George Albert Smith's Spiritual Battle with Two Spirits
Published October 4, 2026 at 9:26 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While preparing for baptism in his youth, George Albert Smith felt his mind was wrought upon by two competing spirits: one of darkness and one of light. During his daily secret prayers near a grain field, he was repeatedly distracted by the vivid mental auditory illusion of wild cattle destroying the nearby grain, which caused him to turn his head until he finally resolved to be baptized.
Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):
I retired to a secret place daily, and prayed to my Heavenly Father with all my heart to direct me in the right way, and give me a knowledge of the truth of his kingdom, that I might not be led into any of the fooleries which were so common in the world. My mind was wrought upon by two spirits, the one of darkness and the other of light. Many times when I would kneel to pray, I imagined myself surrounded by a herd of wild cattle, as the place I retired to was near a grain field; I could hear them destroying the grain; the shock was at times so sudden that I turned my head to look at them. This kind of annoyance continued until I made up my mind to be baptized. I was baptized on the 10th of September, 1832, by Elder Joseph H. Wakefield. From the moment I was baptized, the annoyance of the evil spirit ceased, and I felt a calmness of mind that I had never before enjoyed.
In Their Own Words
“I retired to a secret place daily, and prayed to my Heavenly Father with all my heart to direct me in the right way, and give me a knowledge of the truth of his kingdom, that I might not be led into any of the fooleries which were so common in the world. My mind was wrought upon by two spirits, the one of darkness and the other of light. Many times when I would kneel to pray, I imagined myself surrounded by a herd of wild cattle, as the place I retired to was near a grain field; I could hear them destroying the grain; the shock was at times so sudden that I turned my head to look at them. This kind of annoyance continued until I made up my mind to be baptized. I was baptized on the 10th of September, 1832, by Elder Joseph H. Wakefield. From the moment I was baptized, the annoyance of the evil spirit ceased, and I felt a calmness of mind that I had never before enjoyed.”
— George Albert Smith, Sketch of the Autobiography of George Albert Smith
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 8 July 1865 (Vol. 27, No. 27). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1865-07-08_27_27 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 27, No. 28, July 15, 1865, p. 438 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1865-07-15_27_28 Fuller account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 27, No. 28, July 15, 1865, p. 438 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1865-07-15_27_28
Related Miracles
Similar miracle types and stories from the 1830s.
Miracle of the Week
One remarkable, documented account in your inbox every Monday, drawn from the full archive.