Elder Melvin J. Ballard's Visionary Experience in the Temple
Published October 21, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Contributed by
Young Woman's Journal Research
While laboring among Indigenous people on the Fort Peck Reservation and seeking the Lord's help and a witness regarding the missionary work, Melvin J. Ballard experienced a vision or dream in which he found himself in a temple room before a glorious personage. The Savior rose from a raised platform, stepped toward Ballard, smiled, called him by name, embraced and kissed him, and pressed him to His bosom. Ballard fell at the Savior's feet, saw the marks of the nails, and described bathing the feet with tears and kisses. The experience occurred approximately two years before Ballard's call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Afterward, he shared it with fellow missionary W. Leo Isgren; shortly after the vision, while visiting a merchant in Helena, Montana, Ballard saw a life-sized portrait of Jesus Christ.
In Their Own Words
“I remember one testimony, among the many testimonies which I have received. You will pardon me for referring to it. On this occasion I had sought the Lord, under such circumstances, and that night I received a wonderful manifestation and impression which has never left me. I found myself one evening in the dreams of the night in that sacred building, the temple. After a season of prayer and rejoicing I was informed that I should have the privilege of entering into one of those rooms, to meet a glorious personage, and, as I entered the door, I saw, seated on a raised platform, the most glorious being my eyes have ever beheld or that I ever conceived existed in all the eternal worlds. As I approached to be introduced, He arose and stepped towards me with extended arms, and He smiled as He softly spoke my name. If I live to be a million years old I shall never forget that smile. He put His arms around me and kissed me, as He took me into His bosom, and He blessed me until my whole being was thrilled. As He finished I fell at His feet, and there saw the marks of the nails; and as I kissed them, with deep joy swelling through my whole being, I felt that I was in heaven indeed. The feeling that I had there, of His love, His tenderness, and His mercy, is something that I cannot describe. I know that He lives, for I have seen Him.”
— Melvin J. Ballard, as published in the Ensign, December 2014
Sources & References
The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 35 no. 2 (February 1924). L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University digital collections. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/25630 (account extracted verbatim from the collection's page-level OCR; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Lawrence R. Flake, Prophets and Apostles … The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 30 no. 9 (September 1919). L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University digital collections. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/9500 (account extracted verbatim from the collection's page-level OCR; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Lawrence R. Flake, Prophets and Apostles …
Related Miracles
Similar miracle types and stories from the 1910s.
Miracle of the Week
One remarkable, documented account in your inbox every Monday, drawn from the full archive.