An American Prophet's Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith

In his personal diaries Joseph Smith emerges as a believable though extraordinary religious leader, willing to allow followers a complete look at his beliefs and complex personality. "I enjoyed myself by my own fireside with many friends around me, " he recalled of a quiet moment at home. "I drank a glass of beer at Moisser's, " he dictated with equal frankness. An enthusiast for winter activities, he often closed his office to go sledding with his son or to take his wife sleighing.Occasionally short-tempered, he once told detractors to "hide their heads in a hollow pumpkin and never take it out." He lost patience with people who left meetings before the benediction and with young men who sneaked onto the women's side of the congregation. People said he used "such flat and vulgar expressions, " but he also spoke eloquently, for instance in describing the resurrection: "It is pleasing for friends to lie down together locked in the arms of love, to sleep, and (awake) locked in each other's embrace (to) renew their conversation."Significant events are recorded, such as the first ritualistic washings, perfumings, anointings, and washing of feet; early sealings and polygamous marriages (recorded in shorthand); meetings of the Council of Fifty; and other important episodes in the history of the development of the church.