Did You Know?

“Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!”—Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (“‘Settle This in Your Hearts,’” Ensign, November 1992, 66)

A Monumental Day

On 23 December 1905, 100 years after the Prophet Joseph Smith’s birth, the Church dedicated a memorial at his birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. By 1905 all that was left of the Smith family’s small home in Sharon was a hearthstone and a decaying foundation. The Church rebuilt a memorial home around the hearthstone. A large monument was also built and, with considerable difficulty, transported to the site.

The monument, a shaft of Vermont granite, was the tallest polished granite shaft in America at that time. It still stands today, 38 1/2 feet (11 meters) high—one foot for each year of the Prophet’s life.

At the dedicatory service for the monument, Church President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918), a nephew of the Prophet Joseph, left a blessing: “Peace be with you, and unto this place, unto this monument, and unto all who come to visit it with feelings of respect in their hearts; and those who come without feelings of respect, may it have the effect of softening their hearts, opening their eyes, and causing them to reflect soberly upon this great problem of human life and redemption that has been opened up to the world through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith” (Proceedings at the Dedication of the Joseph Smith Memorial Monument [Family and Church History Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], 26).

Feliz Navidad

Seminary students at the Juárez Academy in Chihuahua, México, made a plan to help the missionaries in their area spread the gospel for Christmas. Each of the 350 students contributed a brightly wrapped Book of Mormon for the missionaries to give to investigators in the Colonia Juárez and Colonia Dublán stakes.

Leadership Tip

Bearing your testimony to your quorum or class members is a good way to bless their lives and strengthen their testimonies, as well as your own. Being a leader means more than organizing and delegating. It also means being an example of faithfulness and obedience.

Detail from No Room at the Inn, by Robert T. Barrett

Photograph of monument by Welden C. Andersen

The First Vision, by Ted Henninger