An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions

by Orson Pratt

Mr. Joseph Smith, Jr., who made the following important discovery, was born in the town of Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, on the 23rd of December, A. D. 1805. When ten years old, his parents, with their family, moved to Palmyra, New York; in the vicinity of which he resided for about eleven years, the latter part in the town of Manchester. Cultivating the earth for a livelihood was his occupation, in which he employed the most of his time. His advantages for acquiring literary knowledge were exceedingly small; hence, his education was limited to a slight acquaintance with two or three of the common branches of learning. He could read without much difficulty, and write a very imperfect hand, and had a very limited understanding of the ground rules of arithmetic. These were his highest and only attainments while the rest of those branches, so universally taught in the common schools throughout the United States, were entirely unknown to him.

When somewhere about fourteen or fifteen years old, he began seriously to reflect upon the necessity of being prepared for a future state of existence; but how, or in what way, to prepare himself was a question as yet undetermined in his own mind. He perceived that it was a question of infinite importance, and that the salvation of his soul depended upon a correct understanding of the same. He saw that if he understood not the way, it would be impossible to walk in it except by chance, and the thought of resting his hopes of eternal life upon chance or uncertainties was more than he could endure. If he went to the religious denominations to seek information, each one pointed to its particular tenets, saying-This is the way, walk ye in it-while at the same time the doctrines of each were, in many respects, in direct opposition to one another.

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1840

About the author

American mathematician and religious leader who was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read this in the process of producing a Project Gutenberg edition that should hopefully be out soon. It's notable as the earliest published account of Joseph Smith's First Vision. It also has some detail on his vision of Moroni that I hadn't previously encountered and contains a presentation of the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that was partly used to develop the Articles of Faith.

Given that it's only 36 pages long (originally published as a pamphlet), well worth a read.