Welcome to the Maxwell Institute podcast. I'm Joseph Stewart.

For acting as a scribe for the translation of the Book of Mormon, founding the Relief Society,

Emma Hale Smith was a key figure in the restoration. She was also her husband's anchor,

and the mother of the president of the reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

Joseph Smith, but how much do we really know about Emma Smith,

her role, teachings, and leadership? Today, we're going to learn from Dr. Jennifer Reeder,

who wrote a biography of Emma Hale Smith entitled First, The Life and Faith of Emma Smith,

from Desiread Book. Dr. Reeder will also be delivering the Neely Maxwell lecture on

November 13th at 7 p.m. in the Hininkley Alumni Center at BYU. You. Please make plans to attend her lecture. And be sure to follow us on Instagram at

at BYUu Maxwell. Jennifer Reader. Welcome to the Maxwell Institute podcast. I'm so excited to be here

and I'm so excited to be with you. I love the Maxwell Institute, and I love our topic for today.

We've been looking forward to hearing you speak about Emma Smith for a long time.

When's the first time that you began to think about Emma Smith in an academic context?

I had just finished a master's degree in human communication at Arizona State University.

And I was working as a research assistant for Carol Madsen and Jill Durr.

And I started working on what is now first 50 years of Relief Society.

This is back in 2001.

So, oh, do the math, friends.

That's 20 years ago.

And I, that's when I first really came to know Emma Smith or came to understand the role

she plays specifically with a Navajo Relief Society. I read Mormon Enigma and I had a

particular sense of who she was in the sense that she seemed to be a little defiant

...