This past 6 months I have been reading The Work and the Glory series. I have learned so much from them about our church history and have formed a deep love for the saints and pioneers. What amazing men and women they were. I have to say I don't know if I could have done it. Oh who am I kidding there is no way I could have done it. When the mobs broke into my house with their pistols drawn would I have stood strong for my religion or gone weak and given in? What a great example these men and women were. There is much to be learned from them. This year the Sunday school lessons are on the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Saints. It has been great to read during the week and then go to church on Sunday and discuss what I had just read the last week. It has made the experience all the better.
One of the best parts about reading this series is the opportunity to learn more about our prophet Joseph Smith and his wife Emma. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet who restored the scriptures so I can read them today and for that I am very grateful. Through out the book I gained a love for Emma. She had to be such a strong lady. She shared her husband with the world. He was gone from her and the family so often. How it must have felt to have your husband in jail wondering if you will see him again. She lost child after child to death. Would I have kept the faith after loosing that many children?
This morning I attended a Relief Society breakfast were a young lady sang a beautiful song written about Emma. Here are the words:

EMMA
Never had an ordinary day
Never lived your life in an ordinary way
For everything you loved you paid a price
But you couldn't let the world see you cry.

Never had a moment of peace.
Never felt the sunlight when the worries set you free.
Every time your life turned a page it seemed like your heart might break.

With the world on your shoulder
When the nights had grown colder
You seemed to weather every storm with a queen's grace
When you lost your husband
When you buried your children
I'm sure the angles stood in reverence as you prayed
How much can one heart take?

Never had a day to call your own
When so many needed your warm heart as a home
Whispering a mother's lullaby, as you sat alone by the fire

And I'm sure your heart breaks, when some people still say,
somewhere down the line you lost your faith.
How much can one heart take?
How much can one heart take?

I thought this song was so well written. She was so much to so many people. Always taking in sick and the poor, caring for the needy. She was a true saint.