Joseph Smith Promised by the Lord His Father Would Live — and He Did

In October 1835, Joseph Smith's father, Joseph Smith Sr., fell gravely ill at Kirtland, Ohio. The Prophet attended on him repeatedly as his condition worsened. On Sunday, October 11, Joseph recorded in his journal:

'Waited on my father again, who was very sick. In secret prayer in the morning, the Lord said, "My servant, thy father shall live." I waited on him all this day with my heart raised to God in the name of Jesus Christ that he might restore him to health, that I might be blessed with his company and advice, esteeming it one of the greatest earthly blessings to be blessed with the society of parents.'

Joseph continued attending his father through October 12 and 13, during which time the patriarch's condition gradually turned — in direct fulfillment of the divine promise given in prayer. Joseph Smith Sr. recovered and lived for several more years, dying in September 1840. He was the first Patriarch to the Church and the first person in this dispensation to receive all the ordinances of the gospel.

The account is recorded in Joseph Smith's personal journal (1835–1836) and drawn into the History of the Church. It is a tender personal witness: a son praying for his father, receiving an answer from heaven, and watching that answer be fulfilled.