When Emily Jolley's friends in El Paso, Texas, asked her what plans her family had for the summer, she chuckled and answered, "We are going to Utah to walk 27 miles."
What started as an idea she had almost three years ago, became a day-long event for descendants of Rasmus Julius Smith, one of the many faithful Church members who dedicated his life to building the Logan Utah Temple.
"His story is a familiar one in our household," Sister Jolley said. "A few years ago we were getting ready to do a pioneer trek and had to choose an ancestor to learn more about. Since then, we have learned more about him and the sacrifices he made to build the temple."
Called to help build the Logan Utah Temple as a young father, Rasmus would walk 22 miles from Brigham City to Logan every Monday morning, work for the week, and then make the trek home on Saturday. While in this calling, he worked as a hod carrier, or a worker who carried mortar or plaster on his shoulders to the masons working on the temple. His devoted wife, Josephine, cared for their family, home, property and animals while her husband was away. He did this each week for almost two years. At the conclusion of his service in 1884, a letter was issued certifying he had "worked faithfully and honorably on the Logan temple for nearly two years." That service continued after the temple was completed with years of family history work and time spent in the temple.
Now in the 130th year since their ancestor faithfully began working on the temple, descendants of all ages met early on June 30 to walk the trail — similar to the one their ancestor walked — from Brigham City to the Logan temple.
More than 100 family members participated on the hot summer day, with 25 walking the entire distance and more than 70 doing a portion of the hike.
"Can you imagine walking all that way and then going to work on the temple?" said Elder Alan Packer, a great-grandson of Rasmus Smith and member of the Seventy. "Our ancestor did that for just about two years. ... He responded to the call and did it because he had a testimony in his heart and mind."
Sitting on the lawn of the Logan Tabernacle with the temple as a backdrop, family members listened to Elder Packer speak during a family devotional at the conclusion of the walk. Elder Packer spoke of the importance of the temple and challenged all his family members to be worthy to hold a temple recommend and worship in the House of the Lord.
"Decide today to qualify for a temple recommend so you can do the work for yourself and then others," he said.
Although she was not yet two years old when her grandfather passed away, Sister Donna Smith Packer, wife of President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, said she cherishes the faithful example her grandfather set for his posterity.
"My grandfather, Rasmus Julius Smith, led a productive and fruitful life," she said. "He was known for his patience, honesty and thrift. His energetic devotion was to his family as well as to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. How do I know this since I was under two years of age when he passed away, Aug. 7, 1929? I know this because of his works, the temple records he left to us as his posterity and because of my personal witness of the Spirit."
Sister Packer grew up in the home of Rasmus Smith — which was also the starting point of the trek — first moving in with her grandfather when her grandmother Josephine passed away, and then after her grandfather passed away, her family continued to live in the Smith home. One of the highlights of her responsibilities as a girl was dusting her grandpa's books and looking through the temple ordinance data sheets he had prepared.
"I always felt something special when I handled his possessions," she said. "I was drawn to this kindly and worthy grandfather."
Sister Packer's younger brother, Glen Smith, said that although he never met his grandfather, he has heard about him his entire life.
"He was born in Denmark and 100 years to the month, in December of 1953, I went to Denmark as a missionary," he said. "My father and aunts talked about him all the time, how every Monday morning he would walk over the mountain to work on the temple."
Although Brother Smith didn't do any hiking on the day of the event, the 80-year-old joined his niece, Christine Phillips, earlier in the week to hike seven miles along the trail.
"It is a great thing for our posterity, and it makes us appreciate how good we have it today," said Sister Phillips, a great-granddaughter who, with her husband, Jim, helped orchestrate the logistics of the hike. "I hope [my kids] can see what my great-grandfather did and the importance of the temple in his life."
