Chapter 10
Joseph Fielding Smith
Tenth President of the Church

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LIFE OF JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH

Age	Events
	He was born 19 July 1876 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Joseph F. and Julina Lambson Smith.
8	He was baptized by his father (19 July 1884).
19	He received his patriarchal blessing, which stated that he would preside among the people (Jan. 1896).
21	He married Louie Emily Shurtliff (26 Apr. 1898; she died 30 Mar. 1908).
22–24	He served a mission to England (1899–1901).
24	He began working in the Church Historian’s Office (1901).
29	He became Assistant Church Historian (Apr. 1906).
32	He married Ethel Georgina Reynolds (2 Nov. 1908; she died 26 Aug. 1937).
33	He was ordained an Apostle by his father, President Joseph F. Smith (7 Apr. 1910).
44	He became Church Historian (1921).
45	His first book, Essentials in Church History, was published (1922).
57	He became president of the Genealogical Society (1934).
61	He married Jessie Ella Evans (12 Apr. 1938; she died 3 Aug. 1971).
63	He directed the evacuation of missionaries from Europe (1939).
68–72	He became president of the Salt Lake Temple (1945–49).
74	He was sustained as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (9 Apr. 1951).
79	He dedicated four countries for the preaching of the gospel (1955).
89	He became a counselor to President David O. McKay (29 Oct. 1965).
93	He became President of the Church (23 Jan. 1970).
95	He presided over the first area conference, in Manchester, England (27–29 Aug. 1971); he dedicated the Ogden Utah Temple (18 Jan. 1972); he dedicated the Provo Utah Temple (9 Feb. 1972); he died in Salt Lake City, Utah (2 July 1972).

 

Young Joseph Fielding Smith

Like Hannah, mother of the Old Testament prophet Samuel, Julina Lambson Smith greatly desired a son. Having given birth to three lovely daughters, she longed and prayed for a son. She promised the Lord that if He would so bless her she would do everything possible to see that the boy grew up to serve God and be a credit to his father, Joseph F. Smith, then a counselor in the First Presidency. On 19 July 1876, the Lord blessed the Smith home with a son who would receive his father’s name. “This was the child destined to follow most closely in the footsteps of his father—missionary, historian, apostle, scriptorian, theologian, counselor in the First Presidency, and finally Prophet of the Lord. The voice of the father was to become the voice of the son; jointly, their years in the apostleship would span in an unbroken chain more than a hundred years” (Joseph F. McConkie, True and Faithful: The Life Story of Joseph Fielding Smith [1971], 9, 11).

In his youth, Joseph Fielding Smith drank of the bitter cup of persecution as federal marshals invaded polygamous homes in Utah searching for his father and other Church leaders. He recalled that they prowled around their home interrogating and terrorizing the women and children, blighting their lives, and precipitating a dark cloud of unhappiness and fear. In such gloomy circumstances, his father was forced into near continuous exile between Joseph Fielding’s eighth and fifteenth years. Thus, when people later expressed the thought that President Joseph Fielding Smith had a favored youth and, consequently, he ought to be a great man, he was constrained to admit that they did not understand all of the circumstances. His father was away from home during most of the formative years of Joseph Fielding’s youth because of difficulties with the United States government.

The family of Joseph F. Smith, father of Joseph Fielding Smith

One result of those lonely, trying years was the development of an understanding and a courage in young Joseph Fielding that helped him become one of the latter-day Church’s most able defenders. Tried, tested, and found true and faithful seems to describe the life of this great servant of the living God.

In His Youth He Learned to Do What the Lord Wanted Him to Do

Joseph F. Smith and family. Joseph Fielding is in the center of the back row. Photograph courtesy of Joseph Fielding Mcconkie

Joseph Fielding Smith was a boy who thought it his duty to walk through life with his hand in the hand of the Lord. Indeed, his desire to learn the will of the Lord in order that he could live it moved him to read the Book of Mormon twice by the time he was ten years old. When the ball team missed him, they could generally find him in the hayloft reading that book. He also read and memorized the Children’s Catechism (an early Church publication that explained the doctrines of the gospel) and Primary books. Natural and spontaneous, his appetite for learning properly whetted throughout his life, he became one of the greatest gospel scholars the Church has known.

He later explained: “From my earliest recollection, from the time I first could read, I have received more pleasure and greater satisfaction out of the study of the scriptures, and reading of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the work that has been accomplished for the salvation of men, than from anything else in all the world” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1930, 91).

He Had a Close Brush with Death

“Many of Joseph’s youthful hours were spent herding cows near the Jordan River [in Utah] and laboring with his brothers on the family farm in Taylorsville. On one occasion when he and his younger brother, George, were loading hay onto a wagon to take it from the field to the barn, Joseph had a close brush with death. They had stopped on a road by the canal to stack some bales and give the team a drink. Because they had a skittish horse, Joseph told George to stand by the head of the team and hold their bridles until he could climb up and take the reins. Instead, George went back and started up the binding rope. As he did so, the horses started with a sudden jerk and Joseph fell down between the horses on the doubletree.

“The thought, ‘Well, here’s my finish!’ flashed through his mind. But something turned the horses and they ran into the canal, while Joseph was thrown clear of their hoofs and the wheels of the wagon. When he got up, he gave George an honest appraisal of his feelings and then hurried home—shaken, but grateful to be in one piece. His father came out to meet him and wanted to know what difficulty he had encountered, having received a strong impression that his son was in some kind of danger” (McConkie, True and Faithful, 18).

Joseph Fielding Smith’s parents, Joseph F. and Julina Lambson Smith, on their fiftieth wedding anniversary, 1916

He Helped His Mother

“When his mother returned from the Hawaiian Islands, Joseph was ten years old, and it was at that tender age that he began assisting her in her professional duties as a licensed midwife or obstetrician. Joseph’s job was that of stable boy and buggy driver. At all hours of the day or night, when the call came for his mother’s services, Joseph was to hitch up the faithful mare ‘Old Meg’ to the buggy and drive his mother to the home of the confinement case. Here he might wait while she delivered the baby, or, if his mother thought the wait would be too long, she would send him home with instructions on when to return for her. . . .

“In the daytime and summertime Joseph’s assignment was not too unpleasant a one for a ten-year-old youngster. But in the nighttime and wintertime it was very unpleasant. . . . Sometimes they traveled through rain, sleet or snow, or bitter cold wind, in a well ventilated buggy. And then upon reaching the house of the expectant mother, he had what often seemed an endless wait.

“‘Sometimes I nearly froze to death. I marveled that so many babies were born in the middle of the night, especially on cold winter nights. I fervently wished that mothers might time things a little better’” (Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. and John J. Stewart, The Life of Joseph Fielding Smith [1972], 52–53).

“I Was Born with a Testimony”

A gift from his father Painting by Paul Mann

Joseph Fielding Smith stated: “I was born with a testimony of the gospel. . . . I do not remember a time when I did not have full confidence in the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith and in the teachings and guidance of my parents” (quoted in Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 56).

“By nature, Joseph was more quiet and studious than his brothers. It was his habit to hurry with his chores so that he could go to his father’s library and study” (McConkie, True and Faithful, 18).

In a letter to a son on a mission, he wrote: “I remember that one thing I did from the time I learned to read and write was to study the gospel. I read and committed to memory the children’s catechism and primary books on the gospel. Later I read the History of the Church as recorded in the Millennial Star. I also read the Bible, the Book of Mormon, [the] Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants, and other literature which fell into my hands. . . . I learned at a very early day that God lives; he gave me a testimony when I was a child, and I have tried to be obedient always with some measure of success” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957–66], 4:vi).

He Was an Early Riser

Inspired by a disciplined father, Joseph Fielding Smith was an early riser, a practice that lasted his entire life and was his formula for getting things done. Even at the age of ninety-five “he was still his own best sermon on nonretirement. . . . He was up every morning well before 6 o’clock, and put in a heavy day’s work. It was a lifelong habit, and one that he also instilled in his children. ‘People die in bed,’ he cautioned them. ‘And so does ambition.’

“‘Somehow it seemed immoral to lie in bed after 6,’ recalls a son. ‘Of course, I only tried it once. Father saw to that’” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 3).

He Was a Hard Worker

ZCMI storefront. When he was eighteen years old, Joseph Fielding Smith worked as a cash boy in the wholesale grocery department in the basement of ZCMI in Salt Lake City.

“It was a late summer evening in Salt Lake City, in the year of 1894. Joseph Fielding Smith, 18 years of age, had just completed another day of heavy work as a cash boy in the wholesale grocery department in the basement of the Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution, at Main and South Temple Streets. He flexed his shoulders, took a deep breath, tried to stand up straight. It was not easy. The hours were long, the work was exhausting, and the pay was pitifully meager. ‘I worked like a work horse all day long and was tired out when night came, carrying sacks of flour and sacks of sugar and hams and bacons on my back. I weighed 150 pounds, but I thought nothing of picking up a 200-pound sack and putting it on my shoulders. I was a very foolish fellow, because ever since that time my shoulders have been just a little out of kilter. The right one got a little more “treatment” than the left.’

“But jobs were not easy to find and his family needed all the financial support it could get, from him and his brothers old enough to work. So Joseph felt fortunate to have this job despite the strenuous working conditions and low pay. The daily physical workout might even be good for him in the long run, if it did not kill him first.

“And now, as was his habit, he stopped by the candy counter and bought a sack of hardtack to take home to Mama and to his younger brothers and sisters. He found pleasure in seeing the little ones’ joy at this frequent treat” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 65–66).

He Was Married before He Served a Mission

Louie E. Shurtliff (1876–1908), Joseph Fielding’s first wife. They were married 26 April 1898.

When Joseph Fielding Smith was eighteen his family invited Louie Shurtliff, who was the same age, to live at their home while she attended the University of Utah. Louie’s father and President Joseph F. Smith had been friends since their boyhood days in Nauvoo. Joseph and Louie soon became close friends, sharing a love for learning and a devotion to the gospel. It didn’t take long for them to fall in love. They courted for three and a half years, during which time Louie attended college and Joseph Fielding worked for ZCMI. He later recalled, “When she finished and graduated from her school, . . . I did not permit her to go home and stay there, but I persuaded her to change her place of residence, and on the 26th day of April, 1898, we went to the Salt Lake Temple and were married for time and all eternity by my father, President Joseph F. Smith” (quoted in Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 75).

Missionaries in England, 28 May 1901. Joseph Fielding Smith is second from the left.

A year after their marriage, Joseph Fielding left his bride so he could serve a two-year mission in Great Britain. He was accompanied by his brother Joseph Richards, who had been called to serve in the same mission. Leaving for the mission field was not easy for Joseph. He wrote in his journal: “Saturday May 13, 1899: I went up town and purchased some articles to take with me on the way to England. Packed my trunk in the afternoon and got all ready to leave. At six o’clock told all the folks goodbye and left for the depot with feelings that I never felt before, because I was never away from home more than one month in my life, and to think of going away for two years or more causes very peculiar feelings to take possession of me” (quoted in Smith and Stewart, The Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 83).

Proselyting at that time in Great Britain was very difficult. There was much opposition and few receptive hearts. He worked hard during his service, however, each month handing out over 10,000 tracts and visiting about 4,000 homes. But he did not see the fruits of his labors in the form of baptisms. “During his two-year mission, Elder Smith did not convert and baptize a single person. He did confirm one member, but that was the full extent of his proselyting harvest” (Francis M. Gibbons, Joseph Fielding Smith: Gospel Scholar, Prophet of God [1992], 75).

His Father Expected Excellence

Joseph Fielding Smith and his father, President Joseph F. Smith, 2 May 1914

“Letters to Elder Joseph Fielding Smith . . . suggest the care with which President Joseph F. Smith taught his faithful and obedient son. On February 2, 1900 he wrote:

“‘The best school I ever attended is the school of experience. There are some things that seem difficult for me to learn. One thing is English orthography and I see you are a little like me in that regard. Now if I tell you a few words you nearly always spell wrong, the presumption is you will be more careful to spell them right in the future.’

“The father then lists such words as untill for until, proscribe for prescribe, greece for grease, shure for sure, shugar for sugar, and so on. . . .

“On March 8, 1900 the father advised:

“‘I scarcely need say to you to make short earnest prayers, short and sincere sermons, and write short letters, concise and to the point, and as often as you can. The difficulty with most people is they are too profuse, both in speaking and writing. We need concentration of mind and thought, and to boil things down. I am please[d] to note the improvement you are making.’ . . .

“Some advice in Joseph F.’s letter of February 20, 1901 contains advice good for all of us:

“‘Always take time to eat your meals and post your journal. I have had experience in these matters. A diary is almost worthless unless written daily. We cannot journalize correctly from memory. Keep your diary up’” (Leonard J. Arrington, “Joseph Fielding Smith: The training of a Prophet,” Historical Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1972, 7–8; italics added).

He Learned Much from His Father

A missionary in England; Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, 21 February 1900 Photograph courtesy of Josephine Smith Reinhardt

“Joseph F. Smith was a master teacher who spent many hours responding to the questions of his son and seeing that he was properly founded in principles of truth. ‘Among my fondest memories,’ Joseph Fielding was later to say, ‘are the hours I have spent by his side discussing principles of the gospel and receiving instruction as only he could give it. In this way, the foundation for my own knowledge was laid in truth so that I, too, can say I know that my Redeemer lives, and that Joseph Smith is, was, and always will be, a prophet of the living God.’

“And what more fitting place to raise a prophet than the home of a prophet? His mother, Julina Lambson Smith, had been raised in the home of George A. Smith, a cousin and close associate of the Prophet Joseph Smith” (McConkie, True and Faithful, 12).

He Was a Defender of the Faith

Joseph Fielding Smith began working in the Church Historian’s Office on 1 October 1901.

Following his mission, Joseph Fielding Smith was hired to work in the Church Historian’s Office. This job led to his appointment in 1906 as an Assistant Church Historian. In this capacity he assisted President Anthon H. Lund, a counselor in the First Presidency and Church Historian, in the various activities of that office. One of his jobs was to gather information for the defense of Reed Smoot, a Utah Senator and Apostle whose right to a Senate seat was being challenged in Washington, D.C.

Joseph Fielding Smith was a prolific writer. Painting by Paul Mann

When Elder Smoot was exonerated, his defeated opponent became extremely bitter; and through a local newspaper he vented his wrath in the form of verbal abuses and slander that he heaped upon the Church and in particular upon the Church President, Joseph F. Smith. So well did young Joseph Fielding present the truth that the issues raised were virtually never in serious contention again.

He Was a Latter-day Scholar

In the preface to a compilation of Joseph Fielding Smith’s sermons and writings, his son-in-law Bruce R. McConkie wrote: “Joseph Fielding Smith is the leading gospel scholar and the greatest doctrinal teacher of this generation. Few men in this dispensation have approached him in gospel knowledge or surpassed him in spiritual insight. His is the faith and the knowledge of his father, President Joseph F. Smith, and his grandfather, the Patriarch Hyrum Smith” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], l:v).

He Found a New Wife and Mother for His Children

Joseph Fielding Smith, about 1905

Joseph Fielding Smith’s beloved wife, Louie, became gravely ill during her third pregnancy. She suffered for two months before dying on 30 March 1908. “She and Joseph had been married only ten years, during two of which they were separated while Joseph served his mission. Louie was the mother of two daughters, Josephine, then five years of age, and Julina, two. She was a woman of ‘singular sweetness and strength of character,’ and the burden of her passing was great.

“The bereaved father closed down the home that he had built for his bride and moved his little family into the Beehive House where his mother and his sisters Julina and Emily could provide motherly love and care for his two little girls. The passing of their mother was particularly hard on two-year-old Julina, whose frequent sobbings for her mother would melt her father’s heart” (McConkie, True and Faithful, 32).

The months following Louie’s death were difficult and lonely. The young girls continued to sorrow and cry for their mother. Their father spent hours each night comforting and consoling them. Grandmothers and aunts did all they could to assist Joseph Fielding in caring for the children, but they needed a mother. After urging and counsel from both his father and father-in-law, Joseph Fielding began to prayerfully search for a wife who could also be a loving mother to his daughters. He found her in Ethel Georgina Reynolds, daughter of George Reynolds, a long-time member of the First Council of Seventy, and Amelia Jane Reynolds. They were married on 2 November 1908, in the Salt Lake Temple by President Joseph F. Smith.

Joseph Fielding Smith married Ethel Georgina Reynolds 2 November 1908.

He Was Called as an Apostle

A newly called Apostle at age 33, 26 April 1910

“For an hour or more the Church Presidency and Council of Twelve Apostles, meeting in the Salt Lake Temple in April, 1910, had discussed various men as possibilities to fill the vacancy in the council occasioned by the death of President John R. Winder on March 27, and the subsequent advancement of Apostle John Henry Smith to the presidency. But to every name suggested there was some exception taken. It seemed impossible to reach any unanimity of feeling in the matter. Finally President Joseph F. Smith retired to a room by himself and knelt in prayer for guidance. When he returned he somewhat hesitantly asked the 13 other brethren whether they would be willing to consider his son Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. for the position. He was reluctant to suggest it, he said, because his son Hyrum was already a member of the council and his son David was a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. Church members, he feared, would be disgruntled to have another of his sons appointed as a general authority. Nevertheless he felt inspired to offer Joseph’s name for their consideration. The other men seemed immediately receptive to the suggestion and sustained President Smith in it” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 174).

Others Knew That He Would Be Called as an Apostle

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, 19 July 1914, at age 38

“From Apostle-Senator Reed Smoot in Washington, D.C. came the telegram, ‘God bless you in your apostleship. Be true and loyal to your leader.’ And Joseph [Fielding Smith] notes, ‘This I shall try always to do. I have also received a number of letters, telegrams, etc., from friends who rejoice at my great blessing, which feeling I believe to be quite universal although there are those who are not pleased. Elder Ben E. Rich, President of the Eastern States Mission . . . who has always been a friend to me, and one year ago predicted that I should be called to this great responsibility, was one of the first to give me the hand of fellowship and his blessing, faith and constant prayers. May the Lord bless him. . . .

“‘President Francis M. Lyman instructed me in the duties of my calling and told me that I had been called by revelation from the Lord. He said he had watched me for a number of years and while on the trip to Vermont [at the time of the dedication of the Joseph Smith Memorial Monument in December, 1905], both going and coming and while there, he had watched me and felt at that time in his heart that I should some day be an apostle, which prediction has been made by several others, all of which predictions I received lightly and without thought of their fulfillment.’

“Three years later, in a second patriarchal blessing, this one from Patriarch Joseph D. Smith at Scipio, Millard County, Joseph Fielding was told, ‘. . . you were called and ordained before you came in the flesh, as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ to represent his work in the earth’” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 178–79, 181).

At the dedication of the Joseph Smith monument, 23 December 1905. Joseph Fielding Smith is on the far right of the back row. Also in the picture is President Joseph F. Smith (second row, third from the right) and Elder George Albert Smith (middle of front row).

“Years later Heber J. Grant, who by then was president of the Church and who was present in the council meeting in the temple the day Joseph was chosen in 1910, assured a group of the correctness of the decision: It was at a Smith family reunion. President Grant pointed to Joseph Fielding and said, ‘That man was called by direct revelation of God. I am a witness to that fact’” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 177).

His ordination to the apostleship was one that he took seriously as a dedicated servant of the Lord. “Ordained to the special calling of preaching repentance to the people, he accepted the responsibility and remained true to this commission all the days of his life. Because of his uncompromising defense of the Lord’s laws and principles, he was considered by many to be austere. [He] never compromised with sin, but was quick to forgive and extend a hand of fellowship to a repentant sinner. In truth, no man had greater concern and love for each church member” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, vi).

His Wife Described Him

A family gathering

In 1932, Ethel Georgina Reynolds Smith gave the following description of her husband, Joseph Fielding Smith:

“You ask me to tell you of the man I know. I have often thought when he is gone people will say, ‘He is a very good man, sincere, orthodox, etc.’ They will speak of him as the public knows him; but the man they have in mind is very different from the man I know. The man I know is a kind, loving husband and father whose greatest ambition in life is to make his family happy, entirely forgetful of self in his efforts to do this. He is the man that lulls to sleep the fretful child, who tells bedtime stories to the little ones, who is never too tired or too busy to sit up late at night or to get up early in the morning to help the older children solve perplexing school problems. When illness comes the man I know watches tenderly over the afflicted one and waits upon him. It is their father for whom they cry, feeling his presence a panacea for all ills. It is his hands that bind up the wounds, his arms that give courage to the sufferer, his voice that remonstrates with them gently when they err, until it becomes their happiness to do the thing that will make him happy.

Joseph Fielding Smith with his sons

“The man I know is most gentle, and if he feels that he has been unjust to anyone the distance is never too far for him to go and, with loving words or kind deeds, erase the hurt. He welcomes gladly the young people to his home and is never happier than when discussing with them topics of the day—sports or whatever interests them most. He enjoys a good story and is quick to see the humor of a situation, to laugh and to be laughed at, always willing to join in any wholesome activity.

“The man I know is unselfish, uncomplaining, considerate, thoughtful, sympathetic, doing everything within his power to make life a supreme joy for his loved ones. That is the man I know” (quoted in Bryant S. Hinckley, “Joseph Fielding Smith,” Improvement Era, June 1932, 459).

Ethel was Joseph Fielding’s companion for over 28 years. Then, on 26 August 1937, she died. Death separated him from yet another wife. She had borne nine children and mothered eleven. She had also served for fifteen years as a member of the Relief Society General Board.

Jessie Evans Helped Add Much to His Zest for Living

Joseph Fielding Smith married Jessie Evans on 12 April 1938.

“Before Ethel died she requested that Jessie Evans [a famed contralto soloist with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir] be asked to sing at her funeral service. ‘If I should ever die before you,’ she told her husband one day, ‘I want you to have Jessie Evans sing at my funeral.’ At her death Joseph Fielding sent his brother-in-law William C. Patrick to Miss Evans to make the request. . . . She had kindly complied and sang at the service. Afterward Joseph Fielding sent her a note of appreciation” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 252).

Jessie Evans responded to the note and a friendship developed between them. Soon the friendship grew into courtship and on 12 April 1938, at the age of sixty-one, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith married Jessie Ella Evans in the Salt Lake Temple.

“When the Tabernacle Choir scheduled a tour to California in 1941, with Richard L. Evans as commentator, Joseph Fielding composed a hilarious letter to Evans charging him with the care and protection of Jessie on the trip: ‘You are hereby authorized, appointed, chosen, designated, named, commanded, assigned, ordained and otherwise notified, informed, advised and instructed, two wit: . . .’ the letter began, and several paragraphs of nonsense later, ‘To see that the said Mrs. Jessie Evans Smith, is permitted to travel in safety, comfort, ease, without molestation and that she is to be returned again to her happy home and loving husband and family in the beautiful and peaceful State of Utah and to her anxious and numerous kindred. . . .’

President and Sister Smith at the Days of ’47 parade, 1971

“Richard L. replied in part, ‘Your masterful document of August 15 has cost me a good deal of brow-wrinkling and excruciating concentration. I think without question it will go down in history with the Bill of Rights and the Magna Charta. The remarkable thing about it is, as my legal staff and I have studied it over, that it conveys to me no privileges that I did not already feel free to take and imposes on me no responsibilities that it was not already my pleasure and intention to assume. However, it is a good idea, as many men can testify, to have the consent of a husband before traveling two thousand miles with his wife.’ . . .

“Both Joseph Fielding and Jessie enjoyed a colorful cast iron plaque that hung on the kitchen wall of their apartment, stating, ‘Opinions expressed by the husband in this household are not necessarily those of the management.’ One time when she was assisting him in his office, when his secretary was on vacation, he tapped her on the shoulder as she sat at the typewriter, and said, ‘Remember, Mama dear, over here you are not the Speaker of the House!’” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 260–61).

He Enjoyed Wholesome Humor

The members of the Church everywhere were well acquainted with this respected theologian, and they welcomed his clear, unmistakable commentary on the scriptures. But there was almost universal ignorance of Joseph Fielding Smith’s remarkably humorous nature. His innate humor was unaffected and inoffensive. It sprang naturally from real life experiences. One experience Joseph Fielding liked to relate about his younger days was about a mare named Junie. He said:

“Junie was one of the most intelligent animals I ever saw. She seemed almost human in her ability. I could not keep her locked in the barn because she would continually undo the strap on the door of her stall. I used to put the strap connected to the half-door of the stall over the top of the post, but she would simply lift it off with her nose and teeth. Then she would go out in the yard.

“There was a water tap in the yard used for filling the water trough for our animals. Junie would turn this on with her teeth and then leave the water running. My father would get after me because I couldn’t keep that horse in the barn. She never ran away; she just turned on the water and then walked around the yard or over the lawn or through the garden. In the middle of the night, I would hear the water running and then I would have to get up and shut it off and lock Junie up again.

“My father suggested that the horse seemed smarter than I was. One day he decided that he would lock her in so that she could not get out. He took the strap that usually looped over the top of the post and buckled it around the post and under a crossbar, and then he said, ‘Young lady, let’s see you get out of there now!’ My father and I left the barn and started to walk back to the house; and before we reached it, Junie was at our side, somewhat to my delight. I could not refrain from suggesting to Father that I was not the only one whose head compared unfavorably with the mare’s” (quoted in Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 53–54).

Enjoying some baseball

He Enjoyed an Active Lifestyle

Advancing years brought concern to Joseph Fielding Smith’s family as they saw no slackening in the pace of their beloved brother and father. One biographer wrote: “Even in advanced age Joseph Fielding Smith was one of the hardest working men I knew. ‘How do you manage to get so much done?’ I once asked him. ‘It’s in the bag,’ he said. ‘In the bag?’ I asked. He pointed to a lunch sack. ‘I’m a brown bagger.’ For years he carried a sack lunch to his office, so he could keep working through the noon hour. ‘That gives me an extra 300 hours per year.’ One day a sister of his called on him at the office and scolded him for not taking a nap after lunch. She cited by name half a dozen of his associates who had long done so. ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘and where are they today? All dead!’” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 3–4).

He Was Actively Involved in Sports Past His Sixty-Fifth Year

President Smith enjoyed playing handball with his brother David. Photograph courtesy of Douglas Ellen Smith

Although he was an excellent swimmer, good at tennis and basketball, and enjoyed watching his sons play football, Joseph Fielding Smith’s favorite sport was handball. His son Reynolds reported that he and his brother Lewis played handball against their father, who held one hand behind his back while he “trounced” both of them.

Herbert B. Maw, a former governor of Utah who was twenty years younger than Joseph Fielding, shared an experience about a handball game with him: “I thought I would just take it easy on the old gentleman and not beat him too far. Imagine my chagrin when he gave me the trouncing of my life! I thought that I was a good handball player, but I was no competition for him at all” (quoted in Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 15).

He Enjoyed Flying

He loved to fly. President Smith sitting in a National Guard jet, 1954

One biographer wrote of his experience finding out about Joseph Fielding Smith’s hobby of flying in jet planes “at an age when many men are tucked safely away in a nursing home absorbing liniment”:

“I remember my surprise one day when I called at his office in Salt Lake City. His secretary, Rubie Egbert, said, ‘Step to the window here and maybe you can see him.’ Curious, I walked to the window. But all that I could see was a jet streaking through the blue sky high above the Great Salt Lake. Its trail of white vapor clearly marked some steep climbs, loops, dives, rolls and turns. . . .

“‘You mean he’s in that plane?’ I asked incredulously.

“‘Oh yes, that’s him all right. He’s very fond of flying. Says it relaxes him. A friend in the National Guard calls him up and says, ‘How about a relaxing?’ and up they go. Once they get in the air he often takes over the controls. Flew down to Grand Canyon and back last week, 400 miles an hour!’

“I could not resist driving to the airport to be there when he landed. As the two-place T-Bird roared down the runway to a stop, from the rear cockpit, in suit and helmet, climbed this benign old gentleman, then about 80, smiling broadly. ‘That was wonderful!’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s about as close to heaven as I can get just now.’

“At age 92 he was advanced in the National Guard to the honorary rank of brigadier-general. ‘But they still didn’t want me to fly alone.’ Later he limited his flying to commercial jetliners. . . . ‘The big planes are not so exciting as the T-Bird, but at my age it’s a real comfort to be able to move faster than sound,’ he said at 95” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 1–2).

Children Adored Him

The prophet loved children. President Smith with his great-granddaughter Shauna McConkie at Christmas time Photograph courtesy of Joseph Fielding McConkie

Sensitive and understanding, Joseph Fielding Smith despised misery and suffering everywhere and did all in his power to alleviate it by clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and visiting those in need. A pillar of strength and encouragement to his family and the Church, he was loved universally. He loved little children and they adored him.

“After general conference in April 1970, when President Smith was sustained, a large crowd gathered at the door of the Tabernacle to get a glimpse of him.

“A small girl wriggled out of the crowd and made her way to the President. Soon she was in his arms for a big hug. Quickly a newspaper photographer snapped a picture, and the little girl disappeared back into the crowd.

“The picture appeared unidentified in the Church News. The picture was soon after identified by the child’s grandmother, Mrs. Milo Hobbs of Preston, Idaho, [in] a letter to President Smith.

“On her birthday, [four-year-old] Venus Hobbs of Torrence, California, received a surprise telephone call from President and Sister Smith, who were visiting that week in California. They sang ‘Happy Birthday’ over the phone to her. Venus was delighted at the song, and her parents were touched with tears to think the President of the church would call.

“The parents explained that Venus had been with two aunts at conference, but had slipped away. They feared that she was lost in the crowd. When she returned they asked, ‘How did you get lost?’

“‘I wasn’t lost,’ she said.

“‘Who found you?’ they asked.

“‘I was in the arms of the Prophet,’ she replied” (“Joy of Life, Activity and People,” Church News, 8 July 1972, 7).

Children everywhere recognized the great warmth and love that emanated from President Joseph Fielding Smith. They felt free to express their love for him openly and honestly. Everywhere he went he had time for children. They enjoyed his heartfelt hugs and basked in the security of his love.

A New President Was Sustained

The First Presidency: Harold B. Lee, Joseph Fielding Smith, and N. Eldon Tanner, about 1970

During the April 1970 general conference, over two-and-a-half million members of the Church reverently sustained a newly called President of the Church for the first time in nearly nineteen years. At the age of ninety-three, President Joseph Fielding Smith was the oldest man to become the President of the Church.

Some had supposed that the Lord would choose a younger man. They wondered how President Smith could endure the pressures of administering the affairs of the emerging world Church. However, the vigorous profile of President Smith’s administration left no lingering question in the minds of the Saints with respect to that concern. Two “youthful” counselors were invited to match strides with this prophet—Harold B. Lee, age seventy-two, and N. Eldon Tanner, age seventy-three.

We Must Prepare for the Lord’s Coming

A latter day scholar

President Joseph Fielding Smith taught about the importance of being prepared for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ:

“I was asked, not long ago, if I could tell when the Lord would come. I answered, Yes; and I answer, Yes, now. I know when he will come. He will come tomorrow. We have his word for it. Let me read it:

“‘Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming.’ (Now there is a discourse sufficient on tithing.) ‘For after today cometh the burning—this is speaking after the manner of the Lord—for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.’ [D&C 64:23–24.]

“So the Lord is coming, I say, tomorrow. Then let us be prepared. Elder Orson F. Whitney used to write about the Saturday Evening of Time. We are living in the Saturday Evening of Time. This is the 6th day now drawing to its close. When the Lord says it is today until his coming, that, I think, is what he has in mind, for he shall come in the morning of the Sabbath, or seventh day of the earth’s temporal existence, to inaugurate the millennial reign and to take his rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords, to rule and reign upon the earth, as it is his right. [See D&C 77:12.]” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:1).

“I know that there are many, and even some among the Latter-day Saints, who are saying just as the Lord said they would say, ‘The Lord delayeth his coming.’ [D&C 45:26; 2 Peter 3:3–14.] One man said: ‘It is impossible for Jesus Christ to come inside of three or four hundred years.’ But I say unto you, Watch.

“I do not know when he is going to come. No man knows. Even the angels of heaven are in the dark in regard to that great truth. [See Matthew 24:36–37.] But this I know, that the signs that have been pointed out are here. The earth is full of calamity, of trouble. The hearts of men are failing them. We see the signs as we see the fig tree putting forth her leaves; and knowing this time is near, it behooves me and it behooves you, and all men upon the face of the earth, to pay heed to the words of Christ, to his apostles and watch, for we know not the day nor the hour. But I tell you this, it shall come as a thief in the night, when many of us will not be ready for it” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:52–53).

Christ Will Come in a Day of Great Wickedness

Joseph Fielding Smith

President Joseph Fielding Smith taught that the Lord’s Second Coming would not be delayed by our unrighteousness:

“When we become ripe in iniquity, then the Lord will come. I get annoyed sometimes at some of our elders who when speaking say the Lord will come when we all become righteous enough to receive him. The Lord is not going to wait for us to get righteous. When he gets ready to come, he is going to come—when the cup of iniquity is full—and if we are not righteous then, it will be just too bad for us, for we will be classed among the ungodly, and we will be as stubble to be swept off the face of the earth, for the Lord says wickedness shall not stand.

“Do not think the Lord delays his coming, for he will come at the appointed time, not the time which I have heard some preach when the earth becomes righteous enough to receive him. I have heard some men in positions and places of trust in the Church preach this, men who are supposed to be acquainted with the word of the Lord, but they failed to comprehend the scriptures. Christ will come in the day of wickedness, when the earth is ripe in iniquity and prepared for the cleansing, and as the cleanser and purifier he will come, and all the wicked will be as stubble and will be consumed” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:3).

We Must Raise the Voice of Warning

President Smith taught: “There is no peace. Men’s hearts are failing them. Greed has the uppermost place in the hearts of men. Evil is made manifest on every side, and people are combining for their own selfish interests. Because of this I was glad to hear the warning voice raised by our beloved President [Heber J. Grant] and by his counselors, . . . and by others of the brethren who have spoken; for I think this should be a time of warning, not only to the Latter-day Saints, but to all the world. We owe it to the world to raise a voice of warning, and especially to the members of the Church” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:49).

Joseph Fielding Smith with his son-in-law Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The Worldly Ignore the Warnings

“President Joseph Fielding Smith taught how world conditions might be made better if people would listen to the warnings of the Lord:

“The Lord intends that men shall be happy; that is his purpose. But men refuse to be happy and make themselves miserable, because they think their ways are better than God’s ways, and because of selfishness, greed, and the wickedness that is in their hearts; and that is the trouble with us today. The leaders of our nation are struggling and trying to do something to better conditions. I can tell you in a few words just how it can be done, and it is not going to be done by legislation—it is not going to be done by pouring money out upon the people.

“Temporary relief is not going to better the situation, because we will still be struggling and fighting and contending with crime, with disease, with plagues, and with pestilence, with the whirlwinds, and with the dust storms, and with the earthquakes and everything else coming upon the face of the earth, according to the predictions of the prophets—all because men will not heed the warning voice.

“When we quit loving money and get the love of gold out of our hearts and the greed and selfishness, and learn to love the Lord, our God, with all our hearts, and our neighbor as ourselves, and get on our knees and learn to pray and repent of our sins, we will have prosperity, we will have peace, we will have contentment. But the people will not repent no matter what warning is made, no matter how much their attention is called to these things; the people will not repent because their hearts are set upon evil, and destruction awaits them” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:35–36).

The Saints Can Escape Only through Obedience

Joseph Fielding Smith

President Smith taught that obedience can protect us from the plagues of the last days:

“In this day of prosperity, let us be humble and remember the Lord and keep his commandments and feel that the dangers before us are far greater than they are in the days of trial and tribulation. Do not think for a moment that the days of trial are over. They are not. If we keep the commandments of the Lord, we shall prosper, we shall be blessed; the plagues, the calamities that have been promised will be poured out upon the peoples of the earth, and we shall escape them, yea, they shall pass us by.

“But remember the Lord says if we fail to keep his word, if we walk in the ways of the world, they will not pass us by, but we shall be visited with floods and with fire, with sword and with plague and destruction. We may escape these things through faithfulness” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:34).

Everyone Should Live the Gospel

President Joseph Fielding Smith encouraged everyone to live the gospel:

“To the honest in heart in all nations we say: The Lord loves you. He wants you to receive the full blessings of the gospel. He is now inviting you to believe the Book of Mormon, to accept Joseph Smith as a prophet, and to come into his earthly kingdom and thereby become heirs of eternal life in his heavenly kingdom.

“To those who have received the gospel we say: Keep the commandments. Walk in the light. Endure to the end. Be true to every covenant and obligation, and the Lord will bless you beyond your fondest dreams. As it was said by one of old: ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.’ (Eccles. 12:13.)

“To all the families in Israel we say: The family is the most important organization in time or in eternity. Our purpose in life is to create for ourselves eternal family units. There is nothing that will ever come into your family life that is as important as the sealing blessings of the temple and then keeping the covenants made in connection with this order of celestial marriage.

A hug from the prophet

“To parents in the Church we say: Love each other with all your hearts. Keep the moral law and live the gospel. Bring up your children in light and truth; teach them the saving truths of the gospel; and make your home a heaven on earth, a place where the Spirit of the Lord may dwell and where righteousness may be enthroned in the heart of each member.

“It is the will of the Lord to strengthen and preserve the family unit. We plead with fathers to take their rightful place as the head of the house. We ask mothers to sustain and support their husbands and to be lights to their children.

“President Joseph F. Smith said: ‘Motherhood lies at the foundation of happiness in the home, and of prosperity in the nation. God has laid upon men and women very sacred obligations with respect to motherhood, and they are obligations that cannot be disregarded without invoking divine displeasure.’ (Gospel Doctrine [Deseret Book, 1939], p. 288.). Also, ‘To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman.’ (Ibid., p. 285.)

“To the youth of Zion we say: The Lord bless you and keep you, which most assuredly will be so as you learn his laws and live in harmony with them. Be true to every trust. Honor thy father and thy mother. Dwell together in love and conformity. Be modest in your dress. Overcome the world, and do not be led astray by the fashions and practices of those whose interests are centered upon the things of this world.

“Marry in the temple, and live joyous and righteous lives. Remember the words of Alma: ‘Wickedness never was happiness.’ (Al. 41:10.) Remember also that our hope for the future and the destiny of the Church and the cause of righteousness rest in your hands.

“To those who are called to positions of trust and responsibility in the Church we say: Preach the gospel in plainness and simplicity as it is found in the standard works of the Church. Testify of the truth of the work and the doctrines revealed anew in our day.

“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, ‘I am among you as he that serveth’ (Luke 22:27), and choose to serve with an eye single to the glory of God. Visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and keep yourself unspotted from the sins of the world” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1972, 13–14).

President Joseph Fielding Smith and his counselor President N. Eldon Tanner at the cornerstone laying ceremony of the Ogden Utah Temple, September 1970

A New Era of Area Conferences Began

On 27–29 August 1971, in Manchester, England, President Joseph Fielding Smith met with the members at an area conference held for the first time in the Church. There was great excitement among the members of the Church and they came from many areas of Europe to hear the prophet of God. For many Latter-day Saints there, it was the first time they had been in the presence of the Lord’s representative. President Smith told them:

“It is a matter of great satisfaction to me, and I am sure to my Brethren, that the Church has now grown to the point that it seems wise and necessary to hold general conferences in various nations. . . .

“We are members of a world church, a church that has the plan of life and salvation, a church set up by the Lord himself in these last days to carry his message of salvation to all his children in all the earth.

“The day is long since past when informed people think of us as a peculiar group in the tops of the Rocky Mountains in America. It is true that the Church headquarters are in Salt Lake City, and that the Lord’s house has been erected there to which people have come from many nations to learn the law of the Lord, and to walk in his paths.

“But now we are coming of age as a church and as a people. We have attained the stature and strength that are enabling us to fulfill the commission given us by the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith that we should carry the glad tidings of the restoration to every nation and to all people.

“And not only shall we preach the gospel in every nation before the second coming of the Son of Man, but we shall make converts and establish congregations of saints among them. . . .

“And so I say, we are and shall be a world church. That is our destiny. It is part of the Lord’s program. ‘The covenant people of the Lord’ are ‘scattered upon all the face of the earth,’ and it is our commission to go into all nations and gather these elect into the Church, and to bring them to a knowledge of their Redeemer, so they shall be heirs of salvation in his kingdom” (in Conference Report, Manchester England Area Conference 1971, 5–6; or Ensign, Sept. 1971, 2–3).

“Tearful eyes watched, and voices were muted as President Joseph Fielding Smith stood at the conclusion of the first All-British General Conference. As he stood, the audience came to their feet. No one moved as the Prophet left the stand. It was as though they did not want to leave the spirit that had prevailed in the meeting. There was a sacred air about King’s Hall and as a testimony to the spirit the audience burst into spontaneous singing of ‘We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet.’

“The song ended, but the crowd lingered, hungry for the sweetness of the occasion” (J. M. Heslop, “Prophet Leads Conference; British Saints Rejoice,” Church News, 4 Sept. 1971, 3).

President Smith speaking at Kings Hall, Manchester, England, August 1971 Photo courtesy J. Malan Heslop

He Called for Greater Emphasis on Family Home Evening

Nothing sounded deeper in the heart of President Joseph Fielding Smith than the importance and sanctity of the home. His messages are replete with counsel to parents and children. One of the first concerns he dealt with as President of the Church was to bolster the home by strengthening an already revealed institution—family home evening.

President Smith announced that Monday evenings should be held inviolate as the time to gather the family and teach the gospel, and he lovingly entreated parents to take their task seriously:

“We have great concern for the spiritual and moral welfare of all youth everywhere. Morality, chastity, virtue, freedom from sin—these are and must be basic to our way of life, if we are to realize its full purpose.

“We plead with fathers and mothers to teach personal purity by precept and example and to counsel with their children in all such things.

“We ask parents to set an example of righteousness in their own lives and to gather their children around them and teach them the gospel, in their home evenings and at other times” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1970, 5–6).

He Was True and Steady to the End

The ninety-five years of President Joseph Fielding Smith’s life spanned travel by horse and buggy to the jet age. He was twenty-seven years old when the Wright brothers (inventors of the first powered airplane) made their maiden voyage at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. He viewed the invention of the airplane as fulfillment of prophecy. He loved to fly and thrived on the excitement of supersonic speed. But in a practical sense, his life was a model of simplicity. His interest was in service and not in money or popularity. He willingly gave money to those in need but was visibly embarrassed when receiving public recognition. He chose to live in a simple apartment rather than in luxurious surroundings. He preferred walking to riding, and having his wife driving their compact car rather than traveling in a chauffeured luxury limousine that was offered him.

As President Smith aged, he continued to work hard and keep his sense of humor. “When at 89 years of age he was walking down a flight of steps from his apartment, he slipped, fell, and suffered multiple fractures of his leg. But he was due at a meeting in the Temple a block away. Gritting his teeth, he walked the block, ‘limping like an old man,’ attended the meeting, walked home again, and only then, at others’ insistence, accepted medical treatment. ‘The meeting got a little long,’ he admitted. ‘But then, most meetings do’” (Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 4).

President Joseph Fielding Smith

President Smith passed away in Salt Lake City on 2 July 1972. In a letter to President Smith’s children, President Harold B. Lee wrote: “His passing to me was as near a translation from life unto death as I think we will see in our lifetime experience. He died as he lived and has demonstrated to all of us how one can be so honored and so privileged when he has lived so close to the Lord as has your noble patriarch and father, Joseph Fielding Smith” (quoted in Smith and Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 384).

Chapter 11
Harold B. Lee
Eleventh President of the Church

 

© Merrett Smith

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LIFE OF HAROLD B. LEE

Age	Events
	He was born 28 March 1899 in Clifton, Idaho, to Samuel Marion and Louisa Emily Bingham Lee.
13–17	He attended Oneida Stake Academy (1912–16).
17–21	He taught school for four years (1916–20).
21–23	He served a mission to the western United States (1920–22).
24–29	He was a principal in the Granite School District, Salt Lake City, Utah (1923–28).
24	He married Fern L. Tanner (14 Nov. 1923; she died 24 Sept. 1962).
31	He became president of the Pioneer Stake (26 Oct. 1930); he helped develop self-help projects in his stake.
33	He was appointed a member of the Salt Lake City Commission (Dec. 1932).
36	He was called to organize the Church Security Welfare Program (1935).
37	He became managing director of the Church Security Welfare Program (15 Apr. 1936).
42	He was ordained an Apostle (10 Apr. 1941).
55	He toured the Orient (fall, 1954).
60	He toured the missions of Central and South America (1959).
62	He became chairman of the Church Correlation Program (4 Oct. 1961).
64	He married Freda Joan Jensen (17 June 1963).
70	He became President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a counselor to President Joseph Fielding Smith (23 Jan. 1970).
73	He became President of the Church (7 July 1972); he organized the Jerusalem Branch (20 Sept. 1972); he presided at the second area conference of the Church, in Mexico City (26–28 Aug. 1972).
74	He died in Salt Lake City, Utah (26 Dec. 1973).

Reporters waited anxiously on 7 July 1972 for their first press conference with Harold B. Lee, newly ordained President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To them he said, “The safety of the church lies in the members keeping the commandments. There is nothing more important that I could say. As they keep the commandments, blessings will come” (quoted in Stephen W. Gibson, “Presidency Meets the Press,” Church News, 15 July 1972, 3).

He Had a Noble Heritage

Five-year-old Harold B. Lee

Harold B. Lee’s great-great-great-grandfather William Lee fought and was wounded while fighting against the British in the Revolutionary War. His great-grandfather Francis Lee joined the Church in 1832 and passed through the travails of sufferings that the early Saints endured. His grandmother Margaret Lee experienced eleven pregnancies, but had no children survive until her twelfth, Samuel Lee. She died eight days after his birth.

He Was Born of Goodly Parents

Harold Bingham Lee was born in Clifton, Idaho, on 28 March 1899 to Samuel and Louisa Bingham Lee. Harold was the second of six children. Samuel Lee, Harold’s father, was a quiet, compassionate, unassuming, thoughtful man. He was a devoted husband and father and a faithful servant of the Lord. When Harold was called on a mission to Denver, Colorado, his father gave him a blessing. When he was called as an Apostle, his father again gave him a blessing. His mother, Louisa, was a strength in and out of the Lee home. She was sensitive to the Spirit and taught her son to follow the promptings of the Spirit.

He Grew Up in Clifton, Idaho

As Harold B. Lee grew up, he experienced the challenges of rural living. During his youth there were few tractors and little power machinery to cultivate, seed, or harvest crops. This rural setting provided training and blessings that were to be of great importance to his future callings in the Lord’s kingdom.

Louisa Emily Bingham Lee

Later in his life, he explained what it was like: “I have thought of the discipline of the boy and girl of my youthful days in a rural community. We began to ‘do chores’ shortly after daybreak so we could ‘start’ with the day’s work by sun-up. When the day’s work was finished, we had yet to do our evening ‘chores,’ usually by aid of a lantern. Despite the fact that there were no wages and hours regulations or child labor laws, we did not seem to be stunted from our exertions. Sleep requirements did not admit of too frequent frivolities. Returns from our labors were small and usually came on a once-a-year basis at harvest time. Homes of that day went throughout the summer with but very little ready money but from our cows we were provided milk, butter and cheese; in our granaries there was usually sufficient wheat to be taken to the mill for flour and cereals. We had our own chickens and garden and fruits in season” (Decisions for Successful Living [1973], 12–13).

“Harold, Don’t Go Over There”

Harold B. Lee heard a divine warning to stay away from some broken-down sheds. Courtesy of Russell D. Holt. DO NOT COPY

Harold B. Lee recalled an important incident from his youth: “As a little boy I had my first intimate touch with divinity. As a young boy I was out on a farm waiting for my father to finish his day’s work, playing about and manufacturing things to wile away the time, when I saw over the fence in the neighbor’s yard some broken-down buildings where the sheds were caving in and had rotting timbers. I imagined that that might be a castle that I should explore, so I went over to the fence and started to climb through; then I heard a voice as distinctly as you are hearing mine: ‘Harold, don’t go over there.’ I looked in every direction to see where the speaker was. I wondered if it was my father, but he couldn’t see me. There was no one in sight. I realized that someone was warning me of an unseen danger—whether a nest of rattlesnakes or whether the rotting timbers would fall on me and crush me, I don’t know. But from that time on, I accepted without question the fact that there were processes not known to man by which we can hear voices from the unseen world, by which we can have brought to us the visions of eternity” (in Conference Report, Manchester England Area Conference 1971, 141; or Ensign, Nov. 1971, 17).

His Mother Saved Him from Two Near-Fatal Accidents

Harold (sitting) and his older brother Perry

“Louisa’s patriarchal blessing had mentioned her gift of healing, and her inspiration had preserved Harold’s life on several occasions. At age eight, his mother sent him for a can of lye, high on a pantry shelf, to make soap with. He slipped and the can tipped its deadly contents all over him. Immediately Louisa grabbed Harold so he wouldn’t run, kicked off the lid of a large vat of pickled beets, and splashed cup after cup of red vinegar juice all over his head and body, neutralizing the lye. What could have been a tragedy was averted because of her inspired action.

“While working in the fields in his teens, Harold gashed an artery on a broken bottle. Louisa stopped the bleeding, but the wound became infected. She took a clean black stocking, burned it to ashes, opened his wound, and rubbed the ashes into it very thoroughly. It healed quickly after this” (Jaynann Morgan Payne, “Louisa Bingham Lee: Sacrifice and Spirit,” Ensign, Feb. 1974, 82–83).

Financial Depression Was Looked Upon as an Opportunity to Learn and Grow

Harold B. Lee as a high school student

President Harold B. Lee explained how the hardships he went through as a youth helped him develop an understanding of others’ needs: “Yes, we might have been close to the poverty line in the days of my youth. But out of that period came training and compensations that never could have come, I think, if we had been living in the lap of luxury. We didn’t starve. We had food to eat, and Mother knew how to make over the clothes for her boys. I never had what they called a ‘boughten suit’ until I went to high school, but I always thought I was well dressed. After I filled a mission, I came back home and went to the University of Utah to get a teaching certification, and ofttimes I walked to and from school. I didn’t have the money to ride because I needed the money to buy books” (Ye Are the Light of the World: Selected Sermons and Writings of President Harold B. Lee [1974], 344–45).

His Mother’s Care Had a Lasting Impression on Him

Harold B. Lee (front row, second from right) with friends in front of the Oneida Stake Academy, Preston, Idaho, in 1916

Soon after his call to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Harold B. Lee paid the following tribute to his mother:

“I have been blessed with a splendid father and a grand and lovely mother, one who didn’t display often her affection, but showed her love in tangible ways that, as a child, I came early to recognize as true mother love.

“As just a high school boy I went away on a high school debating team. We won the debate. I came back and called mother on the telephone only to have her say: ‘Never mind, Son. I know all about it. I will tell you when you come home at the end of the week.’ When I came home she took me aside and said: ‘When I knew it was just time for this performance to start I went out among the willows by the creek side, and there, all by myself, I remembered you and prayed God you would not fail.’ I have come to know that that kind of love is necessary for every son and daughter who seek to achieve in this world” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1941, 120).

He Was a Gifted and Hardworking Student

He enjoyed playing basketball. Harold B. Lee is standing second on the right.

Harold B. Lee completed the eighth grade at the Clifton, Idaho, grammar school by age thirteen. His parents were supportive of their son continuing his education and sent him to the Oneida Stake Academy. The academy, founded in 1888 in Franklin, Idaho, had been moved to Preston in 1898. It offered courses in science, mathematics, biology, business, history, and physical education. There were special courses in carpentry, music, and missionary work. Harold gave special attention to music his first two years. He played the alto and French horns and later took up the baritone horn. As he grew in stature he took a more active role in sports, with basketball being his favorite. During his senior year, his school activities included reporting for the school newspaper and debate. He graduated in the spring of 1916.

He Received His Teaching Certificate

Debating champions. Harold B. Lee is on the right.

Harold B. Lee explained what he did to qualify for a teaching certificate:

“In the summer of 1916, at the age of seventeen, I attended the Albion State Normal School at Albion, Idaho, to receive preparatory training to become a teacher. This was a fine school, providing me some of the finest teachers of my lifetime. The laws of Idaho required a rigid test in fifteen subjects in order to qualify, and I spent a very strenuous summer in intensive study, losing twenty pounds in weight, but [I] gained my objective, passing the required examination with an average grade of 89 percent.

“Albion was a quaint little old-fashioned town twenty or thirty miles from the nearest railroad at Burley, Idaho. Practically nothing was there but the school, which was splendid. There were no amusements except at the school, and the old board sidewalks indicated the general backwardness of the inhabitants. Removed as it was from all attractions that might detract from school, I think I never absorbed so much knowledge as during the summers of 1916 and 1917 when I earned my second- and third-class certificates” (quoted in L. Brent Goates, Harold B. Lee: Prophet and Seer [1985], 48).

He Taught for Four Years before His Mission

After his first summer at Albion State Normal School, Harold B. Lee was prepared to begin teaching. His first teaching position was in a one-room schoolhouse in Weston, Idaho, with twenty-five students in grades one through eight. A coin was flipped to see if his salary would be sixty or sixty-five dollars a month. Harold lost. He spent many long hours preparing a curriculum that would meet the needs of such a diverse group of students. He was strict, but fair, and earned the respect of his students.

At age eighteen, Harold became the principal of a school in Oxford, Idaho. As an addition to the regular curriculum, he established the Oxford Athletic Club and started a women’s choir. He was also called to be the elders quorum president. He later wrote about his time at the school:

Harold B. Lee’s first teaching appointment was at the Silver Star School, in Weston, Idaho, from 1916–18. He was also the principal there.

“I was principal of this school for three winters and was there during the severe influenza epidemic of 1918, our school being quarantined for some months. We had just reopened the school when every family but two came down with the disease, and it became necessary for neighboring towns to assist in supplying food and nursing until their recovery. . . .

“Because my father had financed me through school, and I was staying at home, I turned over my paychecks from teaching school to him and then paid my extra expenses by playing in a dance orchestra” (quoted in Goates, Harold B. Lee, 53).

He Received a Mission Call

Elder Harold B. Lee as a missionary in the Western States Mission, 1920–22

In September 1920, at the age of twenty-one, Harold B. Lee received a letter from President Heber J. Grant calling him to the Western States Mission, with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. His mission call meant that the Lee family would need to get by without Harold’s income. It also meant that they would have to support their son and brother in the mission field.

After serving for nine months, Elder Lee was called to preside over the Denver Conference. His mission president, John M. Knight, told him, “I am just giving you a chance to show what is in you” (quoted in Goates, Harold B. Lee, 62). He earned the respect of his mission president, his fellow missionaries, and the members of the Church.

One highlight of his mission was being invited by President Knight to tour the mission. On one occasion, President Knight was unable to be present the first two days of meetings with the Saints in Sheridan, Wyoming. The leaders in Sheridan were disappointed with the prospect of spending two days with such a young and inexperienced priesthood leader; however, after being instructed by Elder Lee, when President Knight joined them two days later they wanted to hear more from the young missionary.

Elder Lee was released from his mission in December 1922. He recorded in his journal: “When the [mission] president announced that I was released, he said that it would bankrupt the English language to tell how much he thought of me and said that I had been on the firing line from the time I had arrived in Denver” (quoted in Goates, Harold B. Lee, 72).

He Married Fern Tanner

While on his mission, Harold B. Lee became acquainted with Fern Lucinda Tanner, a sister missionary from Utah. After their missions, they renewed their friendship in Salt Lake City and were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 14 November 1923. Photograph courtesy of L. Brent and Helen Goates

One of the great blessings of Harold B. Lee’s mission was meeting Sister Fern Tanner. Upon his return, he renewed his association with this fellow missionary and she became his wife on 14 November 1923. Soon after his mission he also paid a courtesy call to a former missionary companion’s girlfriend, Freda Jensen. Freda never married the missionary. She remained unmarried until the death of Fern Tanner Lee. She then, forty years after their first meeting, became the wife of Harold B. Lee.

The Lord Prepared Him to Serve the Needy

A severe financial depression hit the United States in October 1929. By 1930, when Harold B. Lee was thirty-one, unemployment had risen drastically and credit was not available. More than half of the members of the Pioneer Stake in Salt Lake City, Harold’s stake, were out of work. In October he was called as president of the stake. He worried about the welfare of his members. He wept and prayed, and finally inspiration came. Programs were set up to care for those in need.

Harold B. Lee was a pioneer in welfare services. The Pioneer Stake bishops’ storehouse was organized in 1932. A dirty warehouse at 33 Pierpont Avenue in Salt Lake City was converted into a bright and cheerful place. Photograph courtesy of Bethany Lempierie

President Marion G. Romney, who was a member of the First Presidency, spoke of those early years:

“Soon after I met him I learned that he then lived in a modest cottage on Indiana Avenue. It was equipped in part with furniture fashioned by his own hands. The other furnishings were made by his accomplished wife. That humble home was hallowed by the love he bore to his sweetheart and two bright-eyed little girls, Maurine and Helen.

“Our nation was at that time in the midst of the great depression of the 1930s. He was the president of Pioneer Stake. Few people in the Church were more severely punished by want and discouragement than were the members of his stake. Although harassed with the problems incident to securing for himself and his loved ones the necessities of life, he grappled mightily with the larger problem of looking after the needs of the total membership of his stake.

“Many there were in that day who, having faltered, turned to state and federal governments for help. Harold B. Lee was not among them. Taking the Lord at his word that man should earn his bread in the sweat of his face and convinced that all things are possible to him that believeth, he struck out boldly with the fearless ingenuity and courage of a Brigham Young to pioneer a way whereby his people could, by their own efforts and the help of their brethren, be supplied the necessities of life.

“Directed by the light of heaven, through building projects, production projects, and a variety of other rehabilitation activities, he gave a demonstration of love for his fellowmen seldom equalled in any generation.

“Those who were close to him in those dark days know that he wept over the suffering of his people, but more than that, he did something for them.

The Church Security program, later known as the Church Welfare program, was initially directed by Harold B. Lee. He is shown explaining a project to Elders George Albert Smith, Marion G. Romney, and Ezra Taft Benson.

“With all his heart he loved and served his fellowmen. He loved the poor, for he had been one of them. ‘I have loved you,’ he said. ‘I have come to know you intimately. Your problems, thank the Lord, have been my problems, because I know as you know what it means to walk when you have not the money to ride. I know what it means to go without meals to buy a book to go to the University. I thank God now for those experiences. I have loved you because of your devotion and faith. God bless you that you won’t fail.’ (General Conference address, April 6, 1941.)” (“In the Shadow of the Almighty” [funeral address], Ensign, Feb. 1974, 96).

He Sought Earnestly to Know the Needs of the Saints

Harold B. Lee

President Harold B. Lee shared the following experience that occurred when he was a stake president:

“The first Christmas after I became stake president, our little girls got some dolls and other nice things on Christmas morning, and they immediately dressed and went over to their little friend’s home to show her what Santa Claus had brought them. In a few moments they came back, crying. ‘What in the world is the matter?’ we asked. ‘Donna Mae didn’t have any Christmas. Santa Claus didn’t come.’ And then belatedly we realized that the father had been out of work, and there was no money for Christmas. So we brought the little ones of that family in and divided our Christmas with them, but it was too late. We sat down to Christmas dinner with heavy hearts.

“I resolved then that before another Christmas came, we would be certain that every family in our stake had the same kind of Christmas and the same kind of Christmas dinner that we would have.

“The bishops of our stake, under the direction of the stake presidency, made a survey of the stake membership, and we were startled to discover that 4,800 of our members were either wholly or partially dependent—the heads of families did not have steady employment. There were no government make-work projects in those days. We had only ourselves to whom we could look. We were also told that we couldn’t expect much help from the general funds of the Church.

“We knew that we had about one thousand children under ten years of age for whom, without someone to help them, there would be no Christmas, so we started to prepare. We found a second floor over an old store on Pierpont Street. We gathered toys, some of which were broken, and for a month or two before Christmas parents came to help us. Many arrived early or stayed late to make something special for their own little ones. That was the spirit of Christmas giving—one had only to step inside the door of that workshop to see and feel it. Our goal was to see that none of the children would be without a Christmas. We would see that there was Christmas dinner in all the homes of the 4,800 who, without help, would otherwise not have Christmas dinner.

Elder Harold B. Lee, about 1942

“At that time I was one of the city commissioners. The night before Christmas Eve, we had had a heavy snowstorm, and I had been out all night with the crews getting the streets cleared, knowing that I would be blamed if any of my men fell down on the job. I had then gone home to change my clothes to go to the office.

“As I started back to town, I saw a little boy on the roadside, hitchhiking. He stood in the biting cold with no coat, no gloves, no overshoes. I stopped and asked where he was going.

“‘I’m going uptown to a free picture show,’ he said.

“I told him I was also going uptown and that he could ride with me.

“‘Son,’ I said, ‘are you ready for Christmas?’

“‘Oh, golly, mister,’ he replied, ‘we aren’t going to have any Christmas at our home. Daddy died three months ago and left Mama and me and a little brother and sister.’

“Three children, all under twelve!

“I turned up the heat in my car and said, ‘Now, son, give me your name and address. Somebody will come to your home—you won’t be forgotten. And you have a good time; it’s Christmas Eve!’

“That night I asked each bishop to go with his delivery men and see that each family was cared for, and to report back to me. While waiting for the last bishop to report, I suddenly, painfully, remembered something. In my haste to see that all my duties at work and my responsibilities in the Church had been taken care of, I had forgotten the little boy and the promise I had made.

“When the last bishop reported, I asked, ‘Bishop, have you enough left to visit one more family?’

“‘Yes, we have,’ he replied.

“I told him the story about the little boy and gave him the address. Later he called to say that that family too had received some well-filled baskets. Christmas Eve was over at last, and I went to bed.

“As I awoke that Christmas morning, I said in my heart, ‘God grant that I will never let another year pass but that I, as a leader, will truly know my people. I will know their needs. I will be conscious of those who need my leadership most’” (Ye Are the Light of the World, 345–47).

Harold B. Lee’s experiences in his youth and in caring for the people of his stake helped prepare him for a future calling.

The First Presidency Called Him to Further Develop the Church Welfare System

Elder Harold B. Lee in Hawaii, 1945

The early 1930s were characterized by such phrases as “soup kitchens” and “bread lines.” The Great Depression had hit the United States and 25 percent of the normal labor force was unemployed. Other countries were in as bad or even worse condition. Church members were not exempt from the effects of this period, for many had grave financial problems. The Pioneer Stake of Salt Lake City, for example, had over 50 percent of its male population unemployed. But the Lord had been inspiring his prophets to prepare the Church for such times of difficulty, and the president of that stake, Harold B. Lee, was called to assume an important responsibility in such preparations. In 1941, then newly called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Harold B. Lee testified of the Lord’s hand in establishing the Church welfare program:

“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. . . . 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.

“My humble place in this program at that time was described. I left there about noon-time, feeling quite as I do now. I drove with my car up to the head of City Creek Canyon. I got out, after I had driven as far as I could, and I walked up through the trees. I sought my Heavenly Father. As I sat down to pore over this matter, wondering about an organization to be perfected to carry on this work, I received a testimony, on that beautiful spring afternoon, that God had already revealed the greatest organization that ever could be given to mankind, and that all that was needed now was that that organization be set to work, and the temporal welfare of the Latter-day Saints would be safeguarded. . . .

“It was in August of that same year. . . . At that time there was an upturn in business, so much so that some were questioning the wisdom of this kind of activity, and why hadn’t the Church done it before now? There came to me, in that early morning hour, a distinct impression that was as real as though someone had spoken audibly, and this was the impression that came, and has stayed with me through these years: There is no individual in the Church that knows the real purpose for which the program then launched had been intended, but hardly before the Church has made sufficient preparation, that reason will be made manifest, and when it comes it will challenge every resource of the Church to meet it. I trembled at the feeling that came over me. Since that day that feeling has driven me on, night and day, hardly resting, knowing that this is God’s will, this is His plan. The only thing necessary today is that the Latter-day Saints everywhere recognize these men, who sit here on the stand, as the fountainheads of truth, through whom God will reveal His will, that His Saints might be preserved through an evil day.

“. . . I know that the work that we are now advancing and unfolding has still greater potential possibilities. They will come to the extent that the Latter-day Saints will learn to do what they are told, but not until; and some of the grandest things yet to come can only come if and when we learn to listen to these men who preside as prophets, seers and revelators” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1941, 120–22).

He Was Called as an Apostle

Elder Harold B. Lee, his wife, Fern, and their daughters, Maurine and Helen, around the time of his call to the apostleship, 1941

President Heber J. Grant called Harold B. Lee as an Apostle of the Lord. He was ordained on 10 April 1941. Years later, he shared his feelings about the call:

“I shall never forget my feelings of loneliness the Saturday night after I was told by the President of the Church that I was to be sustained the next day as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles. That was a sleepless night; there ran through my mind all the petty things of my life, the nonsense, the foolishness of youth. I could have told you about those against whom I had any grievances and who had any grievance against me. And before I was to be accepted the next day, I knew that I must stand before the Lord and witness before him that I would love and forgive every soul that walked the earth and in return I would ask him to forgive me that I might be worthy of that position.

“I said, as I suppose all of us would say as we are called to such a position, or any position, ‘President Grant, do you feel that I am worthy of this call?’ And just as quick as a flash, he said, ‘My boy, if I didn’t think so, you would never be called to this position.’

Elder Harold B. Lee and his wife, Fern

“The Lord knew my heart and he knew that I was not perfect and that all of us have things to overcome. He takes us with imperfections and expects us to begin where we are and make our lives conform fully with the principles and doctrines of Jesus Christ.

“The following day I went to the temple where I was ushered into the room where the Council of the Twelve meet with the presidency each week in an upper room of the temple. I thought of all the great men who have occupied those chairs and now here I was, just a young man, 20 years younger than the next youngest of the twelve, I was being asked now to sit in one of those chairs. It was frightening and startling.

An Apostle quartet, with Elder Harold B. Lee at the piano. Left to right: Elders Mark E. Petersen, Matthew Cowley, Spencer W. Kimball, and Ezra Taft Benson

“And then one of the radio committee who had a Sunday night program said, ‘Now you know that after having been ordained, you are a special witness to the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want you to give the Easter talk next Sunday night.’ That was to bear testimony of the mission of the Lord concerning his resurrection, his life, and ministry, so I went to a room in the Church Office Building where I could be alone, and I read the gospels, particularly those that had to do with the closing days and weeks and months of the life of Jesus, and as I read this I realized that I was having a new experience.

“It wasn’t any longer just a story; it seemed as though I was actually seeing the events about which I was reading, and when I gave my talk and closed with a testimony, I said, ‘I am now the least of all my brethren and want to witness to you that I know as I have never known before this call came that Jesus is the Savior of this world. He lives and he died for us.’ Why did I know? Because there had come a kind of a witness, that special kind of a witness, that may have been that more sure word of prophecy that one must have if he is to be a special witness” (“Speaking for Himself: President Lee’s Stories,” Ensign, Feb. 1974, 18).

Shortly after his call he toured missions and military bases throughout the world, delivered radio sermons entitled “Youth and the Church,” and labored diligently as an advisor to the Primary and Relief Society organizations. He organized two missions in South America and the first stake in England.

He Loved All People

Elder Harold B. Lee in Korea, 1954

Referring to the night before his sustaining as an Apostle, Elder Harold B. Lee related: “I know there are powers that can draw close to one who fills his heart with . . . love. . . . I came to a night, some years ago, when on my bed, I realized that before I could be worthy of the high place to which I had been called, I must love and forgive every soul that walked the earth, and in that time I came to know and I received a peace and a direction, and a comfort, and an inspiration, that told me things to come and gave me impressions that I knew were from a divine source” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1946, 146).

The Principles of Priesthood Correlation Were Developed

In 1960, under the leadership of President David O. McKay, the First Presidency sent the following letter to the General Priesthood Committee, which was under the direction of Elder Harold B. Lee:

“We of the First Presidency have over the years felt the need of a correlation between and among the courses of study put out by the General Priesthood Committee and by the responsible heads of other Committees of the General Authorities for the instruction of the Priesthood of the Church.

“We have also felt the very urgent need of a correlation of studies among the Auxiliaries of the Church. . . .

Elder Lee with four-year-old Scotty Hafen, March of Dimes poster child, 1974

“We think that the contemplated study by the Committee now set up should have the foregoing matters in mind. We feel assured that if the whole Church curricula were viewed from the vantage point of what we might term the total purpose of each and all of these organizations, it would bring about such a collation and limitation of subjects and subject matters elaborated in the various Auxiliary courses as would tend to the building of efficiency in the Auxiliaries themselves in the matter of carrying out the purposes lying behind their creation and function.

“We would therefore commend to you Brethren of the General Priesthood Committee the beginning of an exhaustive, prayerful study and consideration of this entire subject, with the cooperative assistance of the Auxiliaries themselves so that the Church might reap the maximum harvest from the devotion of the faith, intelligence, skill, and knowledge of our various Auxiliary Organizations and Priesthood Committees” (quoted in Harold B. Lee, in Conference Report, Sept.–Oct. 1967, 98–99).

These revealed principles were later known as the principles of priesthood correlation. As they were gradually unfolded before the Church, and particularly to the priesthood leaders, it became evident that this was not just an administrative program to facilitate improved communication and a more effective curriculum; it was the design of the Lord to establish a program of defense against some of the insidious designs of the adversary that were intended to thwart and break down the family and the kingdom of God.

In 1961 Elder Harold B. Lee was appointed chairman of the Church Correlation Committee. Past experience had taught him the challenge of such an assignment. With faith and courage he counseled with other leaders and formulated a plan that spoke of renewed effort in welfare, missionary work, genealogy, education, home teaching, and family home evening. The entire strength of the Church was being marshaled to bless and sustain the home.

The Priesthood Is Expected to Lead

Elders Harold B. Lee and Gordon B. Hinckley at the Parthenon, in Athens, Greece, 1972

Elder Harold B. Lee testified of the Lord’s guidance in developing a Church correlation program:

“Sometimes the startling nature of my assignment has required courage almost beyond my strength. I come to you tonight subdued in spirit, I come to you with a sincere witness that the Lord is revealing and working through channels that he has appointed. Don’t you ever let anybody tell you, the membership of the Church, that the Lord is not today revealing and directing and developing plans which are needed to concentrate the entire forces of this Church to meet the challenge of the insidious forces at work to thwart and to tear down and to undermine the church and kingdom of God.

“I bear you my solemn witness that I know that God is directing this work today and revealing his mind and will. The light is shining through, and if we can get the priesthood now to come alive and to put into full gear the full strength of the priesthood, we shall see some of the most wonderful developments and some of the greatest things happen to the forces which the Lord can set in motion that we have ever known in this dispensation” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1962, 83).

“The Whole Effort of Correlation Is to Strengthen the Home”

Elder Harold B. Lee taught about “four important factors . . . in developing effective correlation. First, we must see that the whole effort of correlation is to strengthen the home and to give aid to the home in its problems, giving it special aid and succor as needed.

“Second, the strength of the priesthood must be fully employed within the total responsibility of priesthood quorums as clearly set forth in the revelations.

“Third, we must survey the purposes lying behind the creation and purpose of each auxiliary organization.

“And fourth, the prime and ultimate objective of all that is done is the building up of a knowledge of the gospel, a power to promulgate the same, a promotion of the faith, growth, and stronger testimony of the principles of the gospel among the members of the Church” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1964, 80–81).

Church Programs Support the Home

In the October 1967 general conference, Elder Harold B. Lee re-emphasized the need for the various Church programs to support the home: “Again and again has been repeated the statement that the home is the basis of a righteous life. With new and badly needed emphasis on the ‘how,’ we must not lose sight of the ‘why’ we are so engaged. The priesthood programs operate in support of the home; the auxiliary programs render valuable assistance. Wise regional leadership can help us to do our share in attaining God’s overarching purpose, ‘to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.’ (Moses 1:39.) Both the revelations of God and the learning of men tell us how crucial the home is in shaping the individual’s total life experience. You must have been impressed that running through all that has been said in this conference has been the urgency of impressing the importance of better teaching and greater parental responsibility in the home. Much of what we do organizationally, then, is scaffolding, as we seek to build the individual, and we must not mistake the scaffolding for the soul” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1967, 107).

He Was Refined through His Trials

He married Freda Joan Jensen on 17 June 1963

Prophets of God are not immune to the tests and trials of life. They are prepared in the crucible of adversity and suffering. Harold B. Lee’s life received the polishing and refinement that can come only from the touch of the Master’s hand. Through this process he gained experiences that were for his good and for the good of the Lord’s kingdom. The deaths of loved ones, personal physical suffering, and calls that seemed impossible were but a few of his experiences.

Fern, his beloved wife of thirty-nine years, died in 1962. Several months later, Elder Lee shared what he learned: “In 1958, just after I had returned with my sweet companion from the Holy Land, I addressed myself to this studentbody on the subject, ‘I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked.’ I described the paths and the lanes we had traveled in that Holy Land where the Master had traveled. But the experiences of the last five months have impressed upon me how short-sighted then was my view of the path where Jesus walked. I have come to learn that only through heartbreak and a lonely walk through the valley of the shadow of death do we really begin to glimpse the path that Jesus walked. Only then can we come to claim kinship with Him who gave His life that men might be” (Building Your House of Tomorrow, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year [13 Feb. 1963], 11).

Three years later, in 1965, Elder Lee endured the loss of his daughter Maurine. He was in Hawaii, away on Church conferences, when he received word of her serious illness and then, shortly thereafter, of her death. Speaking of the anguish of heart in such experiences, he said:

“Many times I personally have wondered at the Master’s cry of anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane. ‘And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’ (Matt. 26:39.)

“As I advance in years, I begin to understand in some small measure how the Master must have felt. In the loneliness of a distant hotel room 2,500 miles away, you, too, may one day cry out from the depths of your soul as was my experience: ‘O dear God, don’t let her die! I need her; her family needs her.’

President Harold B. Lee

“Neither the Master’s prayer nor my prayer was answered. The purpose of that personal suffering may be only explained in what the Lord said through the Apostle Paul:

“‘Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

“‘And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;’ (Heb. 5:8–9.)

“So it is in our day. God grant that you and I may learn obedience to God’s will, if necessary by the things which we suffer” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1965, 130–31).

His Life Was Spared by Inspiration

Although our prayers may not always be answered in the way we desire, the Lord is keenly aware of each of us and our unique challenges. As we seek to do His will and obey His commandments, He will guide and protect us until our days are finished here on this earth. Elder Harold B. Lee shared an example of the guidance and protection he received in his life:

“May I impose upon you for a moment to express appreciation for something that happened to me some time ago, years ago [March 1967]. I was suffering from an ulcer condition that was becoming worse and worse. We had been touring a mission; my wife, Joan, and I were impressed the next morning that we should get home as quickly as possible, although we had planned to stay for some other meetings.

“On the way across the country, we were sitting in the forward section of the airplane. Some of our Church members were in the next section. As we approached a certain point en route, someone laid his hand upon my head. I looked up; I could see no one. That happened again before we arrived home, again with the same experience. Who it was, by what means or what medium, I may never know, except I knew that I was receiving a blessing that I came a few hours later to know I needed most desperately.

“As soon as we arrived home, my wife very anxiously called the doctor. It was now about 11 o’clock at night. He called me to come to the telephone, and he asked me how I was; and I said, ‘Well, I am very tired. I think I will be all right.’ But shortly thereafter, there came massive hemorrhages which, had they occurred while we were in flight, I wouldn’t be here today talking about it.

“I know that there are powers divine that reach out when all other help is not available” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1973, 179).

Following the Prophet Protects the Sanctity of Our Homes

In a 1970 general conference address, President Harold B. Lee, then a counselor in the First Presidency, compared avoiding near tragedy on a space flight to being guided to safety in a troubled world:

“Some months ago, millions of watchers and listeners over the world waited breathlessly and anxiously the precarious flight of Apollo 13. The whole world, it seemed, prayed for one significant result: the safe return to earth of three brave men.