The Savior Appears at the First Meeting Joseph Smith Held in Kirtland

Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, who claimed to be the only living witness present at the first meeting Joseph Smith held in Kirtland, recorded the following extraordinary account:

"The Smith family was driven from New York, and a small church had been organized. Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, and Ziba Peterson were members. Well, I being anxious, though young, to learn about the plates from those who knew all about it, my mother and I went up to the Smith family the next night after they came to Kirtland. As I went in, there were two or three others present. They were all there, from the old gentleman and his wife to all the sons and daughters. As we stood there talking to them, Joseph and Martin Harris came in. Joseph looked around very solemnly. It was the first time some of them had ever seen him.

Said he, 'There are enough here to hold a little meeting.' They got a board and put it across two chairs to make seats. Martin Harris sat on a little box at Joseph's feet. They sang and prayed. Joseph got up and began to speak to us. As he began to speak very solemnly and very earnestly, all at once his countenance changed and he stood mute. Those who looked at him that day said there was a search light within him, over every part of his body. I never saw anything like it on the earth. I could not take my eyes off him; he got so white that anyone who saw him would have thought he was transparent. I remember I thought I could almost see the cheek bones through the flesh. I have been through many changes since but that is photographed on my brain. I shall remember it and see in my mind's eye as long as I remain upon the earth.

He stood some moments. He looked over the congregation as if to pierce every heart. He said, 'Do you know who has been in your midst?' One of the Smiths said an angel of the Lord. Martin Harris said, 'It was our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.' Joseph put his hand down on Martin and said: 'God revealed that to you. Brethren and sisters, the Spirit of God has been here. The Savior has been in your midst this night and I want you to remember it. There is a veil over your eyes for you could not endure to look upon Him. You must be fed with milk, not with strong meat. I want you to remember this as if it were the last thing that escaped my lips. He has given all of you to me and has sealed you up to everlasting life that where he is, you may be also. And if you are tempted of Satan say, Get behind me, Satan.'

These words are figured upon my brain and I never took my eye off his countenance. Then he knelt down and prayed. I have never heard anything like it before or since. I felt that he was talking to the Lord and that power rested down upon the congregation. Every soul felt it. The spirit rested upon us in every fiber of our bodies, and we received a sermon from the lips of the representative of God."

Lightner later testified: "I am the only living witness who was at the first meeting that the Prophet held in Kirtland."

In a more detailed account, Lightner notes that when Joseph identified the presence of the Savior, Martin Harris, sitting on a small box at Joseph's feet, slid to his knees and clasped his arms around the Prophet's knees while declaring, 'I know, it was our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.' Lightner also recalls that the prayer following this revelation was of such significant length that some members of the congregation stood up to rest before kneeling again.