This last weekend my family came in to town. It was so wonderful to see them and to just have a good time together. We did a lot of fun activities like skiing and snowboarding, playing games and eating dinner as a family - something I have missed since being out at college. On Saturday, we all went to Salt Lake City and did a few touristy things; we mostly stayed at Temple Square. It was great to walk around the temple, go to the visitor's center and the conference center and watch the Joseph Smith movie. These activities were especially poignant because I was with my family and was reminded of the eternal blessings I have due to the temple, and the gospel in general. That then caused me to reflect on circumstances that others find themselves in that are much less fortunate than mine.

In particular, I thought on the trials and persecutions felt by the early saints of the Church. The Joseph Smith movie depicted specific situations of many of these people - all of them making significant sacrifices for the sake of righteousness, of the gospel and of Christ. The sacrifice that Joseph Smith made is almost uncomprehensible. Sections 121 and 122 of the Doctrine and Covenants gives a good representation of how Joseph felt and what he was experiencing: "O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?" In the following section, the Lord lists some things that might happen to Jospeh (and all of them eventually do): "If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea; If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb; And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (D&C 122:5-7, http://scriptures.lds.org/).

Jesus Christ promised Joseph Smith that all these things would be for his good. He also promised, in Mark chapter 10 that: There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30). I am so grateful for my ancestors who made such sacrifices and stayed true to their God so that I, and for generations to come, may partake of the blessings of the gospel.