Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision/1842 (Orson Hyde account)

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Orson Hyde's 1842 account of the First Vision

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Orson Hyde, A Cry from the Wilderness, A Voice from the Dust of the Earth (Frankfurt, Germany, 1842) Ein Ruf aus der Wuste, eine Stimme aus dem Schoose der Erde [A Cry from the Wilderness, a Voice from the Dust of the Earth] (Frankfurt, 1842); translation by Marvin Folsom, in Dean Jessee, The Papers of Joseph Smith. Volume 1. Autobiographical and Historical Writings (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1989): 405, 4070, 409 [English and German on facing pages]

Source text

“At this sacred moment, the natural world around him was excluded from his view, so that he would be open to the presentation of heavenly and spiritual things. Two glorious heavenly personages stood before him, resembling each other exactly in features and stature. They told him that his prayers had been answered and that the Lord had decided to grant him a special blessing. He was also told that he should not join any of the religious sects or denominations, because all of them erred in doctrine and none was recognized by God as his church and kingdom. He was further commanded, to wait patiently until some future time, when the true doctrine of Christ and the complete truth of the gospel would be revealed to him. The vision closed and peace and calm filled his mind” (409). [page 15 in original German text] (German on facing page)].