One day a man came up to Joseph Smith. He had heard of the work the Prophet had done and wanted him to come and heal his twin 5-month-old daughters who were "sick unto death" at his home some two miles from Montrose, Iowa.

Joseph could not go at that time but turned to Wilford Woodruff, who was with him, and asked him to accompany the man to his home. "Joseph took a red silk handkerchief out of his pocket," Woodruff later wrote, "and told me to wipe their faces. I went and did it, and the children were healed."

Woodruff kept the handkerchief throughout his life; eventually it ended up the archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Anyone who has heard this oft-told story from the life of Joseph Smith might get a special tingle by looking at the actual piece of cloth — now with a strip torn off one edge and showing a few signs of age, but preserved all the same.

It is just one of many objects and artifacts relating to the life of Joseph Smith that are now on display at the Museum of Church History and Art. Titled "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration," the exhibit, which is presented in both English and Spanish, will run through Jan. 15, 2006.

It includes many rare and never-before-displayed artifacts, including items from his life, copies of early revelations and early books of scripture. There's also a reproduction of the Smith family home in Palmyra, pictures and artwork, videos and other displays relating to Joseph's life. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see some of these artifacts," said Mark Staker, senior curator at MCHA.

The focus of the exhibit, said Staker, is to show "how Joseph was prepared, called and tutored. He wasn't born a prophet. He had to be molded and prepared, shaped through time."

The exhibit starts off with a look at Joseph's ancestry and home environment. Both his grandfathers, Asael Smith and Solomon Mack, were devout men, noted Staker. Both his grandfather and his father were coopers by trade. "We think of them as farmers, but they also made buckets, barrels and other containers."

Artifacts gathered from an excavation of the Smith homesite reveal insight into the Smiths' homelife, including the work of his mother and sisters.

One display talks about the translation of the Book of Mormon and includes an original sheet of manuscript as well as facsimile copies. In one place, you can see 28 words written by Joseph himself. He generally dictated the translation, but this one time, maybe because his scribe had to leave, he finished writing the passage, said Staker.

Other sections trace the development of the scriptures that came to be known as the Doctrine and Covenants, a compilation of revelations received by Joseph, but many of which were not published during his lifetime.