Kirtland Temple Dedication (March 27, 1836) — Heavenly Manifestations and Visions

Both Eliza R. Snow and Benjamin Brown recorded eyewitness accounts of the same miraculous manifestations at the Kirtland Temple dedication on March 27, 1836. Their combined recollections report extensive heavenly manifestations and outpourings of the Spirit experienced by multiple church members during the dedication: visions of deity and heavenly beings, appearances of apostles, manifestations of spiritual gifts, instances of speaking in tongues, and other forms of divine communication. Eliza R. Snow described the occasion as beyond mortal description, writing that "no mortal language can describe the heavenly manifestations of that memorable occasion," and documented visions and spiritual gifts manifest among several attendees. Benjamin Brown likewise recorded that the manifestations were "even greater than at the day of Pente[cost]," described his own visions, and reported that multiple brethren saw visions of heavenly beings and experienced remarkable spiritual phenomena; his account survives in a letter he wrote to his wife. Together these accounts describe the same specific event: the extraordinary spiritual manifestations attendant to the March 27, 1836 dedication of the Kirtland Temple.