Wilford Woodruff's Vision of the Last Days in Tennessee — The Sun Darkened, the Moon as Blood, Seven Golden Lamps, and the Resurrection (1835)

In 1835, while serving a mission to the Southern States (Tennessee and Kentucky), Wilford Woodruff received a letter from the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, requesting him to remain in Tennessee rather than return to Kirtland for the temple endowment. The letter promised that if he obeyed, he would "lose no blessing" by doing so.

Woodruff was satisfied and obedient. He went into a little room, sat down upon a small sofa, and rejoiced in the letter and the promise. The room was dark. And then, alone, he was overcome:

"I became wrapped in vision. I was like Paul; I did not know whether I was in the body or out of the body. A personage appeared to me and showed me the great scenes that should take place in the last days."

One scene after another passed before him in vivid detail:

• "I saw the sun darkened."

• "I saw the moon become as blood."

• "I saw the stars fall from heaven."

• "I saw seven golden lamps set in the heavens, representing the various dispensations of God to man — a sign that would appear before the coming of Christ."

• "I saw the resurrection of the dead." In the first resurrection, those who came forth from their graves seemed to be all dressed alike. But in the second resurrection, "they were as diverse in their dress as this congregation is before me to-day."

Woodruff testified that the entire vision was "more indelibly fixed" in his mind "than anything I had ever seen with the natural eye." He said: "If I had been an artist I could have painted the whole scene as it was impressed upon my mind."

He understood the vision as a divine testimony of the resurrection of the dead and of the signs that would precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He reflected: "What does this mean? It was a testimony of the resurrection of the dead. I had a testimony. I believe in the resurrection of the dead, and I know it is a true principle."

This vision was given to Woodruff in direct fulfillment of Joseph Smith's promise that he would "lose no blessing" by remaining in Tennessee rather than returning to Kirtland for the endowment of power. The Lord, through the vision, gave him his own endowment of spiritual knowledge and testimony of the last days.

Nearly 46 years later, on October 8, 1881, President Woodruff publicly recounted this vision in a discourse at General Conference in Salt Lake City, using it to teach the Saints about the reality of divine communication through dreams and visions, and the certainty of the resurrection and the signs of the Second Coming.

This vision is distinct from the 1834 Zelph vision (which revealed the history of an ancient Lamanite prophet during Zion's Camp) and from John Taylor's later vision of the last days (1877/78, also recorded by Woodruff). Woodruff's 1835 Tennessee vision was his own personal revelation of the final events of earth's history — given while he was alone, in the dark, in faithful obedience to the Prophet's instruction.