The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: A Complete Edition

For the first time, the earliest surviving diaries of Joseph F. Smith (b. 1838), will be available. Smith, the sixth president of the LDS Church, served from 1901 until his death in 1918. He was also one of the youngest LDS missionaries ever called to serve. He arrived in the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaiian Islands) in 1854 at the age of fifteen. For the next nearly three years, he labored to bring native converts into the Church while combating loneliness, depression, a fiery temperament, and doubts about his own competence. In fact, one of the perhaps surprising themes to emerge from the diaries is Joseph F.'s driving quest for self-improvement and intellectual competence. Editor Nathaniel Ricks has carefully annotated these earliest diaries of Joseph F. (earlier volumes were destroyed in a fire) to make them accessible to modern readers. The diaries offer a fun look into the formative years of one of Mormonism s most commanding personalities.