Harvey Harris Cluff - Personal Encounter with the Prophet Joseph Smith at the Nauvoo Temple Bowery

Harvey Harris Cluff cherished a personal memory of his encounter with the Prophet Joseph Smith at a Sabbath meeting in a bowery built near the Nauvoo Temple. Cluff wrote: 'myself and several boy playmates, were setting on the rude steps which led up to the rostrum on which the Prophet Joseph Smith stood, discoursing with such power as to attract the attention of even boys. Policemen came and were driving us away; when the Prophet forbade them, saying, "Let the boys alone, they will hear something that they will never forget."' Cluff reflected on this moment: 'Now I highly prize the remembrance of that remark and although the prophet frequently visited my father's home and I had heard him preach before, no remark of his had ever impressed me so forcibly.' This was a miraculous moment of divine care—the Prophet, in his wisdom and compassion, intervened to protect the boys and ensure they received the spiritual instruction the Lord had in store for them.