Angels Harrow David Whitmer's Field Overnight So He Can Meet Joseph Smith

In the spring of 1829, David Whitmer was eager to travel to Harmony, Pennsylvania, to bring Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to his father's farm in Fayette, New York. David was pressed with the farm work, notably needing to harrow 20 acres and spread plaster. His father Peter Whitmer Sr. told him, 'Na, na,—not till the south field is harrowed and the plaster spread! That is your job... Duty first, duty first.' David worked hard for a day, his sister Elizabeth Ann later recalling his long body and broad shoulders 'contesting with the earth as with a strong wrestler,' yet the work remained largely unfinished. The next morning, David discovered the field miraculously finished and harrowed, with the plaster evenly spread; Elizabeth observed two strange men leaving the field in the mist, whom she and the family understood to be angels. This enabled David to leave immediately for Harmony, directly facilitating the completion of the Book of Mormon translation and the organization of the Church at the Whitmer farm.