The Cradle of the Restoration Part 5 - The Peter Whitmer Farm (3 Witnesses to The Book of Mormon)

Peter Whitmer Log Home

Peter Whitmer Sr. and his wife Mary moved to Fayette, New York in 1827 with them and their eight children.  David Whitmer, one of their sons, became seriously interested in the events surrounding Joseph Smith Jr. and the restoration of the gospel.  He became converted and gained a certain knowledge of the truthfulness of the gospel  and the works being done in it's restoration.  He wanted to assist Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in anyway he could.  At this time in 1829, Joseph and Oliver were in Harmony, Pennsylvania, working on the translation of the Book of Mormon.

Chapel and Visitor's Center at Peter Whitmer Farm

Miracle at the Farm

In May of 1829, Oliver Cowdery wrote to David Whitmer about the work of the translation and about the continuing persecution they were experiencing which was delaying the work.  They discussed the possibility of them coming to live with the Whitmer's in Fayette and Peter Whitmer Sr. invited Joseph and Oliver to stay at their farm as long as was necessary to complete the translation.  Joseph and Oliver accepted the offer and made preparations for the 3 day trip from Harmony, Pennsylvania to Fayette, New York.  However May was an important time for farmers.

During this time, farmers plowed and prepared their fields for planting and an Autumn harvest and David's help on the family farm was essential.  Peter Whitmer Sr. told David that he could proceed with his journey to pick up Joseph and Oliver as soon as the fields were plowed and ready for planting.  So David went to work with determined zeal to accomplish this task as soon as possible so he could help Joseph and Oliver.  At the end of this first day, David discovered that he had accomplished the amount of work the usually would take two days to accomplish.  Peter Whitmer Sr. was much impressed with this and said in his own words "There must be an overruling hand in this, and I think you would better go down to Pennsylvania as soon as your plaster of paris is sown." 

Plaster of paris is something farms laid in their fields to reduce the acidity soil.  But next morning, David went out to fulfill this task when he discovered that the entire field had been spread already and the job was finished.  David asked his sister who had done the work already and she said she watched three strangers the day before spread the plaster with remarkable skill and assumed they were hired workers.  David thanked the Lord for this divine help and set off immediately to fetch Joseph and Oliver.  The three arrived at the Whitmer farm the first of June.

3 Witnesses to the Book of Mormon

The Three Witnesses to The Book of Mormon

Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, each requested of Joseph Smith to inquire of the Lord if they could be witnesses of the gold plates and the translation.  The Bible teaches us that "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" 2nd Corinthians 13:1  The Lord gave them a revelation which is recorded as D&C 17 that through faith they would receive a testimony of these things and they would be witnesses to the world of their divine nature.  In our own historical records, 

Thereafter the four men retired to the woods and sought for the promised fulfillment of the revelation. After two unsuccessful attempts, however, Martin Harris felt that his presence was the reason for their failure to receive an answer. He withdrew a distance and offered his private prayers. The other three had no sooner resumed their prayers when Moroni appeared in glory holding the plates in his hands. Joseph recorded, “He turned over the leaves one by one, so that we could see them, and discern the engravings thereon distinctly. … We heard a voice from out of the bright light above us, saying, ‘These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God. The translation of them which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear.’

“I now left David and Oliver, and went in pursuit of Martin Harris, whom I found at a considerable distance, fervently engaged in prayer. He soon told me, however, that he had not yet prevailed with the Lord, and earnestly requested me to join him in prayer, that he might also realize the same blessings which we had just received. We accordingly joined in prayer, and ultimately obtained our desires, for before we had yet finished, the same vision was opened to our view, at least it was again opened to me, and I once more beheld and heard the same things; whilst at the same moment, Martin Harris cried out, apparently in an ecstasy of joy, ‘’Tis enough; ’tis enough; mine eyes have beheld; mine eyes have beheld.’”

Map of Waterloo and Fayette, New York and the Peter Whitmer Farm

The testimony of the three witnesses is recorded at the beginning of every copy of the Book of Mormon. Each of these three men, though all for a time fell from the Church, never denied their testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. And in the woods nearby the Peter Whitmer Farm, is where this marvelous manifestation took place. It was here the Book of Mormon was finished, it was here that the Lord allowed three ordinary men to become some of the greatest witnesses of the Restoration.

Information gathered at https://www.lds.org/manual/church-history-in-the-fulness-of-times-student-manual/chapter-five-coming-forth-of-the-book-of-mormon-and-restoration-of-the-priesthood?lang=eng#12-32502_000_005

The Cradle of the Restoration Part 4 - The Hill Cumorah

East side of Hill Cumorah in Manchester, New York

About 3 miles south of the Smith Family farm lies a  a small hill.  On September 22nd, 1823 in the Log Home on the Smith Farm, Joseph Smith was visited by an angel whose name was Moroni.  That night, Joseph Smith Jr. went to bed pondering upon the vision he had witnessed 3 years previous.  Wondering about what the Lord expected of him next, he offered up a prayer to God.  In Joseph Smith's own words, he says "While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor."

"He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.

He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants;" (Joseph Smith History 1:30, 33-34

Joseph Smith Jr was given much instruction by Moroni that night.  Moroni visited Joseph 3 separate times that night, each time delivering the same message exactly as the first, each time though adding further council and direction.  Joseph got no sleep that night, and his mind still was bewildered about what he had been shown and told.  

Hill Cumorah in early 1900's

By the time Moroni had delivered his message for a third time and left, morning had come.  Joseph then proceed to go about his morning chores and duties on his father's farm.  He said his strength was utterly gone and his father noticed his son was not well and told Joseph to return to the house.  As he climbed over the fence from the field, he lost all energy and collapsed on the ground.  As he awoke, he saw the same personage, Moroni, standing above him.  He then again for a fourth time received the same message he had been given by Moroni the night before.  As he finished, he was commanded to go and tell his father about what he had seen and heard.  In obedience to that direction, Joseph did and told his father all the events of that night.  His father listened and said that the vision was of God and that he should go to the place the angel directed him.

Joseph with Moroni at Hill Cumorah

So, back to Joseph Smith's account.  "On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box. This stone was thick and rounding in the middle on the upper side, and thinner towards the edges, so that the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but the edge all around was covered with earth."

"Having removed the earth, I obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up. I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates,....."

"I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by the messenger, and was again informed that the time for bringing them forth had not yet arrived, neither would it, until four years from that time; but he told me that I should come to that place precisely in one year from that time, and that he would there meet with me, and that I should continue to do so until the time should come for obtaining the plates.

 Accordingly, as I had been commanded, I went at the end of each year, and at each time I found the same messenger there, and received instruction and intelligence from him at each of our interviews, respecting what the Lord was going to do, and how and in what manner his kingdom was to be conducted in the last days"

Statue of Angel Moroni on Hill Cumorah

On September 22, 1827, Joseph Smith and his wife Emma traveled to the Hill Cumorah.  There, Joseph was finally entrusted with care of the plates, to be translated into The Book of Mormon.

In 1928, The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints purchased the Hill and the surrounding land.  In 1935 they built a granite monument upon the top of the Angel Moroni holding the gold plates.

Today, a visitor's center is at the base of the Hill, giving visitor's tourist information about the Church and the surrounding Church sites.  Every summer, the Hill Cumorah Pageant begins, a huge outdoor theatrical event where scenes from the Book of Mormon are acted out.  Each showing is free and is open to all visitors.

Information gathered at josephsmith.net and lds.org