Heavenly Manifestations

Levi's Mother Receives a Divine Sign of Light Confirming Her Unbaptized Baby Daughter Is Saved

1810s · 1811
Chagrin area, Ohio
Amy Ward Hancock (Levi's mother), Thomas Hancock (father), baby Amy Hancock (deceased)

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In 1809, the Hancock family's two-year-old baby girl, Amy, died without having been baptized. The Presbyterian minister who preached her funeral told the grief-stricken mother plainly that 'the state of your child is very uncertain' because she had not been baptized.

This crushed Levi's mother, who took to constant Bible reading and fell into lasting grief. Some time later, however, she received a remarkable answer to prayer. As Levi recounted:

'My mother used to pray a great deal and one night she came to my room and said, "I shall never have to worry again." "Why?" asked father. "The Lord has made it known to me," she said. "How did he make it known to you," my father questioned her. "I went out after it had thundered and lightened, I asked the Lord to let a certain light appear on the ground in a certain place, if all was well with my child, and it came and then went away. Then appeared again. I asked if she was saved to show it again. It came as I desired so I know all is well and I shall never worry again."'

This divine manifestation of light — twice appearing exactly as requested — completely healed the mother's grief and gave her lifelong peace about her daughter's eternal state.

In Their Own Words

“My mother used to pray a great deal and one night she came to my room and said, 'I shall never have to worry again.' 'The Lord has made it known to me,' she said. 'I went out after it had thundered and lightened, I asked the Lord to let a certain light appear on the ground in a certain place, if all was well with my child, and it came and then went away. I asked if she was saved to show it again. It came as I desired so I know all is well and I shall never worry again.'”

— Levi W. Hancock, Autobiography (1803-1836), typescript, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU

Sources & References

Levi W. Hancock, Autobiography (1803-1836), Typescript, Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL), Brigham Young University; josephsmithsermons.org/Early-Saints/LHancock.html Autobiography text online: https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/history/levi-hancock/

Miracles of the Restoration
A collection of faith-affirming accounts from the Restoration era to the present day.