A Widow's Faithfulness in Paying Tithing

A widow chose to pay tithing from the best of her farm products despite her poverty and need to support her children. A clerk at the tithing office suggested it was a shame for her to pay, but she rebuked him for suggesting she deprive herself of a blessing. She remained faithful in this law, and the Lord blessed her with comfort and prosperity.

Elder Earl C. Tingey identified the widow in this account as Mary Fielding Smith, the mother of Joseph F. Smith and widow of Hyrum Smith. According to the account shared by Joseph F. Smith, she specifically paid 'tithes of her sheep and cattle, the tenth pound of her butter, her tenth chicken, the tenth of her eggs, the tenth pig, the tenth calf, the tenth colt—a tenth of everything she raised.'

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

I remember an incident in the life of my mother. It was in the time of the early history of the Church, when we were in the valley of the mountains. The people were poor, and it was a hard matter to get along. My mother was a widow, with a large family to provide for. One spring, when we opened our tithing potatoes, she had a load taken to the tithing office. She had a man who was working for her, and he drove the team. When he got to the tithing office, the clerk, a man who was a little over-officious, said to him: 'Oh, the widow Smith ought not to be called upon to pay tithing.' He thought it was a hardship for her to pay it, and he felt that she should be exempt. He said to the man in charge of the team: 'This is the tithing on the widow's potatoes; carry them back home, tell Mother Smith she ought not to pay tithing, she is a widow, and she has a large family to support.' The man came back and told my mother what the clerk had said. My mother turned upon him and said: 'What! You tell me that? You go right back and take those potatoes to the tithing office, and don't you let me hear you say anything like that again! Would you rob me of a blessing? If I did not pay my tithing, I should expect the Lord to withhold His blessings from me. I pay my tithing, not only because it is a law of God, but because I expect a blessing by doing it. By keeping this and other laws, I expect to prosper, and to be able to provide for my family.' She took the potatoes to the tithing office, and she paid her tithing, and she was blessed for it.