Oliver Cowdery - Called as a Teacher and Divinely Led to Joseph Smith and His Family

In the winter of 1828 and 1829, Oliver Cowdery accepted the position of teacher in a small rural school in Manchester township, New York. Among the families who sent children to his school was that of Joseph Smith, Sr., a farmer of the neighborhood. It was customary for the village schoolteacher to board with the families of his students, and thus Oliver Cowdery became acquainted with the members of the Smith family. In their quiet family circle, he heard the wonderful story of the visit of the angel Moroni to their son Joseph, the story of the finding of the sacred record, and of Joseph's efforts to translate it so that it might be given to the world. Oliver became deeply interested and determined to visit Joseph in Harmony, Pennsylvania. This was a divine appointment—the Lord's hand in positioning Oliver to hear these sacred truths and to be called to his great work as scribe of the Book of Mormon. The miraculous confluence of events brought these two great servants together at precisely the right moment in the Lord's work.