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1 Introduction Mormonism sprang forth in upstate new york into a world of religious upheaval and rebirth. It was the period of the Second Great Awakening, when men and women voiced dissatisfaction with the impersonal churches that kept God at bay, sequestered behind rigid hierarchies of the clergy. Many disaffected Christians searched for a religion that would reflect the new freedoms and powerful potential of individuals in a new country of seemingly endless opportunity and possibility. Between 1790 and 1840, the Second Great Awakening swept through New England and the Eastern Seaboard, promising a more personal connection to God, as well as a restoration of the gospel. When Joseph Smith emerged in 1830 with the Book of Mormon, he was met with an audience primed for his message of a restored gospel and the promise of personal revelation for every faithful member of the church.1 From the beginning of the church, personal revelation has been a cornerstone of the Mormon faith. LDS scripture confirms its central role. The first chapter of the Doctrine and Covenants avows: “The voice of the Lord is unto all men” (D&C 1:2). The Doctrine and Covenants is LDS scripture consisting entirely of revelation, the bulk of which came to Joseph Smith to help him organize the new religion. Because Joseph Smith was prophet of the church, most of his revelations were not personal but rather derived from his calling as prophet and leader and were relevant to all followers of the faith. Yet like his faithful peers, he received revelation specific to his own life as well, personal guidance in spiritual and temporal matters. While his First Vision of God and Jesus is foundational to the church and serves as canonical scripture, it came in answer to humble prayer, a divine answer to a man in search of spiritual truth. This revelatory vision was an example of personal revelation and serves as an Ur-form for conversion narratives of personal revelation of modern-day Saints; it is an experience rarely copied but often referenced (Eliason 1999). Personal revelation also appears in sacred church history, lying just outside scripture but verging on canonical. Church leaders and publications regularly retell the story of President Wilford Woodruff’s prompting by the Holy Ghost to move his wagon just before lightning brought an oak tree down in the exact spot where it stood moments before. There is also the story of the voice that warned a Still, the Small Voice 2 youthful President Harold B. Lee not to climb through a fence to explore some sheds that were falling down. And most well known of all is the story of Joseph Smith’s fateful words while returning to Carthage, where he was murdered— “I am going as a lamb to the slaughter”—interpreted widely as reference to personal revelation. These examples of personal revelation of past presidents of the church are valued primarily because of their protagonists. Yet the stories of church leaders stand as the tip of an iceberg. Readily viewed and easily recognized, they provide a shared heritage for church members around the globe. But these stories of great leaders belie a much deeper tradition that lies below the surface. The bulk of personal revelation narratives exist not as scripture or sacred history but as the stories of lay members, shared by faithful men and women among family, friends, and fellow church members throughout the extensive Mormon communities of the American West and in smaller Mormon enclaves throughout the world. This book, then, is a record of the iceberg below the surface, paying long overdue attention to the thriving oral tradition that puts a contemporary face to scripture. Literary Tradition The literature on Mormon revelation, not surprisingly, runs deep. There are hundreds of articles, essays, and books written by the General Authorities— leaders of the church with the authority to interpret Mormon doctrine for the rest of the church. This task is vital for a church founded less than two hundred years ago. While Joseph Smith received literally hundreds of revelations interpreting Mormon doctrine, there remain many areas of doctrine, history, and prophecy that are not fully explained or have not yet been revealed.2 Article 9 of the Articles of Faith declares: “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” This statement is more than a vague tip of the hat to...

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