Livestream 2025

Joseph F. Smith Family Association Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/jfsfamily

Letter From The Board – 2025

Dear Joseph F. Smith Family,

I am forever grateful to have been blessed to be a part of this significant and spiritually strong family as a descendant of Joseph F. Smith. We are his greatest joy, as he mentioned repeatedly in his letters and writings. There was nothing more important to Joseph F. Smith than his family, and he expressed his deep love for us, even his children’s children through the generations, hoping we would feel his love and always stay close to the Lord. Gathering each year in honor of him helps us remember who we are and whose we are as his precious posterity and children of God.

Joseph F. Smith Family Reunion – Monday, November 10, 2025
Monument Park Stake Center (1320 East Wasatch Drive, SLC)
Registration begins at 6:30 PM – Program starts promptly at 7:00 PM

This year, we are extremely fortunate to have Jed Woodworth share with us his deep wealth of knowledge about our beloved ancestor as he presents, “All the Feelings of a Tender Parent: Joseph F. Smith as a Father.” Jed was the managing historian over the Church’s multivolume history, Saints, Volumes 2, 3, and 4, which cover the lifespan of Joseph F. Smith. We can all look forward to getting to know our dear “Papa” even better.

As always, we will honor our 8- and 12-year-old family members. Please have your children review the song “We’ll Bring the World His Truth” so they will feel comfortable coming forward and singing the verses as we join them on the chorus. There will also be our usual children’s program provided for 3–7-year-olds in the Primary Room. They are welcome to arrive there after 6:45 PM. Please pick up your little ones promptly after the program is over and take time to mingle with each other over refreshments served in the cultural hall.

As you register to get your family name tags, please remember that all family members are now responsible for updating and maintaining their own family contact information. At the table, there will be a QR code from which you can access the family website to update your family’s contact info. Please be aware that by 2027, we plan to discontinue sending the reunion letter and program via postal mail and will convey them through email, so please make sure your email information is up to date. You can also go to the family website at https://josephfsmith.org/subscribe to submit or update your email and contact information.

At the registration table, you can also make your family donations to cover reunion and website costs. The suggested amount is $10 to $30, which can be paid with cash, check, or by using your bank’s Bill Pay service. For those wishing to mail donations, please make checks or Bill Pay-type payments payable to:

Joseph F. Smith Family Association, c/o Paul Smith – Treasurer, 2273 West Smith Legacy Cove, Taylorsville, UT 84129

We look forward to seeing you at the reunion and hope you will actively participate in carrying on the Smith Family legacy by living the gospel, strengthening your family, and helping your children come to better know and cherish their great heritage as descendants of Joseph F. Smith, as well as Hyrum & Mary Fielding Smith, and Joseph Smith Sr. & Lucy Mack Smith. They sacrificed so much to pave the way and establish a firm foundation for us to build our lives upon with their examples of faith in Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. We have been so richly blessed. Let us do all we can to maintain this feeling of gratitude in our posterity!

We love you all,

Suzanne Lindsay, 2025 JFS Family Association Chairman

P.S. Please be aware that the JFS Family Board is considering changing the time of year and location of our reunion to a weekend during a warmer-weather month to avoid school-night conflicts. We hope that the change will enable families with young children to more easily attend. So come and take advantage of this longtime tradition of gathering at the Monument Park Stake Center, which was arranged by our beloved family member, Elder M. Russell Ballard, before it becomes a thing of the past.

Links:
Online Version of this Letter
2025 Program

Uncle John Smith’s Salve

This recipe dates to 1900 or before.

Mutton tallow – rendered; heat in oven until grease is out; grease must weigh 1 lb
1 1/2 lbs. beeswax – brown
1 1/2 lbs. rosin – crushed
12 oz castor oil
1 teaspoon turpentine

  1. Cut mutton tallow into pieces and heat in a low oven and press fat out and strain into pan.
  2. Heat grease on stove and add beeswax and rosin until all is melted. Remove from heat.
  3. Add castor oil and stir well.
  4. Add turpentine and stir well.
  5. Pour into glass jars. Allow it to cool, then close tight with lid.

    Yield:
    2 1/2 quarts – will last a lifetime. This recipe will fill approximately one hundred glass Gerber baby food jars.

    Note: Do not use pans and utensils for food consumption!

    Many thanks to Nathan Tippetts, Frank Nilson, Asenath Smith Conklin, and Bonnie Tippetts for preserving and making this recipe available.

Livestream 2024

Joseph F Smith Family Association Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/jfsfamily

Letter from the Board – 2024

Dear Joseph F. Smith Family,

I am pleased to invite you to attend our annual Joseph F. Smith Family Reunion in celebration of Papa’s 186th birthday where we will enjoy another opportunity to gather, honor his life and remember the noble heritage with which we are blessed. It will be great to see you there!

One day prior to last year’s reunion, our beloved family champion President M. Russell Ballard passed beyond the Veil. We offer our love and condolences to his family and express our deep gratitude for his apostolic leadership, support and love over many decades. His wisdom and influence are greatly missed by us all.  

The 2024 Joseph F. Smith Family Reunion will be held on Monday, November 11, with registration beginning at 6:30 PM and the program at 7:00 PM. We will gather at the usual location: Monument Park Stake Center, 1320 South Wasatch Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Our presenter this year is Dr. Kenneth L. Alford, a professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. A retired colonel in the US Army, he has published and presented on a wide variety of American and Church history subjects, with a specialty in the Doctrine and Covenants. He has been invited to share with us his experiences working on the Hyrum Smith Papers project. (Additional information about his career is available on the JFS family website, https://josephfsmith.org.

A children’s program will also be provided. Please remember that it is for children ages 3-7. Parents are to pick up their children immediately after the adult program concludes.

For those unable to attend in person, the reunion will be live-streamed on Facebook and available for later viewing at https://www.facebook.com/jfsfamily.

As announced last year, all family members are now responsible to review, update and maintain their own family contact information by using the https://josephfsmith.org/subscribe website. Please access this website on a regular basis to keep your family contact info up to date. As a reminder, all data stewards have been released from this responsibility and we again thank them for their countless hours of selfless service.

Your donations to the family organization are most appreciated and help cover the cost of printing, postage, refreshments, website domain renewal costs, etc. The suggested donation amount this year is $10 to $30 per household. You can make your donation at the reunion registration table, send a personal check or use the online bill-pay feature at your bank or credit union. Thank you for your contributions. 

Make checks payable to: Joseph F. Smith Family Association
c/o Paul Smith – Treasurer, 2273 West Smith Legacy Cove, Taylorsville, Utah 84129

We love you and hope that you will actively participate in carrying on the Smith Family legacy by living the gospel, strengthening your family and reporting family contact-information changes. May we keep our family connected and united in faith! You might even consider volunteering to serve on the family board. It is a great experience getting to know our “cousins.” 

Craig M. Smith
2024 JFS Family Association Chairman