Elder Theodore Tobiason's Transfiguration of President Heber J. Grant
Published October 21, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Contributed by
Young Woman's Journal Research
While attending a general conference, Elder Theodore Tobiason witnessed a miracle where President Heber J. Grant's face, form, and gestures assumed those of the late President Joseph F. Smith. The transfiguration persisted for some time, and Elder Tobiason's testimony of this event was later confirmed by several other witnesses.
In Their Own Words
“Elder Tobiason was listening intently to a discourse delivered by our new President Heber J. Grant, when all at once the man standing before him lost his natural appearance and assumed by miraculous means the very face, form, and gestures of our late revered and beloved President Joseph F. Smith. Elder Tobiason turned his head about again and again to convince himself that he was not mistaken. Each time the miracle persisted and the transfiguration of President Heber J. Grant remained complete for sometime. It was the mantle of the President Joseph F. Smith falling upon his successor President Heber J. Grant. While Elder Tobiason had no need, so far as he knew, of this miraculous demonstration to convince him of the rightful succession of President Grant, yet the occurrence lit his soul and comforted his heart. At the following month’s service when he bore his testimony of this occurrence, several others who witnessed it bore testimony to its veracity. — The Young Woman's Journal 30:8”
Sources & References
The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 30 no. 8 (August 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)
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