Can any of us imagine how it felt on that fateful summer morning when Joseph said goodbye to this family on the front lawn in Nauvoo before heading to Carthage?
He must have known he would never see them again because he said, ®I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me – he was murdered in cold blood!® – D&C 135:4
As I thought on that scene, Joseph left the pages of the books and became a living person to me. A man of feelings and sorrows who laughed, cried, and sacrificed all that he had for the Gospel of Christ. I couldn’t help but feel a little more determined to stand taller, walk faster, and be better.