Jesse Knight, the son of Newel and Lydia Knight was born in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1845 as the Saints hurried to complete the house of the Lord and receive their endowments and sealings before they evacuated the city and wagons began to roll west. His father died just outside of Winter Quarters when Jesse was not yet one and a half years old and his youngest brother was born just before Jesse’s second birthday.
His mother, Lydia, joined a wagon company with her eight young children in 1850 and began their journey to the Salt Lake Valley. Days after her baptism, Lydia had been given a blessing by the Prophet Joseph Smith promising, “The Lord, your Savior, loves you, and will overrule all your past sorrows and afflictions for good unto you….Therefore be comforted, and let your heart rejoice, for the Lord has a great work for you to do. Be faithful and endure unto the end and all will be well.” (Lydia Knight’s History by Susa Young Gates)
While Lydia continued to exercise faith in the promises and covenants of the Lord, as her son, Jesse, grew he did not feel the same conviction and his path concerned her. One day he asked her why she had ceased preaching to him and she replied that in answer to her prayers, “…the Lord made known to me that I was not to worry about you any more, that you would one day understand for yourself.”(Jesse Knight, His Forebears and Family, 33)
Through a series of challenges, miracles and loss, Jesse reconsidered his lack of faith. He recounted, “I suffered in my feelings. I prayed for forgiveness and help. My prayer was answered and I received a testimony.” (Jesse Knight, His Forebears and Family, 35). In his need, he learned, “There is no limit to the Savior’s capacity to help you. His incomprehensible suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary was for you! His infinite Atonement is for you!” (President Russell M. Nelson, October 2024)
“Be faithful and endure unto the end and all will be well.”