By David Adams
Sometime between the fall of 1829 and March 26, 1830, while the Book of Mormon was being printed, a curious visitor came to the Smith home in Palmyra.
Solomon Chamberlain set out from home carrying copies of a tract with information about his own visions. He started out to go to Canada, but when his boat stopped in Palmyra he had a distinct impression to get off the boat. The Spirit directed him to travel south, which he did for some three
miles until evening where again the Spirit directed that he stop at a farmhouse for shelter.
In the morning the family was talking about a gold Bible. Solomon said,
“When they said Gold Bible, there was a power like electricity went from the top of my head to the end of my toes. This was the first time I ever heard of the Gold Bible. I was now within half a mile of the Smith family where Joseph lived. From the time I left the boat until now, I was wholly led by the Spirit …. I said to myself, ‘I shall soon find why I have been led in this singular manner.’â€
At the time the Smiths were accustomed to intruders of various kinds, arriving unannounced and seeking to stop the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon.
When Solomon Chamberlain arrived, he found Hyrum pacing the floor. Solomon entered with the greeting, “Peace be to this house.â€
“I hope it will be peace,†Hyrum replied, astonished.
“Is there anyone here that believes in visions or revelations?†Solomon asked.
Hyrum responded, “Yes, we are a visionary house.â€
“Then I will give you one of my pamphlets, which was visionary, and of my own experience,†Solomon said.
Hyrum, Father Smith, and some of the Whitmer boys gathered and took turns reading from Solomon’s pamphlet.
“I began to preach to them,†Solomon said, “in the words that the angel had made known to me in the vision, that all churches and denominations on the earth had become corrupt, and [there was] no church of God on the earth, but that he would shortly raise up a church that would never be confounded nor brought down and be like unto the Apostolic Church. They wondered greatly who had been telling me these things, for said they we have the same things [written] down in our house, taken from the Gold record, that you are preaching to us. I said, ‘The Lord told me these things a number of years ago.… If you are a visionary house, I wish you would make known some of your discoveries, for I think I can bear them.’ They then made known to me that they had obtained a gold record, and just finished translating it here. Now, the Lord revealed to me by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost that this was the work I had been looking for.â€
Solomon took pages of the Book of Mormon, continued on his journey, and preached to all who would listen. He joined with the saints and traveled from Kirtland to Missouri to Nauvoo and then west with the saints.
Solomon Chamberlain’s life demonstrates the value and relevance of personal visions and spiritual experiences. So did the lives of Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith and their children. It is good to seek for and find the hand of God in our lives. That’s what Smiths do. We are a visionary house.
– Read full article at http://avisionaryhouse.blogspot.com