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The LDS Daily WOOL© Archive - The First Vision


4/17/05
"This is how Joseph Smith's First Vision blesses our own personal lives, the lives of families, and eventually the whole human family-we come to believe in Jesus Christ through the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Prophets and apostles throughout the history of mankind have had divine manifestations similar to Joseph's. Moses saw God face-to-face and learned that he was a son of God 'in the similitude of [His] Only Begotten' see
Moses 1:1-6
. The Apostle Paul testified that the resurrected Jesus Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus and made Paul one of His great missionaries see Acts 26:9-23 . Hearing Paul's witness of his heavenly vision during the trial at Caesarea, the powerful King Agrippa admitted, 'Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian'  Acts 26:28 .

"And there were many other ancient prophets who also bore powerful testimony of Christ. All of these manifestations, ancient and modern, lead those who believe to the divine source of all righteousness and hope-to God, our Heavenly Father, and to His Son, Jesus Christ." -  Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "
The Fruits of the First Vision ," General Conference, April 2005
 


5/10/05
"But Joseph Smith did not go into the grove seeking to become a prophet or to found a church! His operating assumption in the spring of 1820 was that one of the contending sects was probably right and it was his task to find out which one he should join. God's reply may seem to some harsh in its indictment. Parenthetically, this should remind us that in a sense, God cares little for cosmetic 'public relations' and everything for human relations! The theophany at Palmyra displayed God's perfection in the attributes of truth and love. He loved us enough to appear, and having appeared, to tell the truth. Joseph Smith was equally truthful in faithfully reporting that episode; he could do nothing else since, as he said, he knew he had had a vision and God knew that he knew. Inasmuch as we 'know' on our own scale of action, we cannot deny, by our silence, what must be shared with others as our personal Palmyra, our tiny theophany." - Neal A. Maxwell, "
Talk of the Month ," New Era, May 1971, p. 30
 


10/2/05
"We who have a testimony of the Gospel believe that in that Sacred Grove, on that beautiful spring morning, the Father and Son actually appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and this is the basis of every testimony and belief which we have, and were it not that we believe implicitly and without doubt in this testimony of the First Vision, we should not be led to believe any of the other principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which have been revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

"Because of this testimony which we have, and this feeling which is within our hearts, our minds, and our souls, we are led to the conclusion that our great responsibility is to honor and reverence God our Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ." - Thomas W. Muir, "Conference Report," October 1955, General Priesthood Meeting, p.81


7/6/07
"God has spoken to Joseph Smith for the purpose of blessing all of God's children with His mercy and love, even in times of uncertainties and insecurities, of wars and rumors of wars, of natural and personal disasters. The Savior said, 'Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive'
3 Nephi 9:14. And all who accept this invitation will be 'encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love' Alma 26:15.

"Through our faith in the personal witness of the Prophet Joseph and the reality of the First Vision, through study and prayer, deep and sincere, we will be blessed with a firm faith in the Savior of the world, who spoke to Joseph 'on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty'
Joseph Smith—History 1:14." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Fruits of the First Vision," Ensign CR, April 2005


6/20/09
“[The] first revelation, often referred to as ‘the First Vision,’ had a far-reaching effect. First, it was a flat contradiction of the assumption that revelation had ceased and that God no longer communicated with man. Second, it reaffirmed the truth that man indeed was created in the image and after the likeness of God. Third, it left no doubt and verified that the Father and the Son are two separate and distinct persons, being one only in unity of purpose and of will.” - Henry D. Taylor, “Revelation,” Ensign CR, May 1978, p. 38


8/11/12
The appearance of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ to the boy prophet is the greatest event that has occurred in this world since the resurrection of the Master. As the restored Church of Jesus Christ, we humbly and gratefully bear this witness to all men. This message is a world message. It is the truth, intended for all of our Father’s children. Some three million members of the Church throughout the world bear this solemn testimony. - Ezra Taft Benson, "Life is Eternal," Ensign (CR) June 1971



 
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R. Scott Birk
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