Lorenzo Snow received a personal revelation about the destiny of mankind that the Prophet Joseph Smith later confirmed as true. Lorenzo related: "The Spirit of the Lord rested mightily upon me—the eyes of my understanding were opened, and I saw as clear as the sun at noonday, with wonder and astonishment, the pathway of God and man. I formed the following couplet, which expresses the revelation, as it was shown to me ... : As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be" (quoted in LeRoi C. Snow, "Devotion to a Divine Inspiration," Improvement Era, June 1919, 656).
After the death of President Woodruff in 1898, President Snow saw and was instructed by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Salt Lake Temple. President Snow later related this experience to his granddaughter, adding, "I want you to remember that this is the testimony of your grand-father, that he told you with his own lips that he actually saw the Savior, here in the Temple, and talked with Him face to face" (quoted in LeRoi C. Snow, "An Experience of My Father's," Improvement Era, Sept. 1933, 677).
"Jesus has commanded us to be perfect even as God, the Father, is perfect," taught President Snow. "It is our duty to try to be perfect, and it is our duty to improve each day, and look upon our course last week and do things better this week; do things better today than we did them yesterday, and go on and on from one degree of righteousness to another" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1898, 13).
1814
Born on 3 April to Oliver Snow and Rosetta Leonora Pettibone Snow in Mantua, Ohio
1836
Age 22, baptized on 19 June in the Chagrin River, which runs through Kirtland, Ohio
1837
Age 23, serves a mission to Ohio
183839
Ages 2425, serves a mission to Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio
184043
Ages 2629, serves a mission to Great Britain
1845
Age 31, marries Charlotte Merrill Squires, Mary Adaline Goddard, Sarah Ann Prichard, and Harriet Amelia Squires on 17 January*
1849
Age 34, ordained an Apostle by Heber C. Kimball on 12 February
184952
Ages 3538, serves a mission to Italy, England, Switzerland, and Malta
1864
Age 50, serves a short mission to the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands
187377
Ages 5963, serves as counselor to President Brigham Young
1885
Age 71, serves a mission to the Indians of northwestern United States
1898
Age 84, sustained as President of the Church on 13 September; keeps George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith as counselors
1899
Age 85, begins a drive to reemphasize the law of tithing, starting in St. George, Utah
1901
Age 87, dies on 10 October in Salt Lake City after three years as President of the Church
Summary
Lorenzo Snow, fifth President of the Church, was instructed by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Salt Lake Temple following the death of President Woodruff. President Snow later told his granddaughter, "I want you to remember that this is the testimony of your grand-father, that he told you with his own lips that he actually saw the Savior, here in the Temple, and talked with Him face to face." President Snow taught the Saints to pay their tithing and that if they did, the Lord would bless them with all they needed.
