Author Description

This book, based on a BYU Church History Symposium, features more than twenty messages about the life of Joseph F Smith, including keynote address by Elder M. Russell Ballard and Joseph Fielding McConkie. Elder Ballard, a great-grandson of Joseph F. Smith, describes how the Lord prepared President Smith to lead the Church. Brother McConkie and other scholars, including Kenneth Alford, Richard O. Cowan, Scott Esplin, Reid Neilson, and David Whitchurch, highlight aspects of President Smith's life, including his boyhood and adolescence, his family and personal relationships, his doctrinal contributions, Church government and initiatives taken during his presidency in education, building construction, building the Laie Temple, creating the seminary program and public outreach.