Elizabeth Ann Whitney and Newel K. Whitney Receive Divine Cloud and Voice at Midnight

“One night—it was midnight—as my husband and I, in our house at Kirtland, were praying to the Father to be shown the way, the Spirit rested upon us and a cloud overshadowed the house. It was as though we were out of doors. The house passed away from our vision. We were not conscious of anything but the presence of the Spirit and the cloud that was over us. We were wrapped in the cloud. A solemn awe pervaded us. We saw the cloud and we felt the Spirit of the Lord. Then we heard a voice out of the cloud saying: 'Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!' We were filled with joy and peace, and we felt that the Lord had heard our prayers and that He would soon reveal to us the way of life and salvation. We waited with patience and hope for the fulfillment of this promise. In the course of time, the missionaries came to Kirtland, and we were among the first to hear the message of the restored gospel. We were baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When the Prophet Joseph Smith and his wife Emma arrived in Kirtland, my husband, Newel K. Whitney, was the first to welcome them. He took them into our home, and they stayed with us for several weeks. I felt that this was the fulfillment of the vision we had seen of a cloud, as of glory, resting upon our house, and that the word of the Lord had indeed come to us.”

— Elizabeth Ann Whitney, 'A Leaf from an Autobiography,' Woman's Exponent