Twenty-year-old Spy

Have you ever tried to do something important and hard that did not work out exactly like you hoped it would?

Have your mother or father ever told you a story about having a difficult task and being not sure of how it turned out?

Grandpa Ivin Lafayette Gee's great grandfather (see photo pedigree below) Lysander Gee, was turning twenty years old in Far West, a settlement in northwestern, Missouri, when the Saints were struggling to keep their homes and being driven out by mobs.  Philo Dibble, 31st member of the Church, who wrote the words to Hymn #32, The Happy Day at Last has Come, and bodyguard to the prophet Joseph Smith during the last few weeks of his life (also creator of death masks for Joseph and Hyrum Smith) includes Lysander in his autobiography:

Shortly before Far West was besieged, I was taken sick, and Colonel Hinkle came into military command under his old commission.  I gave up my horse, saddle and bridle, and also my rifle and sword for Brother Lysander Gee to use in defense of our city.

 (Not knowing exactly the type of animal, or firearms, above are examples of what may have been used.)

 First the prophet Joseph Smith was retained in Richmond,  and then  Liberty jail, Lysander, then, as of yet, an unbaptized young adult, was given a daunting task.  Years later, in a letter to Bishop Alexander McRae (6'6" tall), also incarcerated with Joseph in Liberty, Lysander recalls:

"If you please, I wish you to indorse [this,] and place it in the hands of the Church Historian; that it may be made record of, and show, that, boy as I was at that time, I was true to my trust, and faithful to my brethren in tribulation, as I hope I ever may be.  You will recollect, that soon after Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Sydney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin and yourself,
were confined in Liberty Jail, Clay Co. Missouri, Sidney Rigdon was let out on Bail, soon after which, preparations were made and arrangements entered into, for the release of the Prophet and his fellow prisoners from their confinement, and from the hands of their persecutors; to effect which purpose, a letter was prepared by you and your fellow prisoners, directed to Hanson Ripley, then resideing in Far West, fourty miles from Liberty, with instructions for him to furnish tools and implements, sufficient to break the prison. The Said letter was delivered to me by Joseph, at the lower window of, and on the South side of the jail in which you was confined, with instructions from Joseph to read the letter, and then fold up the same in as small compass as possible, and if driven to a corner, to eat and swallow the same, but to carry the contents thereof, and deliver the same verbally. I started immediately for Far West, traveling of foot, through much, and wadeing streams in the winter time, and faithfully delivered the message to A. Ripley and Heber C. Kimball. The result of which you will remember, and how nearly it succeeded, and no doubt would have done so, had it not have been for a little indiscretion on the part of one single man, by the name of Shoemaker.

Wishing you health and yet many years to do good in this life,

 Respectfully, your Brother,

 Lysander Gee

Deposited in the Historian's Office by Bishop Alex McRae May 10, 1879.

Comment: Joseph Smith was in Liberty Jail in 1839. At that time Lysander was not yet baptized and was 20  1/2 years of age.

So your great-great grandfather Lysander was given a letter by Joseph and fellow prisoners instructing a man in a friendly settlement to provide tools that could be used to break the jail. Lysander received this letter from the hands of Joseph on the south side of the jail.  He was instructed by the prophet to read the letter and then fold it up as small as possible.  If he came close to being captured, he was to eat the letter and swallow it.  His assignment was to travel by foot for forty miles and then deliver the message safely to his leaders including Heber C. Kimball and A. Ripley.  Lysander walked the 40 miles.  He delivered the message. But after endangering himself, and working to follow the prophet and help his friends, the intent of his mission failed.  Someone else was careless and said things he should not have said.  The prophet and his companions would remain incarcerated  

 until "The  prison companions eventually managed to “escape” legal authorities while being escorted to a hearing in Boone County, Missouri, in April 1839. Their guards turned a blind eye and allowed the prisoners to flee from custody after leading them away from enemies of the Latter-day Saints in Clay County...all the prisoners ultimately crossed into Illinois, finally reuniting with family, friends, and the rest of the Latter-day Saint refugees."

Visiting Carthage jail in 2003, we asked a sister missionary to explain details of this story.  She affirmed that there indeed had been plans to break free from the prison, which fell short.  She pointed out, however, that it was during this period--when the prophet might have broken through the depressing confines and stone walls but did not--that he received answers to his prayers, recorded in sections 121, 122, and 123 of Doctrine and Covenants.  A seemingly unanswered prayer and thwarted mission will offer answers to challenged saints from all walks of life for generations to come.

 Can we also do our best, even when it is difficult, and we do not see ready results?