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Speaker: Glenn Rawson
Hi, this is Glenn Rawson. One of the most powerful ways to share history and heritage is by the telling of stories. We began sharing inspiring stories nearly 30 years ago. Each of those stories is true and was intended to inspire and strengthen faith. Over the years, those stories have reached millions around the world. This podcast is for you to listen, learn and enjoy.
First Story: The Team Would Not Move 00:34
Llewellyn Mantle was born in South Wales in 1808. He grew up learning the trade of a wagoner, or in other words, someone who built wagons. On the second of June 1835, Llewellyn married Catherine Watkins of Herefordshire. And in 1842, elder George Allen of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, taught the two of them the gospel and baptized them. Shortly after that the two of them sold all that they had and set out for Zion.
Llewellyn and his bride arrived in Nauvoo in early 1844, where they became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith. Family history records the following of their association with the Prophet Joseph Smith. Llewellyn worked on the Nauvoo Temple. He was a member of the Nauvoo Legion, and they actually even lived in one of the prophet’s houses and worked on one of his farms. Llewellyn was known to be an excellent horseman, and a teamster.
One early summer day, Llewellyn was out on the profits farm, plowing one of the profits teams when something most unusual happened. Suddenly, the team stopped hanging their heads and refused to plow on. This was very unusual for the team was very dependable. Nothing could persuade those horses to move. So Llewellyn let them stand until they wanted to go on working again. This unusual event happened on the Prophet’s farm, just after five o’clock PM, June 27, 1844, the very time of the Prophet Joseph’s murder.
Similarly, at that same time with him, William Carroll McClellan told them an experience that he and his father James Carroll shared, he said, “When I was a boy and working in the fields with my father, we were hoeing corn in the late afternoon, it was quite warm. We were about to quit for the day when father straightened up and looked around, and then looked at me, the solemn stillness of the surrounding area, was almost frightening. The leaves on the corn suddenly drooped as if they’d been in a blast of extreme heat. The leaves on the trees wilted and hung as if in deepest sorrow. Father looked at me and said, “Will, something has happened to the Prophet.” As soon as the men from the wet surrounding country could be notified from Carthage, we were told that at that identical time of which I spoke, indeed, the Prophet Joseph had been killed.
That was proof enough to me, Will wrote, “If the leaves of the trees and on the corn could be near enough to the Prophet to mourn the passing of his spirit, I could not ask for anything more faith promoting or convincing.”
Now, today, there are those who struggled to know if Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet, and that this work was of God, and that he was approved of God on the day he died. I share Will’s story, Llewellyn’s story, and my witness was Joseph Smith approved of God on the day he died. Absolutely.
Second Story: Dean C. Jessee 04:35
Now, this next story I share with you is brand new. Years ago, I had an interview with one of the patriarchs of church history, a man named Dean C. Jessee. And as Dennis and I interviewed him in preparation for an upcoming television show he shared information which I have never forgotten. Well, it had such an impact on me that I wanted to go back and record some of it for you, and share with you some of which he shared with us.
This is a story that talks about the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the aftermath. What happened? How were the saints affected by the Prophet Joseph martyrdom? You heard what I read earlier from Emily Dow Partridge Young Smith, when she said that it was a devastating time. I remember Dean teaching me that the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith was one of the most horrific, terrible and devastating moments in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He went on to explain that before or since, nothing has happened in this church that more emotionally devastated the saints than the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Even today, when I go to Carthage, so many tears are shed in memory of the Prophet.
Well, what was it like to be in Nauvoo, on the day after Joseph and Hyrum were killed. Lucy Meserve Smith said, “Such a barking and howling of dogs, and howl and bellowing of cattle all over the city of Nauvoo, I had never heard before or since.”
That was the night of the martyrdom, before the saints knew anything about what had happened. “A great many of the saints thought that the Lord would spare his life as he had done on former occasions, but not so. I shall never forget the morning that the sad news of their desks reached Nauvoo. Father was a bishop and one of the wards and naturally the brethren would gather around their bishop. To see stout men and women standing around in groups crying and mourning for the loss of their dear Prophet and patriarch was enough to break the heart of a stone. None, but an eye witness can imagine the sorrow, the mourning, the gloom, the consternation that was thrown over the saints in Nauvoo, at that time, I played the snare drum at the funeral. I shall never forget the scenes from my boyhood and what I have passed through.”
Again, notwithstanding the grief and depression of the hour, the darkness of which I can feel even now, I recall the attitude of my mother. After leaning over the coffin, she placed her hand upon the cheek of my father and in a grief stricken accent said, “Oh, Joseph, Joseph, Oh my husband, my husband, have they taken you from me at last.”
That from Joseph Smith III and again, “From a bystander at the Mansion House, such a house of mourning, as was that I never be held before.”
“A dry eye, I did not behold, it was enough to rend the heart of a stone to behold two prophets of the Lord laid prostrate by those who were once their friends.” – Elmira Mack Covey.
And again, early in the morning, the news came into the yard that Joseph and Hyrum were killed by the mob at five o’clock the day before in Carthage, and that their dead bodies would be brought into the city this afternoon and all who wish to manifest their goodwill towards them, could repair to Mulholland Street at four o’clock, where we should be placed in order to receive them, and pay all the due respects to their last remains, by following them in procession through the city to their homes. Many thousands of the people assembled there, and such a time of mourning I never beheld before nor since.
Lucy Walker Kimball Smith said, “We had just retired on the night of the 27th when there came a loud rap at the door below. News, I cried, and fled downstairs to open the door. A messenger quietly said Joseph and Hyrum had been murdered. I seemed paralyzed with terror and had no power to move or speak. Agnes called out what is the news? Receiving no answers she came rushing down to learn the awful truth. Now at length we returned to our chamber and on bended knees poured out the anguish of our souls to that God who holds the destinies of his children in his own hands. For a time, it seemed utterly impossible that he would allow His Prophet to be slain by his foes. Never was such a night spent. Since the crucifixion of our Savior. The dogs barked, the cattle bellowed and all creation was stir by the open window where their arms around each other until the dawn, witnessing that terrible commotion and the calling to mind the prophetic words my soul seconds, as I recall the anguish of the whole people, as they crowded around the lifeless body of Joseph, and that of his noble brother, Hyrum.”
And this from Sally Randall.
“If you can imagine for yourselves how the apostles and saints felt when the Savior was crucified, you can give something of a guess of how the saints felt there, when they heard that their prophet and Patriarch were both dead and murdered by a lawless mob. Never has there been such a horrible crime committed since the day Christ was crucified. It seems that all nature mourns, that the earth is deprived of the two best men that were on it. They have sealed their testimony with their blood.”
And this from Carolyn Crosby.
“The next morning at an early hour, the news of Joseph and Hyrum’s massacre was spread through the length and breadth of the city. We would not believe she said the first report but finally it was confirmed to us beyond a doubt, and all the sorrow and sadness of that day, many were made sick by the intelligence, others deranged, many walked the streets mourning and wringing their hands. I lost my strength and appetite, I could not attend to any business for several days.”
And this from Benjamin Johnson.
“To attempt to delineate the feeling of woe and an adorable sorrow that swelled every heart too full for tears, I need not attempt. I stood up dazed with grief, I could groan but could not weep. The fountain of tears was dry. Oh, God, what will the orphan church and people now do was the only feeling or thought that burst out in groans. I did not go to see their mutilated bodies, I had no wish to look into their graves. I knew they were not there.”
And this from Newel Knight.
“Oh how I loved those men, and rejoiced under their teachings. It seems as if all is gone, and as if my very heartstrings will break. And were it not for my beloved wife and dear children, I feel as if I have nothing to live for, and would rejoice to be with them in the courts of glory. But I must live and labor and try to do good, and help to build up the kingdom of our God here on the earth. And I pray, God, my Father, that I may be reconciled unto my lot and live and die a faithful follower of the teachings of our murdered prophet, and patriarch.”
Now I share those solemn thoughts with you, to impart unto you a memory. And that is that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He lived great and glorious, and died a martyr. His martyrdom and that of his brother Hyrum, was the most devastating emotional event in our history. Perhaps the only thing that comes close to it or exceeds it is that of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I hope and pray that we will never forget that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, our testimonies, the keys of the kingdom, the power of the atonement, the doctrine that we enjoy, and everything that blesses our lives as members of the church today, cost the best blood of the 19th century. Joseph and Hyrum.
Third Story: Cougar and the Security Cameras 15:20
Now, I want to change the subject, perhaps to leave you on a little bit more of a cheerful note. Debbie doesn’t know I’m doing this. And I hope perhaps that she might be listening tonight, because I want to share a story that for all intents and purposes,
Debbie wrote this story.
See, just a couple of days ago, my wife and I went up into the mountains above Clarkston, Utah. Just as we were coming up to our destination, she checked the weather app on her phone and it said that there was a 100% chance of rain in Clarkston, Utah, within the next 10 minutes. Well, within 10 minutes, we had arrived at our campsite, and indeed, it began to rain. Now, it wasn’t a torrential rain. It was a light summer shower, but it was gorgeous. There are a few things in life more refreshing than a summer shower in a drought.
Well, not long after the rain eased off. And we walked out onto a point overlooking beautiful Cache Valley, Utah, and we’re stunned to see a beautiful, double rainbow running north to south over the valley. It was a wonderful, enlivening site gorgeous to look at. Well, Debbie, and I enjoyed a peaceful, quiet evening, camping in those mountains.
The next morning, I woke up early, and happened to look out the window just in time to catch a glimpse of the back half of some animal walking past the back end of our trailer. Well, it was just a glimpse, I thought it was a deer. So I quickly got dressed and went out to find it. But it was nowhere to be seen. Or at least that’s what I thought. Well, I forgot about it. And I went for a walk in the hills above our campsite, and sat down on a rock on the open hillside and had my morning devotional looking out over the valley.
About 45 minutes later, I’d walk down off the hill and down into the ravine in the trees above our campsite, and came right down into our trailer. Just then, my wife got a phone call from her brother, who owns that property and the trailer we were staying in. He told her that at 7:10 that very morning, a large mountain lion walked right through our camp and tripped two different security cameras. He sent my wife photos of the cat and then sent her a photo of me standing in the same spot the cougar had been in just moments later.
I am not afraid of a mountain lion, just a big kitty. But as you can understand it freaked my wife out and she didn’t want me to go for the long run. I plan to go on back up into the mountains. Well, I didn’t. Later, Debbie and I talked about it. The family has known for a long time that there’s a cougar roaming those mountains. He’s been caught on those security cameras more than once. Even two of Debbie’s brothers were up there in October, I believe hunting. And as they went up the mountain fine. But when they turned around and retraced their steps coming back down, they found cougar tracks in the fresh snow in their tracks. The cougar had been stalking them. Now, we thought about that. And this is what Debbie gave. These are my words but the ideas are hers.
“Were it not for the gift of technology – those remote security cameras that enhanced our ability to see (we would never have known) and also that someone was watching constantly had it not been for the technology and someone who was vigilant and watching, we would never have known that that big cat, a potential danger was only 20 feet away.
As Debbie and I later talked about it, she asked me if there was a story there. And I kind of grunted and said something like, Oh, I’m thinking about it. And she then said, “Oh, that reminds me of the prophets of God. They are like those security cameras. They have a gift to see what the rest of us can’t see. That is why they are called “See-ers”. They see. Moreover, those seers are watchmen on the tower, continually vigilant, watching what goes on in this world for the threats and dangers that always lurk near us.
My dear friends, I close tonight with a witness. I believe we will be safe, no matter what stalks us in this darkening world in the days to come. We will be safe when we hearken to the living prophets. My friends, I will be back next Sunday night at eight o’clock. Good night. God bless. And I hope the Lord keeps you safe.
Thank you for listening. Many of the stories you heard today have been published and are archived at glennrawsonstories.com. If you would like more information you can communicate with us there. We will be back again with another podcast next week.
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