“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Using Joseph’s own words, he said:
“Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did. * * * Unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. * * * So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally. After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from [p.26] the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spoke unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other, ‘This is my beloved Son, hear him!”
“My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right—for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong—and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight. * * ‘They teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.’ He again forbade me to join any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time.
“Some time afterwards the vision was made known to a Methodist preacher, who treated it with contempt, saying it was all from the devil; that there was no such thing as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the Apostles, and that there never would be any more of them.”
The ministers and others persecuted him, which caused him deep sorrow, although an obscure boy, and under the necessity of obtaining a scanty maintenance by his daily labor. But, strange to say, he became very prominent and conspicuous, and evil was spoken of him continually. Nevertheless, he had seen a vision, and, like Paul before King Agrippa, related the account of the vision he had, when he “saw a light and heard a voice.” Still, there were a few who believed him. Some said he was dishonest; others said he was mad; and he (like Joseph) was ridiculed and reviled; but all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision—he knew he had—and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise. Joseph Smith said:
“I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God? or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? for I had seen a vision. I knew it. I knew that God knew it; and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation.”
For over three years Joseph continued his labors daily until the 21st of September, 1823. After retiring to his bed in quite a serious mood, he shortly betook himself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for a manifestation of his standing before Him. While thus engaged he received the following vision, using his own words:
“While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when a personage appeared at my bed-side; he had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness, * * * his hands were naked, and his arms also a little above the wrist, * * * his head and neck were also bare. * * * his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but no so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him I was afraid, but the fear soon left me.
“He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues; or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. * * * While he was conversing with me about the plates, the vision was opened to my mind that I could see the place where the plates were deposited, and that so clearly and distinctly, that I knew the place again when I visited it. After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin to gather immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me, and it continued to do so until the room was again left dark, except just around him, [p.27] when instantly I saw, as it were, a conduit open right up into heaven, and he ascended up till he entirely disappeared, and the room was left as it had been before this heavenly light had made its appearance.”