This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide covers Joseph Smith—History 1:1-26, which recounts young Joseph’s prayer in the Sacred Grove and the First Vision.
Following are a few quotes from past and present leaders about Joseph Smith—History 1:1-26.
The First Vision
“On the morning of a beautiful clear day early in the spring of 1820, 14-year-old Joseph Smith entered a grove of trees near his family’s home to pray about his sins and to ask which church to join. His sincere prayer, offered with unwavering faith, received the attention of the most powerful forces in the universe, including the Father and the Son. And the devil. Each of these had an intense interest in that prayer and in that boy.
“What we now call the First Vision marked the beginning of the Restoration of all things in this last dispensation. But for Joseph, the experience was also personal and preparatory. All he wanted was forgiveness and direction. The Lord gave him both. The instruction to ‘join none of [the churches]’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:19) was directive. The words ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee’ (Joseph Smith, History, circa summer 1832, 3, josephsmithpapers.org) were redemptive.
“For all the beautiful truths we might learn from that First Vision, perhaps Joseph’s main takeaway was simply, ‘I had found the testimony of James to be true — that a man who lacked wisdom might ask of God, and obtain’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:26). …
“Joseph’s experience in the grove gave him confidence to ask for forgiveness and direction for the rest of his life. His experience has also given me confidence to ask for forgiveness and direction for the rest of my life.”
— Elder Kyle S. McKay, General Authority Seventy, October 2024 general conference, “The Man Who Communed with Jehovah”
“I think how grateful we are as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that Joseph Smith, a boy who desired to know what he needed to do to have his sins forgiven, found the courage to go into a grove of trees near his home in Palmyra, New York, and there kneel in prayer and — by his own statement — pray out loud for the first time (see Joseph Smith—History 1:14).
“On that occasion, as Joseph got on his knees in what we call the Sacred Grove, the heavens opened. Two personages, brighter than the noonday sun, appeared before him. One spoke to him and said, ‘[Joseph,] this is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:17). Thus began the Restoration of the fulness of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Because Jesus, our Savior and our Redeemer, spoke to the boy Joseph and opened up this dispensation of time that we now live in, we sing, ‘Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!’ (‘Praise to the Man,’ Hymns, no. 27). We thank the Lord for Joseph Smith and for his courage to go into that grove of trees in 1820, near his home in Palmyra, New York.”
— The late President M. Russell Ballard, then the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2023 general conference, “Praise to the Man”
“Through our faith in the personal witness of the Prophet Joseph and the reality of the First Vision, through study and prayer, deep and sincere, we will be blessed with a firm faith in the Savior of the world, who spoke to Joseph ‘on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:14). …
“As we remember and honor the Prophet Joseph Smith, my heart reaches out to him in gratitude. He was a good, honest, humble, intelligent and courageous young man with a heart of gold and an unshaken faith in God. He had integrity. In response to his humble prayer, the heavens opened again. Joseph Smith had actually seen a vision. He knew it, and he knew that God knew it, and he could not deny it (see Joseph Smith—History 1:25).
“Through his work and sacrifice, I now have a true understanding of our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ, and I can feel the power of the Holy Ghost and know of Heavenly Father’s plan for us, His children. For me, these are truly the fruits of the First Vision.”
— Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2005 general conference, “The Fruits of the First Vision”
‘Ask in faith’

“What more do we learn from the Prophet Joseph Smith and the First Vision about effort, hard work and study? The First Vision gives us direction in our unique, continuing roles. As women of faith, we can draw principles of truth from the Prophet Joseph’s experiences that provide insights for receiving our own revelation. For example:
- “We labor under difficulties.
- “We turn to the scriptures to receive wisdom to act.
- “We demonstrate our faith and trust in God.
- “We exert our power to plead with God to help us thwart the adversary’s influence.
- “We offer up the desires of our hearts to God.
- “We focus on His light guiding our life choices and resting upon us when we turn to Him.
- “We realize He knows each of us by name and has individual roles for us to fulfill (Joseph Smith—History 1:11-17).
“In addition, Joseph Smith restored the knowledge that we have divine potential and eternal worth. Because of that relationship with our Heavenly Father, I believe He expects us to receive revelation from Him.”
— Sister Joy D. Jones, then the Primary general president, April 2020 general conference, “An Especially Noble Calling”
“The classic example of asking in faith is Joseph Smith and the First Vision. As young Joseph was seeking to know the truth about religion, he read the following verses in the first chapter of James:
“’If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
“’But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering’ (James 1:5–6).
“Please notice the requirement to ask in faith, which I understand to mean the necessity to not only express but to do, the dual obligation to both plead and to perform, the requirement to communicate and to act.
“Pondering this biblical text led Joseph to retire to a grove of trees near his home to pray and to seek spiritual knowledge. Note the questions that guided Joseph’s thinking and supplicating.
“’In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it? …
“’My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:10, 18).
“Joseph’s questions focused not just on what he needed to know but also on what was to be done! His prayer was not simply, ‘Which church is right?’ His question was, ‘Which church should I join?’ Joseph went to the grove to ask in faith, and he was determined to act. …
“If you and I would truly pray and ask in faith, as did Joseph Smith — if we would pray with the expectation to act and not just to express — then the work of proclaiming the gospel would move forward in a remarkable way.”
— Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2008 general conference, “Ask in Faith”
“As a youth, the Prophet Joseph Smith had a great question weighing on his mind. He started reading the scriptures and found a solution in the Bible (see James 1:5). He said, ‘Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine.’ He reflected on it ‘again and again’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:12). Because Joseph acted upon what he read in the scriptures, he learned about Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost and his identity as a son of God. Joseph learned who he was, why he was here on earth and what he needed to do in this life.”
— Sister Julie B. Beck, then the first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, April 2004 general conference, “My Soul Delighteth in the Scriptures”
“Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, recorded in her history that in the spring of 1803 she and her husband were much concerned about religion. She writes of her own search for truth, ‘I retired to a grove not far distant, where I prayed to the Lord … that the true gospel might be presented’ ‘(History of Joseph Smith,’ ed. Preston Nibley [1958], 43). Does that sound familiar?
“Seventeen years later, in the spring of 1820, the Prophet Joseph Smith, in search of truth, ‘came to the determination to ‘ask of God.’’ So ‘I retired to the woods to make the attempt’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:13–14).
“Is it a coincidence that both mother and son chose a grove of trees as the place to ask God to reveal truth to them? Joseph’s prayer blessed the entire world through the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The righteous example set by a woman who stands firm in faith blesses countless others.”
— Sister Virginia U. Jensen, then the first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, October 2001 general conference, “Stand Firm”
‘Hear Him’

“It is one thing to ‘hear Him’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:17) in a quiet place of contemplation with scriptures wide open. But it is quite another thing to carry our discipleship into this mortal flurry of distractions, where we must strive to ‘hear Him’ even through the blur of self-concern and faltering confidence. Let there be no doubt: it is the very stuff of heroes displayed by our youth when they set their hearts and minds to standing upright against the shifting moral tectonics of our time.”
— Young Men General President Steven J. Lund, October 2022 general conference, “Lasting Discipleship”
“The adversary is clever. For millennia he has been making good look evil and evil look good. His messages tend to be loud, bold and boastful.
“However, messages from our Heavenly Father are strikingly different. He communicates simply, quietly and with such stunning plainness that we cannot misunderstand Him.
“For example, whenever He has introduced His Only Begotten Son to mortals upon the earth, He has done so with remarkably few words. ... To Joseph Smith, in that profound declaration that opened this dispensation, God simply said, ‘This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:17.) ...
“Joseph Smith was in the grips of a force of darkness just before the heavens opened.
“Our Father knows that when we are surrounded by uncertainty and fear, what will help us the very most is to hear His Son.
“Because when we seek to hear — truly hear — His Son, we will be guided to know what to do in any circumstance.”
— President Russell M. Nelson, April 2020 general conference, “Hear Him”
‘I could not deny it’
“Eighteen years after the First Vision, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote an extensive account of his experience. He had faced opposition, persecution, harassment, threats and brutal attacks. Yet he continued to boldly testify of his First Vision: ‘I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true. … I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:25). …
“There is a lesson for us in the Prophet Joseph’s example. Along with the peaceful direction we receive from the Holy Ghost, from time to time, God powerfully and very personally assures each of us that He knows us and loves us and that He is blessing us specifically and openly. Then, in our moments of difficulty, the Savior brings these experiences back into our mind. …
“These experiences may come at pivotal times in our lives or in what may at first seem as uneventful happenings, but they are always accompanied by an exceptionally strong spiritual confirmation of the love of God.
“Remembering these spiritually defining experiences takes us to our knees, declaring as did the Prophet Joseph: ‘What I received was from heaven. I know it, and I know that God knows that I know it’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:25).”
— Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2020 general conference, “Spiritually Defining Memories”
“When we know spiritual truths by spiritual means, we can be just as sure of that knowledge as scholars and scientists are of the different kinds of knowledge they have acquired by different methods.
“The Prophet Joseph Smith provided a wonderful example of this. When he was persecuted for telling people about his vision, he likened his circumstance to the Apostle Paul, who was ridiculed and reviled as he made his defense before King Agrippa (see Acts 26). ‘But all this did not destroy the reality of his vision,’ Joseph said. ‘He had seen a vision, he knew he had, and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise. … So it was with me,’ Joseph continued. ‘I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me. … I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I’ (Joseph Smith—History 1:24–25).”
— President Dallin H. Oaks, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2008 general conference, “Testimony”
