200 years ago, 17-year-old Joseph Smith was under constant and severe persecution for claiming he had seen God and Jesus Christ—persecution intended to make him deny that vision or any heavenly manifestation— persecution which under any other circumstance would have closed the heavens! Yet in this very environment, young Joseph announced a second remarkable vision, one in which the promised messenger of the Lord had come to prepare the way for the long-prophesied restoration.
As is the pattern of restoration, this messenger quoted several Biblical prophecies and stated that they were beginning to be fulfilled, of angels appearing to men, old men having remarkable dreams, young men having glorious visions and power and truth coming to the earth once more!
This messenger called himself Moroni and spoke of a new book of scripture, its translation, and of Joseph’s role in this restoration. This visit was so critical that Moroni repeated it three times over the course of the night and again the next day.
Despite Hell’s intensifying fury, the heavens were forever opened, God stood revealed, and man could finally know his purpose and destiny! Moroni and other angelic visitors would now mentor Joseph as the restoration unfolded and which, as Moroni prophesied, is now filling the world.