Sunday, July 8, 2012

Jonathan Smith was a strong young man who knew that the missionaries had an important message and he was determined to listen to them.  His mother, Abigail DeMont Smith, told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to go to the missionaries.  Jonathan decided that despite his mother's objections he would see the missionaries and attend their meeting as soon as he did all of his chores.  So in the morning he got up and did the work that he needed to do.  When he finished his work he went to the house to change into his Sunday best.  His mother had taken his clothes and hidden them where he couldn't find them.

Not to be deterred, Jonathan went down to the lake, took off his overalls and shirts and washed them thoroughly in the cold water.  He laid them over the bushes and waited patiently in the bushes for them to dry in the sun.  When they were nearly dry he smoothed them as best he could with his hands and put on his clean but only nearly dry work clothes and went to the meeting.

When he came home he found Abigail as mad as could be.  She was angry that her efforts hiding his clothes just didn't work.  Jonathan was patient with her though, and he prophesied to her that if she would only listen to the missionaries that inside of five weeks she would also want to join the Church.  And that is exactly what happened.  The coming years would find Abigail and Jonathan moving to Nauvoo and eventually moving west with the Saints.