Philo Dibble — Witnessing the Vision of the Three Degrees of Glory

“The vision which is recorded in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants was given at the house of “Father Johnson,” in Hiram, Ohio, and during the time that Joseph and Sidney were in the spirit and saw the heavens open, there were other men in the room, perhaps twelve, among whom I was one during a part of the time—probably two-thirds of the time,—I saw the glory and felt the power, but did not see the vision. The events and conversation between the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon were as follows:—Joseph would say, “What do I see?” He would then relate what he had seen or what he was looking at. Then Sidney would reply, “I see the same.” But Sidney would say nothing while he was seeing the vision, only as he observed it, and would then say, “I see the same.” Presently Sidney would say, “What do I see?” and would repeat what he had seen or was seeing, and Joseph would reply, “I see the same.” This manner of conversation was repeated at short intervals to the end of the vision, and during the whole time not a word was spoken by any other person. I noticed that Joseph’s face was exceedingly pale, and he seemed to be dressed in an element of glorious white, and his face glowed as if it were transparent. Joseph sat firmly and calmly all the time in the midst of a magnificent glory, but Sidney sat limp and pale, apparently as limber as a rag, observing which, Joseph remarked, smilingly, “Sidney is not as used to it as I am.””

— Philo Dibble, "Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith"