Vilate Kimball — Vision of Polygamy

During a period of intense personal struggle regarding the principle of plural marriage, Vilate Kimball engaged in fervent prayer. While pleading with the Lord, her mind was opened in a vision. She described the experience as darkness fleeing before the morning sun, replaced by a manifestation that showed her the glory of the principle, the increase of kingdoms, and the eternal nature of the work. The experience left her soul satisfied and filled with the Spirit of God.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in Helen Mar Kimball, 'Scenes and Incidents in Nauvoo,' Woman’s Exponent 10:10 (15 October 1881): 74):

His anguish and my mother's, were indescribable and when unable to endure it longer, she retired to her room, where with a broken and contrite heart, she poured out her grief to God. My father’s heart was raised at the same time in supplication, and while pleading as one would plead for life, the vision of her mind was opened, and as darkness fleeth before the morning sun, so did her sorrow and the groveling things of earth vanish away, and before her she saw the principle of Celestial Marriage illustrated in all its beauty and glory. She was also shown the woman he had taken to wife, and contemplated with joy the vast and boundless love and union which this order would bring about, as well as the increase of kingdoms, power, and glory extending throughout the eternities, worlds without end. Her soul was satisfied and filled with the Spirit of God.