Alma O. Taylor's Spiritual Witness of the Book of Mormon Translation
Published October 19, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Contributed by
Young Woman's Journal Research
During the work of translating the Book of Mormon into Japanese, Alma O. Taylor experienced the manifestation of the Holy Ghost as a 'burning in the bosom' which confirmed the accuracy of his work, or a 'stupor of thought' which indicated errors.
The labor of translating the Book of Mormon into Japanese was assigned to Taylor full-time in July 1904. He worked on this task for nearly five years, and he recorded that his crowning moment occurred on June 10, 1909, when the translation was finally finished. Taylor noted in his journal regarding the completion: 'since the earnest, real beginning of the work not quite five years have elapsed. This labor has received my best efforts and the great majority of my time as my journal from that date shows.'
In Their Own Words
“To say that my heart leaped with joy at being called to devote my time to the Book of Mormon does not express my feelings by far. ... since the earnest, real beginning of the work not quite five years have elapsed. This labor has received my best efforts and the great majority of my time as my journal from that date shows. — Alma O. Taylor journal, July 16, 1904, and June 10, 1909 (as cited in Jeffrey S. Hardy, 'Alma O. Taylor,' BYU Library Mormon Missionary Diaries)”
Sources & References
The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 23 no. 1 (January 1912). L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University digital collections. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/16318 (account extracted verbatim from the collection's page-level OCR; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Hardy, Jeffrey S. 'Alma O. Taylor.' BYU Library Mormon Missionary Diaries, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University. https://lib.byu.edu/collections/mormon-missionary-diaries/about/diarists/alma-o-taylor
Related Miracles
More accounts involving Alma O. Taylor, plus similar miracle types and stories from the 1900s.
Miracle of the Week
One remarkable, documented account in your inbox every Monday, drawn from the full archive.