Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood (late May–early June 1829, between Harmony, PA and Colesville, NY)

Sometime in late May or early June 1829, following the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were visited by the ancient apostles Peter, James, and John along the Susquehanna River in the wilderness between Harmony, Pennsylvania, and Colesville, New York. The heavenly messengers laid their hands upon Joseph and Oliver, ordaining them to the Melchizedek Priesthood and conferring the higher priesthood’s keys and authority — including the authority to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost and to govern the restored Church and its ordinances. Oliver Cowdery testified repeatedly about this visitation throughout his life; his 1834 and later statements and his 1846 letter to Phineas Young and other reminiscences explicitly describe standing "in the presence of Peter" to receive the greater priesthood. Contemporary and later sources likewise link this visitation as the higher, subsequent ordination that enabled organization and governance of the Church.