Do we believe the witnesses of the Book of Mormon? Do we believe what they say they saw? Do we realize that both men and women stand as those witnesses? Are we prepared to set our pride aside and stay true to the faith no matter what?

David Whitmer was interviewed by Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith. This is a small part of that interview:

 

D.W.—We not only saw the plates of the Book of Mormon but also the brass plates, the plates of the Book of Ether, the plates containing the records of the wickedness and secret combinations of the people of the world down to the time of their being engraved, and many other plates. The fact is it was just as though Joseph, Oliver and I were sitting just 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 about as far off as he sits (pointing to John C. Whitmer sitting a few feet from him), there appeared as it were, a table with many records or plates upon it, besides the plates of the Book of Mormon, also the Sword of Laban, the directors—i.e., the ball which Lehi had, and the Interpreters. I saw them just as plain as I see this bed (striking the bed beside him with his hand), and I heard the voice of the Lord, as distinctly as I ever heard anything in my life, declaring that the records of the plates of the Book of Mormon were translated by the gift and power of God.

Elder O.P.—Did you see the Angel at this time?

D.W.—Yes; he stood before us, our testimony as recorded in the Book of Mormon is strictly and absolutely true, just as it is there written. Before I knew Joseph, I had heard about him and the plates from persons who declared they knew he had them, and swore they would get them from him. Where Oliver Cowdery went to Pennsylvania, he promised to write me what he should learn about these matters, which he did. He wrote me that Joseph had told him his secret thoughts, and all he had meditated about going to see him, which no man on earth knew, as he supposed, but himself, and so he stopped to write for Joseph.

Soon after this, Joseph sent for me (D.W.) to come to Harmony to get him and Oliver and bring them to my father’s house. I did not know what to do, I was pressed with my work. I had some 20 acres to plow, so I concluded I would finish plowing and then go, I got up one morning to go to work as usual, and on going to the field, found between 5 and 7 acres of my ground had been plowed during the night.

I don’t know who did it; but it was done just as I would have done it myself, and the plow was left standing in the furrow. This enabled me to start sooner. When I arrived at Harmony, Joseph and Oliver were coming toward me, and met me some distance from the house.

When I was returning to Fayette with Joseph and Oliver all of us riding in the wagon, Oliver and I on an old fashioned wooden spring seat and Joseph behind us, while traveling along in a clear open place, a very pleasant, nice-looking old man suddenly appeared by the side of our wagon who saluted us with, “good morning, it is very warm,” at the same time wiping his face or forehead with his hand. We returned the salutation, and by a sign from Joseph I invited him to ride if he was going our way. But he said very pleasantly, “No, I am going to Cumorah.’ This name was something new to me, I did not know what Cumorah meant. We all gazed at him and at each other, and as I looked round enquiringly of Joseph the old man instantly disappeared, so that I did not see him again.

J.F.S.—Did you notice his appearance?

D.W.—I should think I did, he was, I should think, about 5 feet 8 or 9 inches tall and heavy set … I also remember that he had on his back a sort of knapsack with something in, shaped like a book … Sometime after this, my mother was going to milk the cows, when she was met out near the yard by the same old man (judging by her description of him) who said to her, “You have been very faithful and diligent in your labors, but you are tried because of the increase of your toil, it is proper therefore that you should receive a witness that your faith may be strengthened!”  Thereupon he showed her the plates. My father and mother had a large family of their own. The addition to it therefore of Joseph, his wife Emma and Oliver very greatly increased the toil and anxiety of my mother. And although she had never complained she had sometimes felt that her labor was too much, or at least she was perhaps beginning to feel so. This circumstance, however, completely removed all such feelings, and nerved her up for her increased responsibilities.

Elder O.P.—Have you any idea when the other records will be brought forth?

D.W. – When we see things in the spirit and by the power of God they seem to be right here—the present signs of the times indicate the near approach of the coming forth of the other plates, but when it will be I cannot tell. The three Nephites are at work among the lost tribes and elsewhere. John the Revelator is at work, and I believe the time will come suddenly, before we are prepared for it. (“Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith,” Millennial Star 40 (9 Dec 1878)

A grandson, John C. Whitmer, also documented Mary’s story:

“My grandmother told me that the strange visitor met her as she was going to milk the cows. At first she was afraid of him, but he spoke so kindly to her, explaining to her the nature of the work of translation to go on in her house, that she felt a thrill of inexpressible joy, which removed all fear from her. Comforting words were spoken, promising her strength and pleasure in her increased labors, and salvation at the end. Moroni took from his knapsack the plates and exhibited them as already explained by David. The personage then suddenly vanished with the plates, and where he went, she could not tell. From that time my grandmother was enabled to perform her household duties with comparative ease, feeling no inclination to murmur because her lot was a hard one.”

Besides Mary, her husband, five sons, and two sons-in-law would become official witnesses of the Book of Mormon. She never denied what she saw that day by the barn, but she did stay in Missouri when the Church moved on to Nauvoo.

There were two other women who could bear witness of the things they saw and felt. Joseph showed his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, the breastplate and the Urim and Thummim, as mentioned in her original history, (Smith, Joseph Smith, 111; 1853 ed., 101, 107). Also, Emma Smith, the prophet’s wife, dusted around the plates in her home and felt the pliable leaves through a cloth (Saints’ Herald, 26:289-90) She said: “I once felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book.” (Bidamon, 290).

I can’t help but wonder how I would react to see an angel, see the Golden Plates, or Laban’s sword (how awesome would that be!), or even know they lay under a simple cloth and not have the urge to lift up a corner to take a peak. These were truly godly women and men able to do godly things.

“Joseph moved to Harmony, Pennsylvania, in December 1827. There he copied and translated some of the characters from the plates, with his wife Emma and her brother Reuben Hale acting as scribes. In 1856, Emma recalled that Joseph dictated the translation to her word for word, spelled out the proper names, and would correct her scribal errors even though he could not see what she had written. At one point while translating, Joseph was surprised to learn that Jerusalem had walls around it” (E. C. Briggs, “Interview with David Whitmer,” Saints’ Herald 31 [June 21, 1884]:396-97). Emma was once asked in a later interview if Joseph had read from any books or notes while dictating. She answered, “He had neither,” and when pressed, added: “If he had anything of the kind he could not have concealed it from me” (Saints’ Herald 26 [Oct. 1, 1879]:290). (From Encyclopedia of Mormonism: 210.)

The Whitmer women, Mary and her daughters Catherine and Elizabeth, as well as Emma Smith, sewed clothing for the very first missionaries that set out after a conference held in the Whitmer home. Lucy Mack Smith recalled that this “was no easy task, as the most of it had to be manufactured out of the raw material” (Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, p. 169). It is important for us to realize righteous women were involved in the very beginnings of the Church. Their support, handiwork, and testimony were no less important than the righteous men.

What followed is where we must be watchful in our day. It seems that pride got in the way of the Whitmer family. Where they never denied the Book of Mormon, there were issues that developed, causing hard feelings never quite resolved. Out of nine members of that family, including parents and sons-in-law, only two sons stayed strong and faithful, having died before hard feelings developed within the family. The others left the Church and stayed behind in Missouri. We don’t really know if Mary left the Church, or simply chose to stay with her disaffected husband.

It was years later that Oliver Cowdery (who married Elizabeth Whitmer) humbly returned to the Church. Elizabeth never returned, but she acknowledged her testimony.

David never denied what he saw, but he never returned to the Church. Through him, the Reorganized Church of Christ formed and developed. It’s hard to imagine that anyone could leave the Church having, at one time, been held at gunpoint, and given an ultimatum to deny The Book of Mormon, “lifted up his hands and bore witness that the book was truly the Word of God.” 20 Years later David recalled the episode: “The testimony I gave to that mob made them fear and tremble, and I escaped from them” (James H. Hart to Deseret News, 23 Aug. 1883, Deseret News, 4 Sept. 1883, in Journal History, 23 Aug. 1883).

Years later, Matthias F. Cowley, a missionary at the time (later, an apostle) found David Whitmer and questioned him about his standing in the Church. Bitterness still reigned in David’s heart. Elder Cowley learned from this, “As long as any man or woman studies the Gospel, and lives it, he will never tire of it” (“Testimony of Matthias F. Cowley,” Millennial Star, 103, 9 Jan. 1941: 32–33).

Indeed, throughout history, men and women have seen the miraculous. Do we believe that miracles are still happening? Do we stand as witnesses of the work of salvation? Look around and see. It is for you to make the choice to believe, participate in, and contribute in the building of the kingdom of God here upon the earth. How have you participated, and what have been the great miracles you have witnessed?