This book, based on a BYU Church History Symposium held March 2012, features more than twenty messages, including keynote addresses by Elder M. Russell Ballard and Joseph Fielding McConkie. Elder Ballard, great-grandson of Joseph F. Smith, describes how the Lord prepared this beloved man to lead the Church. Brother McConkie and other scholars such as Richard O. Cowan, Kenneth Alford, Scott Esplin, Reid Neilson, and David Whitchurch highlight aspects of President Smith’s life, including his boyhood and adolescence; his family and personal relationships; his doctrinal contributions, Church government, and initiatives taken during his presidency in the areas of education; building construction; the building of the temple in Hawaii; the creation of the seminary program; and public outreach.