Not surprisingly, along with the true manifestations of the Spirit being shown in the Church, there also came some that were not so true. False spirits and strange notions began to creep in. Hiram Page and his “revelations” from the stone were only the beginning. Many of the new converts came from denominations in which bizarre and disturbing behavior was part of their worship experience, and they brought these notions with them into the Church of Christ. This was especially true in Kirtland where the influx of new members was so dramatic. And with the departure of the missionaries to the Lamanites, no experienced leadership was left to correct these false notions until Joseph sent John Whitmer to Kirtland in mid-January 1831, then arrived himself in early February.
One man would hit his head against a steel bar so hard that it would knock him unconscious and he would then have “visions.” Young people would imitate Indians, dancing around madly; some would run out into the fields, climb up on stumps, and preach to unseen congregations. Another man called Black Pete claimed to be receiving letters from heaven. One day he saw a ball dancing above him in the air. He chased after it, trying to catch it, until it led him off a sharp cliff. Had it not been for a tree that broke his fall, he would not have lived to share his “visionary experience.”
Such phenomena were not commonplace, however. They involved only a small minority. Most of the members were astonished and saddened and looked upon such goings on with great suspicion. But even though the members who participated in the bizarre behavior were small in number, they created considerable havoc. When Joseph arrived he immediately set about to stop these excesses, which were, he declared, “calculated to bring disgrace upon the church of God, to cause the Spirit of God to be withdrawn, and to uproot and destroy those glorious principles which had been developed for the salvation of the human family.”
It didn’t take long after his arrival in Kirtland for Benjamin to start hearing about these aberrations, and Mary Ann had a real challenge on her hands in trying to answer his questions. It brought many of his feelings about church and religion back to the surface, and for a time he became sharply critical of Mary Ann’s new faith.
Fortunately, just before Ben had arrived, the Lord had given a revelation to the Saints designed to put down the false spirits and crazy notions that were cropping up. “Behold verily I say unto you,” the Lord had said, “that there are many spirits which are false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world: and also satan hath sought to deceive you, that he might overthrow you. Behold I the Lord have looked upon you, and have seen abominations in the church, which profess my name.”
That had pleased Benjamin, to know that Joseph was not encouraging these things, that the Lord called them abominations. More important, the Lord had given the key whereby the Saints could distinguish between what was true and what was not. “Why is it that ye can not understand and know that he that receiveth the word by the spirit of truth, receiveth it as it is preached by the spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understandeth one another, and both are edified and rejoice together; and that which doth not edify, is not of God, and is darkness.” That too had seemed to placate Benjamin’s concerns.
Though his questions had subsided in the last few days, Mary Ann was still not too disappointed that Benjamin had declined her invitation to attend the fourth general conference of the Church that convened on Friday, June third, at the schoolhouse near the Morley farm. She so wanted him to feel the Spirit’s manifestations for himself, but as it turned out, the conference opened with the same contrast being exhibited—the true and the false, the good and the evil—and she was not sure Benjamin was ready yet to deal with the differences.
Almost from the moment of the opening prayer, a false spirit began to manifest itself. As Joseph stood to speak, a horrid shriek rent the air. A man by the name of Harvey Green was thrown on the ground and went into convulsions. Harvey Whitlock and John Murdock were seized and bound so that they could not utter a word. Leman Copley, who had donated a significant portion of his farm near Thompson, Ohio, for the settlement of the Colesville Branch, was sitting in an open window near the back of the schoolhouse. He was hurled violently backward, turning a complete somersault and landing on a bench.
It was a frightening thing, and Mary Ann had felt cold chills course through her body as the power of evil was unleashed. But Joseph had immediately stepped forward and rebuked the evil influence. He laid his hands on Harvey Green, and instantly the evil spirit left the afflicted man. He then told the assembled group that this was a fulfillment of the passage in Paul’s Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, that the man of sin—Satan—would be revealed. He explained that Satan had been cast out and they could now proceed under the direction of the Spirit.
And so it proved to be. What followed was remarkable, as spiritual edification took the place of the earlier disturbing influences. The Spirit of the Lord fell upon Joseph in a most unusual manner, and he prophesied that John the Revelator was then working among the ten tribes scattered by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, seven centuries before Christ’s birth.
Joseph also said it was time for some of the elders to receive the office of high priest, making them the first to be so ordained since the gospel had been taken from the earth. When Lyman Wight, a rough man but one of great dedication, was called forward, as part of the ordination Joseph promised him that he would see the heavens opened.
The moment the ordination was completed, Lyman stood on his feet and began to prophesy. He predicted that the Savior’s coming would be like the sun rising in the east and would cover the whole world. The Lord would appear in his brightness and consume the wicked before him. Brother Wight’s face had changed at that point and become infused with sorrow. “And some of the brethren,” he said, “shall suffer martyrdom for the sake of their religion, and will seal their testimony with their blood.”
Then a tremendous thing happened. It seemed that Lyman’s whole countenance was transformed into a brilliant, transparent white. Mary Ann had stared at him in wonder as he clapped his hands with joy. “I see the heavens opened,” he cried. “I see the Savior standing on the right hand of God.”
That had been the first day of the conference, and Mary Ann would ever consider herself blessed to have been there to witness it. On the rest of that day and on the following, much important business had been transacted. Other high priests were ordained. Additional men were given the priesthood. Some previously baptized were confirmed. Father Morley and a man named John Corrill were called to serve as counselors to Bishop Partridge and help with the work of assigning and managing those things associated with the law of consecration.
But that was all done now. Today was the Sabbath, and the last day of the conference was to be primarily a worship service. Mary Ann looked around and noticed that Martin Harris was in attendance. He and his Palmyra-Manchester group had recently arrived in Kirtland. She turned and looked at Nathan and Lydia, Nathan with his tiny son in his arms. Joseph was giving him some last-minute instructions on how to bless and name his son. That would be something else that would take place on this day.
Mary Ann slipped her arm through her husband’s, glad that he had not refused to accompany her to this meeting. In fact her heart was brimming over with joy. They had come to Kirtland. She had arrived in time to help Lydia with the birth. Her husband was here and mingling daily with men of the faith—good, strong priesthood holders that would bless his life, she hoped. It was more than she had ever dreamed could happen.
Ben, sensing her feelings, looked down at her. She smiled and squeezed his arm.
“What?” he asked.
She smiled, her eyes radiant with happiness. “Thank you for letting us be here for this.”
Mary Ann and Ben stood in the shade of a large beech tree, for the moment alone. Matthew and Becca had spied Newel Whitney and his family arriving and had gone off to greet the Whitney children. Melissa and two or three other young women were gathered around Emma, gurgling at the twins. Nathan and Lydia were sitting on a couple of chairs they had brought from the house. The baby was asleep in Nathan’s arms. Joseph, still waiting for more of the Saints to arrive, finished giving instructions to Nathan, then stood and walked over to Martin Harris and Bishop Edward Partridge.
The yard of the school was filling up quickly now, and Mary Ann marveled again at the number of Saints flocking in for the final meeting of the conference. Joseph had shocked them all when he told them there were now close to two thousand members of the Church. Two thousand! Many of them were here today. In just over a year’s time, from fifty or sixty to two thousand—it left her reeling with wonder.
“Good morning, Sister Steed.”
They turned. Mother Smith had come to join them.
“Good morning, Sister Smith.”
Benjamin tipped his hat. “Mornin’, Mother Smith.”
“Mr. Steed.” She looked over at Nathan and Lydia. “An exciting day. How good that you could be here.”
“Yes, it is.”
They stood there for a moment in companionable silence, watching the people. Then Lucy Smith turned. “Oh, look! There’s Elsa Johnson.”
Mary Ann turned to see where Mother Smith was pointing. A wagon was just arriving with an older couple in it. It was evident that this was a prosperous rig. The wagon looked new, and it was pulled by a matched team of handsome bays. Both the man and the woman were well dressed.
“She’s the one I told you about. With the arm.”
“Oh yes,” Mary Ann said, looking more closely now. Who had not heard the remarkable story of Elsa Johnson?
Mother Smith pursed her lips in wonder. “I talked with her yesterday. She still has no pain and uses it for all her work. It’s marvelous.”
“What’s this about her arm?” Benjamin asked.
Mary Ann looked up at her husband, surprised for a moment, then realized that he had not heard this story. Suddenly a thought popped into her head. “She had a wonderful experience with Joseph,” she answered. Then to Mother Smith she said, “I’ve not heard her tell that personally. Do you think she would mind if we asked her to tell us her story?”
If there was one thing to be said for Lucy Mack Smith, it was that she was not slow. For a moment she peered up at Mary Ann, then glanced at Ben, who was only half following the conversation as he watched the people. Her head began to bob as a sly smile stole across her face. “Now, there’s an idea.” She looked over to where her son was still visiting with a cluster of people. Obviously they still had some time before things would be getting underway. With sudden determination she grabbed Mary Ann’s hand. “Come on.”
Holding her breath, Mary Ann looked up at Ben. “Do you want to come?”
He looked at her, and she knew he had been following more of the conversation than she first thought. But his eyes were also curious, and to her joy he finally nodded.
Mother Smith was not one to spend time in idle chitchat when she had something on her mind. She led them right up to the Johnsons, introduced Mary Ann and Ben, then asked Elsa straight out if she would share her experience with them.
Elsa Johnson nodded immediately. She was a pleasant-looking woman, nearing her midforties, Mary Ann estimated. She had light brown eyes, and her hair, just starting to gray, was pulled back away from her face and tied in a bun at the back of her head. Her face was tanned and lined with wrinkles from the sun; her hands were rough and calloused.
John Johnson was also a kindly looking man, weathered and plain but with blue eyes that bespoke wisdom and integrity. When they were seated he spoke first. He looked at his wife, then back to Mary Ann. “It was a marvelous thing,” he said. “I was there. Saw the whole thing with my own eyes.”
Elsa picked it up from there. “For the last six years I have been hardly able to use my arm at all.” She lifted one elbow slightly. “It was almost completely paralyzed. I couldn’t use it to do any work at all. In fact I couldn’t even raise it to the level of my head.”
“Chronic rheumatism,” John Johnson said somberly. “It gave her a lot of pain. Doctors couldn’t do nothing for her.”
“When word came of the restored gospel,” Elsa went on, “our son Luke joined immediately. John and I felt good about it too, but hadn’t yet made up our minds.”
John spoke softly. “In the Bible Jesus said that signs would follow those that believe—blessing people with infirmities, healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out devils. Some friends, including a minister, wanted to go to Kirtland and meet Joseph. So we decided to go too. We found Joseph and Emma living with the Whitneys. I can still remember it very clearly. We were all sitting together there in the Whitney home, visiting with the Prophet.”
“We were all impressed,” Elsa broke in. “He was so kind, and so dignified.”
For the first time in the conversation, Benjamin spoke. “Did you tell Joseph why you had come?”
Her husband’s mouth softened into a rueful grin. “I guess we were all thinkin’ about it, but no one wanted to say it straight out to Joseph. So we were just kinda visitin’ and all that.”
“Suddenly,” Elsa said, “one of our company just blurted it out. Can’t even remember now for sure who it was. But out it came. We’d been talking about the priesthood being restored to earth. And suddenly this person just up and says, ‘Here’s Mrs. Johnson with her lame arm. Has God given any power to men now on the earth to cure her?’ “ She laughed quietly, her cheeks coloring a little. “It was so sudden. We were all a little embarrassed by it, I suppose.”
Mary Ann leaned forward eagerly. “What did Joseph say?”
John chuckled. “Nothin’.”
“Nothing?” Mary Ann echoed in surprise. “He didn’t respond at all?”
“Not then,” he answered. “The conversation resumed and went on to other things for several moments.”
Mary Ann turned as she noticed that Elsa was blinking rapidly. Tears had filled her eyes as she spoke. “Then, without warning, Joseph stood up.” She swallowed quickly. “He walked over and stood in front of me. A hush came over the room.” She looked away, her lips trembling.