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Rating: 
Summary: ALL GREAT LEADERS HAVE HAD A MENTOR. IT'S OBVIOUS THAT----
Review: ---JOSEPH SMITH HAD GREAT MENTORS WITHIN HIS FAMILY, AND THEN HE WAS MENTORED BY DEITY.Reading the revelations received by the prophet Joseph Smith are inspirational. But it is good to see the restoration from the point of view of his mother. She tells some stories that we wouldn't know from any other source (like the story of his leg operation at age 9). I was mostly impressed with how much constant persecution and distraction Joseph Smith and his family had to endure ON AN ONGOING BASIS for the whole time Joseph Smith was prophet. It never let up. It's a miracle that he was able to accomplish anything at all. Many stories were ones I had never heard before. One story that I had never heard before was the time Joseph Smith's dad was thrown in jail for 30 days for a minor debt he owed. They told him they would let him free if he would just deny his testimony. He stayed in prison the whole 30 days and converted another person while in jail. By reading this book, we can have Joseph Smith and his family (especially his mother) be OUR OWN MENTORS, to help us to be the kind of people they were. --George Stancliffe
Rating:
Summary: ALL GREAT LEADERS HAVE HAD A MENTOR. IT'S OBVIOUS THAT----
Review: ---JOSEPH SMITH HAD GREAT MENTORS WITHIN HIS FAMILY, AND THEN HE WAS MENTORED BY DEITY. Reading the revelations received by the prophet Joseph Smith are inspirational. But it is good to see the restoration from the point of view of his mother. She tells some stories that we wouldn't know from any other source (like the story of his leg operation at age 9). I was mostly impressed with how much constant persecution and distraction Joseph Smith and his family had to endure ON AN ONGOING BASIS for the whole time Joseph Smith was prophet. It never let up. It's a miracle that he was able to accomplish anything at all. Many stories were ones I had never heard before. One story that I had never heard before was the time Joseph Smith's dad was thrown in jail for 30 days for a minor debt he owed. They told him they would let him free if he would just deny his testimony. He stayed in prison the whole 30 days and converted another person while in jail. By reading this book, we can have Joseph Smith and his family (especially his mother) be OUR OWN MENTORS, to help us to be the kind of people they were. --George Stancliffe
Rating:
Summary: A wonderul, first-hand account of his life
Review: Contrary to what some other reviews say, this book contains Mother Smith's original manuscript UN-EDITED with later notes added to the footnotes as cross-references. Brigham Young pulled the book off the shelf for a time because people were referring to it for a while as scripture, which it was not. The leadership wanted to make sure the dates and activities that were recorded, since they were coming from her memory - not from her diaries - were correct. This book is a spoken history, recorded by an assistant, not direct from her diaries. When the dates and stories were later confirmed, the manuscript was released again for publication. Where there are differences in dates and names (not many), the differences are noted. There are NO differences in the facts of these stories with official church doctrine. So to imply that there is some great difference between versions is ridiculous. Period.
Reading Lucy Mack Smith's first-hand account of the trials and tribulations of the Smith family was a great reminder of the importance of family sticking together. I read bits and pieces out of my sister's copy for a few weeks, and finally broke down and got my own copy so that I could read it end to end. Mother Smith's account provides some important spiritual insight that you just won't get in the typical historical books of the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Her writings capture the urgency of the work, and the constant movements of a family repeatedly persecuted and driven from their home by mobs. It's just a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: An inspiring true account of courage, faith, and endurance.
Review: In my opinion, this book is a must-read. Lucy Mack Smith's account of the constant challenges and incredible opposition she and her family faced, helped me regain courage to face my own small trials. Lucy Mack was a woman worth emulating. She had amazing faith in God, a deep love for family, and burning desire to impart the truth to all with whom she came in contact. I'm a better person for having "met her" through this great book.
Rating:
Summary: A Mother's Story
Review: This is one of the key primary sources in studying the life of Joseph Smith. Others include the History of the Church, edited by B. H. Roberts, and the Papers of Joseph Smith, edited by Dean C. Jesse. We see the life of Joseph Smith only as a mother could see him. We also have a broader history of the Smith and Mack families, and we learn more about Alvin, Joseph Smith's brother who died due to medical malpractice.
Rating:
Summary: A Mother's Story
Review: This is one of the key primary sources in studying the life of Joseph Smith. Others include the History of the Church, edited by B. H. Roberts, and the Papers of Joseph Smith, edited by Dean C. Jesse. We see the life of Joseph Smith only as a mother could see him. We also have a broader history of the Smith and Mack families, and we learn more about Alvin, Joseph Smith's brother who died due to medical malpractice.
Rating: 
Summary: I prefer the original
Review: This is the book that the church "edited" or in other words, "rewrote" in 1954; for a more accurate account, pick up the original and read it the way Lucy Mack Smith intended.
Her original work was published in 1853. A few years later Brigham Young demanded the books be turned over to him, so they could be destroyed. Several copies remain and have been reprinted for people wanting to know the truth.
[...]
I mean, if you can't trust Joseph's mother, than who can you trust? The LDS church? I think not! Poor Mrs Smith would turn in her grave if she knew they had rewritten her diary! Shame on them!!!
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