D&C 17

 In my reading this morning, I just wanted to record the testimony of David Whitmer researched by Richard Lloyd Andersons, combining several interviews in question format - 

 Q: Is your published testimony accurate? A: “As you read my testimony given many years ago, so it stands as my own existence, the same as when I gave it, and so shall stand throughout the cycles of eternity.”

Q: When did this event take place? A: “It was in June, 1829, the very last part of the month.” Q: What was the approximate time of day? A: “It was about 11 a.m.” 

Q: What were the circumstances of the vision? A: “[We] went out into the woods nearby, and sat down on a log and talked awhile. We then kneeled down and prayed. Joseph prayed. We then got up and sat on the log and were talking, when all at once a light came down from above us and encircled us for quite a little distance around, and the angel stood before us.”

 Q: Describe the angel. A: “He was dressed in white, and spoke and called me by name and said, ‘Blessed is he that keepeth His commandments.’ This is all that I heard the angel say.” 

Q: Did the angel have the Book of Mormon plates? A: “[He] showed to us the plates, the sword of Laban, the Directors, the Urim and Thummim, and other records. Human language could not describe heavenly things and that which we saw.”

Q: Did the vision take place under natural circumstances? A: “The fact is, it was just as though Joseph, Oliver and I were sitting right here on a log, when we were overshadowed by a light. It was not like the light of the sun, nor like that of a fire, but more glorious and beautiful. It extended away round us, I cannot tell how far, but in the midst of this light, immediately before us, about as far off as he sits (pointing to John C. Whitmer, who was sitting 2 or 3 feet from him) there appeared, as it were, a table, with many records on it—besides the plates of the Book of Mormon, also the sword of Laban, the Directors, and the Interpreters. I saw them as plain as I see this bed (striking his hand upon the bed beside him), and I heard the voice of the Lord as distinctly as I ever heard anything in my life declaring that they were translated by the gift and power of God.” 

Q: Can you explain the supernatural power that surrounded you? A: “All of a sudden I beheld a dazzlingly brilliant light that surpassed in brightness even the sun at noonday, and which seemed to envelop the woods for a considerable distance around. Simultaneous with the light came a strange entrancing influence which permeated me so powerfully that I felt chained to the spot, while I also experienced a sensation of joy absolutely indescribable.”

Q: “Did you see the Urim and Thummim?” A: “I saw the Interpreters in the holy vision; they looked like whitish stones put in the rim of a bow—looked like spectacles, only much larger.” 

Q: Did you see an actual table? A: “You see that small table by the wall?…Well, there was a table about that size, and the heavenly messenger brought the several plates and laid them on the table before our eyes, and we saw them.” 

Q: Did you handle the plates? A: “I did not handle the plates—only saw them. Joseph, and I think Oliver and Emma told me about the plates, and described them to me, and I believed them, but did not see except at the time testified of.” 

Q: How clearly could you see the plates? A: “[T]he angel stood before us, and he turned the leaves one by one.” “[H]e held the plates and turned them over with his hands, so that they could be plainly visible.” 

Q: “Did the angel turn all the leaves before you as you looked on it?” A: “No, not all, only that part of the book which was not sealed, and what there was sealed appeared as solid to my view as wood.”

Q: “Can you describe the plates?” A: “They appeared to be of gold, about six by nine inches in size, about as thick as parchment, a great many in number and bound together like the leaves of a book by massive rings passing through the back edges. The engraving upon them was very plain and of very curious appearance.” 

Q: Is it possible that you imagined this experience? A: “[O]ur testimony is true. And if these things are not true, then there is no truth; and if there is no truth, there is no God; and if there is no God, there is no existence. But I know there is a God, for I have heard His voice and witnessed the manifestation of his power.”

Q: “Do you remember the peculiar sensation experienced upon that occasion?” A: “Yes, I remember it very distinctly. And I never think of it, from that day to this, but what that spirit is present with me.” (Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 80.)