On June 27, 1844, a mob stormed the jail in the hamlet of Carthage, Ill., and shot Joseph Smith and his older brother, Hyrum, believing their deaths would also put an end to the LDS Church.
One hundred and fifty years later, Joseph Smith's 13th successor stood at the jail site Sunday and commemorated the martyrdom as leader of a church nearing 9 million members in more than 140 nations.In his first scheduled public appearance since his June 5 ordination, President Howard W. Hunter of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said the church is now a world religion not simply because its members can be found throughout the world but because it has a "comprehensive and inclusive" message of hope and love.
Referring to the Smith brothers, President Hunter said, "We celebrate their memory by magnifying the message of their Master."
Speaking quietly and firmly, he called upon church members to follow the teachings of the gospel and be "kinder with one another, more gentle, more forgiving" and extend the hand of friendship to people everywhere, even to "those who don't keep the commandments of God."
President Hunter said, "We need to love one another with the pure love of Christ, with genuine charity and compassion; if necessary sharing suffering, for that is the way God loves us."
President Hunter addressed a gathering of church leaders and members and local dignitaries Sunday night at a commemorative service that was broadcast live from Carthage to 3,000 LDS meetinghouses throughout United States and Canada via the church's satellite network.
President Hunter, his first counselor President Gordon B. Hinckley, and Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Council of Twelve also addressed a sacrament meeting earlier in the day and at the unveiling of a Nauvoo Temple sun-stone.
Joseph Smith, who was born in Vermont in 1805, organized the church in western New York in 1830. After he and his followers were driven out of New York and later Ohio and Missouri, they moved on to Illinois and established the town of Nauvoo.
Again, their beliefs drew enemies, and Joseph and Hyrum Smith, John Taylor and Willard Richards were imprisoned in the Carthage jail after surrendering themselves on charges stemming from destroying a local newspaper that had vilified the church. Taylor was badly wounded by the mob - one of the bullets hit his watch, stopping it at exactly 5:16 p.m. - but Richards escaped injury.
Despite the murder of its leaders, the church and the community of Nauvoo continued to grow. Further mob persecution forced a final exodus of the main body of the church to what would become Salt Lake City.
The jail where Joseph Smith was held has been restored by the church. The church has also restored about 25 homes and shops in Nauvoo.
In an earlier ceremony at the site of the Nauvoo Temple, church leaders unveiled one of two known remaining "sunstones" salvaged from the ruins of the temple, which was burned by an arsonist in 1848, two years after its completion, and later destroyed by a tornado. Owned by Illinois, the stone has been on display in Nauvoo State Park. It was moved to the temple site after the church was named "custodian" of the stone in 1992.
"Being on this temple site today mingles memories and brings anticipations," President Hunter said. "The responsibility I feel for the work the Prophet Joseph inaugurated fills me with a determination to do all I can in the time and season alloted to me. Surely Joseph was faithful and true to his time and season."
President Hinckley unveiled the "sunstone," a relief of the sun bearing a face carved in a large gray stone. It was one of 30 such sunstones on the original Nauvoo temple, which was destroyed after the Mormons had left for the Great Basin. But only two sunstones are known to exist today, one in Nauvoo and the other in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
In his remarks Sunday night, President Hinckley recalled that Illinois Gov. Thomas Ford, who broke his pledge to protect Joseph Smith, later assessed the Mormon leader as an imposter and a failure.
Noting that the church now has 21,000 congregations and almost 2,000 stakes and that 4 million copies of the Book of Mormon were distributed last year, President Hinckley said the governor's appraisal had been "repudiated."
President Hinckley said Joseph Smith's life was not long "but the fruits of that life have been almost beyond comprehension."
Elder Ballard, a great-great-grandson of Hyrum Smith, said he was "deeply touched in a personal and emotional way" to be standing at the site of the historic martyrdom.
His voice sometimes breaking with emotion, Elder Ballard discussed the close relationship between the Smith brothers and described the events leading up to their deaths. "I am in awe of their courage and faith," he said.