Even later, when Hyrum was martyred with Joseph on June 27, 1844, Mary’s faith still did not waver. Janet Peterson and Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Sharing Time: Temples Are Places of Service, Camilla and Mandi Rogers of Santa Fe, New Mexico, “Mary Fielding Smith—Mother in Israel,” Friend, July 1993, 32, (All quotations are from the Life of Joseph F. Smith, by Joseph Fielding Smith, pages 120–159, and Gospel Doctrine, by Joseph F. Smith, page 542.). Producing a bottle of consecrated oil, Mary Smith asked her brother and James Lawson if they would please administer to the ox just as they would do to a sick person, for it was vital to her interest that the ox be restored that she might pursue her … Her wagon master didn't want her and her children on the trip, but she told him not only will I not be a burden but I will beat you to the valley. Such courage and faith characterized this determined, resourceful pioneer mother. Despite all difficulties, Mary and her family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 23, 1848, a full day before the rest of the company. History of the Saints presents the story of Mary Fielding Smith. Lavina Fielding Anderson. After spending the winter of 1848-1849 in the fort of the Salt Lake Valley, Mary Fielding Smith, widow of church leader Hyrum Smith, decided to live on a farm rather than her assigned "city" plot. When summer came and the family finally had a crop, Mary insisted that they pay a full and honest tithe. Despite her many trials—she was very ill for four months following the birth of her son, her husband was in jail, and a mob had broken into her home to steal her husband’s possessions—Mary never ceased to believe in the Lord. Mary remembered this and thought that in such desperate circumstances, when she needed the ox to keep God’s commandment to gather to the Valley, that God would also heal her ox. Preparing to migrate west with the Saints in 1848, Mary Fielding Smith faced many hardships. When William Thompson, a tithing clerk, saw her, he questioned her need to pay tithing, because she was so poor. Sitting in front of the Mary Fielding Smith home at This Is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City on a bright June morning weeks before Pioneer Day, the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reflected on his pioneer heritage and what it means to be a pioneer to the Latter-day Saints today. Strong oxen were necessary to making the trip west in safety. Even if it is the … Mary Fielding Smith was a woman of remarkable faith and testimony. She was indeed a Saint! The same idea is repeated in "The Life and Teachings of Jesus", 1974, p. 29: "Joseph was a mortal soul in premortality to be blessed with the signal honor LDS Bronze sculpture of Mary Fielding Smith praying for her sick ox with her son Joseph Fielding Smith. (Deseret News, Oct. 10, 1866). When she was thirty-three years old, Mary moved to Canada, where her brother and sister were living. "Mary Fielding Smith's life, though lived in the nineteenth century, provides many lessons on how to live in the modern world.” This lecture will highlight faithful moments in Mary Fielding Smith’s lifetime that exemplify living the gospel and finding happiness. Be true to the truth. When Mary Mary Fielding Smith remained faithful to the end of her life. From her birth and upbringing in rural England, through her conversion and gathering with the Saints, to her marriage to Hyrum Smith and subsequent grief at his martyrdom. Mary Fielding Smith Kimball (July 21, 1801 – September 21, 1852) was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement, the second wife of Latter Day Saint leader Hyrum Smith, and the mother of Joseph F. Smith, who became president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Two more times other oxen became ill, and twice more Mary asked the brethren to bless them. MARY FIELDING SMITH: HER OX GOES MARCHING ON Lavina Fielding Anderson I should preface these remarks by establishing two things. husband of Mary, did not, that we know of, have more than one wife, but Mary the wife of Joseph had another husband." Accounts of the personal testimonies of the early saints, their struggles, their persevering attitude, our pioneer heritage, and Divine revelations from God. She wrote to her brother, “Though I have been left, for near six months, in widowhood, in the time of great affliction, and was called to take joyfully or otherwise the spoiling of almost all our goods, … yet I do not feel the least discouraged.”. Mary Fielding Smith, mother of a prophet : her trek West. She was widely respected and admired during her lifetime. Soul, heart, and hand; faithful and true we will ever stand. 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