My name is Jane Johnston Black. I was born about the same time as the Prophet Joseph Smith, the year 1801 in Lisburn, Ireland. Like the Prophet, I have always loved religion and gladly assisted my father, who was a circuit preacher for the Wesleyan Methodist Church. When my parents died, our parish asked me to become the new pastor, at age 16. I served them for four years.
After my marriage to William Y Black we moved to Manchester, England. There we first heard the preaching of Elders Joseph Fielding and William Clayton. We readily accepted their message, as it corresponded with the teachings of Christ and His apostles in the Bible. "It was glad tidings and great joy to my husband and me," and we were baptized in January 1839 by William Clayton.
A year later I traveled with our children to Nauvoo, while my husband served the first mission to Ireland – with John Taylor. "Soon after we sailed from Liverpool we encountered a great storm that threatened our destruction. I gathered my boys into the berth, and after prayer William spoke in tongues, which I interpreted. We were exhorted to be of good cheer, for we would not be destroyed." When we arrived in Nauvoo "I saw and heard the Prophet Joseph Smith, and I can truly testify that he was a Prophet of God."
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