Joseph Smith Prophesies the Church Will Fill North and South America and the World (April 27, 1834)

On Sunday night, April 27, 1834, in a little log schoolhouse in Kirtland, Ohio — perhaps fourteen feet square — the Prophet Joseph Smith called together all who held the priesthood and who had gathered to go off in Zion's Camp. It was a small house, but it held the whole of the priesthood of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were then in the town of Kirtland.

Wilford Woodruff, who had just arrived in Kirtland and was meeting Joseph Smith for the first time, recorded the meeting in his journal:

"When we got together the Prophet called upon the elders of Israel with him to bear testimony of this work. . . . When they got through the Prophet said, 'Brethren, . . . you know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother's lap. You don't comprehend it.' . . . He said, 'It is only a little handful of priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America—it will fill the world.'"

At the time of the prophecy, the Church was not yet four years old, had only a few thousand members, and was gathered in a single small log schoolhouse in frontier Kirtland. Yet Joseph Smith, with calm prophetic authority, declared that this "little handful of priesthood" would grow until the Church filled two entire continents — North and South America — and ultimately the whole world.

This bold, global pronouncement was to be accomplished through what Joseph referred to as the gathering of Israel in the last days. Shortly after the Church was organized, Joseph revealed: "Ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts; Wherefore the decree hath gone forth from the Father that they shall be gathered in unto one place upon the face of this land" (D&C 29:7–8). Joseph later proclaimed, "Don't let a single corner of the earth go without a mission."

The fulfillment of this prophecy has been dramatic. From that handful of priesthood holders in a 14-foot log schoolhouse, the Church has grown to millions of members across both American continents and in nearly every nation of the world. Wilford Woodruff, who recorded the prophecy, later repeated it in the April 1898 General Conference, testifying of its ongoing fulfillment.

This prophecy stands as one of the most sweeping and specific of Joseph Smith's prophetic declarations — and one of the most visibly fulfilled in the history of the Restoration.