Thomas Marsh Appointed as Physician to the Church by Divine Revelation

When Thomas Marsh was baptized by David Whitmer in Cayuga Lake and ordained an elder by Oliver Cowdery with six other elders at Father Whitmer's house, Joseph Smith Jr. received a revelation appointing Thomas Marsh specifically as a physician to the Church. Although Marsh had not been trained in medical practice in the conventional sense, the Prophet Joseph Smith received divine revelation confirming Marsh in this office. This appointment placed him in a position of responsibility and authority to minister to the sick and afflicted within the Church. This divine appointment of a specific calling through revelation demonstrates how the Lord directed the affairs of His Church in those early days, assigning individuals to particular positions based on divine wisdom rather than solely on conventional qualifications.

In his autobiography, Marsh recounts that after moving to Palmyra in September 1830 and being baptized by David Whitmer in Cayuga Lake, he was ordained an elder by Oliver Cowdery with six other elders at Father Whitmer's house. Following the conference held later that same month in Fayette, Joseph Smith received the revelation (Doctrine and Covenants 31) appointing him a physician to the Church. Marsh notes that while the revelation promised he would be a physician to the Church, it explicitly stated he would not be one to the world because they would not receive him.