Love Letters

Today in Relief Society the lesson was "A Heart Full of Love and Faith: The Prophet's Letters to His Family" In reading the lesson straight from the manual, the lesson uses the letters of Joseph Smith to his family to illustrate how he kept in touch and guided his family even though he was far away from them, and often times imprisoned and not able to be with them. However, that is not the way our teacher presented them to us. Instead, we read the letters in chronological order, the way Emma would have recieved them.

In this day of instant communication, I think that we forget that very long periods of time would go by with no knowledge of what was going on in the lives of those not with you. Many times Joseph was ripped from the arms of his family with the thought that he was, this time, going to his death. His children were surely traumatized and I am sure very afraid. I cannot imagine the fear the felt as time passed and there was no word from their father. My father sends us a daily e-mail message and when I do not get one, I am concerned. I don't always ask if everything is alright, but I do imagine that something is wrong. And then the next day another message comes and all is right again. Joseph often tells Emma to let the children know that he is yet alive.

The one letter that caused the most discussion was the one dated Nov. 9, 1839. In this letter, Joseph tells Emma to watch over the children in a manner becoming a mother. He tells her to teach them to read. And then he says, "Do not let them be exposed to the weather to take cold." To us it seemed a condesending thing to say. Of course she would take care of her children! Why would he think that she would not? But through discussion we came to realize that the written word is so much different than the spoken word. And the written word of 1839 is very far removed from the communication in 2008. Joseph is far away and cannot help her in the day to day parenting and he wants to. He wants to be there for her to help her, support her and do what ever he can to make her burdens lighter. And perhaps these were things that they had spoken of and this was his way of cheering her on.

Joseph always mentioned how much he loved Emma. How often he thought of her. How his heart ached that he was away from her. But the most romantic thing that he said to her, and he said it often was that his heart was forever entwined with hers. I cannot imagine what a love like that would feel like.

I came away from the lesson knowing that I do not do my best in letting those I love know how I feel. I send the quick e-mail, text or blog post and call it good. I wrote my boys everyday while they were in boot camp, but it was mostly drivel about what was going on around me. Now they are set to leave halfway around the world, where people want to kill them just for who they are. My letters will not all be drivel this time. I will be sure to let them know how much I love them, how much I love the Lord and His gospel. I will bear my testimony more often. I will not be afraid to let them know how often I kneel in prayer for them. And even though they are my children, my letters will be letters of love from home.

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Indeed.