Day 154, June 1

Many members of the church are aware of Mormon pioneer Amanda Barnes Smith's story of losing her husband and a son at the massacre at Haun's Mill, Missouri (1830s) and her faith in healing her six-year-old son Alma, who had had his hip shot out.   (She placed a plaster on his hip and told him to lie very still.  After a number of weeks, his hip was healed.)  This story is especially meaningful to me as Alma was the ancestor of a dear friend.

Recently I learned of a somewhat lesser known story about Sister Smitih.  It goes like this:  A few days following the massacre, the mobs ordered the Mormons to leave the state.  With all her possessions stolen by mob members, Sister Smith had no provisions to move her family.  Undaunted, she went to the mob leader's  home, banged on the door, and said, while pointing to the livestock, "You have my horse."

The mobster had the audactity to want to sell it to her and then charge her for having fed it.  She told him, "No, I don't have any money.  It's my horse.  I need it.  I'll take it now."   One account states that she used her apron as a lead rope to get the horse home.

It wasn't enough that the mob had murdered men, women, and children.  They had also forbade the survivors from praying.  However, Amanda knew that she needed the power of prayer now more than ever if she were to get her four remaining children to safety.

She found a shock of dried corn stalks that were tied together at the top.  She climbed inside and called it her tabernacle.  No one could see her, and unless they came very close, nor could they hear her.  There, Amanda prayed and sang "How Firm a Foundation."

"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot desert to his foes
That soul, through all hell should endeavor to shake
I'll never no never ... no never foresake."

Amanda Barnes Smith withstood the death of her husband and a child, the nearly mortal wounding of another son, the  loss of all her possessions, and the threats of a blood-thirsty mob, but her faith never wavered.

So, for today, I am grateful for the courage of a pioneer mother.