This project required us to photograph many situations with Joseph and children. Several accounts in early church history demonstrate that Joseph loved children and took many opportunities to foster his relationship with them. He was known to have wrestled, participated in snowball fights, pulled sticks, played ball and fished with the youth. Many children and especially the LDS boys, recorded looking to Joseph as a hero, a role model. I cannot imagine a better role model for children than the prophet Joseph Smith.
It strikes me that you cannot truly follow someone you truly do not know. When I think of my own relationship with my Savior, it becomes clear to me that when He said “Come follow me,” He was inviting me to know Him. I am convinced that He loves each of us in such a personal way that he is overjoyed when we come to know Him and sorrows when we make him a stranger. Joseph is an example of someone who knew the Savior and followed Him.
