Joseph wrote the following to Emma from prison in Richmond, Missouri: "I received your letter, which I read over and over again. It was a sweet morsel to me. O God, grant that I may have the privilege of seeing once more my lovely family in the enjoyment of the sweets of liberty and social life. To press them to my bosom and kiss their lovely cheeks would fill my heart with unspeakable gratitude."
Letter to Emma Smith, Nov. 12, 1838, Richmond, Missouri, in Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, comp. Dean C. Jessee (2002), 405–06; spelling, punctuation, and capitalization modernized.
In his journal for 1842, Joseph reflected: "Many were the reverberations of my mind when I contemplated for a moment the many scenes we had been called to pass through. The fatigues, and the toils, the sorrows, and sufferings, and the joys and consolations from time to time [which] had strewed our paths and crowned our board. Oh! What a co-mingling of thought filled my mind for the moment, again she is here . . . undaunted, firm and unwavering, unchangeable, affectionate Emma."
Journal Extract, Aug. 16, 23, 1842, in Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, comp. Dean C. Jessee (2002), 560, spelling modernized.
