Joseph, Rough Stone Rolling

Well folks, I just read Mom and Dad's emails from Vienna and was inspired to share something interesting that Aaron and I learned this week. Aaron has been enjoying a class this semester taught by Sister Susan Easton Black, who is a genius at Church history. Anyway, Aaron was telling me a story he read about Joseph Smith and their travels to Palmyra. Joseph had recently had his leg surgery when they were going to move to Palmyra because of several seasons of crop failures. Well, the Smith family hired a man to drive their wagon to Palmyra since Joseph Smith Sr. was already in Palmyra. He was a very cruel and evil man and for some reason didn't like Joseph Smith (about 7 or 8 years old and crippled) and made him walk behind the wagon. Joseph got separated from the wagon several times, and when Hyrum and another brother said they would walk if Joseph could ride, the man would beat all three of them severely. Well, they reached a resting point and the man was going to steal the wagon and take off with it, but Lucy Mack found out and let him have it. The man ran off, scared. The Smiths then got in the wagon and for some reason Joseph was still walking behind the wagon. He got separated from the wagon on the way there and his leg broke open again. So there was Joseph, this little 8 year old boy, lying bleeding with a broken leg in the middle of nowhere with no one to help him. I can't imagine how scared you would be! Thankfully, a kind passer-by stopped and carried Joseph to Palmyra. When I heard this story, I was thinking about why Joseph had such a hard life from even a very young age...but then I realized it was probably to toughen him up for all the trials he would have when he was restoring the Church because a lesser man would probably have given in to all the persecution and quit. Anyway, that's my spiritual story for today.