I am Ryan McKnight.

I'm Kara Santa Maria.

I am Christopher Smith.

Hi, I'm Andrew Torres.

This is naked Mormonism.

The Serial Mormon History podcast.

We are nearing the end of Joseph Smith's life in June of 1844.

There's still so much to cover.

But I thought today we'd go through a bit of forecasting for what we can expect in the coming future of the history of Mormonism.

I was reading through Mormon Enigma,

the excellent and groundbreaking biography of Emma Smith by Linda Newell and Valene Avery,

when I read this short passage on page 175, which fits perfectly into the context of our

current historical timeline. Quote, sometime that spring of 1844, George J. Adams hurried from the red brick store to the

mansion to find Emma. He explained, The matter is now settled. We now know who Joseph's successor

will be. It is little Joseph. I have just seen him ordained by his father. No extant account

related Emma's reaction to the news, or if

this was news at all. Perhaps Joseph had told her beforehand. Details of the ceremony, however,

were preserved by James Whitehead, financial clerk for Joseph Smith, which James Whitehead is such

an unfortunate name. Anyway, Whitehead told a friend, William W. Blair,

in 1873, that he was in the outer office at the time, but heard others discuss the ordination.

Later, under oath, he remembered there were about 25 people in attendance. Whitehead said,

now quoting Whitehead, quote,

...