John Davies' Testimony of the Gift of the Holy Ghost
Published October 18, 2026 at 4:11 AM
Contributed by
Zion's Trumpet Research
John Davies, formerly of the Baptist faith, relates how his minister, Mr. Rees, attempted to discredit the Latter-day Saints by providing him with a bottle of phosphorus, claiming it was used by Saints to simulate miracles. After testing the substance and finding it dangerous, Davies concluded his minister was a deceiver. He was subsequently baptized, received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and bears witness that the spiritual signs promised to the Saints are real.
In Their Own Words
“But when I tried the contents of the bottle, it burned my fingers! and by then I began to slow down, and I said that it would be impossible for such a thing as that to be used by the Saints on their heads, since it burned so frightfully; and I saw that it was 'false tales' that were told me by my pastor. The next order I received was for me to have nothing to do with the deceivers, lest they deceive me also; but despite that, I decided to test the deceit, since the Saints promised the gift of the Holy Ghost to anyone who would obey. Thus, I was baptized for the remission of sins; and by now I know that Mr. Rees and his bottle are the deceivers, and that the signs follow the Saints as they claim. — Udgorn Seion (Zion's Trumpet), February 1849 (English translation by Ronald D. Dennis)”
Sources & References
Ronald D. Dennis, trans. and ed., Zion's Trumpet: 1849 Welsh Mormon Periodical (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University), February 1849 issue. https://rsc.byu.edu/zions-trumpet-1849-welsh-mormon-periodical/february-1849 (account extracted verbatim from the published English translation; research confidence: high)
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