[In] the forepart of
September [1827], I went to Rochester on business and
returned by Palmyra to be there by the 22nd of September. .
. . That night we went to bed and in the morning I got up
and my horse and carriage were gone. . . . After a while he
[Joseph Smith] came home [with] the horse. All came into the
house to breakfast but nothing [was] said about where they
had been. After breakfast Joseph called me into the other
room. . . . He set his foot on the bed, leaned his head on
his hand and said, . . . "It is ten times better than I
expected." Then he went on to tell length and width and
thickness of the plates; and said he, "They appear to be
gold."
Reminiscenses of Joseph Knight, Church Archives. This manuscript written between 1833 and 1847 has been published in Dean Jessee, "Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History," Brigham Young University Studies, fall 1976, 30–39.
John A. Widtsoe, Apostle, 1921–1952
"The first visitation of
Moroni came in answer to prayer. So came the First Vision.
The Lord is ready to give, but he requires that his children
ask. It would not be natural or wise to force blessings on
anyone. The power of prayer is inestimable. One prays for
little; usually much comes in answer. . . . The most
marvelous part of the message to the young man, lying upon
his wakeful pillow, was that he, Joseph Smith, was the
chosen instrument in the hands of the Lord to inaugurate the
great work planned for the last days of the world. It was
astonishing! It was wonderful!"
Joseph Smith: Seeker after Truth, Prophet of God (1951), 32–33; paragraph divisions altered.
