One of Joseph Smith’s friends described him as, “always cheerful and happy.” But anyone that has studied Joseph’s life understands the crippling (almost literally) trials he suffered. Six of his children died. He was forced to defend himself in about 48 different criminal court cases (according to Brigham Young). He was attacked, tarred and feathered, and unjustly imprisoned. Yet, he’s described as “always cheerful and happy.” Surely Joseph understood the importance of finding happiness despite unending opposition.
And so the choice is truly ours. We can choose to be unhappy with the chaos in our lives, or we can deal with it as best we can, and find happiness amidst the chaos nonetheless.
Back in Nauvoo, Joseph rode home to see Emma and their children again. He said another goodbye and asked Emma if she would come with him, but she knew she had to stay with the children. Joseph appeared solemn and thoughtful, grimly certain of his fate. Before he left, Emma asked him for a blessing. With no time to spare, Joseph asked her to write the blessing she desired and promised he would sign it when he returned.
In the blessing she penned, Emma asked for wisdom from Heavenly Father and the gift of discernment. “I desire the Spirit of God to know and understand myself,” she wrote. “I desire a fruitful, active mind, that I may be able to comprehend the designs of God.”
She asked for wisdom to raise her children, including the baby she expected in November, and expressed hope in her eternal marriage covenant. “I desire with all my heart to honor and respect my husband,” she wrote, “ever to live in his confidence and by acting in unison with him retain the place which God has given me by his side.”
Finally, Emma prayed for humility and hoped to rejoice in the blessings God prepared for the obedient. “I desire that whatever may be my lot through life,” she wrote, “I may be enabled to acknowledge the hand of God in all things.”
