1820-23.
HOW THE ACCOUNT OF HIS VISION WAS RECEIVED--HIS FURTHER INQUIRY FOR
LIGHT--ANOTHER VISION.
For many centuries no person on earth had asserted that he had seen
and spoken with heavenly beings. People had almost forgotten that
visions and the ministering of angels had any part in human life.
When a country-bred lad declared that he had been visited by our
Father in heaven and His Son Jesus, the Creators of this earth and
its inhabitants, the people were astonished. Without thinking of the
matter seriously or seeking to find a cause for such bold words, they
immediately set them down as false, though the boy before this had been
known to be honest and truthful.
Some that heard his words feared they might be true, and since they did
not love the truth, sought to destroy it by ridicule and persecution. A
Methodist minister, who had taken much interest in Joseph on account of
his earnestness, was one of the first to whom the boy gave an account
of what he had seen. This man must have had less faith in God's power
than in Satan's, for he told Joseph that the vision was from the devil.
He said that since the Apostles there had been no revelations from God;
these things had ceased forever.
Joseph knew that he had seen a glorious vision. He could not deny it,
for in doing so he knew he would grievously offend God. Though only a
boy he was reviled and persecuted by all classes of men. The ministers
of the different churches sought especially to make life bitter for
him, and the members of his family suffered with him. Joseph's pious
friends of former days became his enemies and he had to seek new
associations. He says that these were sometimes not the best company,
and he fell into many foolish errors.
Three and a half years passed, and Joseph was nearly eighteen years
old. The thought began to grow in his mind that he ought to learn
how he stood before the Lord. He had often felt sorry for his wrong
doing and wished to seek forgiveness. The summer of 1823 had closed
and autumn had begun when Joseph decided that he would again ask for
light. On the evening of the 21st of September, after he had gone to
bed, he began to pray. He felt certain that an answer would come, for
the prayer was from his heart. He had not finished before the darkness
began to disappear. The humble bed-chamber was soon ablaze with
wondrous light, and in the midst he saw an angel.
The form of the messenger was that of a tall and stately man. His head
and neck were bare, and a graceful robe of lustrous white hung nearly
to his naked ankles. The majesty of his form was increased by the
exquisite beauty of his face, which shone like lightning. He stood near
the bed-side but touched neither ceiling, walls nor floor. It was a
spiritual sight; nothing on earth could approach it.
When Joseph's momentary fear had passed away, the angel, calling him by
name, began his message. He said that he was Moroni, and that he had
been sent from the presence of God. He told Joseph that his sins were
forgiven and that God had a great work for him to do. This work would
cause his name to be known for good or for evil among all nations,
kindreds and tongues. He spoke of a record engraved on plates of gold
and hidden in a nearby hill, that gave the history of the former
inhabitants of this land and contained the fullness of the Gospel. He
described the Urim and Thummim--those two strange, transparent stones
set in silver bows and fastened to a golden breastplate--and said that
God had prepared them to be used in translating the record.
Then the heavenly visitor began quoting from the ancient prophets and
apostles passages that referred to the last days, when the Priesthood
was to be restored, the Holy Spirit to be poured out on all flesh, and
peace and love were to reign on earth. Some he quoted just as they are
in the Bible, but he changed others, making them more plain. He told
Joseph of things that the boy could not mention afterward, because
they were too holy. He commanded him not to show the plates, Urim and
Thummim or breastplate, when he received them, to any person except
when commanded to do so by the Lord. The vision of the hill was opened
to Joseph's mind, while the angel spoke, and he distinctly saw just
where the record was hidden.
Then the light withdrew from other parts of the room, but became more
bright about the messenger and extended in a glowing path up into
heaven. Thither he ascended, darkness returned, and Joseph was left
to wonder and rejoice. Soon the light appeared again and the vision
was repeated just as before. Moroni added a prophecy of the terrible
judgments that were coming on earth, of hunger, bloodshed and disease,
and once more he rose heavenward. It seemed necessary that Joseph
should be deeply impressed with the message, and for the third time it
was given him. Each part was gone over with the same care as when given
first. The last words of the angel were a caution that he should never
use the plates, when he received them, except to glorify God and build
up His Kingdom.
The vision closed, and almost immediately the cocks began to crow. Soon
the autumn morning dawned, and though Joseph had not closed his eyes in
sleep, he arose to begin the labors of the day.