I was present with
Joseph when an holy angel from God came down from heaven and
conferred, or restored, the Aaronic Priesthood. . . . I was
also present with Joseph when the Melchizedek Priesthood was
conferred by the holy angels of God, which we then confirmed
on each other by the will and commandment of God.
Remarks given on Oct. 21, 1848, in Kanesville, Iowa; quoted in Reuben Miller, Journals 1848–49, vol. 1, entry made Oct. 21, 1848, Church Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; spelling, punctuation, and capitalization modernized.
Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church, 1995–present
Can you imagine what a
wonderful experience this restoration of the Aaronic
Priesthood must have been for Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery when John the Baptist spoke to them? Here was a man
who had lived upon the earth more than 1,800 years earlier.
Now he was speaking in English to two young men while he
held his hands upon their heads. His was a resurrected body.
Theirs were mortal bodies. They felt his hands, the
materiality of them, and understood the words that he spoke.
This tells us that resurrected beings are tangible, that
they can move and act, that they can speak and be understood.
"Priesthood Restoration," Ensign, Oct. 1988, 69.
