Saints, by Caleb

In SAINTS I read about David Whitmer. Joseph asked if they could come and do the translating at his house but Joseph needed help and David's father said he had two days of work before he could help. David worked all day but he did not get much done. The next day when he went outside the fields were already cleared his father said to go help Joseph. David helped Joseph get his stuff there and they moved safely and finished the translation in peace.

Frederick Douglass, Part One, by Liam

There was a boy named Frederick. There were two parts of the farm. One was where all the working slaves were, and one was where the kids were that couldn’t work enough. Once they got old enough they moved to the other farm. Frederick hardly ever got to see his mom because he was not old enough to go to the working part where his mom was, and they were 12 miles apart.

One morning someone was waking him up. It was his mom. When we woke up he asked if she could stay this time and she said no, she had to go back before sunrise to work some more, and had only come to visit him.

The person that watched over all the kids was Frederick’s grandma. That morning before he went and did anything, he asked her why he hardly ever got to see his mother and she told him that it was 12 miles apart.

He went fishing with his grandma since she watching the children. A few days later, his grandma said, lets go on a walk, and they walked for miles. He didn’t know how long they had been walking. But they got to this place and they saw some little slave children playing and his grandma told him to go play with the children and then a little bit later he asked where she was. The child said that his grandma had left and he realized he was at the farm where all the slaves went when they were old enough to work and that he’d never see his grandma again. He started crying and was really sad.

He never got to visit his mom because no one had even told him that she was sick, and she died without him knowing.

So he worked and chased chickens out of the garden, and a little later he found out he was getting sold to this other guy because the guy’s son needed a little boy to play with. He was super happy and went and washed up in the river and got ready to go. He went out and he got on a ship. He was looking back at all his memories of his grandma and stuff,, but then he turned around and knew that there were going to be new adventures ahead.

He finally got there and they were super nice to him. After a while the owner’s son needed to learn the alphabet, so his mother taught him when the master wasn’t around and Frederick kept watching and the mom that was teaching said Frederick could learn, too. After a few days he knew the letters pretty well. The master walked in and said, “What are you doing?” and she said, “This slave, Frederick, can read as well as your son!” And the master said not to teach slaves to read or they’d want to be free more. So she stopped teaching him but he decided to teach himself since he already knew the alphabet and all its sounds. And so he kept learning and pretty soon he knew how to read.

Brigham Young, by Caleb

Joseph Smith was the first prophet and Brigham Young was the second. Brigham Young led the saints across the plains to Salt Lake City which at that time was a valley and a dry place. But it was mostly because of his work that the western states are part of the United States, because he sent out Mormons to build little towns about ten miles apart, like Manti, Draper, Springville, and Gunnison, but all over the western states. There are memorials of him in Washington, DC. He is said to have done more work for America than James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and almost as much as George Washington himself.

Joseph Smith 1, by Grace

On a cold December day, in the year 1805, a baby boy was born to Joseph and Lucy Mac Smith. When he was 6 years old he got an infection in his leg. When the doctor's came to remove it they said they might have to amputate his leg, but he refused to lose his leg. They offered him wine to help with the pain during the surgery, but Joseph Jr knew it was not good for his body so he refused it.
He was determined to do just as Good wanted him to.
To be continued...

Joseph Smith 3, by Grace

On a spring morning in 1820, Joseph Smith went out to the woods near his home. He had for sometime been confused about which church he should join. He walked a way into the woods and knelt down and began to pray. As he was praying some evil power seemed to come and make it so he could not speak. He felt frightened and felt as though someone were watching him. He began to feel hopeless, and in the height of it all he cried out to God to save him. Immediately the darkness went away and the evil spirit and a light came down that was so bright it a almost blinded him. He realized the light rested upon "two personages, who brightness and glory defied all description. Standing in the air one of them spoke to the other and said, 'this is my beloved son, hear him.'" 

It was Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. They came to 

Joseph in answer to his prayer. They told him he must not join any church, and that they did not contain the fullness of the gospel. He said they drew near unto him with their lips, but their hearts were far from him.

Joseph listened with his whole soul.

Later that night, as he was in bed, an angel came and told him a message of a record in the hill near his house. The Angels name was Moroni. Moroni came back four times that night delivering the same message each time.

The next morning Joseph was existed. Moroni told him to tell his father, but Joseph was a afraid that he wouldn't believe. Joseph's father notices he was tired from staying up all night, he told Joseph to go back to bed. As Joseph was climbing a fence on his way back he fell and fainted. Again Moroni appeared to him. Moroni relayed the message then told Joseph to tell his father. Joseph went back after he had come to, and told his father all.

Just as the angel had said he would, his father believed.

Joseph Smith 2, by Grace

When Joseph was 10 his family moved to Palmyra New York. 

They bought a farm and began clearing land. 

They began to notice that there were many religious arguments going on. The Methodist fought for the Catholic to join them, the Catholic argued with the Presbyterian, and so forth. 

Lucy, Joseph's mother, went to all of the churches taking her kids along with her. She had been trying to find the correct church of Christ her whole life.

Joseph Sr. wanted the truth like his wife, but he had felt that none of the churches were right. He disliked the arguing.

This left fourteen year old Joseph Jr. confused. 

People told his family they would not be saved if they did not get baptized into their church. 

Joseph decided to find out for himself which church was right. After he had read James 1:5-6, which says,

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

So he did just that. On a spring morning in 1820 he went off in to the woods to pray and find out for himself.

To be continued next week...

Abraham Lincoln, by Grace

Abraham Lincoln was born  February 12, 1809 to an uneducated family. When he was young he worked for his neighbors. He was a little lazy though. One time his neighbor asked him "what's going to become of you, Abe?" "Me?" Drawled Lincoln. "I'm going to be president of the United States." Of course that was just in jest, but I guess he didn't know how true that statement was. 
He did decide to go into politics though.
Poor Abe lost his mother, then, soon after, the girl he was going to marry passed away. He always knew grief.
As a child he had written in his notebook: "Abraham Lincoln his hand and pen he will be good but who knows when." Lincoln became quite popular and met his rival for candidate who's name was Douglas. And he also met Mary Todd, who had decided she would marry the president of the United States. She knew she needed to choose between  one of the two so she chose Lincoln thinking him the most likey to become president, and led him to the altar. Sadly theirs was not a happy marriage. She was refined and he was a 'common man'. She would get upset with him for being with them, but he loved them. He also loved his sons. He let them make his office into a playground. His love for people went far. He hated slavery and had dedicated his life to stop it. He made a bill to abolish slavery but it did not pass. He and Douglas both ran for president. Lincoln to abolish slavery and Douglas to encourage it in the South. People talked of splitting the South and North so one would be republicans the other, the South, Democrats. Lincoln said no, that the United States must be and stay United! When he became President he knew there would have to be a way to end slavery. He was right and he did become president fulfilling Mary's ambition. He was so kind and tender even towards the South, which he called the southern gentlemen. 
He never found out which side won. A week before the report he was assassinated at a theater in 1865.