Mosiah Hancock's Vision of the Pre-Earth Life — He Sees God, the Savior, and the War in Heaven

Around age 21, Mosiah Hancock received one of the most detailed pre-earth life visions ever recorded by an early Latter-day Saint. He described it with great reverence:

'Me thought I was taken away somewhere to Oh! such a Glorious Realm. I saw He whom at that time we Reverently spoke of as The Great Eternal. I saw the females at his right side... I there saw the Savior; and calling me by name He said, "Mosiah, I have brought you here that you may know how it was before you went to yonder earth."'

He saw the spirit world as pairs — male and female together — marching before the throne of God, being instructed in every discipline imaginable. He witnessed the War in Heaven — saw the Savior volunteer to go and die for mankind, and saw Lucifer arise with his competing plan. He saw the conflict, participated in the battle, and saw his own parents chosen.

'The one called Levi became my father, and the one called Clarissa was my mother here on earth.'

He concluded: 'I shall not attempt to tell how they were formed... suffice it to say, they were created in pairs.' The vision was so sacred he refused to describe it fully, saying 'some things I have no power to describe in words or to express in writing.'

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

I was permitted by the power of God, to go into His presence and into my former abode. I saw the Eternal Father on His throne and His wives on his left side, all shining in glory; I saw the Savior and knew Him. It takes the power of the Holy Ghost to tell the difference between the Father and the Son, they look so much alike. Jesus said: ‘Mosiah, I have brought you here to show you how it was before you went to yonder earth.’ I saw the spirits of the people who were to come to this earth, and they were in pairs, male and female. I saw them marching before the throne of God, and they were being instructed in every discipline imaginable. I saw the War in Heaven; I saw the Savior volunteer to go and die for mankind, and I saw Lucifer arise with his competing plan. I saw the conflict, and I participated in the battle. I saw my own parents chosen. The one called Levi became my father, and the one called Clarissa was my mother here on earth. I shall not attempt to tell how they were formed... suffice it to say, they were created in pairs.