Zeke Johnson Witnesses the Miraculous Resurrection of an Ancient Child (1908)

In the year 1908-1909, Ezekiel "Zeke" Johnson, son of Joel Hills Johnson, was clearing land and preparing to plant corn in San Juan County, Blanding, Utah. His young son Roy, about 7 or 8 years old, was helping him plant the seeds as Zeke plowed the ground covered with ancient remains of Ancestral Puebloan dwellings.

As Zeke was plowing, his plow turned out the skeleton of a small child—the skull and backbone were visible, with most other bones decayed. He stopped immediately and noticed the skeleton lying in the furrow.

Then, as he gazed upon the bones, a miraculous manifestation occurred: "all of a sudden, to my surprise, I saw the bones begin to wiggle and they began to change position and to take different color and within a minute there lay a beautiful little skeleton. It was a perfect little skeleton."

Before his eyes, the skeleton was restored: "I saw the inner parts of the natural body coming in the entrails, etc. I saw the flesh coming on, and I saw the skin come on the body when the inner parts of the body were complete. A beautiful head of hair adorned the top of the head, and in about a half second after the hair was on the head, it had a beautiful crystal decoration in the hair. It was combed beautifully and parted on one side."

About half a minute after the hair was complete, the child stood up and was clothed in a beautiful robe. The child, a girl about 5 to 7 years old, looked at Zeke and smiled for about a quarter minute. When Zeke reached out to embrace her, saying "Oh you beautiful child," she disappeared.

Zeke was stunned and could not speak of the experience for years. Eventually, he shared it with Wayne W. Redd, the Stake Patriarch of Blanding, who encouraged him to share it in temples and Church gatherings throughout the United States.

Zeke prayed for years to understand why he, "just a common man," was allowed to witness such a miraculous manifestation of God's power—the literal resurrection of the dead. While resting under a tree, he received the answer: The child had been buried in a shallow grave (either during wartime or in winter when the ground was frozen). The grieving mother had cried out that the first beast would scatter her daughter's bones. A man holding the Priesthood present at that burial had promised the mother: "Whenever that little body is disturbed or uncovered, the Lord will call her up and she will live."

Zeke's witness became his divine calling—to uncover that little body and see the Lord fulfill that priesthood blessing centuries later. He testified: "Since that time I have taken great comfort, great cheer, consolation, and satisfaction with praise in my heart and soul, until I haven't the words to express it, that it was I that uncovered that little body."