Join with your Smith Cousins in Salt Lake City
August 2 – 5, 2018!
On August 2-5 we will gather to celebrate our heritage and help current refugees that have been driven from their homes and lost all of their worldly possessions. We will be building bunk beds for refugee children and their families. We are working with Sleep In Heavenly Peace for our summer’s service project. Their mission is to ensure that no child in their town ever has to sleep on the floor.
We would like to give each refugee family a history of the Smith Family so they might know that God is aware of them and that our family understands to some degree what it means to be refugees. With this gift, perhaps they too can dream of a heavenly home.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace was featured on a program called Returning The Favor in February 2018. Join host Mike Rowe (Discovery Channel Series Dirty Jobs) and see why their team stopped into Twin Falls, Idaho, to meet SHP founder Luke Mickelson.
Any donation helps. You can sponsor:
Whole bunk bed $300
Single bed $150
One mattress $50
Comforter $25
Sheet set $15
Pillow $10
You can also contribute by mail with checks or money orders to:
Joseph Smith Sr. Family Association
c/o Frances Orton
381 W 3700 N
Provo, UT 84604
Make a notation on the check: Sleep In Heavenly Peace.
The Family Gathered in Honor of the 25th Anniversary of the Smith Family Cemetery Dedication
Mark Your Calendars
Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunion
August 2-5, 2018
From LDS History Sites
The second home the Smith family lived in after moving to Palmyra.
The reconstruction is located on the site of the original.
The eight witnesses saw the golden plates in a grove near the log home.
Joseph’s first visit from Angel Moroni was here.
Joseph lived here at the time of the First Vision.
Two hundred years ago, the Smith Family had been driven from their home and had to relocate and rebuild in a new place. More than anyone, the Smiths knew what it meant to be homeless and refugees. We are helping build bunk beds for those down on their luck and refugees so they can sleep with more comfort, in memory of Joseph Sr. and Lucy pulling and building together in 1818.
What would you have given for our Father and Mother Smith to be able to sleep with a roof over their heads?
Today, 200 years later, we have an opportunity to help others with similar difficulty and have Joseph’s family and name known for good. In 2018, in conjunction with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, the Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Association is honoring their sacrifice and endurance, by building beds for refugee families in the Salt Lake City, Utah area.
At this 200th Anniversary gathering, we will be donating and building bunk beds for refugee children.
Won’t you join us for this seminal event? With your family’s donation for a bunk bed, we can make a difference for hundreds of children, and just as our past gatherings, your good works and Joseph’s name will be broadcast to thousands.
You can learn more about Sleep in Heavenly Peace by watching these links:
During the program held at the cemetery, Elder Ballard said, “There is no one who has ever lived in my judgement, with the exception of the Savior, who is more entitled to rise up on the day of resurrection in a glorious and beautiful garden. I have always felt deeply that Joseph, Hyrum, Emma, and Father and Mother Smith, Samuel, Don Carlos and other family members will rejoice together on the day of resurrection. They all played important roles at an important time in our history.†Elder Ballard’s full address.
Lachlan Mackay is a member of Community of Christ Council of Twelve and a Trustee of the Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Foundation. He shared some stories about Lewis C. Bidamon and how Emma met him during the time Lewis was fighting to protect the remaining Latter Day Saints in Nauvoo.
Lach said, “Here is what I appreciate most about Lewis. He was father and parent to the children of the prophet. For David he was the only father he ever knew. Of course, Emma was pregnant when Joseph was killed and David was born 5 ½ months after his father’s death. For raising those children, I will be eternally grateful.†Read more about finally marking Lewis’ grave.
Steve & Frances Orton Steve: steve.ortonio@gmail.com
Frances: ortonfrances@gmail.com
Checks made out to: Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Organization
c/o Steve and Frances Orton
381 West 3700 North
Provo UT 84604
“Walking in their Shoes” was designated as the theme for the 2014 Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunion. The family gained a deeper respect for our ancestors who lived in the Independence, Missouri area as we toured Far West, Adam-ondi-Ahman, and the sacred Liberty Jail. We learned that God does not abandon us, just as he did not abandon Joseph and Hyrum when they were unjustly imprisoned in the Liberty Jail. Truth does prevail and the mercies of God will be revealed.
The opening meeting was held in the beautiful Community of Christ Stone Church on Thursday, July 31. Dan Larsen welcomed the family to the Kansas City area. Lach Mackay read a welcome letter to the family from Cousin Wallace B. Smith who was recovering from surgery. Steve and Frances Orton presented a history of past reunions and family events and discussed how this reunions activities would go. Reports were given by Bob Smith from Samuel’s family and the iDig project. Phillip Beem discussed the family website and passed on information from Michael Kennedy. Daniel Adams shared the hopes and interests of upcoming events the Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Association are working on.
The highlight of the evening was hear the memories of Anina Mackay Luff as she reflected on the early reunions and said as she looked in the eyes of newly discovered cousins, she could see the eyes of her family. To end Thursday night’s meeting Joy Ercanbrack introduced our theme of “Walking in their Shoes” and then honored those family members who attended the 1973 Independence Reunion.
Independence, Missouri was chosen for the reunion this summer to celebrate important anniversaries in our family history; the dedication of the temple lot as well as one of the original Smith reunion held in Independence more than forty years ago. Our theme “Walking in their Shoes” will help us remember our Smith ancestors who lived in Missouri, their efforts to build Zion, and courage as they faced great trials.
Our Grandmother Lucy Mack wrote that while living in Missouri the Smith family numbered about 24. (Several of the Smith women were expecting babies.) Included in the group were eleven children eight years old and under.
Persecutions the family faced are difficult to imagine. Agnes Smith, wife of Don Carlos, waded the Grand River with her babies in arm after the mob burned their home to the ground. Within days of giving birth to a son, Samuel’s wife, Mary, was told she had to move immediately to Far West traveling alone in the rain in an open lumber wagon. These are just two examples illustrating their plight.
For some Missouri may be remembered as a place of sadness, in contrast, scriptures revealed to Joseph in Liberty Jail are a source of hope. We wish to share this hope through our family service project of collecting shoes for a women and children’s shelter in the Independence area. Your donation of new shoes or small contribution of cash will purchase shoes for young children and mothers in need, who have left their homes with little in hand, much like our Smith ancestors had to do.
As we serve together our family bond is strengthened and we become part of a greater purpose to ensure the Smith name is known for good. Donations can be made now. We’ll also have a collection shoe box at the reunion.
Thank you for your kindness,
Steve and Frances Orton
Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Reunion Committee
On August 2-5 we will gather to celebrate our heritage and help current refugees that have been driven from their homes and lost all of their worldly possessions. We will be building bunk beds for refugee children and their families. We are working with Sleep In Heavenly Peace for our summer’s service project. Their mission is to ensure that no child in their town ever has to sleep on the floor.
