Joseph Hovey Receives an Overwhelming Testimony of the Holy Ghost While Praying Over the Book of Mormon

In Pike County, Illinois in 1839, Joseph Grafton Hovey and his wife Martha were introduced to the restored gospel for the first time through Elder George White Pitkin, a refugee from the Missouri persecutions. They obtained the Book of Mormon and other books, and the records 'carried conviction to our hearts.'

Hovey recorded what happened when he prayed for the first time:

'I, Joseph, for the first time bowed myself before God in secret and implored his mercy and asked him if what I had read out [of] the Book of Mormon was true and if the man, Joseph Smith, was the one who translated these marvelous records. I, Joseph, asked God for a testimony by the Holy Spirit and truly I got what I asked for and more abundantly.'

He and his wife Martha were baptized on July 4, 1839.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

In the spring of 1839, Elder George W. Pitkin, a refugee from the Missouri persecutions, came to Pike County, Illinois, and preached the gospel. My wife and I attended his meetings and were much interested. We obtained the Book of Mormon and other books, and the records carried conviction to our hearts. I, Joseph, for the first time bowed myself before God in secret and implored his mercy and asked him if what I had read out of the Book of Mormon was true and if the man, Joseph Smith, was the one who translated these marvelous records. I, Joseph, asked God for a testimony by the Holy Spirit and truly I got what I asked for and more abundantly. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon me in such a powerful manner that I was filled with joy and peace, and I knew of a surety that the work was of God. My wife Martha also received a testimony, and we were both baptized on the 4th of July, 1839, by Elder George W. Pitkin.