Category Archives: Reunion

Family Reunion Monday – November 8, 2021

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Dear Joseph F. Smith Cousins,

            This year because of the continuation of Covid and the Delta Variant which is infecting those who are unable to be vaccinated, the JFS board decided that we would again hold a Virtual Reunion.

            Instead of meeting at the Monument Park Stake building as we have done in previous years, we will again meet virtually over the internet.  We miss the opportunity of meeting in person and hope that by next year, vaccinations will be such that the danger of spreading the virus will be significantly reduced.

            Please join us for our Virtual Reunion on Monday, November 8, 2021. We will have a presentation called, “I Saw the Hosts of the Dead” and downloadable children’s activities. We have prepared a special Family Home Evening to celebrate the birthday of our ancestor, Joseph F. Smith. It will be available at https://josephfsmith.org any time after November 7, 2021.

            Please notify your family data steward of any and all updated addresses. We are sad to announce the passing of Mary Donoho. She has gone on to meet with Papa and other friends and family. For your data steward list, see https://josephfsmith.org/genealogy/

            We ask that you please make a donation so we can continue to have reunions, research family names and addresses. We send out over 2,000 invitations yearly. Your donation covers the cost of postage, website, domain renewal and family history research, etc. This year the suggested donation is $10 – 25 per household. This is less than we have asked for in the past because of the cheaper cost of hosting an on-line reunion. You can make your donation through the website at https://josephfsmith.org/donation or mail it to the family treasurer’s address:

                        Joseph F. Smith Family Association
                        Paul Smith – Treasurer
                        2273 West Smith Legacy Cove
                        Taylorsville, Utah 84129

            We hope that you will be active participants in carrying on the legacy of the Smith family by strengthening family ties, visiting the website, participating in the reunion and living the gospel.

            Thank you,

            Alice Watson

            2021 Reunion Committee Chairman

Joseph F. Smith Family Reunion – 2020 Program

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Welcome to the 2020 Joseph F. Smith Family Reunion program. As the rules for meeting together in Salt Lake City have shifted over the past months, we, the trustees of the Joseph F. Smith Association, decided our best approach would be to provide an outline and presentation for you to use in your own Family Home Evening, to remember our dear prophet, Joseph F. Smith.

We love you, and hope that what we’ve prepared for you here helps you remember our grandfather Joseph F. Smith, and with his example, encourages you in your goals to do what’s right.

I am Paul Smith, and I am the chairman of our reunion this year. We would like to recognize the Trustees of the Joseph F. Smith association, who are: Paul Smith (Mary), Alice Watson (Alice), Shauna Sandberg (Sarah), Sarah Adams (Julina), and Craig Smith (Edna). We also recognize: Mary Donoho, our principal genealogy data steward and address coordinator; Jared Glade, our website and online database coordinator; Chris Rasmussen, our secretary, and Paul Smith, our treasurer. Keeping track of the family is a tough job, and we thank our data stewards: Mary Donoho (Julina), Chris Rasmussen (Sarah), Marilyn Wood (Alice), Jared Glade (Edna), and Becky Lowe – recently replaced by David Scott (Mary). As you have changes in your family, please let your family data steward or Mary Donoho know.

Please recognize those in your family who have been or will be baptized this year or who have turned 12. We plan to have them join us on the stand when we meet in person next year. We also encourage you to appreciate Joseph F. Smith’s living grandchildren, and those you have passed on.

For our primary-age children, we have a coloring book you can download here: Joseph F. Smith Booklet.pdf

Due to the format of our reunion this year, President Ballard has also recorded his message. We are grateful to have both he and President Oaks as part of our family.

Here is the outline we encourage you to follow, including links to music you can play and sing along with, hosted on the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Feel free to adapt it to the special needs of your family.

Opening Hymn: 19 We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet. After clicking on this link, you’ll see a ‘Play’ button that will let you play the music. When you’re done with the song, come back to this page.

Opening Prayer: Someone from your family

Paul Smith

Paul Smith – Joseph F. Smith

As a family, discuss how being related to the Lord’s prophet Joseph F. Smith, encourages each of you to do and be better. How do his example, and that of his wives, help you be kind to everyone, and to focus on the Gospel, your own family, and all of God’s children?

President M. Russell Ballard

President M. Russell Ballard – Joseph F. Smith

Closing Hymn: 21 Come, Listen to a Prophet’s Voice. After clicking on this link, you’ll see a ‘Play’ button that will let you play the music. When you’re done with the song, come back to this page.

Closing Prayer: Someone from your family

Refreshments of your choice 😉

Family Reunion Monday, Nov. 9, 2020

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Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year we’ll be holding our reunion right here, on this website. Come back to this site on the evening of Monday, November 9.

Because we can’t meet in person, we, the trustees of the Joseph F. Smith Family Association, decided that our best approach would be to provide a program outline and video presentations. We hope you will use these in your own Family Home Evening held on Monday, November 9, to remember our dear prophet and grandfather, Joseph F. Smith. We will include links to recorded hymns and music, so you can sing and pray together as a family. We will also include coloring materials you can download for younger children to help them remember him.

I am Paul Smith, and as it’s my turn to chair this event, I’ve prepared the outline and a video presentation. President Ballard has also recorded his thoughts and encouragement for our family.

We’ve been asked a few times – what time will we hold the reunion? We normally hold the reunion at 7 PM, but that may be too late for some families. Since we have pre-recorded the videos, we’ll put them and the program here early enough that you can get together any time on Monday evening or thereafter.

Letter from the Board – 2019

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Joseph F. Smith Family Reunion

Dear Cousins,

We have been blessed that Susan Easton Black has agreed to make a presentation this year for our reunion.  She has done presentations in the past for the Joseph Smith Sr. reunions.  I am sure that we will all learn something new from her this year. 

Don’t miss our annual Reunion & birthday celebration FHE:

Monday, November 11, 2019
At the Monument Park Stake Center (1320 East Wasatch Drive)
Registration begins at 6:30 PM
Program starts promptly at 7:00PM

We will honor our 8- and 12-year-old family members as always.  They will be singing “We’ll Bring the World His Truth,” so remember to practice if you can.  The children’s program for children ages 2-7 will be held in the Primary area of the building.  Light refreshments will also be served following the program.

If you are not able to attend the reunion, check out the live stream from the association webpage on Facebook. It can be found by searching @jfsfamily. A link will also be provided on the website at http://josephfsmith.org.

Please make plans to attend the Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunion in 2020.  It will be held in Palmyra, New York.  This will be a great opportunity to gather with family.  For information contact Steve Orton, steve.ortonio@gmail.com or Frances Orton, ortonfrances@gmail.com.

Please make a family donation so our reunion can continue to be an annual event.  To make the reunion happen we research family names and addresses and send out over 2000 invitations each year.  The donations cover postage, refreshments, website domain renewal, sharing family history research, etc.  Suggested donation is $15-50 per household.  You can make your donation at the reunion or through the website http://josephfsmith.org/donation.  Thank you for your contributions!

We hope you will be active participants in carrying on the Smith Family legacy by attending the reunion, helping to keep our family connected, reporting to data stewards, and perhaps volunteering to serve on a committee.

With love,

Edward Douglas Glade
2019 Reunion Committee Chairman

Letter from the Board – 10/01/2017

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Dear Cousins!

We have a great program this year. Some wonderful Hawaiian saints, who “want to honor your Grandfather and his descendants for his lifelong efforts for the people of Hawaii”, are coming all the way from Hawaii to do just that!  Shannon and Kimo Kanekoa who run an LDS Historical Tours business on Maui and are faithful members of the LDS Church, thanks to Joseph F. Smith and others, have much to share in honor of our ancestor. They will talk about ancient Hawaiian religious traditions that correlate with the restored gospel. They will provide insights about the Iosepa (Joseph) colony in Skull Valley that Joseph F. Smith started and where descendants of those early Hawaiians still meet for “spirit-filled reunions”. We will hear about the Authentic Hawaiian Voyaging Canoe, built at BYU-Hawaii, and is named for Joseph F. (another Iosepa). We will hear from a young Hawaiian whose name means “The Keeper of the Record” after his great-great-grandfather, along with some Hawaiian genealogy of those who were first converted to the gospel by Joseph F. and those who accompanied him. The Kanekoas have arranged for the Utah Polynesian Choir to sing for us as well – in Hawaiian and English. Perhaps you thought you knew all about Joseph’s visits to Hawaii. Come and see if you can learn something new and amazing!

Don’t miss this reunion/birthday celebration/Family Home Evening! It will be on:

Monday, November 13, 2017
At the Monument Park Stake Center (1320 East Wasatch Drive)
Registration begins at 6:30 PM. Program will start promptly at 7:00 PM.

As always, we will honor our 8- and 12-year-old family members. They will be singing “We’ll Bring the World His Truth,” so remember to practice a little. The children’s program, for children ages 3-7, will be held in the Primary area of the building. Light refreshments will be served following the program.

Some family members have expressed an interest in a program for children older than our 3- to7-year-old group. If you have ideas for such a program, or would be interested in helping, please send your ideas to Julie Goodro, juliengoodro@hotmail.com  As Vivian McConkie, our Educational Outreach officer says, “I absolutely believe that the youth are the most important members of the family and that it is more important to reach them than anyone!”

For next year’s program, we are requesting any stories about Papa that you might have heard from your grandparents, parents, etc.  Email the stories ASAP to Andrea Black, abmomof6@gmail.com. Thank you!

Upcoming Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunions

August 2-5, 2018 – in Salt Lake City, Utah
August 6-9, 2020 – in Palmyra, New York

For questions, contact Steve Orton, steve.ortonio@gmail.com, or Frances Orton, ortonfrances@gmail.com.

Please make a family donation so our reunion can continue to be an annual event. To make the reunion happen we research family names and addresses and send out nearly 5000 invitations each year. The money covers postage, refreshments, website domain renewal, sharing family history research, etc. Suggested donation is $10-$50 per household. You can make your donation at the reunion or through the website http://josephfsmith.org/. Last year, sadly, we did not receive enough to cover reunion expenses. Thank you for your contributions!

We hope you will be active participants in carrying on the Smith Family legacy by attending the reunion, helping to keep our family connected, by reporting updates to Data Stewards, and perhaps volunteering to help on a committee.

With love,

Julie Nichols Goodro
2017 Committee Chairman