Sidney Rigdon's Conversion — A Fortnight of Prayer and Revelation in Mentor, Ohio (1830)

After reading the Book of Mormon and praying for direction for a fortnight, Sidney Rigdon received a revelation from Jesus Christ confirming the truth of the work, which he declared in the words 'flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto me, but my father which is in heaven.'

Following his initial skepticism, Rigdon engaged in an intense period of study, reading the Book of Mormon day and night, even finding it difficult to stop for meals. When he inquired about Joseph Smith's education and learned he lacked a formal education, Rigdon concluded it was impossible for Smith to have written the book himself, remarking that if God ever gave a revelation, this must be it. Facing potential loss of his professional career and livelihood, Rigdon discussed the matter with his wife, Phebe, who resolved to follow him into poverty, stating, 'I have counted the cost, and I am perfectly satisfied to follow you; it is my desire to do the will of God, come life or come death.' Regarding the spiritual confirmation he received, Rigdon later detailed in an 1834 account that he saw in a vision various religious orders and his own Reformed Baptist society, all of which appeared corrupt, while Oliver Cowdery appeared with a heart 'as pure as an angel,' serving as a divine testimony of the book's authenticity.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in F. Mark McKiernan, 'The Conversion of Sidney Rigdon to Mormonism,' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 5, no. 2 (1970)):

Late in October 1830, four tired Mormon missionaries reached the village of Mentor, Ohio. Their leader, Parley P. Pratt, had persuaded them to walk two hundred miles out of their way to bring the message of the Book of Mormon to his friend, Sidney Rigdon. It was to be a most opportune meeting for both Rigdon and the representatives of the infant Mormon movement. The Book of Mormon gave Rigdon answers to questions which he had been asking for years. The Mormon movement was to him the end of his quest for the fullness of the gospel as Jesus had taught it in New Testament times. By 1830 Sidney Rigdon had developed a personal theology which, although following the teachings of Alexander Campbell in many respects, rejected some of Campbell’s ideas. Both Rigdon and Campbell accepted baptism by immersion as the biblical form by which Christ was baptized and which all men should follow.