Lorenzo Snow's Vision and Testimony of the Gospel
Published October 11, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Apostle Lorenzo Snow's testimony is marked by two distinct, profound divine manifestations. The first occurred in 1836, less than two weeks after his baptism and the laying on of hands, when the heavens were opened to him. During this experience, the Lord revealed a knowledge that He was God and that He had sent His Son into the world to be crucified for the sins of the world. Snow testified that this revelation provided a perfect knowledge regarding the existence of God and the truth of the Restoration, stating that no man could exceed the testimony he received at that time. Decades later, following the death of President Wilford Woodruff in 1898, President Snow experienced a second, singular manifestation in the Salt Lake Temple. After praying for guidance at the sacred altar and initially receiving no answer, he walked through the corridor leading to the celestial room, where the resurrected Jesus Christ appeared to him. As later recounted to his granddaughter, Alice Armeda Snow, the Savior stood about three feet above the floor on what appeared to be a plate of solid gold, instructing Snow to reorganize the First Presidency at once and confirming his calling to succeed President Woodruff.
In Their Own Words
“I was baptized by Elder John Boynton, then one of the Twelve Apostles, June, 1836, in Kirtland, Ohio. The manifestation did not immediately follow my baptism, as I had expected, but, although the time was deferred, when I did receive it, its realization was more perfect, tangible and miraculous than even my strongest hopes had led me to anticipate. Some two or three weeks after I was baptized, one day while engaged in my studies, I began to reflect upon the fact that I had not obtained a knowledge of the truth of the work, that I had not received the manifestation that I had expected, and I felt a very unusual, remarkable depression of spirit; it was a dark, melancholy, almost despairing feeling. While I was thus engaged in my studies, I felt a vibration of a warm, heavenly influence pass over me. I immediately thought to myself, what is this? It seemed to go through my whole being, my heart, my liver, my bowels, and every part of my system. I felt it in the crown of my head and to the soles of my feet. Oh, I thought, what is this? This is surely the power of God; this is the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, of which the Scriptures speak, and which my baptizer promised that I should receive. I felt it in every part of my system. I felt it in my bones and my marrow, and I was filled with a peace, and joy, and happiness indescribable. I felt that I was a child of God, and that I had been born of God. I knew that God lived, and that He was my Father, and that He had sent His Son into the world to be crucified for the sins of the world. I knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. I had a perfect knowledge of this, and I knew it as well as I knew that I existed. No man could have told me more; no man could have given me a more perfect knowledge. It was a revelation from God, and the heavens were opened to me, and I had a perfect knowledge of the truth of this work.”
— Lorenzo Snow, as recorded in Eliza R. Snow, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 16 November 1891 (Vol. 53, No. 46). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1891-11-16_53_46 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Dennis B. Horne, "Remembering President Lorenzo Snow's testimony and the special manifestation he received in the Salt Lake Temple," LDS Living, August 10, 2021. https://www.ldsliving.com/remembering-president-lorenzo-snows-testimony-and-the-special-manifestation-he-received-in-the-salt-lake-temple/s/94626 Full first-person account: Eliza R. Snow, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1884), 8-9. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Biography_and_Family_Record_of_Lorenzo_Snow_monochrome.djvu/33
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