The Restoration

The following outline summarizes a few of the important events in the restoration of the gospel and the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which the Lord has declared is "the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth" (D&C 1:30).

Early spring, 1820. Seeking the true Church of Jesus Christ, 14-year-old Joseph Smith prayed in a grove of trees near his home in Palmyra, New York. In answer to his humble prayer, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ visited him and told him that he must not join any of the churches on the earth at that time. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:11–19.) In the Church we refer to this experience as Joseph Smith's First Vision.

September 21–22, 1823. Joseph Smith was visited by an angel named Moroni. Moroni prophesied of coming events and told Joseph of the Book of Mormon record, written on plates of gold. The angel allowed Joseph to see the gold plates, which were buried in the nearby Hill Cumorah. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:27–53.)

September 22, 1827. Joseph Smith received the gold plates from Moroni at the Hill Cumorah after having met with Moroni on 22 September of each of the previous four years. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:53, 59.)

May 15, 1829. Having read about baptism for the remission of sins as they worked on the translation of the gold plates, Joseph Smith and his scribe Oliver Cowdery went to a secluded area to inquire of the Lord concerning the matter. There, on the banks of the Susquehanna River near Harmony, Pennsylvania, they received the answer to their prayer. John the Baptist, a resurrected being, came to them as "a messenger from heaven . . . in a cloud of light." He conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. Then, in obedience to his instructions, Joseph and Oliver baptized each other and ordained each other to the Aaronic Priesthood. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:68–72; see also D&C 13.)

May 1829. The ancient Apostles Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. (See D&C 128:20.)

June 1829. Guided "by the gift and power of God" (D&C 135:3), the Prophet Joseph Smith completed the translation of the Book of Mormon.

March 26, 1830. The first printed copies of the Book of Mormon became available in Palmyra, New York.

April 6, 1830. The Church was organized in Fayette Township, New York, beginning with six members.

March 27, 1836. The Kirtland Temple, the first temple built in this dispensation, was dedicated. The Prophet Joseph Smith offered the dedicatory prayer, which had been given to him by revelation. (See D&C 109.)

April 3, 1836. The Savior appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple. Moses, Elias, and Elijah also appeared and gave priesthood keys to Joseph and Oliver. Elijah brought the keys of the sealing power, which make it possible for families to be sealed together forever. (See D&C 110.)

Isaiah 2:1–3; 29:13–14; Acts 3:19–21; Revelation 14:6–7; 2 Nephi 3:3–15; D&C 128:19–21; 133:36–39; 133:57–58; 1




Zion's Camp was organized on May 6, 1834 near New Portage, Ohio in response to Mormon persecution in Jackson County, Missouri. Earlier that year, on February 24, 1834, the Lord had commanded the Prophet Joseph Smith to organize a group to aid the "brethren, who have been scattered on the land of Zion." Many of the Saints had been forced out of their homes and fled into Clay County to escape mob violence in late 1833. Zion's Camp was formed to bring aid and relief to the suffering Saints and to reclaim their lands in Jackson County, Missouri which Church members viewed as the core of Zion.

The camp began with just over 100 men, but by the time they reached Missouri, additional men met up with them bringing their number to over 200. In total, the members of Zion's Camp travel more than 900 miles on foot between Kirtland and Missouri. They were organized into companies of tens and fifties with a captain at the head of each company.

The march of Zion's Camp was a refining period for many early leaders of the Church. George A. Smith, future apostle and 16 year-old cousin of the Prophet Joseph Smith described that he was "so weary, hungry and sleepy that I dreamed while walking along the road of seeing a beautiful stream of water by a pleasant shade and a nice loaf of bread and a bottle of milk laid out on a cloth by the side of the spring."

Members of Zion's Camp endured a limited food and water supply, unsanitary conditions, traveling through humidity, rain, and mud for sometimes as many as 40 miles a day. The difficulties lead to some members of Zion's Camp becoming greatly discouraged and Joseph exhorted them "to humble themselves before the Lord and become united, that they might not be scourged."

On June 19, the group had reached Daviess County and began to set up camp between the Little and Big Fishing Rivers. Five armed men rode into camp and told them that a group of Missourians were amassing with the intent of killing "Joe Smith and his army." A tremendous storm soon arose in which rain, hail, thunder and lighting came down upon the mob and prevented them from attacking the members of the camp. Joseph and the others took refuge for the night in a small Church not far away.

When Colonel Sconce met Joseph Smith on June 21, he acknowledged "there is an Almighty power that protects this people, for I started from Richmond, Ray county, with a company of armed men, having a fixed determination to destroy you, but was kept back by the storm, and was not able to reach you."

However, due to the camp's continuing murmurings against the Prophet and disobedience to the Lord's commandments, cholera broke out among them and 13 members of Zion's Camp died including Sidney A. Gilbert, part-owner of the Gilbert Whitney Store in Independence.

While at Fishing River, Joseph received Doctrine & Covenants 105 stating that "it is expedient in me that mine elders should wait for a little season for the redemption of Zion."6 Subsequently, Zion's camp was officially disbanded on July 3, 1834. Nevertheless, the instruction and experience many of the early leaders of the Church received during Zion's Camp became invaluable to further establish the Church. All save three members of the original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the original First Quorum of the Seventy participated in Zion's Camp.

In speaking about his experience in Zion's Camp, Brigham Young expressed that watching Joseph's leadership during Zion's Camp was "the starting point of my knowing how to lead Israel."7 President Young would later lead the Saints out of Missouri to Illinois while Joseph was incarcerated in Liberty Jail and eventually out of Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley.