During a school spring break in April, my husband and I traveled with our children from Utah to Missouri to visit my parents. While there, we saw several of the Church historic sites, including Liberty Jail, where the Prophet Joseph Smith was imprisoned during the winter of 1838-1839.
Being from Missouri, I have visited the site many times. During this most recent tour, I was struck by something one of the senior missionaries quoted.
After describing the cold, cramped, dark conditions of the jail and how the Church leaders were often ill, uncomfortable and worried about the persecution facing the Saints, this missionary read a line from a letter Joseph Smith wrote to the Saints from the jail:
“The very God of peace shall be with you.”
Today, far and beyond that suffering and resilient group in Missouri, millions of Latter-day Saints live around the world in a variety of conditions and situations. Today’s Prophet is President Dallin H. Oaks, who taught most recently to the world in April 2026 general conference, “Truly, Jesus Christ is the way to peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come.”
In the First Presidency’s 2019 Christmas Devotional, President Oaks, then the first counselor in the First Presidency, testified of the Savior as the Prince of Peace and declared that peace comes from following Him.
“Peace is the Savior’s promise, and peace is our goal,” he said. “This promised peace is the sense of well-being and serenity that comes from keeping His commandments.”
In August 2024, I was in Huancayo, Peru, where Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to members of three stakes and their friends. To those friends and neighbors, Elder Bednar outlined how the Savior, Jesus Christ, established His doctrine, authority, ordinances and covenants anciently.
“That same ancient church Christ established with the authority, the doctrine and the covenants and ordinances is here again,” he said. “It is available to you in a world that grows increasingly dark; it is the greatest source of light. In a world that grows increasingly confused, it is the greatest source of understanding.”
In Bern, Switzerland, in October 2022, Elder Bednar spoke to hundreds of young adults — many of whom came with deep and personal questions.
“The times in which we live are perplexing, and they are going to be more perplexing. And you shouldn’t be troubled by that,” Elder Bednar said, urging them to get into the Book of Mormon consistently and feast upon the words of Christ. “As you do that, you will have the help and strength you need.”
I remember seeing the faces and countenances lighten for many of these young adults as they felt through the Holy Ghost the “very God of peace.”
In his October 2021 general conference message, “Personal Peace in Challenging Times,” Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reflected on visiting Liberty Jail. He said Joseph Smith’s time in the jail “demonstrates that adversity is not evidence of the Lord’s disfavor nor a withdrawal of His blessings.”
There Joseph Smith cried out: “O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:1) — and the Lord answered, “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8).
Said Elder Cook, “The Savior’s precious words ‘My son, peace be unto thy soul’ resonate with me personally and have great significance for our day.”
My parents’ former stake president in the Liberty Missouri Stake is Elder Jeremiah J. Morgan, now a General Authority Seventy, sustained in April 2026 general conference. When I interviewed Elder Morgan for the Church News, he told me that one of his favorite verses is Doctrine and Covenants 123:17, the last verse given in Liberty Jail.
It says, “Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, … [and] see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.”
We have reason to be cheerful today and “cheerfully do all things,” Elder Morgan said to me. More people are joining the Church than ever before and making covenants with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. More missionaries are serving; more houses of the Lord are being dedicated.
And, above all, we know that the Savior — the Prince of Peace — leads this Church and will return again.
— Mary Richards is a reporter for the Church News.
