Rising Hills and Sinking Valleys

About this book

"Powerful," "Moving," "Insightful." What were the real reasons that kept Emma Smith from migrating West with the main body of the Saints after her husband was murdered? What became of the children and why was Joseph's posterity estranged from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for so many generations? One descendant, and convert to the LDS Church, shares her story, opening the door of understanding that has been lacking since 1844. Born in Maryville Tennessee in 1962, to Joseph and Sue Smith, Kimberly Jo Smith did not learn until age 12 that she had a great-great grand father named Joseph Smith, Jr. who built a church. That revelation set Kimberly on a journey that would reveal to her an ancestry she had never known and a family that had been sorely broken. Kimberly Jo Smith uses her love of writing music and stories to expound upon the importance of family and in helping to bridge the inter-generational chasm formed between the Smith posterity and the millions of Latter-day Saints who hold her ancestor in grateful honor. Reviews: "A remarkably honest and forthright look into the heart and soul of her ancestors, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his wife Emma... a recipe for overcoming an obstacle that might stand in the way of strengthening ties of love with the human family." -- Gracia M. Jones cousin, friend and author of Emma and Joseph: Their Divine Mission "This book is the first opportunity that the majority of LDS Church members will have to understand the family over which Emma presided after Joseph's death." -- Legrand Baker author of Murder of the Mormon Prophet