Joseph and Emma Smith had been married seventeen months when their first son, Alvin, was born on June 15, 1828. He died shortly after childbirth. The next two children also died in infancy and the young couple was heartbroken. The young couple would go on to bury six of their eleven children.
Joseph said: “Why is it that... innocent children, are taken away from us? The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth… Notwithstanding all this, we for a moment lose sight of it, and mourn the loss, but we do not mourn as those without hope...[for] mothers, you shall have your children [again].” - History of the Church 6:366
This painting reminds me that the Lord knows our sorrows and promises us that our, "afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if [we] endure it well, God shall exalt [us] on high." - D&C 121:7
