Joseph Smith's New England Heritage: Influences of Grandfathers Solomon Mack and Asael Smith

What gave the fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith the desire to know God's will, the persistence to search it out, and the faith and courage to act upon the knowledge he gained?One place to look for the answers to these questions is in Joseph's ancestry and the values held by his parents and grandparents. This classic volume, carefully revised and enriched with new historical sources, explores the lives of Joseph Smith's progenitors, factually detailing the story of the Smith and Mack families and their multigenerational spiritual quest to know God and his will for them.Nurtured themselves in stalwart New England families who met adversity with resourcefulness and integrity, Joseph Smith's parents passed along those same qualities of character to their son. Moreover, the family ideals of honesty and sincere devotion to God led all of the Prophet's brothers and sisters, his parents, and his two grandparents still living in 1830 to readily accept his account of his visions and embrace without reservation the teachings that followed.As author Richard Lloyd Anderson reminds us, the Church started with a family. Now that Joseph Smith's New England Heritage is again available, we can share with our own families the inspiring example of the Mack and Smith families' integrity, service to others, and devotion to God, in spite of financial setbacks, health problems, the loss of loved ones, and other challenges they faced. Their lives are a resounding testimony that God knows us individually and blesses us according to our faith.(from dust jacket)