Chapter 7
Heber J. Grant
Seventh President of the Church

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LIFE OF HEBER J. GRANT

Age	Events
	He was born 22 November 1856 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Jedediah M. and Rachel Ridgeway Ivins Grant; his father died when Heber was nine days old.
15	He was ordained a Seventy (1871); he began a career as a bank clerk (1871).
20	He married Lucy Stringham (1 Nov. 1877); she died in 1893.
23	He became stake president of the Tooele Stake (30 Oct. 1880).
25	He was ordained an Apostle (16 Oct. 1882).
26–27	He served a mission to the Native American Indians (1883–84).
33	The Manifesto ending plural marriage (Official Declaration 1) was issued (1890).
40	He became a candidate for governor of the state of Utah (1896); he later voluntarily withdrew.
41	He became a member of the General Superintendency of YMMIA (Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association; 1897).
45	He opened and presided over the Japanese Mission (1901–3).
47–49	He presided over the British and European missions (1904–6).
58–62	World War I was being fought (1914–18).
60	He became President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (23 Nov. 1916).
62	He became President of the Church (23 Nov. 1918).
63	He dedicated the Laie Hawaii Temple (27 Nov. 1919).
67	He dedicated the Cardston Alberta Temple (26 Aug. 1923); he spoke on the first radio broadcast of general conference (1923).
70	The Church purchased the Hill Cumorah and the Whitmer Farm (1926).
71	He dedicated the Mesa Arizona Temple (23 Oct. 1927).
79	The Church welfare plan was established (1936).
80	He visited missions in Europe (June–Sept. 1937).
83	Missionaries were withdrawn from Europe as World War II began (1939).
85	He called the first Assistants to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (6 Apr. 1941).
88	He died in Salt Lake City, Utah (14 May 1945); World War II ended (2 Sept. 1945).

Heber Jeddy Grant was born 22 November 1856, during a time when Latter-day Saints were arguably less popular with other Americans than they had ever been. The fact that this negative feeling began to change significantly during President Grant’s life was largely the result of his personal efforts to improve the public perception of the Church.

Jedediah M. Grant, Heber J. Grant’s father, died nine days after Heber was born. Photograph by Savage and Ottinger

When Heber was nine days old, his father, Jedediah M. Grant, died. Because Heber was a frail baby and his mother was left in poverty, many predicted that he would not long survive. However, the Lord had other plans.

He Grew Up in the Salt Lake Valley

By the time Heber J. Grant was nine, the United States Civil War was over. President Abraham Lincoln had established Fort Douglas and had sent troops into Utah on a permanent basis. Heber probably saw Union soldiers pass by his home, half a block south of the Salt Lake temple block.

The Grants’ home on Main Street in Salt Lake City

A more common sight to Heber would have been the fine horses and carriages of Brigham Young, George Q. Cannon, Daniel H. Wells, and other successful men of the Church and in business in the bustling frontier town. He must have watched freighters going north toward Ogden and south toward Provo, pulled by teams of horses, mules, or oxen. There would have been short trips to Temple Square to check the progress of the construction of the Tabernacle and the temple. The new Salt Lake Theatre was just around the block.

Much of Heber’s time was spent playing in streets and in yards. He played marbles skillfully, often winning enough marbles to use them as pay to get his friends to do his chores so that he could spend more time practicing pitching a baseball. And, of course, there was school.

Young Heber J. Grant, about 1860. It was the custom of that day to dress young boys in dresses for photographs.

His best friends were Feramorz L. and Richard W. Young, a son and a grandson of President Brigham Young. Together they ran into the Lion House when the prayer bell rang and joined in the Young family’s prayers. Sometimes young Heber peeked to see if President Young was talking face to face with Heavenly Father because his prayers sounded as though he must have been. In addition to the prayers, Heber sometimes attended Brigham Young’s school. There were long talks with President Young, Eliza R. Snow, and with Eliza’s relative Erastus Snow, whom Heber regarded as an ideal Apostle. They told Heber about the Prophet Joseph Smith and about his father, Jedediah M. Grant, one of the most trusted of the Prophet’s friends. His very name opened doors to Heber when he began to travel in business circles. These were potent influences in the life of this gifted child of destiny.

Though Gifted, He Felt Inadequate

Heber J. Grant was a person of great ability, yet many of his public statements reveal a sense of deep humility, if not inadequacy. He felt that he measured up to the goals he set for himself only by great determination and constant effort.

He lived in a time when leaders quite often expressed appreciation for learning, artistic talent, professional success, and other achievements dependent upon what usually are defined as talents or gifts. It was in these areas that he struggled the hardest. His talents lay in the field of business and social success. These talents often escaped notice, even though they may have been more important. His strengths helped carry him over all obstacles.

He Worked toward Excellence as an Athlete

Heber J. Grant was determined to develop his skills. Painting by Robert T. Barrett

The following story that President Heber J. Grant shared about his youth illustrates his determination to overcome obstacles:

“Being an only child, my mother reared me very carefully. Indeed, I grew more or less on the principle of a hothouse plant, the growth of which is ‘long and lanky’ but not substantial. I learned to sweep, and to wash and wipe dishes, but did little stone throwing and little indulging in those sports which are interesting and attractive to boys, and which develop their physical frames. Therefore, when I joined a baseball club, the boys of my own age and a little older played in the first nine; those younger than I played in the second, and those still younger in the third, and I played with them.

“One of the reasons for this was that I could not throw the ball from one base to the other. Another reason was that I lacked physical strength to run or bat well. When I picked up a ball, the boys would generally shout:

“‘Throw it here, sissy!’

“So much fun was engendered on my account by my youthful companions that I solemnly vowed that I would play baseball in the nine that would win the championship of the Territory of Utah.

Heber J. Grant and his mother, Rachel Ridgeway Ivins Grant

“My mother was keeping boarders at the time for a living, and I shined their boots until I saved a dollar which I invested in a baseball. I spent hours and hours throwing the ball at Bishop Edwin D. Woolley’s barn, which caused him to refer to me as the laziest boy in the Thirteenth Ward. Often my arm would ache so that I could scarcely go to sleep at night. But I kept on practicing and finally succeeded in getting into the second nine of our club. Subsequently I joined a better club, and eventually played in the nine that won the championship of the territory and beat the nine that had won the championship for California, Colorado, and Wyoming. Having thus made good my promise to myself, I retired from the baseball arena” (Gospel Standards, comp. G. Homer Durham [1969], 342–43).

Territorial baseball champions. The Red Stocking baseball team in August 1877. They defeated teams in Utah, California, Colorado, and Wyoming to win the championship. Heber J. Grant is in the center of the second row. Photograph courtesy of Bertram T. and Gene C. Willis

His Determination Was Encouraged by a Wise Mother

Rachel Grant’s sewing box. She sewed for hire in order to provide food and clothing for herself and young Heber. Photograph by Don O. Thorpe; courtesy of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum

In an address during funeral services for President Heber J. Grant, President David O. McKay, then a counselor in the First Presidency, said:

“Early in his youth there was developed in his young soul a spirit of independence and determination that later made him outstanding among his associates. . . . In the humble surroundings and spiritual atmosphere of his boyhood home were formed those sterling traits of character which in maturity made him so distinguished.

“President Grant always spoke with deference and heartfelt appreciation of his noble inheritance from both his parents. . . .

“Deprived of a father’s companionship, President Grant appreciated all the more deeply the transforming power of a mother’s love. It was she who changed his timidity to courage; his self-depreciation to self-confidence; impetuousness to self-control; lack of initiative to perseverance” (“President Heber J. Grant,” Improvement Era, June 1945, 334).

He Was Deeply Affected by the Sacrifices of His Family

A new home for his mother. It originally had four rooms and a large closet, which became Heber’s room when they started to take in boarders. Photograph courtesy of Bertram T. and Jenna C. Willis

President Heber J. Grant said: “I have never heard and never expect to hear, to the day of my death, my favorite hymn: ‘Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear, But with joy wend your way,’ but what I think of the death and the burial of my little baby sister, and the wolves digging up her body on the plains; but what I think of the death of my father’s first wife, and the bringing of her body here for burial, from Echo Canyon; but what I think of others that I know of, who laid down their lives; but what I think of that wonderful journey of Brigham Young and his band of Pioneers, those who followed him, and my heart goes out in gratitude beyond all the power with which God has given me to express it, that my father and my mother were among those who were true to God, and who made those sacrifices for the conviction of their hearts, because of the knowledge that they had that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith is his Prophet” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1922, 13).

He Never Forgot the Sacredness of Family Responsibility

President Heber J. Grant wrote of an experience that taught the importance of being self-sufficient and of taking care of family:

“Referring to that wonderful mother of mine, I remember that one day we had at least a half dozen, if not more, buckets on the floor catching the rain that came through the roof. It was raining very heavily, and Bishop Edwin D. Woolley came into the house, and he said:

“‘Why, Widow Grant, this will never do. I shall take some of the money from the fast offerings to put a new roof on this house.’

“‘Oh, no, you won’t,’ said mother. ‘No relief money will ever put a roof on my house. I have sewing here.’ (She supported herself and me with a needle and thread for many years; later with a Wheeler and Wilcox sewing machine. . . .)

A youthful Heber J. Grant

“Mother said, ‘When I get through with this sewing that I am now doing, I will buy some shingles and patch the holes, and this house will take care of me until my son gets to be a man and builds a new one for me.’

“The bishop went away and said he was very sorry for Widow Grant, that if she waited for that boy to build a house she would never have one, for he was the laziest boy in the whole Thirteenth Ward. He went on to tell that I wasted my time throwing a ball across the fence behind the house hour after hour, day after day, and week after week, at his adobe barn.

“Thank the Lord for a mother who was a general as well as a Latter-day Saint; who realized that it was a remarkable and splendid thing to encourage a boy to do something besides perhaps milking cows if he was on a farm, if he had ambitions along athletic lines” (Gospel Standards, 343–44).

He Was Challenged to Read the Book of Mormon

President Heber J. Grant wrote about his experience in first reading the Book of Mormon:

“I can remember very distinctly when Uncle Anthony Ivins . . . said to me and to his son, Anthony C. Ivins:

“‘Heber, Anthony, have you read the Book of Mormon?’

“We answered, ‘No.’

Heber J. Grant (front), Louis A. Kalsch, Horace S. Ensign, and Alma D. Taylor dedicated Japan for missionary work on 1 September 1901.

“He said, ‘I want you to read it. I want you to pledge to me that you will not skip a word, and to the one who reads it first, I will give a pair of ten dollar buckskin gloves with beaver tops.’

“Any boy of fourteen who had a pair of those gloves thought he was ‘it.’ I remember that my mother had urged me to read systematically the Book of Mormon, but I had not done it. I determined to read the book, say, twenty-five pages a day and get the benefit of its contents. I believed its contents were true because my mother and many others had told me so; and because of the testimony of the teacher of the class that Richard W. Young and I attended, I thought that to win the gloves I would have to read the book so rapidly that I would get no benefit; and therefore decided to let Anthony win the gloves.

“I met my cousin, Anthony C., the next morning, and he asked, ‘How many pages have you read?’

“I said: ‘I have read twenty-five pages.’

“He said: ‘I have read over one hundred and fifty. I sat up until after midnight.’

“I said: ‘Good-bye gloves.’

“I went on reading twenty-five pages a day and occasionally I got so interested that I read fifty or seventy-five pages, and, lo and behold, I got through first and got the gloves. He got such a good start he did not bother to read any more until after I got through with the book” (Gospel Standards, 350–51).

Sample of Heber J. Grant’s handwriting Photograph by Don O. Thorpe

His Penmanship Improved from “Hen Tracks” to the Best in Utah

“One day Heber was playing marbles with some other boys when the bookkeeper from the Wells Fargo Company Bank was walking down the other side of the street. One of the boys remarked, ‘That man gets $150.00 a month.’ Heber figured to himself that not counting Sundays, that man made $6.00 a day and that at five cents a pair, he would have to black 120 pairs of boots to make $6.00. He there and then resolved that some day he would be a bookkeeper in the Wells Fargo and Company’s bank. In those days all the records and accounts of the bank were written with a pen, and one of the requisites of a good bookkeeper was the ability to write well. To learn to write well was his first approach to securing this job and the fulfilment of his resolve; so he set to work to become a penman.

“At the beginning his penmanship was so poor that when two of his chums were looking at it one said to the other, ‘That writing looks like hen tracks.’ ‘No,’ said the other, ‘it looks as if lightning had struck an ink bottle.’ This touched Heber’s pride and, bringing his fist down on his desk, he said, ‘I’ll some day be able to give you fellows lessons in penmanship.’ . . .

“He secured a position as bookkeeper and policy clerk in an insurance office at fifteen. About this he said: ‘I wrote a very nice hand, and that was all that was needed to satisfactorily fill the position which I then had. Yet I was not fully satisfied but continued to dream and scribble when not otherwise occupied. . . . I learned to write well, so well, that I often made more before and after office hours by writing cards, invitations, and making maps than the amount of my regular salary. At nineteen I was keeping books and acting as policy clerk for Henry Wadsworth, the agent of Wells Fargo and Company. My time was not fully employed, and I was not working for the company but for the agent personally. I did the same as I had done in Mr. White’s bank, volunteered to file a lot of bank letters, etc., and kept a set of books for the Sandy Smelting Company, which Mr. Wadsworth was doing personally. My actions so pleased Mr. Wadsworth that he employed me to do the collecting for Wells Fargo and Company and paid me $20.00 a month for this work in addition to my regular compensation of $75.00 from the insurance business. Thus I was in the employ of Wells Fargo and Company and one of my day-dreams had become a reality’” (Bryant S. Hinckley, Heber J. Grant: Highlights in the Life of a Great Leader [1951], 39–42).

“When Heber, still in his teens, was working as a policy clerk in the office of H. R. Mann and Co., he was offered three times his salary to go to San Francisco as a penman. He later became teacher of penmanship and bookkeeping at the University of Deseret (University of Utah). . . .

“At one of the territorial fairs in which he had not competed, he noticed the exhibits of four professional penmen. He remarked to the man in charge of the art department that he could write better than that before he was seventeen years of age. The man in charge laughed and said that nobody but a cheeky insurance agent would make such a remark. He handed the gentleman three dollars which was the fee necessary to compete for a diploma and sent for the specimen which he had written before he was seventeen and hung it up with the remark, ‘If you judges know good penmanship, when you see it, I will get the diploma.’ He walked away with a diploma for the best penmanship in the territory. He encouraged the art of good penmanship among the youth of Zion and offered many prizes for the best specimens” (Hinckley, Heber J. Grant, 40–41).

He Was Determined to Learn to Sing

“I have learned to sing.” Painting by Robert T. Barrett. DO NOT COPY

As with baseball and penmanship, Heber J. Grant was determined to learn to sing, despite the negative opinions of others. Years of practicing brought moderate success. He wrote:

“My mother tried to teach me when I was a small child to sing but failed because of my inability to carry a tune.

“Upon joining a singing class taught by Professor Charles J. Thomas, he tried and tried in vain to teach me when ten years of age to run the scale or carry a simple tune and finally gave up in despair. He said that I could never, in this world, learn to sing. Perhaps he thought I might learn the divine art in another world. Ever since this attempt, I have frequently tried to sing when riding alone many miles from anyone who might hear me, but on such occasions could never succeed in carrying the tune of one of our familiar hymns for a single verse, and quite frequently not for a single line.

“When I was about twenty-five years of age, Professor Sims informed me that I could sing, but added, ‘I would like to be at least forty miles away while you are doing it.’ . . .

“Upon my recent trip to Arizona, I asked Elders Rudger Clawson and J. Golden Kimball if they had any objections to my singing one hundred hymns that day. They took it as a joke and assured me that they would be delighted. We were on the way from Holbrook to St. Johns, a distance of about sixty miles. After I had sung about forty tunes, they assured me that if I sang the remaining sixty they would be sure to have nervous prostration. I paid no attention whatever to their appeal, but held them to their bargain and sang the full one hundred. One hundred and fifteen songs in one day, and four hundred in four days, is the largest amount of practicing I ever did.

“Today [1900] my musical deafness is disappearing, and by sitting down to a piano and playing the lead notes, I can learn a song in less than one-tenth the time required when I first commenced to practice” (Gospel Standards, 351–52, 354).

He Married Lucy Stringham

Heber and Lucy Grant and family on their tenth wedding anniversary, 1887

“Once his business career was underway, Heber began to focus his attention on more distant career goals as well as on other intimate, personal goals that had been simmering in his consciousness for years. In his reminiscenses he provides us with this insight into the process and scope of his goal setting: ‘I promised myself when I was a young man that I would be married before I was twenty-one if I could persuade some good girl to marry me, so that I would start out as a full-fledged man when I reached my majority. . . . At the same time that I made this promise, I mapped out my life until I was thirty-odd years of age, and made up my mind as to the things that I was going to try to accomplish’” (Francis M. Gibbons, Heber J. Grant: Man of Steel, Prophet of God [1979], 27–28).

Heber J. Grant was called to be a stake president when he was twenty-three and an Apostle when he was twenty-five.

Heber was determined to achieve all the goals he had set for himself. He determined that he had weak social skills and set out to improve himself. Dancing was a challenge, but eventually became one of his favorite activities. He even helped organized dances and used these opportunities to search for a wife. As he dated, he became interested in Emily Wells, the daughter of Daniel H. Wells, a prominent leader in the Church. They had much in common and it appeared that they might marry. They discovered, however, that they disagreed about the practice of plural marriage. Heber had come from a family that had practiced it and was surprised at some of the sarcastic comments Emily made about it. He asked the Lord in prayer about continuing to pursue Emily’s affections and was surprised by the negative answer he strongly received. He shed some very bitter tears because he had admired her so deeply. But then his attentions were drawn to Lucy Stringham. (See Gibbons, Heber J. Grant, 29–31.)

“Heber’s first overtures to Lucy were met with a response that could hardly be called enthusiastic. He started by walking her home from Sunday evening meetings, a frequently used courting device of the day. It was customary, however, for the young lady to invite her escort to join her in the family sitting room, where they could engage in serious or flirtatious talk and perhaps enjoy some refreshments, all under the careful scrutiny of the girl’s parents. Sunday after Sunday, however, instead of receiving a hoped-for invitation into the Stringham sitting room, Heber received a somewhat indifferent, even chilly, ‘good night’ at Stringham’s gate. That he was not deterred by this unencouraging treatment is still another evidence of Heber J. Grant’s characteristic perseverance.

“The turning point in this tepid courtship occurred one Sunday evening when Rodney C. Badger walked past the Stringham’s gate just as Heber received his customary ‘good night’ from Lucy. As these two friends walked together to the corner, Heber, instead of turning south toward his home, told Rodney, ‘I’m going down to Wells corner and visit with some of the girls there.’

Heber J. Grant and his family, 1892

“Shocked at what he interpreted as fickleness, Rodney chided Heber for leaving one girl only to go in search of other female companionship. Rodney appeared satisfied, however, when Heber explained Lucy’s distant attitude toward him.

“Whether Rodney planted a seed in Lucy’s mind or mere chance intervened, the very next Sunday Heber received an invitation into the Stringham sitting room, where he became almost a fixture until the time of his marriage to Lucy a few months later. It turned out that Lucy’s initial reluctance came not from a lack of feeling for the great man she was later to marry, but from the false notion that she was merely a temporary substitute for Emily Wells.

“Once the ice was broken and Lucy realized that Heber had matrimony in view, their courtship sped toward its inevitable culmination. They were married in the St. George Temple on November 1, 1877, three weeks prior to Heber’s twenty-first birthday” (Gibbons, Heber J. Grant, 32–33).

Later, in 1884, with Lucy’s full approval, Heber married Hulda Augusta Winters and Emily Wells.

He Added Faith in God to His Determination and Overcame His Weaknesses

Elder Heber J. Grant with other General Authorities and Church members attending a funeral service at the Grantsville First Ward Chapel, September 1892. Photograph courtesy of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Tooele, Utah

President Heber J. Grant told the following experience from his life:

“Before I was twenty-four I was made the president of the Tooele Stake of Zion. I announced in a speech that lasted seven and a half minutes that I would ask no man in Tooele to be a more honest tithe payer than I would be; that I would ask no man to give more of his means in proportion to what he had than I would give; I would ask no man to live the Word of Wisdom better than I would live it, and I would give the best that was in me for the benefit of the people in that stake of Zion.

“That night I heard in the dark a man say in a contemptuous way: ‘It is a pity if the General Authorities have to send a man out here to preside, . . . that they could not have sent one with sense enough to talk at least ten minutes; and that they had to send a boy to preside over us.’

“When I heard this, I remember thinking: ‘The boy is the only one who has any right to complain.’ . . . However, I was not able during the next three or four Sundays to talk as long as I did the first one. I ran out of ideas in five, six, and six and a half minutes.

“At the lunch table after my first short speech which lasted seven and a half minutes, President Smith said: ‘Heber, you said you believe the gospel with all your heart, and propose to live it, but you did not bear your testimony that you know it is true. Don’t you know absolutely that this gospel is true?’

“I answered: ‘I do not.’

“‘What, you! a president of a stake?’ said President Joseph F. Smith.

“‘That is what I said.’

“‘President [John] Taylor, I am in favor of undoing this afternoon what we did this morning. I do not think any man should preside over a stake who has not a perfect and abiding knowledge of the divinity of this work.’

“I said: ‘I am not going to complain.’

Heber J. Grant

“Brother Taylor had a habit, when something pleased him excessively, of shaking his body and laughing. He said, ‘Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, he knows it just as well as you do. The only thing that he does not know is that he does know it. It will be but a short time until he does know it. He leans over backwards. You do not need to worry.’

“I went to the little town of Vernon in Tooele County, took two others with me to do the preaching, and I got up to say a few words and spoke for forty-five minutes with perfect ease under the inspiration of the Lord. That night I shed tears of gratitude to the Lord for the abiding, perfect, and absolute testimony that came into my life of the divinity of this work.

“The next Sunday after speaking at Vernon, I was at Grantsville. I told the Lord I would like to talk forty-five minutes. I got up to speak and ran out of ideas in five minutes, and I was sweating.

“After the meeting I walked out past the farthest house in the west part of Grantsville, I am sure nearly three miles, and I got down behind a haystack and I shed some more tears. But they were tears of humiliation. I made a pledge to God there upon that occasion that never again in my life would I stand up before an audience with the feeling that all I needed to do was just stand up and talk; but that I would get up upon all occasions with a desire to say something that might be of benefit to the people to whom I spoke, and not with the spirit of pride, such as I had that day when I stood up in Grantsville. And I have never failed from that day until now—fifty-odd years ago—to have any desire in my heart when speaking except that I might say or read something that would be of lasting benefit to those who listened to my voice” (Gospel Standards, 191–93).

He Was Willing to Sacrifice

Heber J. Grant sought to always follow the counsel of the Lord’s servants: “I have never seen the day since I became the president of Tooele Stake of Zion, at the time I was not yet twenty-four years of age, when I did not want to know what the president of the Church wanted, and what the leading officials of the Church wanted me to do, and that I did not want to do whatever they would have me to do, no matter what my personal likes or dislikes might be. I have sacrificed my own financial prospects to a great extent, among the prospects being the one this dear friend of mine offered me [Colonel A. G. Hawes], a little job of forty thousand dollars a year when the Church was making me an allowance in tithing office orders of three thousand six hundred dollars” (Gospel Standards, 200–201).

In 1901, Elder Grant was called to serve as the mission president in Japan.

His Faith in God Gave Him Confidence

Heber J. Grant believed that the Lord would bless us in many ways as we did our duty:

“I remember as a young man I had $50.00 in my pocket on one occasion which I intended to deposit in the bank. When I went on Thursday morning to fast meeting—the fast meeting used to be held on Thursdays instead of Sundays—and the bishop made an appeal for a donation, I walked up and handed him the $50.00. He took five of it and put it in the drawer and gave the $45.00 back to me and said that was my full share.

“I said, ‘Bishop Woolley, by what right do you rob me of putting the Lord in my debt? Didn’t you preach here today that the Lord rewards fourfold? My mother is a widow, and she needs $200.00.’

“He said, ‘My boy, do you believe that if I take this other $45.00, you will get your $200.00 quicker?’

“I said: ‘Certainly.’

“Well, he took it.

Elder Grant (center) in Japan, 1902

“While walking from fast meeting to the place where I worked, an idea popped into my head. I sent a telegram to a man asking him how many bonds of a certain kind he would buy at a specified price within forty-eight hours and allow me to draw a draft on him through Wells Fargo’s Bank. He was a man whom I did not know. I had never spoken to him in my life, but I had seen him a time or two on the streets of Salt Lake.

“He wired back that he wanted as many as I could get. My profit on that transaction was $218.50.

“The next day I walked down to the bishop and said: ‘Bishop, I made $218.50 after paying that $50.00 donation the other day and so I owe $21.85 in tithing. I will have to dig up the difference between $21.85 and $18.50. The Lord did not quite give me the tithing in addition to a four to one increase.’

“Someone will say that it would have happened anyway. I do not think it would have happened. I do not think I would have had the idea. I do not think I would have sent the telegram.

“. . . I am a firm believer that the Lord opens up the windows of heaven when we do our duty financially and pours out upon us blessings of a spiritual nature, which are of far greater value than temporal things. But I believe he also gives us blessings of a temporal nature” (quoted in Hinckley, Heber J. Grant, 98–100).

He Suffered the Deaths of Loved Ones

Heber J. Grant was a beloved, attentive father and husband. He treated his wives and daughters as queens and princesses. His courtesy, generosity, and fairness were a constant source of joy to them. Yet, sickness and death in his family were some of his greatest trials. He lost his only two sons—one as a baby and the other as a young boy. His grief knew no bounds because he so wanted a son. Untimely deaths also took two of his three wives—one three years after the Manifesto was issued and the second a few years later. Great as his grief was, these events brought rewarding spiritual experiences that affirmed God’s love and will concerning the losses of loved ones.

He Had a Reputation for Honesty

Heber J. Grant at an International Scout Jamboree

Heber J. Grant turned down an appointment to the Naval Academy and pursued business interests. He pursued them with vigor through good times and bad, through successes and reversals. He walked with such courage and well-earned credentials that not even his comparative youth stood in his way. The great financiers of Wall Street in Chicago and points west came to know that Heber J. Grant would never default.

By the time he became President of the Church, Heber had many friends in the world, whose admiration for his ability and integrity was so great that they simply took the position that nothing he had anything to do with could be the least bit dishonest or bad. He wrote of one experience: “I had a letter when I, as a young man, was made an apostle, from a nonmember of the Church. . . . Of prominence in the world so far as business affairs are concerned, he was the manager of a great corporation. . . . He said: ‘I never thought very much of the leaders of the Mormon people, in fact I thought they were a very bright, keen, designing lot of fellows, getting rich from the tithes that they gathered in from a lot of ignorant, superstitious, and over-zealous religious people. But now that you are one of the fifteen men at the head of the Mormon Church, I apologize to the other fourteen. I know that if there were anything crooked in the management of the Mormon Church you would give it all away’” (Gospel Standards, 70).

He took advantage of every opportunity to use his friendship to promote the Church. He was in great demand as a speaker and was honored by important nonmember groups and individuals. His subject was always the same—the story of his Church and people and their principles. He received standing ovations.

He Was Called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

A handwritten copy of the revelation President John Taylor received calling Heber J. Grant to the apostleship and a photograph of Elder Grant during his early years as an Apostle

President John Taylor called Heber J. Grant into the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles one month before Elder Grant’s twenty-sixth birthday. Before this calling he held many positions in the Church, including general secretary of the YMMIA at the age of twenty-three and president of the Tooele Stake. It could be said that Heber J. Grant was an important link in the bridge over which the Church crossed from an old world of criticism and misunderstanding to a new world of guarded respect and some outright admiration and friendliness.

Heber J. Grant personally knew every individual who became President of the Church from President Brigham Young to President Gordon B. Hinckley. Among the General Authorities who were called by him are President Harold B. Lee, President Spencer W. Kimball, and President Ezra Taft Benson.

Heber felt inadequate when he was called to the apostleship and sought the Lord’s confirmation. Once while out riding with a group he found an opportunity to be alone and reflect upon his call. He later described his experience:

Heber J. Grant

“As I was riding along to meet them . . . , I seemed to see, and I seemed to hear, what to me is one of the most real things in all my life. I seemed to hear the words that were spoken. I listened to the discussion with a great deal of interest. The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had not been able to agree on two men to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve. There had been a vacancy of one for two years, and a vacancy of two for one year, and the conferences had adjourned without the vacancies’ being filled. In this council the Savior was present, my father was there, and the Prophet Joseph Smith was there. They discussed the question that a mistake had been made in not filling those two vacancies and that in all probability it would be another six months before the Quorum would be completed. And they discussed as to whom they wanted to occupy those positions, and decided that the way to remedy the mistake that had been made in not filling these vacancies was to send a revelation. It was given to me that the Prophet Joseph Smith and my father mentioned me and requested that I be called to that position. I sat there and wept for joy. It was given to me that I had done nothing to entitle me to that exalted position, except that I had lived a clean, sweet life. It was given to me that because of my father’s having practically sacrificed his life in what was known as the great reformation, so to speak, of the people in early days, having been practically a martyr, that the Prophet Joseph and my father desired me to have that position, and it was because of their faithful labors that I was called, and not because of anything I had done of myself or any great thing that I had accomplished. It was also given to me that that was all these men, the Prophet and my father, could do for me. From that day it depended upon me and upon me alone as to whether I made a success of my life or a failure” (Gospel Standards, 195–96).

He Presided over Missions in Japan and England

Heber J. Grant and family when he was president of the European Mission in 1905

Teaching about times the Lord blessed him when he prayed to serve in certain positions, Heber J. Grant told the youth of the Church:

“When in Japan, feeling that I was not accomplishing anything, I went out into the woods and got down on my knees and told the Lord that whenever He was through with me there, where I was accomplishing nothing, I would be very glad and thankful if He would call me home and send me to Europe to preside over the European missions. A few days after that a cable arrived: ‘Come home on the first boat.’ And I went home.

“Brother Joseph F. Smith said to me: ‘Heber, I realize you have not accomplished anything in Japan. We sent you there for three years, and I want you to put in the other year in England, if you are willing.’

“I said, ‘I am perfectly willing.’

“Later I went in to bid him goodbye and said: ‘I will see you in a little over a year.’

“He said, ‘Oh no, I have decided to make it a year and a half.’

“I said, ‘All right, multiply it by two and do not say anything about it to me.’ And he did.

“I want you young people to know that in all my labors I got nearer to the Lord, and accomplished more and had more joy while in the mission field than ever before or since. Man is that he may have joy, and the joy that I had in the mission field was superior to any I have ever experienced elsewhere. Get it into your hearts, young people, to prepare yourselves to go out into the world where you can get on your knees and draw nearer to the Lord than in any other labor” (Gospel Standards, 245–46).

He Earned the Respect of Business Leaders

“As a young man Heber J. Grant proceeded with boldness to play a large role in the economic history of his people. He was a pioneer in industry, second only to Brigham Young. Pioneering in industry requires much the same sturdy qualities that pioneering new lands requires: faith, vision, imagination, patience, and fortitude, backed by a determination that knows no failure. Heber J. Grant had all of these qualities.

Enjoying a favorite pastime

“A boyhood associate, Heber M. Wells, said this of him: ‘He has probably been instrumental in establishing and furthering the cause of more successful intermountain industries than any other man of his time. His personal credit, his unquestioned integrity, his super-salesmanship brought capital to the aid of the Church, the community, and private enterprises. In times of panic and in times of plenty Heber J. Grant has been able to raise a few dollars or millions where other men have failed to raise any amount. This has been done largely by his personal guarantee and persuasion. He has never repudiated or failed to pay a dollar of obligation for which he was directly or indirectly responsible, legally or morally, and the result is that today, as during all the many decades since he was a young man, he can walk into the offices of executives and directors of great financial institutions in America and be affectionately greeted by men who are proud to know him as a friend and a leader of financial industries’” ( Hinckley, Heber J. Grant, 51–52).

On a Hawaiian trip, about 1935. Heber J. Grant is in the front row, second from the left.

He Knew the Agony of Debt

Heber J. Grant’s daughter Lucy said: “During those lean years which followed the panic of 1893, when to raise a nickel was harder than it had been to give $5.00, Father still helped those in distress. He knew the widow’s lot; he had felt the pinch of poverty; he knew the bitterness and bondage of debt. Through all the dark hours of his life there was a shining and secure faith in God and his promises which sustained him. I know in those years the horror of financial obligation was borne into the souls of those of us who were old enough to see him under this great strain which made us feel that debt was like a huge dragon, into whose ugly mouth the very lifeblood of its victims was drawn. No wonder he was constantly crying unto the people everywhere to keep out of debt. One whose experiences have been such as his, knows the exquisite pain of honor when on the verge of being crushed, and of a good name when near being dragged into the dust” (quoted in Hinckley, Heber J. Grant, 206).

He Was Honorable and Paid All of His Debts

Near the north ridge of the Grand Canyon

President Heber J. Grant taught the following about honoring our obligations to the Lord and to others:

“I have had friends beg and plead with me to take bankruptcy, saying that I would never live long enough to pay my debts.

“If there is any man living who is entitled to say, ‘Keep out of debt,’ his name is Heber J. Grant. Thank the Lord that I was able to pay it all, and pay it all without asking a dollar discount from anyone.

“I do not believe I ever would have paid it if I had not been absolutely honest with the Lord. When I made any money, the first debt I paid was to the Lord. And I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if the Latter-day Saints as a people, had taken the advice of the prophet of the Lord, and had been efficient tithe payers they would not be in the condition they are today” (Gospel Standards, 59).

Visiting Holland, 12 August 1937

Doctrine and Covenants 121 Was One of the Disciplines in His Life

Elder Heber J. Grant, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught: “In talking to the Latter-day Saints, there is no revelation in all the Doctrine and Covenants that I have quoted from so often as that contained in Section 121 . . . : That ‘No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness, and meekness, and by love unfeigned.’ There is no danger of a Priesthood of this kind—gentleness, and meekness, and love unfeigned. But when we exercise the power of the Priesthood . . . to ‘Gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control, or dominion, or compulsion, upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood or the authority of that man.’ These are the words of God” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1902, 80).

His Definition of Success Was Simple and Practical

Meeting with automobile industrialist Henry Ford

Elder Grant taught what true success is: “Not he who merely succeeds in making a fortune, and in so doing blunts the natural affections of the heart, and chases therefrom the love of his fellows, can be said to be truly successful: but he who so lives that those who know him best shall love him most; and that God, who knows not only his deeds, but also the inmost sentiments of his heart, shall love him; of such an one, only—notwithstanding he may die in poverty—can it be said indeed and of a truth, ‘he should be crowned with the wreath of success’” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1911, 24).

One of the Secrets of Success Is Service

President Heber J. Grant wrote: “I am converted to the thought that the way to peace and happiness in life is by giving service. Service is the true key, I believe, to happiness, because when we perform labors like missionary work, all the rest of our lives we can look back upon our accomplishments in the mission field. When we perform any acts of kindness, they bring a feeling of satisfaction and pleasure into our hearts, while ordinary amusements pass away. We can’t look back with any particular satisfaction upon having spent an evening just for the privilege of laughing loud and long” (Gospel Standards, 187).

President Grant was chosen to speak during the first broadcast of radio station KZN in Salt Lake City on 6 May 1922.

He Had a Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith

President Grant said: “I have met hundreds of men who have said: ‘If it were not for Joseph Smith I could accept your religion.’ Any man who does not believe in Joseph Smith as a prophet of the true and the living God has no right to be in this Church. That revelation to Joseph Smith is the foundation stone. If Joseph Smith did not have that interview with God and Jesus Christ, the whole Mormon fabric is a failure and a fraud. It is not worth anything on earth. But God did come, God did introduce His Son; God did inspire that man to organize the Church of Jesus Christ, and all the opposition of the world is not able to withstand the truth. It is flourishing; it is growing, and it will grow more” (Gospel Standards, 15).

The Welfare Plan Was Established upon Revealed Principles

President Heber J. Grant

The Church welfare plan was based on God-given, immutable, moral and economic laws. President Heber J. Grant explained: “Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1936, 3).

The Church Welfare Plan Was Given through Inspiration

Elder Harold B. Lee, then newly called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, bore testimony of the welfare plan: “For the last five glorious, strenuous years, I have labored, under a call from the First Presidency, with a group of men in the development of and the unfolding of what we have called the Church Welfare Plan. I felt that I should bear my testimony to you concerning that work as I close. It was on April 20th, 1935, when I was called to the office of the First Presidency. That was a year before official announcement of the Welfare Plan was made in this Tabernacle. There, after an entire half day session, at which President Grant and President McKay were present, President Clark then being in the East—they had some communications with him, so that all members of the Presidency were in agreement—I was astounded to learn that for years there had been before them, as a result of their thinking and planning and as the result of the inspiration of Almighty God, the genius of the very plan that is being carried out and was in waiting and in preparation for a time when in their judgment the faith of the Latter-day Saints was such that they were willing to follow the counsel of the men who lead and preside in this Church” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1941, 120–21).

President Heber J. Grant and his wife, 1942

He Taught about Welfare and the Word of Wisdom

President Heber J. Grant included the Word of Wisdom as an important welfare principle. In fact, he mentioned it as a welfare principle almost as often as he mentioned the payment of tithing and the avoidance of debt. The Word of Wisdom can be recognized as a welfare principle because welfare is based on caring for oneself and on saving today’s resources for tomorrow’s use.

President Grant taught: “I would like it known that if we as a people never used a particle of tea or coffee or of tobacco or of liquor, we would become one of the most wealthy people in the world. Why? Because we would have increased vigor of body, increased vigor of mind; we would grow spiritually; we would have a more direct line of communication with God, our Heavenly Father” (Gospel Standards, 50).

Heber J. Grant with his wife and nine daughters

He also mentioned the large amounts of money wasted in treating the illnesses that were directly attributable to harmful substances, the loss of employment, the loss of production caused by hangovers and smoking and coffee breaks, and the accidents on the highways caused by drunken drivers and in industry by drunken employees.

Payment of Tithes and Offerings Helps Overcome Selfishness

The First Presidency: Anthony W. Ivins, Heber J. Grant, and Charles W. Nibley

President Heber J. Grant taught: “Some people have found it very hard to pay their tithing. The harder it is for an individual to comply with requirements of the Lord in the payment of his tithing, the greater the benefit when he finally does pay it. The Lord loves a generous giver. No man living upon the earth can pay donations for the poor, can pay for building meetinghouses and temples, academies, and universities, can take of his means and send his boys and girls to proclaim this gospel, without removing selfishness from his soul, no matter how selfish he was when he started in. That is one of the finest things in all the world for men—to get to that point where the selfishness in their natures is cured. When it is eradicated from their dispositions, they are glad and anxious and willing and seeking the opportunity to do good with the means that the Lord places in their hands, instead of trying to get more of it” (Gospel Standards, 62).

The Law of the Fast Is the Spiritual Foundation of the Welfare Plan

President Heber J. Grant taught about the blessings of fasting:

“Let me promise you here today that if the Latter-day Saints will honestly and conscientiously from this day forth, as a people, keep the monthly fast and pay into the hands of their bishops the actual amount that they would have spent for food for the two [consecutive] meals from which they have refrained; and if in addition to that they will pay their honest tithing, it will solve all of the problems in connection with taking care of the Latter-day Saints. We would have all the money necessary to take care of all the idle and all the poor.

“Every living soul among the Latter-day Saints that fasts two meals once a month will be benefited spiritually and be built up in the faith of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ—benefited spiritually in a wonderful way—and sufficient means will be in the hands of the bishops to take care of all the poor” (Gospel Standards, 123).

Tithing Is the Lord’s Law of Financial Success

At the dedication of the Alberta Canada Temple, August 1923; the first temple constructed outside of the United States. President Grant also dedicated the Laie Hawaii and Mesa Arizona Temples.

President Heber J. Grant often taught about the importance of paying an honest tithe. In 1898, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he testified: “A man will say, ‘I owe my neighbor and must pay him before I can settle my tithing.’ Well, I know I owe lots of my neighbors, and they try to collect from me. But I owe God an honest tithing; He has given me a testimony of Jesus and a hope of eternal life, and I intend to pay Him first and my neighbors afterwards. It is our duty to settle with the Lord first, and I intend to do it, with the help of my Heavenly Father. And I want to say to you, if you will be honest with the Lord, paying your tithing and keeping His commandments, He will not only bless you with the light and inspiration of His Holy Spirit, but you will be blessed in dollars and cents; you will be enabled to pay your debts, and the Lord will pour out temporal blessings upon you in great abundance” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1898, 16).

President Heber J. Grant

In 1925, he said: “The law of financial prosperity to the Latter-day Saints, under covenant with God, is to be an honest tithepayer, and not to rob the Lord in tithes and offerings. Prosperity comes to those who observe the law of tithing; and when I say prosperity I am not thinking of it in terms of dollars and cents alone, although as a rule the Latter-day Saints who are the best tithepayers are the most prosperous men, financially; but what I count as real prosperity, as the one thing of all others that is of great value to every man and woman living, is the growth in a knowledge of God, and in a testimony, and in the power to live the gospel and to inspire our families to do the same. That is prosperity of the truest kind” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1925, 10).

Avoiding Debt Is a Welfare Principle

President Heber J. Grant gave the following counsel against debt: “If a person owned what he had and did not have to pay interest, and only bought as he had the money to buy, the majority of people would be in reasonably comfortable circumstances. . . . It has been due to debt, I think, that the main part of this suffering has come. We have mortgaged our future without taking into account the incidents that may happen—sickness, operations, etc.” (Gospel Standards, 112).

His Closest Associates Knew Him as a Generous Man

President Heber J. Grant with Elder David O. McKay

In an address given during President Heber J. Grant’s funeral, President David O. McKay said: “President Grant enjoyed making money, but he loved to use it for the benefit of others. On more than one occasion, quietly, usually, forcefully, if necessary, but always unostentatiously, he has protected the good name of his associates, has paid mortgages on widows’ homes, has paid expenses of missionaries, given employment to the unemployed, rendered help and succor wherever needed. No mind has been more eager to bless, no heart more tender, no hand more generous than the heart and hand of President Grant. Thus in ‘going about doing good’ he ‘fanned the flame of human love, and raised the standard of civil virtue among mankind’” (Improvement Era, June 1945, 361).

Joseph Anderson, President Grant’s secretary, wrote: “No one will ever know how many mortgages on homes of widows he paid out of his own funds. Time and again he would inquire as to his bank balance. He had no special interest in the accumulation of money except for the good he could do with it” (Prophets I Have Known [1973], 30).

He Made Contributions of Service and Love

In the Sacred Grove, 22 September 1923

Heber J. Grant’s Church assignments were numerous, including a lifelong commitment to the MIA, in which he held many positions of leadership and helped establish the Improvement Era, serving as an editor and contributor from its beginning. He often found the time and means to attend the temple when near one. He usually arranged to have family members accompany him. As President of the Church, he dedicated three new temples. “President Grant advocated and supported in the most practical way work for the dead. Although he did not frequently discourse upon the subject, the records show that he has done more for his kindred dead than has any other man. That was typical of him; that was the way he did things” (Hinckley, Heber J. Grant, 125).

Besides all this, there were the thousands of books sent with personal messages in his own matchless handwriting to members and nonmembers, there were the endless hours spent in reclaiming the wayward, and there were the widows’ mortgages paid off and other philanthropies.

He Died in Salt Lake City

President Heber J. Grant stood 6 feet, 1 1/2 inches tall. He was the first Church president to have been born in the West.

“In the late afternoon, May 14, 1945, President Heber J. Grant, peacefully passed away at his residence in Salt Lake City. He had been ailing for the past five years, but his courage and determination to press on and perform his duty, never deserted him. Each day, up to a short time before his death, he was found at the office attending to duties as much as the physician permitted him to do. His life had been one of great activity. In his early years he appeared frail, was rejected for insurance, because of his physical condition, however, he had been active always, engaging in athletics, one time belonging to the champion baseball team of Utah. His energy was marvelous and his activities never ceased. There was never any compromise on his part with evil. Some of his strongest characteristics the public never realized. He had a tender, sympathetic nature, loved his friends dearly; was kind to the distressed; assisted the needy scores upon scores of times, the knowledge of which never got into any earthly record. His testimony of the Truth never wavered. His friends were legion outside of the Church, and he was dearly loved by his people” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Essentials in Church History, 26th ed. [1950], 530–31).

The Second World War was ending in Europe when his tall, thin frame was laid to rest. Member and nonmember alike honored and eulogized him. Thousands came to view him. At his funeral one of his counselors, President J. Reuben Clark Jr., said of him: “He so lived his life that it had no dark place across which he must draw a curtain. His life had nothing to embarrass, nothing to hide, nothing of which he must be ashamed” (quoted in Hinckley, Heber J. Grant, 262).

“He Was a Giant of a Man”

President Heber J. Grant

In his journal entry for 14 March 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley, facing his new responsibilities as President of the Church, wrote: “It will be sixty years ago in July when I first came into this room as a newly returned missionary to meet with the First Presidency at the request of my mission president Elder Joseph F. Merrill of the Council of the Twelve. It is difficult to realize what has happened since then. To think that I now sit where President Heber J. Grant sat at that time. He was a giant of a man whom I loved” (quoted in Sheri L. Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley [1996], 511).

Chapter 8
George Albert Smith
Eighth President of the Church

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LIFE OF GEORGE ALBERT SMITH

Age	Events
	He was born 4 April 1870 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to John Henry and Sarah Farr Smith.
13	He began working in a ZCMI clothing factory (1883); he received his patriarchal blessing, which foretold his calling as an Apostle (Jan. 1884).
21	He served a mission to southern Utah for the YMMIA (Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association; 1891).
22	He married Lucy Emily Woodruff (25 May 1892).
22–24	He served a mission to the southern United States (June 1892–June 1894).
28	He was appointed receiver of the U.S. Land Office and Special Disbursing Agent for Utah by U.S. President William McKinley (1897–1902).
33	He was ordained an Apostle (8 Oct. 1903).
34	He wrote his creed (1904).
39–42	He suffered from serious health problems (1909–12).
49–51	He served as president of the European Mission (June 1919–July 1921).
52	He was elected vice-president of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (1922).
61	He became a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America (1931).
73	He was set apart as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (1 July 1943).
75	He became President of the Church (21 May 1945); he dedicated the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple (23 Sept. 1945); he met with U.S. President Harry S. Truman (3 Nov. 1945).
77	The Utah Pioneer Centennial was celebrated (1947).
81	He died in Salt Lake City, Utah (4 Apr. 1951).

 

George Albert Smith, about four years old Photograph by Charles R. Savage

Ulysses S. Grant, Charles Darwin, Alexander Graham Bell—these were some of the names that commanded the attention of the world in 1870. In far-away Utah, a premortal appointment was kept with the birth of an infant who received the earthly name by which he would one day be loved and revered by thousands. It was in Salt Lake City on 4 April, and the child was named George Albert Smith. Like other prophets, his youth was unpretentious. He was a pioneer boy, raised amid the excitement that attended the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. He spent his early youth herding cows, riding horses, and studying. He was also a musician.

The patriarchal blessing that a thirteen-year-old George Albert Smith received from patriarch Zebedee Coltrin had a profound effect upon his mind and attitudes. In it he was told: “Thou was called and chosen of the Lord from before the foundation of the earth was laid to come forth in this dispensation to assist in building up the Zion of God upon the earth. . . . And thou shalt become a mighty prophet in the midst of the sons of Zion. And the angels of the Lord shall administer unto you. . . . Thou art destined to become a mighty man before the Lord, for thou shalt become a mighty Apostle in the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth, for none of thy father’s family shall have more power with God than thou shalt have, for none shall excel thee” (quoted in George Albert Smith, The Teachings of George Albert Smith, ed. Robert and Susan McIntosh [1996], xix).

He Had Early Personal Experiences with Great Leaders

George Albert Smith was raised amid great servants of God. He was named after his grandfather, George A. Smith, who had been an Apostle and a member of the First Presidency. His father, John Henry Smith, was also an Apostle and became a counselor to President Joseph F. Smith.

When George Albert was a boy of five years, his mother sent him to deliver a note to President Brigham Young. As he opened and walked through the massive gate that led to Brigham Young’s home, the watchman stopped him and asked what he wanted. The boy replied that he wanted to see President Young. The watchman laughed and said he didn’t think Brigham Young had time to see a small boy. At that moment, President Young walked out of his home and asked what was going on. The watchman explained and President Young replied, “Show him in.” Recalling this incident, George Albert Smith said:

Children of John Henry and Sarah Farr Smith. George Albert is the first on the left.

“President Young took me by the hand and led me into his office, sat down at his desk and lifted me up on his knee and put his arm around me. In the kindest way one could imagine, he said, ‘What do you want of President Young?’

“Just think of it! He was President of a great Church and Governor of a Territory, and with all the duties he had to perform, yet I as a little boy was received with as much dignity, and kindness as if I had come as a governor from an adjoining state” (quoted in Arthur R. Bassett, “George Albert Smith: On Reaching Out to Others,” New Era, Jan. 1972, 51).

This experience helped teach him “that great men always make time for those in need. . . .

“Imagine the image the future prophet of the Lord, George Albert Smith, had of President Young as he, a little boy, walked away from his office. In his adult life he never forgot that lesson and was always conscious of people who easily could have been passed by as insignificant to others” (Bassett, New Era, Jan. 1972, 51–52).

Years later, as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder George Albert Smith spoke of the importance of the lessons he learned from those great leaders: “From childhood, I have never been taught to do anything improper, or that would harm one of my heavenly Father’s children; but from infancy I have been taught to acquire industry, sobriety, honesty, integrity, and all virtues possessed by men and women whom God delights to honor and bless. I thank my heavenly Father this day that these teachings have come to me from Him through His faithful servants” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1906, 46–47).

He Learned from the Example and Teachings of His Father

John Henry Smith, father of George Albert Smith Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

The example set by his father had a great impact on George Albert Smith. Edith Elliott, George Albert Smith’s daughter shared this incident: “One day Father was walking down a street in Salt Lake City with his father, John Henry Smith. A drunkard came up to John Henry and asked for a quarter for a hot meal. Without hesitation, John Henry gave him the money. After this incident, George Albert asked his father why he had given the drunkard the money when it was highly possible that he would spend it on liquor. His father replied that he would give quarters to ten men he thought might use the money on drink, if there was a chance that just one would use it properly” (personal interview by CES Curriculum Services, 30 June 1972).

Sarah Farr Smith, mother of George Albert Smith Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

President George Albert Smith shared another example of his father’s love for others: “As I think of my regard and my affection for my Father’s family, the human family, I remember something my earthly father said, and I think probably I inherited that in part from him. He said, ‘I have never seen a child of God so deep in the gutter that I have not had the impulse to stoop down and lift him up and put him on his feet and start him again.’ I would like to say I have never seen one of my Father’s children in my life that I have not realized he was my brother and that God loves every one of his children, but he does not love our wickedness and our infidelity” (“President Smith’s Leadership Address,” Church News, 16 Feb. 1946, 6).

He Had Faith to Be Healed

“As a young boy he was taken ill with typhoid fever. The doctor counseled his mother to keep him in bed for three weeks, to give him no solid food, and to have him drink coffee. In later years George Albert recalled:

“‘When he went away, I told mother that I didn’t want any coffee. I had been taught that the Word of Wisdom, given by the Lord to Joseph Smith, advised us not to use coffee.

George Albert Smith and his three brothers: Don Carlos (standing), George Albert, Winslow Farr, and Ezra Chase (sitting, left to right) Photograph by Charles R. Savage. Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

“‘Mother had brought three children into the world and two had died. She was unusually anxious about me.

“‘I asked her to send for Brother Hawks, one of our ward teachers. He was a worker at the foundry, a poor and humble man of great faith in the power of the Lord. He came, administered to me and blessed me that I might be healed.

“‘When the doctor came next morning I was playing outside with other children. He was surprised. He examined me and discovered that my fever had gone and that I seemed to be well.

“‘I was grateful to the Lord for my recovery. I was sure that he had healed me’” (Teachings of George Albert Smith, xvii).

He Was Steadfast and Faithful during Times of Trial

George Albert Smith (right), age 16, and friend John Howard enjoyed entertaining others. Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

The security felt by those who trust the Lord, in spite of whatever turmoil may exist around them, is illustrated in this story Elder George Albert Smith, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, told about his childhood: “We . . . lived in a two story frame house and when the wind blew hard it would rock as if it would topple over. Sometimes I would be too frightened to go to sleep. My bed was in a little room by itself, and many a night I have climbed out and got down on my knees and asked my Father in Heaven to take care of the house, preserve it that it would not break in pieces and I have got back into my little bed just as sure that I would be safeguarded from evil as if I held my Father’s hand” (“To the Relief Society,” Relief Society Magazine, Dec. 1932, 707–8).

There were many years of preparation, work, service, and obedience. They were years that saw him fill a short-term mission to southern Utah, work for Utah’s leading department store, and marry his childhood sweetheart, Lucy Woodruff. They were also years of refinement through suffering—typhoid fever as a child, a severe eye injury while working on a railroad survey crew on the western desert, and two narrow escapes from death while serving a mission to the southern United States. He was afflicted for five painful years with a serious disease. He feared for his life, but the impression came that his earthly mission was not complete. Suffering brought strength and compassion.

Missionary picture of George Albert Smith

As a young missionary, George Albert Smith and his companion, J. Golden Kimball, were preaching in Alabama. “Their preaching in the neighborhood had aroused bitter opposition, which this night turned violent. About midnight, the cabin was surrounded by an angry mob whose leader pounded on the door, demanding in vulgar and profane language that the elders come out or ‘they were going to shoot them.’ When they refused to obey, the mob commenced to fire into the corners of the cabin. ‘Splinters were flying over our heads in every direction,’ Elder Smith wrote of the incident. ‘There were a few moments of quiet, then another volley of shots was fired and more splinters flew.’ He was interested in his reaction to what he considered to be ‘one of the most horrible events,’ in his life. ‘I was very calm as I lay there,’ the missionary wrote later, ‘but I was sure that as long as I was preaching the word of God and following his teachings that the Lord would protect me, and he did.’ The next morning when the elders stepped outside, they found a bundle of heavy hickory sticks of the kind that had been used to beat other missionaries in the south” (Francis M. Gibbons, George Albert Smith: Kind and Caring Christian, Prophet of God [1990], 26–27).

Missionary conference, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1893

Between 1909 and 1912, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, George Albert Smith struggled with very serious health problems. During this time of trial, he later confided to a friend: “When I was in my serious condition [1909–12] I did not know whether my work was completed or not, but I told the Lord that if it was complete and He was preparing to call me home, that I would be ready to go, but if there was more work for me to perform, I would like to get well. I placed myself in his hands to do as he saw fit, and soon after that I began to recover” (quoted in Glen R. Stubbs, “A Biography of George Albert Smith, 1870 to 1951” [Ph.D. diss., Brigham Young University, 1974], 317).

Elders George Albert Smith and Henry Foster

He Married Lucy Woodruff

Lucy Emily Woodruff, age 10

Lucy Emily Woodruff was a granddaughter of President Wilford Woodruff. She was a woman of great faith and intelligence. She and George Albert Smith had known each other since they were children, and she loved and respected him. But her affections were divided between George Albert and another suitor.

Lucy Woodruff, age 19

In 1891, the courtship was interrupted when George received a mission call from the First Presidency of the Church to strengthen the young people, members of the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Associations, in the Juab, Millard, Beaver, and Parowan stakes in southern Utah. One week into his assignment, he wrote in his journal: “The letter that I looked for never came.” When George received Lucy Woodruff’s letter the next day, the topic was her possible marriage plans to her other suitor. George responded by letter expressing his feelings for Lucy and offered the following advice: “Be prayerful and humble; do not mistake the duty you owe to others. Your first duty is to yourself. I feel that you will be happy and my prayer is that you will” (quoted in Gibbons, George Albert Smith, 19).

Lucy Woodruff in costume for a stage performance Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

Lucy stopped her marriage plans with the other suitor, but her affections still vacillated between the two men. After months of turmoil, she finally broke off her relationship with the other man and married George Albert Smith in the Manti Utah Temple on 25 May 1892. “Afterward, as she put the affair in perspective and saw that she had merely been infatuated with a handsome man who lacked substance, Lucy Woodruff Smith exclaimed again and again that she had ‘almost made a terrible mistake’” (Gibbons, George Albert Smith, 21).

He Was Called to the Apostleship

George Albert Smith was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on 8 October 1903. He was thirty-three years old. Despite almost continuous physical weakness, he traveled, preached, worked, and prayed. Juvenile delinquents, the displaced and homeless, the blind, “splinter groups” from the Church, the Boy Scout movement—all received his attention.

He Had a Personal Creed

George Albert Smith

At the age of thirty-four, George Albert Smith prepared a list of life-long goals. His being called as an Apostle was a crucial time to put in writing just what he wanted to do with the balance of his life: “I would be a friend to the friendless and find joy in ministering to the needs of the poor. I would visit the sick and afflicted and inspire in them a desire for faith to be healed. I would teach the truth to the understanding and blessing of all mankind. I would seek out the erring one and try to win him back to a righteous and a happy life. I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals but rather love them into doing the thing that is right. I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems that their earth life may be happy. I would avoid the publicity of high positions and discourage the flattery of thoughtless friends. I would not knowingly wound the feeling of any, not even one who may have wronged me, but would seek to do him good and make him my friend. I would overcome the tendency to selfishness and jealousy and rejoice in the successes of all the children of my Heavenly Father. I would not be an enemy to any living soul. Knowing that the Redeemer of mankind has offered to the world the only plan that will fully develop us and make us really happy here and hereafter I feel it not only a duty but a blessed privilege to disseminate this truth” (quoted in Bryant S. Hinckley, “Greatness in Men: Superintendent George Albert Smith,” Improvement Era, Mar. 1932, 295).

George Albert Smith strived to live according to his creed in every detail. It required of him tremendous sacrifice. His love was sincere and constant. He showed the ultimate in tolerance, trust, and personal concern toward thousands of our Heavenly Father’s children in his travels and labors. He was a sensitive vessel through whom the love of the Master could be made manifest. In the life of George Albert Smith we see that love is no idle feeling. It is action—constant, alert, and anxious to serve at any cost.

“What Have You Done With My Name?”

George Albert Smith’s grandfather George A. Smith Engraving by H. B. Hall and Sons, New York. Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

After his call to the apostleship, a powerful lesson was impressed upon George Albert Smith through a dream he had of his grandfather George A. Smith, who had been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a counselor to President Brigham Young and who had died when George Albert was five years old. George Albert had been seriously ill and later recalled:

“I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had passed to the Other Side. I found myself standing with my back to a large and beautiful lake, facing a great forest of trees. There was no one in sight, and there was no boat upon the lake or any other visible means to indicate how I might have arrived there. I realized, or seemed to realize, that I had finished my work in mortality and had gone home. I began to look around, to see if I could not find someone. There was no evidence of anyone living there, just those great, beautiful trees in front of me and the wonderful lake behind me.

George Albert Smith, about 1912–14

“I began to explore, and soon I found a trail through the woods which seemed to have been used very little, and which was almost obscured by grass. I followed this trail, and after I had walked for some time and had traveled a considerable distance through the forest, I saw a man coming towards me. I became aware that he was a very large man, and I hurried my steps to reach him, because I recognized him as my grandfather. In mortality he weighed over three hundred pounds, so you may know he was a large man. I remember how happy I was to see him coming. I had been given his name and had always been proud of it.

“When Grandfather came within a few feet of me, he stopped. His stopping was an invitation for me to stop. Then—and this I would like the boys and girls and young people never to forget—he looked at me very earnestly and said:

“‘I would like to know what you have done with my name.’

“Everything I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen—everything I had done. Quickly this vivid retrospect came down to the very time I was standing there. My whole life had passed before me. I smiled and looked at my grandfather and said:

“‘I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed.’

“He stepped forward and took me in his arms, and as he did so, I became conscious again of my earthly surroundings. My pillow was wet as though water had been poured on it—wet with tears of gratitude that I could answer unashamed” (“Your Good Name,” Improvement Era, Mar. 1947, 139).

He Shared the Gospel without Timidness

George Albert Smith was a missionary. In one ten-year period, twelve hundred books and pamphlets were mailed to people who were not members of the Church, whom he had met during his travels. Historical sites, such as the Hill Cumorah and the Sacred Grove, were purchased to further spread the message of salvation. As a receiver of public monies for the land office of the state of Utah, president of national congresses, chairman of the boards of directors for many companies, and active in the support of social improvement and the arts and sciences, he worked with the major intent to present the Church to the world.

George Albert Smith Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

Concerning missionary work, he said: “Every happiness and every joy that has been worthy of the name has been the result of keeping the commandments of God and observing his advice and counsel. So, as we go forward, each of us, each having an influence with our neighbors and our friends, let us not be too timid. We do not need to annoy people, but let us make them feel and understand that we are interested, not in making them members of the Church for membership, but in bringing them into the Church that they may enjoy the same blessings that we enjoy” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1948, 162).

We Will Go to Every Part of the World

President George Albert Smith told priesthood holders: “We must preach the gospel to the South American countries which we have scarcely touched. We must preach the gospel to every African section that we haven’t been in yet. We must preach the gospel to Asia. And I might go on and say in all parts of the world where we have not yet been permitted to go. I look upon Russia as one of the most fruitful fields for the teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if I am not mistaken, it will not be long before the people who are there will desire to know something about this work which has reformed the lives of so many people. . . . Our most important obligation, my brethren, is to divide with our Father’s children all those fundamental truths, all his rules and regulations which prepare us for eternal life, known as the gospel of Jesus Christ. Until we have done that to the full limit of our power, we will not receive all the blessings which we might otherwise have” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1945, 119).

The Gospel Will Be Taught with Improved Technology

In 1946 President George Albert Smith spoke of technological improvements that would come and advance the building up of the kingdom of God on earth: “Short-wave broadcasting will continue to improve, and it will not be long until, from this pulpit and other places that will be provided, the servants of the Lord will be able to deliver messages to isolated groups who are so far away they cannot be reached. In that way and other ways, the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord, the only power of God unto salvation in preparation for the celestial kingdom, will be heard in all parts of the world, and many of you who are here will live to see that day” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1946, 6).

Millions Will Accept the Truth

President George Albert Smith said: “Heavenly Father . . . has called me to go to many parts of the earth, and more than a million miles have been traversed since I was called into the ministry. I have traveled in many lands and climes, and wherever I have gone I have found good people, sons and daughters of the living God who are waiting for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and there are thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of them, who would be accepting the truth if they only knew what we know” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1945, 120).

There Can Be Peace in a War-Torn World

While the world was in turmoil during World War I, Elder George Albert Smith taught: “Though the world may be filled with distress, and the heavens gather blackness, and the vivid lightnings flash, and the earth quake from center to circumference, if we know that God lives, and our lives are righteous, we will be happy, there will be peace unspeakable because we know our Father approves our lives” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1915, 28).

After World War I, Elder Smith was instrumental in reestablishing missionary work on the European continent. As president of the European Mission, he overcame prejudice and hostility through visits to government leaders and newspaper editors. He defended the call of living prophets and prophesied that those who shunned the counsel of the prophets would suffer disastrous results.

He Taught of Change during World War II

In 1942 the world was once again enveloped in war. Elder George Albert Smith spoke of the change living gospel principles could bring:

“Now tonight we are here in peace and quiet. The world is on fire. Everywhere peace has been taken from the earth, and the devil has been given power over his own dominion. God has said if we will honor Him and keep His commandments—if we will observe His laws He will fight our battles and destroy the wicked, and when the time comes He will come down in heaven—not from heaven—but He will bring heaven with Him—and this earth upon which we dwell, will be the celestial kingdom.

“What if all the world knew and believed that? What a change there would be in the conditions among the children of men! What joy would be in the place of sorrow and distress today! It is your duty and mine, having received this information, to impart it to others” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1942, 49).

President Smith was Time magazine’s “Man of the Year,” 21 July 1947.

The results of World War II were ugly and discouraging. More than fifty countries had been involved, and an estimated fifty-five million people had lost their lives. The war had cost over a trillion dollars. Millions of people in Europe and Asia were without adequate food, shelter, and clothing. Sorrow, hatred, and despair stalked through nations and homes. In one way or another, the war had touched the life of nearly everyone on the earth.

President Smith was concerned about the effects of World War II throughout the world. This photograph shows Dutch Saints harvesting potatoes to be sent to members in Germany.

He Was Called to Be President of the Church

On 21 May 1945, when the full extent of carnage and devastation left behind by World War II was becoming apparent, George Albert Smith was moved from his time of preparation into his foreordained position as President of the Church. President Smith did not presume to declare what his personal mission as prophet, seer, and revelator would be. However, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, Patriarch to the Church and a son of Hyrum Mack Smith and a grandson of President Joseph F. Smith, uttered this prophetic statement:

“It is frequently said that the Lord has raised up a particular man to perform a particular mission. Everyone of us here has heard that discussed and has heard how the peculiar talents of each of the presidents of the Church have been of a special value during his respective mission. I wish that all the members of the Church could have witnessed the council meeting wherein the Presidency was reorganized. If ever there was a time when the Spirit of the Lord was indubitably manifest, it was on that occasion. Everyone present thrilled to it. Everyone present was aware, beyond doubt, of the absolute rightness of it.

B. H. Roberts, George Albert Smith, and Andrew Jenson

“It is not for me to say what particular mission President George Albert Smith has ahead of him. This I do know, however, that at this particular time in the world’s history, never was the need for love among brethren so desperately needed as it is needed today. Furthermore, I do know this, that there is no man of my acquaintance who loves the human family, collectively and individually, more profoundly than does President George Albert Smith. Those two things coming in conjunction, the need for love, his presidency at this time, have for me at least, peculiar significance” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1945, 31–32).

The First Presidency: J. Reuben Clark, George Albert Smith, and David O. McKay Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

He Sent an Emissary of Peace

The missionaries had been called home before World War II broke out and many Latter-day Saints, particularly in the European nations, did not see a Church representative for years. President George Albert Smith was concerned about those Saints. After the war, unable to visit them himself, President Smith sent Elder Ezra Taft Benson to find out how the Church could help them and how much aid they needed. Elder Benson described what he saw:

“I will not take time today to describe the terrors of war, the worst of which is not the physical combat but that which follows: the abandonment of moral and religious restraints, the increase in sin, disease; the increase in infant mortality; and all the suffering which accompanies famine, disease, and immorality. We saw these things on every side. We saw nations prostrate, flat on their backs economically. We found it difficult even to get a telephone call through from London to many of our missions on the continent when we arrived. We could not even make a telephone call to Holland, let alone countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia, and other nations. Almost the only type of transportation available was that under the control of the military. . . .

“I think I shall never forget those first meetings with the Saints. They have suffered much, my brethren and sisters. We wondered just how they would receive us, what the reaction would be. Would their hearts be filled with bitterness? Would there be hatred there? Would they have soured on the Church? I well remember our first meeting at Karlsruhe. After we had made visits through Belgium, Holland, and the Scandinavian countries, we went into occupied Germany. We finally found our way to the meeting place, a partially bombed-out building located in the interior of a block. The Saints had been in session for some two hours waiting for us, hoping that we would come because the word had reached them that we might be there for the conference. And then for the first time in my life I saw almost an entire audience in tears as we walked up onto the platform, and they realized that at last, after six or seven long years, representatives from Zion, as they put it, had finally come back to them. Then as the meeting closed, prolonged at their request, they insisted we go to the door and shake hands with each one of them as he left the bombed-out building. And we noted that many of them, after they had passed through the line went back and came through the second and third time, so happy were they to grasp our hands. As I looked into their upturned faces, pale, thin, many of these Saints dressed in rags, some of them barefooted, I could see the light of faith in their eyes as they bore testimony to the divinity of this great latter-day work, and expressed their gratitude for the blessings of the Lord” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1947, 153–54).

The full-time missionary force was raised from its wartime low of 386 in 1945 to over 5,800 in 1951.

He Met with the President of the United States

President George Albert Smith with United States President Harry S. Truman

Hatred, despair, and sorrow were prevalent throughout the 1940s. World War II had hardened the hearts of many people. President George Albert Smith was a man whose love for others had been forged in the very furnace of affliction. He was a man who had committed himself to the Lord through long nights of prayer and years of service to others. Now he was God’s prophet. He had ninety train cars full of food and clothing sent to the stricken Saints in Europe. A special fast was called and money was contributed to aid not only Church members, but others. Missions were reopened and new ones were created. President Smith told of a visit to the president of the United States during this time:

“When the war was over, I went representing the Church, to see the president of the United States. When I called on him, he received me very graciously—I had met him before—and I said: ‘I have just come to ascertain from you, Mr. President, what your attitude will be if the Latter-day Saints are prepared to ship food and clothing and bedding to Europe.’

“He smiled and looked at me, and said: ‘Well, what do you want to ship it over there for? Their money isn’t any good.’

“I said: ‘We don’t want their money.’ He looked at me and asked: ‘You don’t mean you are going to give it to them?’

“I said: ‘Of course, we would give it to them. They are our brothers and sisters and are in distress. God has blessed us with a surplus, and we will be glad to send it if we can have the co-operation of the government.’

“He said: ‘You are on the right track,’ and added, ‘we will be glad to help you in any way we can.’

“I have thought of that a good many times. After we had sat there a moment or two, he said again: ‘How long will it take you to get this ready?’

“I said: ‘It’s all ready.’

“The government you remember had been destroying food and refusing to plant grain during the war, so I said to him:

“‘Mr. President, while the administration at Washington were advising the destroying of food, we were building elevators and filling them with grain, and increasing our flocks and our herds, and now what we need is the cars and the ships in order to send considerable food, clothing and bedding to the people of Europe who are in distress. We have an organization in the Church that has over two thousand homemade quilts ready.’

“. . . The result was that many people received warm clothing and bedding and food without any delay. Just as fast as we could get cars and ships, we had what was necessary to send to Europe” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1947, 5–6).

President George Albert Smith

Love Seeks Out the Weary

President George Albert Smith was recognized as a man who had a sincere love and concern for everyone, especially when they needed help the most. On 8 April 1951, shortly after President Smith died, Elder John A. Widtsoe, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, shared the following experience:

“During the events of the last few days, many memories have crowded in upon my mind. In a late afternoon of a warm, sultry day in August or September, I sat in my office rather tired after the day’s work. The University of Utah had had internal dissensions which had been fanned by enemies into a nationwide scandal. I had been called in to assist others who were trying to return the institution and its work to a normal condition. It was the third time in my life that I had been obliged to serve my state in such a capacity. I was weary. Just then there was a knock upon the door, and in walked George Albert Smith. He said, ‘I am on the way home after my day’s work. I thought of you and the problems that you are expected to solve. I came in to comfort you and to bless you.’

President Smith met Helen Keller at the Hotel Utah in 1941. When he was eighteen years old, George Albert Smith incurred an eye injury from the sun while working as a surveyor for the railroad. His vision was impaired for the rest of his life. Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

“That was the way of George Albert Smith. Of the many friends I have throughout the state and beyond, he was the only one, except a few of my intimate friends, who took time to give me the loving help in the work I had to do. Of course I appreciated that; I shall never forget it. We talked together for awhile; we parted, he went home. My heart was lifted. I was weary no longer” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 99).

Love Seeks Any Opportunity to Serve

George Albert Smith was an avid scouter.

“On one occasion [George Albert Smith] was traveling back from a convention. In his company was the daughter of President Heber J. Grant. She tells of his looking across the aisle and seeing a young mother and her children, surrounded by luggage. He felt a need to talk with her and to inquire after her welfare.

“‘In a few minutes President Smith was over talking to the young mother. He came back to our seat and said, “Yes it is just as I thought. The little mother is going on a long journey; I have looked at her ticket. I can’t understand why the man who sold it to her didn’t know a better route for her to travel. As it is she will have a long wait in Ogden and again in Chicago. I have her ticket and am going to get off in Ogden and see if I can’t get it changed so she can make other connections and not have the long wait in Ogden and Chicago.”’

“President Smith was off the train the moment it stopped and set the affairs of the young mother in order, having her ticket changed to afford her greater convenience. Such was the sensitivity for others of this man” (Bassett, New Era, Jan. 1972, 52).

Love Finds Time for Others

At the dedication of the “This Is the Place” monument

“On a . . . trip to the Middle West, [President George Albert Smith] was rushing to catch a train when a mother with four small youngsters stopped him so that her children might have the opportunity of shaking hands with him. Someone took a picture of the incident, and a copy was sent to President Smith with this notation: ‘I am sending you this picture because it is a graphic illustration of the man we believe you are. The reason we treasure it so is because, as busy as you were, in spite of the fact you were being hurried into your car and then to your waiting train, you still took time out to shake the hand of each child in this family’” (D. Arthur Haycock, “A Day with the President,” Improvement Era, Apr. 1950, 288).

Happiness Is in Proportion to Love and Service

President George Albert Smith received the silver beaver and the silver buffalo medals from the Boy Scouts of America. Special Collections Dept., J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

Elder George Albert Smith, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught: “Do not forget no matter how much you may give in money, no matter how you may desire the things of this world to make yourselves happy, your happiness will be in proportion to your charity and to your kindness and to your love of those with whom you associate here on earth. Our Heavenly Father has said in very plain terms that he who says he loves God and does not love his brother is not truthful” (Relief Society Magazine, Dec. 1932, 709).

He Had Vision and Compassion for the Native Americans

President George Albert Smith with Navajo Indians, 23 October 1948

Elder Spencer W. Kimball, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke of President George Albert Smith’s concern for the descendants of Lehi who were native Americans:

“As his great love for his fellowmen began to grow into a great compassion, he saw in vision a certain whole people who went down from the proverbial Jerusalem to Jericho and they fell among thieves. He saw them stripped of their raiment and sorely wounded. He saw them deserted and deprived. He saw priests come by who saw their plight and passed by on the other side. He saw modern Levites who came and looked and passed by on the other side. President Smith determined it was time to do something constructive for these Indian people who had fallen into misfortune. He determined that it was time to bind up their wounds, and to pour thereon the oil.

“He went to Pres. Heber J. Grant, (President Smith was then in the Council of the Twelve), and asked him for permission to do work among the Indian people which was granted. A committee was organized and the work began in a small way as many programs do” (“Elder Kimball Tells of President Smith’s Concern for His Lamanite Brethren,” Church News, 11 Apr. 1951, 11).

His Love Reached Out to Disaffected Groups

President George Albert Smith had a profound concern for people who had become disaffected from the Church, and he sought to show them their error. One incident is representative of this. A large faction had broken away from the Church and established their own church. They were disgruntled with some leaders and presumed