The Lord, who is rich in
mercy and ever willing to answer the consistent prayer of
the humble, after we had called upon Him in fervent manner .
. . condescended to manifest to us His will. On a sudden, as
from the midst of eternity, the voice of the Redeemer spake
peace to us, while the veil was parted and the angel of God
came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously
looked for message, and the keys of the Gospel of repentance.
Quoted in Joseph Smith—History 1:71, footnote.
"Joseph stood on the
shore when his father came out of the water and as he took
him by the hand," remembered Lucy Mack Smith, "he cried out
Oh! my God I have lived to see my father baptized into the
true Church of Jesus Christ! and covered his face in his
father's bosom and wept aloud for joy as did Joseph of old
when he beheld his father coming up into the land of Egypt."
Lucy Mack Smith, "The History of Lucy Smith," ca. 1845, Church Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; punctuation modernized.
