I Believe the Book of Mormon: The Conversion of Willard Richards

Willard Richards, a physician and schoolteacher born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, first encountered the restored gospel while practicing medicine near Boston in 1835. He learned of the Church through newspaper reports regarding a 'Gold Bible' found by Joseph Smith. His cousin, Brigham Young, who had already joined the Church, provided him with a copy of the Book of Mormon. Richards read the volume twice in ten days and was profoundly influenced by its contents, feeling a strong spirit of testimony that compelled him to investigate further. He subsequently sold his medical practice and traveled approximately seven hundred miles to Kirtland, Ohio, to meet with the Saints. After arriving in Kirtland in October 1836, he continued his investigation for several months. On December 31, 1836, he was baptized by his cousin, Brigham Young, in the icy waters of the Chagrin River. Shortly thereafter, on January 8, 1837, he was confirmed a member of the Church by Reynolds Cahoon. This conversion marked the beginning of a life of dedicated service, leading to his call as an apostle and his eventual role as a primary scribe and historian for the Church.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in On Willard Richards – Times & Seasons):

In 1836, Willard obtained a copy of the Book of Mormon, and later declared that before reading half a page he was convinced that it was either of God or the devil—that it could not be the work of man. He read the book twice in about ten days and immediately resolved to journey to Kirtland, Ohio, the current gathering place of church members. He arrived in October and “gave the work an unceasing and untiring investigation until the day of his baptism” by his cousin, Brigham Young, on 31 December 1836.