure had a lot of faith and COURAGE. One of those people with great faith and courage was Joseph’s wife, Emma Hale Smith - whom the Lord called an Elect Lady. What does that mean? Was there an election? No, it means she was “chosen” and “carefully selected” by the Lord. He’d been preparing her throughout her life to be the wife of the prophet. Emma was raised Methodist, with a strong belief in God. She was well educated, loved children, and enjoyed teaching. In fact, she was a school teacher when she and Joseph met, fell in love, and were married. In 1830, Joseph and Emma were living in Harmony, PA, but they were forced to leave because many people in Harmony were being very UNharmonious, if you know what I mean. Emma’s family never understood or accepted Joseph’s calling as a prophet, and her uncle Nathaniel, a minister afraid of losing his congregation to this new fangled church, actively led some of the persecution. Again and again he tried to persuade Emma to leave her husband, but of course, Emma stayed by Joseph’s side. With her heart breaking, Emma said goodbye to her family that she loved, and never saw them again. Although they were deeply in love and had many good days, Emma suffered a lot as the wife of a prophet. They were only married for 17 years, before Joseph's death, but in that time they had very little money, moved 11 times, and 6 of their 11 children died. Emma was often left alone with the children while Joseph was away teaching, helping others, or on missions. Actually, while Joseph innocently suffered in Liberty Jail, she and the children were alone for five months. Before he could return, she fled for safety with their very young children across the frozen Mississippi River into Illinois with important church documents sewn into her skirt. She was so strong and stood by Joseph’s side not only because she loved him, but because she believed God had called him to restore Christ’s church. Heavenly Father loves and trusts His daughters, and in Section 25, Emma was told part of her responsibility was to preach to the church and teach scripture. This was unprecedented and astounding because, at that time in America, women were NOT allowed to speak or teach in church meetings. They were to sit quietly in the meetings and just look pretty. But the Lord indicated with this revelation that in His church, women would speak, teach, learn, and hold assignments. Truly revolutionary! Girl power! Emma was also directed by the Lord to make a hymnbook for the Church because “[He] delights in the song of the heart” and The song of the righteous is a prayer” unto Him. This is why we often feel the Spirit the strongest when we sing or listen to beautiful, uplifting music. Emma loved music and singing. Her hymnbook included some of her favorite hymns, and also hymns written specifically for the new Church. WW Phelps wrote some of these new hymns and helped her to publish the hymnbook which fit in one’s pocket. It included 90 hymns. A few nights before her death, Emma had a beautiful dream. “Joseph came to me and said... ‘Emma ...It is time for you to come with me.’ When I recovered myself sufficiently, I turned to Joseph and said, ‘Joseph, where are the rest of my children?’ and he said to me, ‘Emma, be patient and you shall have all of your children.’ Then I saw standing by his side a personage of light, even the Lord Jesus Christ.” Throughout these sections, the Lord shows His great love for music and respect for His daughters by declaring how important women are in His church.

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