Audible Divine Communication

Lyman Littlefield Hears Divine Testimony in Jared Carter's Voice at First Meeting

Published March 25, 2026 at 5:34 PM

1830s · 1831
Near Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan
Todd Morgan

Contributed by

Todd Morgan

Beaumont, CA, 92223

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When Lyman Omer Littlefield was a young boy in Michigan, his parents attended a meeting held by two Mormon Elders in a log schoolhouse near Pontiac, Oakland County. His parents were members of the Methodist Church and did not wish to exchange their faith for another, but they went to hear what these strangers had to say. Young Lyman was permitted to accompany them in a sleigh through winter. As they turned from the main road to drive near the schoolhouse, they knew that meeting had commenced, for they heard the speaker in a full and animated tone of voice enunciating his doctrines. It was the voice of Jared Carter. In Lyman's own words: 'At the very first sound of Jared Carter's voice—for it was he who was speaking—a strange, unaccountable feeling came over me, and before hearing one word pronounced by him, there was something connected with the tone of his voice that convinced me he was a man of God and was telling the truth.' The writer entered that meeting prepared to believe all the speaker said, and from that hour became a believer in what many call Mormonism. This experience of being convinced of the truth of a speaker through the power of the Spirit, even before hearing the doctrines preached, demonstrates the reality of divine testimony bearing witness through the voice.

In Their Own Words

“My parents were members of the Methodist Church, and were quite satisfied with their religious standing. They had no desire to change their faith, but they were willing to hear what these strangers had to say. I was permitted to accompany them. We went in a sleigh, the weather being cold and the ground covered with snow. As we turned from the main road to drive near the schoolhouse, we knew that the meeting had commenced, for we heard the speaker in a full and animated tone of voice, enunciating his doctrines. It was the voice of Jared Carter. At the very first sound of Jared Carter's voice—for it was he who was speaking—a strange, unaccountable feeling came over me, and before hearing one word pronounced by him, there was something connected with the tone of his voice that convinced me he was a man of God and was telling the truth. I entered that meeting prepared to believe all the speaker said, and from that hour I became a believer in what many call Mormonism. I had not heard the doctrines preached, but the Spirit of God had borne witness to my spirit that the man was a servant of the Most High.”

— Lyman Omer Littlefield, Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints

Sources & References

Lyman Omer Littlefield, Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints (Logan, Utah: The Utah Journal Co., 1888) Full first-person account: Lyman Omer Littlefield, Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints (Logan, Utah: The Utah Journal Co., 1888), 27-28. https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesofl00litt/page/27/mode/2up

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