Apostle Heber C. Kimball and the Spiritual Assault in Preston: 90-Minute Vision of Evil Spirits (June 30, 1837)

Only ten days after the first LDS missionaries arrived in Preston, England, the adversary struck back with extraordinary force.

On the night of June 30, 1837, Isaac Russell rushed into the room where Apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde were sleeping, shouting, 'I want you should get up and pray for me that I may be delivered from the evil spirits that are tormenting me to such a degree that I feel I cannot live long, unless I obtain relief.'

Kimball and Hyde rose and laid their hands on Russell's head. But as Kimball finished the prayer, Orson Hyde recorded: 'His voice faltered, and his mouth was shut, and he began to tremble and reel to and fro, and fell on the floor like a dead man, and uttered a deep groan. I immediately seized him by the shoulder, being satisfied that the devils were exceeding angry because we attempted to cast them out of Brother Russell, and they made a powerful attempt upon Elder Kimball as if to dispatch him at once.'

Hyde and Richards then laid hands on Kimball and rebuked the evil spirits. Once revived, both Kimball and Hyde simultaneously received a vision — they 'could distinctly see the evil spirits, who foamed and gnashed their teeth at us.' Willard Richards timed the vision at ninety minutes.

When Kimball later reported this to Joseph Smith, the Prophet rejoiced: 'I then knew that the work of God had taken root in that land.' He assured Kimball that 'the nearer a person approaches the Lord, a great power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishments of His purposes.'

At the sesquicentennial of the British mission, President Gordon B. Hinckley referred to the event simply as 'that terrifying experience at Wilfred Street in Preston.'