I have heard stories of Emma Smith my entire life, but it wasn't until reading Jennifer Reader's

new book First, The Life and Faith of Emma Smith, that Emma became a real person to me,

and not just a person, but a trusted friend. Someone who, like me, had a lot of feelings,

and sometimes felt very conflicted. But as I have read this book, I have come to love her and

to appreciate her in a way I never did before. I think this paragraph from the book best sums up

what we have to learn from Emma. Reader writes, Emma's life was not a smooth trajectory of progress.

It was one step forward, two steps backward, then a little to the left. I know what that is like.

I am very familiar with that pattern of progression. That makes me love Emma even more deeply.

She was complicated and had real struggles like I do. She feared for the health and safety of her

children, her husband, and herself. She walked across frozen rivers and trod deep in mud as she

figured out how to hold it all together. She expanded her definitions of home, family, and relief,

something that I too am learning to do with my own situations. At times, she was measured and

diplomatic, but when pressed, she could become outwardly defensive, even a bit feisty. I believe

that she and Joseph talked through a lot of things, not only in their marital relationship, but

in understanding his visions and revelations. I like to say that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ

did not give Joseph a handbook binder in the sacred grove during the first vision. Joseph,

along with Emma and many others, had to figure out what it meant to restore the church.

Together, they learned how to create Zion, often because they experienced malaria and mud,

business failure, and loss of property. Ideas, relationships, culture, and practices evolved.

They did the best they could with what they had in their weeds and thistles of mortality.

End quote. Isn't that true of all of us? We are all just doing the best we can with our weeds

and thistles of mortality. It is for this reason that I think we have a lot to learn from Emma

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