The following account is taken from “Biography and Family
Record of Lorenzo Snow”, by Eliza R. Snow, pages 7-9.
I was baptized by Elder John Boynton, then one of the
Twelve Apostles, June, 1836, in Kirtland, Ohio.
Previous to accepting the ordinance of baptism, in my investigations of
the principles taught by the Latter-day Saints, which I proved, by comparison,
to be the same as those mentioned in the New Testament taught by Christ and His
Apostles, I was thoroughly convinced that obedience to those principles would
impart miraculous powers, manifestations and revelations. With sanguine expectations of this result, I
received the baptism and ordinance of laying on of hands by one who professed
to have divine authority; and, having thus yielded obedience to these
ordinances, I was in constant expectation of the fulfillment of the promise of
the reception of the Holy Ghost.
The manifestation did not immediately follow my baptism,
as I had expected, but, although the time was deferred, when I did receive it,
its realization was more perfect, tangible and miraculous than even my
strongest hopes had led me to anticipate.
Some two or three weeks after I was baptized, one day
while engaged in my studies, I began to reflect upon the fact that I had not
obtained a knowledge of the truth of the work—that I had not realized the
fulfillment of the promise ‘he that doeth my will shall know of the doctrine,’
and I began to feel very uneasy. I laid
aside my books, left the house, and wandered around through the fields under
the oppressive influence of a gloomy, disconsolate spirit, while an indescribable
cloud of darkness seemed to envelop me.
I had been accustomed, at the close of the day, to retire for secret
prayer, to a grove a short distance from my lodgings, but at this time I felt
no inclination to do so. The spirit of
prayer had departed and the heavens seemed like brass over my head. At length, realizing that the usual time had
come for secret prayer, I concluded I would not forego my evening service, and,
as a matter of formality, knelt as I was in the habit of doing, and in my
accustomed retired place, but not feeling as I was wont to feel.
I had no sooner opened by lips in an effort to pray, than
I heard a sound, just above my head, like the rustling of silken robes, and
immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole
person, filling me, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O,
the joy and happiness I felt! No
language can describe the almost instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of
mental and spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge, as it
was at that time imparted to my understanding.
I then received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, and of the restoration of the holy Priesthood, and the fulness
of the Gospel. It was a complete
baptism—a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy
Ghost; and even more real and physical in its effects upon every part of my
system than the immersion by water; dispelling forever, so long as reason and
memory last, all possibility of doubt or fear in relation to the fact handed
down to us historically, that the ‘Babe of Bethlehem’ is truly the Son of God;
also the fact that He is now being revealed to the children of men, and
communicating knowledge, the same as in the Apostolic times. I was perfectly satisfied, as well I might
be, for my expectations were more than realized, I think I may safely say in an
infinite degree.
I cannot tell how long I remained in the full flow of the
blissful enjoyment and divine enlightenment, but it was several minutes before
the celestial element which filled and surrounded me began gradually to
withdraw. On arising from my kneeling
posture, with my heart swelling with gratitude to God, beyond the power of
expression, I felt—I knew that He had conferred on me what only an omnipotent
being can confer—that which is of greater value than all the wealth and honors
worlds can bestow. That night, as I
retired to rest, the same wonderful manifestations were repeated, and continued
to be for several successive nights. The
sweet remembrance of those glorious experiences, from that time to the present,
bring them fresh before me, imparting an inspiring influence which pervades my
whole being, and I trust will to the close of my earthly existence.
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