Orson Pratt

“ Those who have been blind spiritually are seeing out of obscurity and out of darkness, and those who have been deaf spiritually are beginning to hear. But this is not the entire meaning. Do not the greater part of this congregation, now sitting before me, know of a surety that the Lord God has, since he sent forth the proclamation of this Gospel among the people, caused the eyes of the blind—those blind physically, born blind—to be opened? Do they not know that the ears of some who were so deaf that they could not hear the loudest sound have been literally opened? ”

“ And the Lord answered him in the very words of Isaiah, as recorded in the next verse—"Wherefore the Lord said, inasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, and have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men, therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." ”

“ The Lord commanded him not only to hide up the record, but also to deposit with it the Urim and Thummim, an instrument used by the ancient seers who dwelt on this Continent. The Lord promised Moroni that, in the latter days, he would bring forth that book out of the ground, that it should whisper out of the dust; that it should speak unto the living as if it were from the dead, and when he should bring it forth this Urim and Thummim, deposited with it, should enable the finder to translate it into the language of the people who should then inherit the land. ”

“ To show more fully the time when this book should be brought to light, let me say that it is a latter-day work, and to prove it, I will read the following verses. "The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, for the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off; all that make a man an offender for a word, or that lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, or that turn aside the just for a thing of naught." ”

“ John, flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to every nation, kindred, tongue and people that dwell upon the face of the earth. We have borne testimony, faithfully and diligently without purse or scrip, for these many years among the inhabitants of the earth, to the rich as well as the poor. But the rich will not obey it; no, they have their riches to look after. ”

“ This agrees with another prophecy, where the Prophet Isaaiah, in looking after the consolation and redemption of Jacob in the last days, says—"Let the skies pour down righteousness, and let the earth open and bring forth salvation. It seems then that the earth was to bring forth truth and salvation, and the skies at the same time were to pour down the blessings of eternity upon the heads of the people, and by this means the Lord God would save the nations of the earth, and redeem Israel from the four quarters thereof. ”

“ When they have heard the words of this book, when the proclamation has been sounded in their ears. When they are become fully ripened in iniquity, they will be cut off according to the declaration of the Prophet Isaiah. But their times must first be fulfilled; their fulness must come in, before these terrible judgments and destructions shall lay waste the nations of the Gentiles. But is there no hope for Israel, when this book comes forth? When I speak of Israel I mean the literal Israel, the descendants of the twelve tribes, whose fathers inherited ancient Palestine. ”

“ A King shall reign in righteousness in those days and his name shall be the Lord of Hosts, Jesus of Nazareth, the great Messiah. The King of kings and Lord of lords will reign over the nations in those days, as he now reigns king of Saints. ”

“ Smith, being not quite eighteen years old, was meditating in his heart concerning the former vision, and was feeling great anxiety that the promise might be fulfilled to him, that he should, at some future time, have revealed to him the Gospel in all its fulness. ”

“ No branches of the wicked left, no roots left among the nations, but the earth, and all the fulness thereof, will be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most High, as was predicted by Daniel the Prophet, that "the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens, shall be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most High. ”

“ Millions have erred in spirit because of these doctrines; others have murmured because of them, and have found fault, and said, "How can we know the true doctrine, or the true church, when we find several hundred all teaching different, each one going his own way, each proclaiming his own dogma, creed and discipline? Contradicting and quarrelling with one another? Christian nations fighting against Christian nations," etc. They have murmured about it; and many have begun to think that there is nothing in revealed religion. It has made thousands on thousands of infidels ”

“ Smith, on the 22nd of September each year, continued to visit this place, until the year 1827, he being then not quite twenty-two years old. On the morning of the 22nd of September, in the year 1827, the angel of the Lord permitted him to take these records, with the Urim and Thummim, and he carried them to his father's house. The people in that neighborhood, having learned about these things, sought by every means in their power—by persecution, mobs, and every other means that they could bring to bear, to find these plates and take them from him. ”

“ He did so, and committed the abridged record, written on plates of gold, into the hands of another Prophet, his son Moroni. The original records, from which the abridgment was made, were hid up by Mormon in a hill called Cumorah, in the interior of what is now called the State of New York, but the abridgment was still in possession of the Prophet Moroni. About this time, or a little before this time, there had been a fifty years war between the inhabitants of North and South America ”

“ This boy, in attending religious meetings that were held in his neighborhood, seemed to be wrought upon in a very wonderful manner, and he felt great concern in relation to the salvation of his soul. Many young people were wrought upon by the same spirit, and they commenced seeking the Lord, and professed to be converted. Among this number were several of the Smith family, who united themse [l] ves with the Presbyterians. ”