http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/48345/Josephs-legacy-touches-life-of-apostle.html#
By Gerry Avant
Church News editor
Published: Saturday, Dec. 31, 2005
SHARON, Vt. — Although the southern Vermont countryside had gone without snow for a couple of days when Elder M. Russell Ballard arrived at the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial on the morning of Dec. 23, a thick blanket of white covered the ground, trees and rooftops of structures on the property of the historic site.
Except for the sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir drifting on the frigid air — part of a recorded narration about the birth of Jesus Christ — it was quiet at the mammoth granite shaft that has stood for the past century in honor of Joseph Smith. No one was outside during the few minutes that Elder Ballard walked and talked with the Church News about the significance of that date, and about his great-great-granduncle Joseph Smith and his great-great-grandfather Hyrum Smith.
In response to a question about his thoughts and reflections on being at the site where the Prophet Joseph was born exactly 200 years ago, Elder Ballard said, “You don’t realize the impact of Joseph’s life until you come out here and see this almost desolate area where his father and mother were trying to eke out an existence. They already had four children. Their little baby girl passed away shortly after being born, so there were Alvin, Hyrum and Sophronia, and now comes to them in this setting, Joseph.
“I am sure they didn’t realize who had come into their home 200 years ago. But the Lord in His great design, had the Smith family and the Mack family in His eye from the very foundations of the world, ultimately to this day where Joseph could be born here.”
Elder Ballard spoke of the difficulties and the struggles Joseph Smith Sr. and his wife, Lucy Mack Smith, had with farming and failing, and “the Lord moving them through some of that trauma and difficulty, keeping that family so deeply humble. They arrived in Palmyra when the son born here was in his 14th year.”
“You have to stand in reverence when you’re in the proximity of where Joseph was born,” he said. “He was an instrument in the hands of the Lord; his work has impacted more than 12 million people in the world today.
“We don’t worship him, but surely we honor him and we hold him in the highest esteem as the Prophet of this the dispensation of the fulness of times. As Brigham Young said, Joseph was prepared from the foundations of the world to lead this dispensation. It’s overwhelming when you see the full picture.”
Elder Ballard spoke of members reading the Book of Mormon during the closing months of 2005 and said, “Just think, 130 million copies of the Book of Mormon have been printed. It has been translated in over 77 languages scattered in every corner of the world — all from this humble beginning here in Sharon, Vermont.”
Asked to share some of his personal thoughts about the great men to whom he is related, Elder Ballard said, “I have heralded Joseph’s name and Hyrum’s name and Joseph F. Smith’s name as strongly as I know how to do. This Church must never lose sight of the contribution and the strength of Joseph’s brother Hyrum because I’m not sure Joseph would have survived as long as he did had he not had Hyrum at his side. For an older brother, almost six years older, to be willing to be so subservient to his younger brother whom he knew had the experience that he said he did is a remarkable thing. When I think of Joseph, I think of Hyrum. I think of both of them together.”
He spoke of their martyrdom, saying, “They were taken, and their witness is to the whole world, and we’re privileged to be here on Joseph’s 200th birthday.”
Elder Ballard declared, “There is no question that my love and affection for Joseph Smith is more than just being the Prophet of this dispensation, but, in effect, an exemplar and leader in many ways of the Smith family. I just love the concept of the companionship of Joseph and Hyrum. I really see them, when I think about them. Joseph was born here. His 5-year-old brother, going on six, was running around here somewhere trying to stay busy and probably very excited with the fact that he had a baby brother.”
On walking where he knew his great-great-grandfather had walked, run and played as a young boy, Elder Ballard said, “A way to keep yourself humble is to come to these places and glimpse how they lived. When you realize what they did, sometimes you have to ask yourself, ‘What am I doing?’ Once in a while . . . I think I hear them say, ‘Why don’t you get busy and do something@f0’ I think that’s what they would expect us to do.”
E-mail to: gerry@desnews.com