The Prophet Joseph Smith also received this assurance. Joseph Smith, Sr., called his children to his bedside shortly before his death to give them his final blessing. To Joseph, Jr., he said:
“Joseph, my son, you are called to a high and holy calling. You are even called to do the work of the Lord. Hold out faithful and you shall be blest and your children after you. You shall even live to finish your work.’
At this Joseph cried out, weeping, ‘Oh! my father, shall I?’
Yes, ’ said his father, ‘you shall live to lay out the plan of all the work which God has given you to do. This is my dying blessing upon your head in the name of Jesus. I also confirm your former blessing upon your head; for it shall be fulfilled. Even so. Amen.”
(in Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith, pp. 309–10).
At the funeral of Elder Richard L. Evans, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Joseph Fielding Smith said,
“No righteous man is ever taken before his time”
(“Funeral Services for Elder Richard L. Evans,” Ensign, Dec. 1971, p. 10).