Forerunners of The Restoration

Compiled By Glen W. Chapman 1992

Joseph Smith Senior's Prophetic Dream in 1811

"We continued here until we had another son, born March 13,1811 whom we called William.

About this time my husband's mind became much excited upon the subject of religion; yet he would not subscribe to any particular system of faith, but contended for the ancient order, as established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His Apostles. One night my husband retired to his bed in a very

thoughtful state of mind, contemplating the situation of the Christian religion, or the confusion and discord that were extant. He soon fell into a sleep, and before waking had the following vision, which I shall relate in his own words, just as he told it to me the next morning:

'I seemed to be traveling in an open, barren field, and as I was traveling, I turned my eyes towards the east, the west, the north and the south, but could see nothing save dead, fallen timber. Not a vestige of life, either animal or vegetable, could be seen; besides, to render the scene still more dreary, the most death-like silence prevailed, no sound of anything animate could be heard in all the field. I was alone in this gloomy desert, with the exception of an attendant spirit, who kept constantly by my side. Of him I inquired the meaning of what I saw, and why I was thus traveling in such a dismal place. He answered thus: 'This field is the world, which now lieth inanimate and dumb, in regard to the true religion, or plan of salvation; but travel on, and by the wayside you will find on a certain log a box, the contents of which, if you eat thereof, will make you wise, and give unto you wisdom and understanding.' I carefully observed what was told me by my guide, and proceeding a short distance, I came to the box. I immediately took it up, and placed it under my left arm; then with eagerness I raised the lid, and began to taste of its contents; upon which all manner of beasts, horned cattle, and roaring animals, rose up on every side in the most threatening manner possible, tearing the earth, tossing their horns, and bellowing most terrifically all around me, and they finally came so close upon me, that I was compelled to drop the box and fly for my life. Yet, in the midst of all this I was perfectly happy, though I awoke trembling.'"

Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches

A Vision By President Wilford Woodruff

"The people of Connecticut in those days thought it wicked to believe in any religion, or belong to any church, except the Presbyterian. They did not believe in having any prophets, apostles, or revelations, as they had in the days of Jesus, and as we now have in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

- There was one aged man in Connecticut, however, by the name of Robert Mason, who did not believe like the rest of the people. He believed it was necessary to have prophets, apostles, dreams, visions and revelations in the church of Christ the same as they had who lived in ancient days; and he believed the Lord would raise up a people and a church, in the last days, with prophets, apostles and all the gifts, powers and blessings, which it ever contained in any age of the world. The people called this man the old Prophet Mason. He frequently came to my father's house when I was a boy, and taught me and my brothers those principles; and I believed them. This prophet prayed a great deal, and he had dreams and visions, and the Lord showed him many things by visions, which were to come to pass in the last days.

I will here relate one vision, which he related to me. The last time I ever saw him, he said:

I was laboring in my field at mid-day when l was enwrapped in a vision. I was placed in the midst of a vast forest of fruit trees; I was very hungry, and walked a long way through the orchard searching for fruit to eat; but I could not find any in the whole orchard, and I wept because I could find no fruit. While I stood gazing at the orchard and wondering why there was no fruit, the trees began to fall to the ground upon every side of me, until there was not one tree left standing in the whole orchard, and while I was marveling at the scene, I saw young sprouts start up from the roots of the trees which had fallen, and they opened into young thrifty trees before my eyes. They budded, blossomed, and bore fruit until the trees were loaded with the finest fruit I ever beheld and I rejoiced to see so much fine fruit. I stepped up to a tree and picked my hands full of fruit, and I marveled at its beauty, and as I was about to taste of it the vision closed, and I found myself in the field in the same place I was at the commencement of the vision.

I then knelt down upon the ground, and prayed unto the Lord, and asked him, in the name of lesus Christ, to show me the meaning of the vision. The Lord said unto me: This is the interpretation of the vision; the great trees of the forest represent the generation of men in which you live. There is no Church of Christ, or kingdom of God upon the earth in your generation; there is no fruit of the church of Christ upon the earth; there is no man ordained of God to administer in any of the ordinances of the Gospel of Salvation upon the earth in this day and generation. But, in the next generation, I the Lord will set up my kingdom and my Church upon the earth, and the fruits of the kingdom and church of Christ, such as have followed the prophets, apostles and saints in every dispensation, shall again be found in all their fullness upon the earth. You will live to see the day, and handle the fruit; but will never partake of it in the flesh.

When the old prophet had finished relating the vision and interpretation, he said to me, calling me

by my Christian name: 'I shall never partake of this fruit in the flesh; but you will, and you will become a conspicuous actor in that kingdom;' and then turned and left me, these being the last word he ever spoke to me on earth.

This was a very striking circumstance, as I had spent many hours and days, during twenty years, with this oId Father Mason, and he had never named this vision before to me. But at the begining of this last conversation, he told me that he felt impelled by the spirit of the Lord to relate it to me, He had this vision about A. D. 1800, and he related it to me in 1830-the same Spring that this church was organized. This vision, with his other teachings to me, made a great impression upon my mind, and I prayed a great deal to the. Lord to lead me by his spirit, and prepare me for His Church when it did come.

In 1832, I left Connecticut, and traveled with my eldest brother to Oswego county, New York; and in the winter of 1833, I saw, for the first time in my life, an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He preached in a school house near where I lived. I attended the meeting, and the Spirit of the Lord bore record to me that what I heard was true. I invited the elder to my house, and next day I, with my eldest brother, went down into the water and was baptized. We were the first two baptized in Oswego County, New York. When I was baptized I thought of what the old Prophet had said to me.

In the spring of 1834, I went to Kirtland, saw the Prophet Joseph Smith, and went with him, and with more than two hundred others in Zion's Camp, up to Missouri. When I arrived at my journey's end, I took the first opportunity and wrote a long letter to Father Mason, and told him I had found the church of Christ that he had told me about. I told him about its organization and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon; and the Church had prophets, apostles, and all the gifts and blessings in it, and that the true fruit of the kingdom and church of Christ were manifest among the Saints as the Lord had shown him in his vision. He received my letter, and read it over many times, and handled it as he had handled the fruit in the vision; but he was very aged, and soon died. He did not live to see any elder to administer the ordinances of the Gospel unto him. The first opportunity I had, after the doctrine of baptism for the dead was revealed, I went forth and was baptized for him; he was a good man ant a true prophet, for his prophecies have been fulfilled. "

from The Juvinile Insructor, Volume 2, January 15, 1867 p. 13

Solomon Chamberlain

"In the year 1816 . . .the Lord showed me in a vision that there were no people on the earth that were right, and that faith was gone from the earth, excepting a few, and that all churches were corrupt. I further saw in the vision that he would soon raise up a church that would be after the apostolic order, that there would be in it the same powers and gifts that were in the days of Christ, and that I should live to see the day, and that there would [be] a book come forth, like unto the Bible, and the people would be guided by it, as well as the Bible ....

[About 1830] I had occasion to go on a visit into Upper Canada. . . .When the boat came to Palmyra, I felt as if some Genii or good spirit told me to leave the boat. This was a few miles from where the record (Book of Mormon) was found. After leaving the boat, the Spirit manifested to me to travel a south course. I did so for about 3 miles. I had not as yet heard of the Gold Bible (so called) nor any of the Smith family. I was a stranger in that part of the country....About sundown...my guide directed me to put up for the night, which I did to a farm house. In the morning the people of the house asked me if I had heard of the Gold Bible; when they said Gold Bible, there was a power like electricity [that] went from the top of my head to the end of my toes. This was the first time I ever heard of the Gold Bible. I was now within a half a mile of the Smith family where Joseph [had] lived. From the time I left the boat until now, I was wholly led by the Spirit or my Genii. I soon made my way across lots to, Father Smiths and found Hyrum walking the floor as I entered the door. I

said, 'Peace be to this house.'

He [Hyrum Smith] looked at me as one astonished and said, 'I hope it will be peace.'

I then said, 'Is there anyone here that believes in visions and revelations?'

He said, 'Yes, we are a visionary house.'

I said, 'Then I will give you one of my pamphlets, which was visionary and of my own experience.'

They then called the people together which consisted of 5 or 6 men who were out at the door. Father Smith was one and some of the Whitmer's. They then sat down and read my pamphlet. Hyrum read first, but was so affected, he could not read it. He then gave it to a man, which I learned was Christian Whitmer. He finished reading it. I then opened my mouth and began to preach to them in the words that the angel had made known to me in the vision, that all churches and denominations on the earth had become corrupt and [that] no church of God [was] on the earth but that he would shortly raise up a church that would never be confounded or brought down, and be like unto the apostolic church. They wondered greatly who had been telling me these things, for said they, we have the same things written down in our house, taken from the Gold record that you are preaching to us ....

I then said, 'If you are a visionary house, l wish you would make known some of your discoveries, for I think I can bear them.'

They then made known to me that they had obtained a gold record and [had] just finished translating it. Now the Lord revealed to me by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost that this was the work I had been looking for. I stayed 2 days and they instructed me in the manuscripts of the Book of Mormon.

After I had been there 2 days, I went with Hyrum and some others to Palmyra printing office where they began to print the Book of Mormon, and as soon as they had printed 64 pages, I took them with their leave and pursued my journey to Canada, and I preached all that I knew concerning Mormonism to all, both high and low, rich and poor, and thus you see that I was the first, that ever printed Mormonism was preached to this generation. I did not see anyone in traveling 7 or 800 miles that had ever heard of the Gold Bible (so called). I exhorted all people to prepare for the great work of God that was now about to come forth."

Autobiography of Solomon Chamberlain pp. 3-11 (BYU Library Special Collection)

Zera Pulsipher

"That Glorious Day Is Drawing Nigh"

"When Zera Pulsipher was twenty-one years old, he married a very agreeable companion and lived with her about one year when she died, leaving [him] one child. For weeks after his beloved wife's death, Zera remained very anxious about her eternal condition, until one night when she appeared and comforted him:

'Consequently in answer to my desires in a few weeks she came to me in vision and appearing natural looked pleasant as she ever did and sat by my side and assisted me in singing a hymn-beginning thus: 'That glorious day is drawing nigh when Zions Light Shall Shine.' This she did with a seeming composure. This vision took away all the anxiety of my mind concerning her in as much as she seemed to enjoy herself well.'

This event occurred about ten years before the restoration of the gospel. During the intervening years, Zera served as a Protestant minister. It was not until he was introduced to the Book of Mormon in 1831 that he realized the meaning of the hymn that he had sung with his departed wife and the importance of the message, "That glorious day is drawing nigh." As he pondered the teachings of the Book of Mormon, a further angelic vision confirmed its truthfulness. He later recorded:

'I think about the seventh day as I was threshing in my barn with doors shut, all at once there seemed to be a ray of light from heaven which caused me to stop work for a short time, but soon began it again. Then in a few minutes another light came over my head which caused me to look up. I thought I saw the angels with the Book of Mormon In their hands in the attitude of showing it to me and saying "this is the great revelation of the last days in which all things spoken of by the prophets must be fulfilled."

Zera was so moved by this vision that he gathered together his parishioners and informed them of it and of his desire to join with the Saints of God. His testimony was so powerful in its conviction and witness of the divinity of the Book of Mormon that on 11 January 1832 Zera and a large number of his congregation were baptized. "

Stories From The Early Saints

Alfred Douglas Young claimed to have seen in vision "a great prophet raised up . . . and he went forth with great power . . . preaching the Gospel."(1) Samuel Turnbow's father told his neighbors that "a great prophet would soon appear amongst the people who would declare the principles of the everlasting gospel." To Samuel he said, . . . My son you have honored your Father and your Mother and your days will be long upon the Earth, and you will see that great Prophet who shall come to prepare the way of the Lord, who will bring in at the former blessings and the Church of Christ will be established with all its gifts with Apostles who will receive revelations from God and the gift of healing the sick will be restored and the gift of prophesying and all the gifts as it was anciently and you my son will do a great and good work on the Earth through out all your days for you will see much of the good work wrought in your days. (2)

Personal journals of early Mormon converts disclose cases of strangers considered to be messengers from God who opened to them the knowledge of a new era of spiritual enlightenment to dawn shortly upon the inhabitants of the earth. Samuel H. Rogers records in his journal that while his father's family was living at Edingburg, Portage County, Ohio, a stranger preached in the local schoolhouse. This singular personage preached doctrine never uttered by preachers of the day. At the close of the meeting the Rogers family invited the stranger to their home. "They found him a very remarkable man." He said that the true church would be restored and that all of them would become identified with it. Overwhelmed with joy, they eagerly inquired how they would ascertain the true church when it was restored. The stranger's reply was simply, "This is your blessing, you shall know it and be identified with it." Seventeen years after the messenger's appearance, the Rogers family heard Mormon missionaries preach of the restoration of Christ's church. (3)

(1) Alfred Douglas Young's Autobiographical Journal, 1808-42, Brigham Young University Library, Provo, Utah, p. 11.

(2). Samuel Turnbow, "Genealogical and Blessing Book of Samuel Turnbow with Brief Sketch of His Life. 1804-1876," Mormon Diaries' typescript, Brigham Young University Library, Provo, Utah, 10:36

(3) Samuel Hollister Rogers's Journal, Brigham Young University Library, Provo, Utah, pp. 2-3.

Roger Williams who founded the First Baptist Church in America in the 1600's then for a strange reason resigned his pastorship and gave this reason for doing so, "There is no regularly constituted church on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinance; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church. whose coming I am seeking."

Later near the end of his life he wrote, "In the poor span of my life, I desired to have been diligent and constant observer in city in country, in schools and universities in old and New England, and yet cannot in the holy presence of God bring in the result of a satisfactory discovery, that either the begetting ministry of the new apostles or messengers from God to the nations according to the first institution of the Lord, Jesus, are yet restored to the earth"(Knowles, Memoir of Roger Williams, p. 171) Mr. Knowles also said of him, "He conceived that the Church of Christ had so fallen into apostasy and to have lost both its right to form and the due administration of the ordinances, which could only be restored by some new apostolic or specially commissioned messenger from above."

Writings of Alexander Campbell on The Restoration

"And while I write and labor as I do, he that knows the hearts of all flesh knows that I do it from the fullest conviction from his oracles that the Christianity of our day is a corrupt Christianity, and that the ancient order of things is lost sight of in all denominations of professing Christians."

(Christian Baptist IV:285)

"But a restoration of the ancient order of things, it appears, is all that is contemplated by the wise disciples of the Lord. Many there were who, wearied with the denominational strife, and restive under ecclesiastical domination, awaited a prophet whose aim was spiritual emancipation and whose strong and fearless leadership they could trust (J.W. Grafton, Life of Alexander Campbell)

"Besides, do not the experience of all the religious observations of the intelligent, the practical, result of all creeds, reformations, and improvements, and the expectations and longings of society warrant the conclusion that either some new revelation, or some new development of the revelation of God must be made before the hopes and expectation of all true Christians can be realized or Christianity save and reform the nations of the world? We want the old gospel back, and sustained by the ancient order of things; and this alone by the blessings of the divine spirit, is all that we do want, or can expect, to reform and save the world. For a divine warrant has always been essential to any acceptable worship. The question, "who has required this at your hands?" must always be answered by a "Thus saith the Lord" before an offering of mortal may be can be acknowledged by the Lawgiver of the universe. "In vain" said the great teacher, "Do you worship God, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

"Still a regular and constant ministry was needed among the Jews, and is yet needed among the Christians - and both of these by divine authority." (Alexander Cambell, The Christian System p, 250)

"An era is just at the door which will be known as the regeneration for a thousand years to come...The Lord Jesus will soon rebuild Jerusalem, and raise up the tabernacle of David which has so long been in ruins. Let the Church prepare herself for the return of her Lord, and see that she makes herself ready for the coming of the Lord must be the result of the restoration of the ancient gospel and order of things." (Ibid p. 310)

Prophecy of Asael Smith Joseph's Grandfather

Long before Joseph's first vision his grandfather Asael Smith had a premonition which he recorded. "It has been borne in upon my mind and soul that one of my progenitors will promulgate a work to revolutionize the world of religious faith.. (George Q.. Cannon p. 26)