“Three Reasons We Teach Others about the First Vision,” Liahona, Jan. 2025, United States and Canada Section.
Three Reasons We Teach Others about the First Vision
The First Vision is God’s answer about which church is true.
As a young elder in the missionary training center, I thought I knew how to do missionary work until I had an experience that changed everything about my approach to sharing the gospel. It happened in a Sunday School class with hundreds of other missionaries.
During the class, the teacher focused our attention on a comment made by the Prophet Joseph Smith. He explained that in the area where Joseph Smith grew up, missionaries of other churches tried to convince people that their churches were true by reasoning from passages of the Bible. These efforts often became quite intense, leading young Joseph to describe them as a “war of words and tumult of opinions” (Joseph Smith—History 1:10).
Over time, Joseph recognized that this approach was ineffective and confusing, and he offered an insight that can influence the way we share the gospel. He said, “The teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question [of which church was true] by an appeal to the Bible” (Joseph Smith—History 1:12).
This was a revolutionary idea to me. I had assumed that the most effective way to share the gospel was by teaching it primarily from the Bible—common ground with other Christians. What Joseph Smith discovered had never occurred to me: because the Bible can be interpreted so differently, it can be a source of contention and misunderstanding, sometimes leading to “Bible bashing.” As President Jeffrey R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explained, “The Bible, so frequently described at that time as ‘common ground,’ was nothing of the kind—unfortunately it was a battleground.”
So what should we rely on when sharing the gospel? Again, Joseph Smith identified the answer: “Unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know [which church was true]” (Joseph Smith—History 1:12; emphasis added). Joseph discovered that the only way to know which church was true was to get “more wisdom,” or, in other words, more revelation, truth, and inspiration from God. The revelation he received to answer his question is known today as the First Vision.
This is the simple realization that changed my life as a missionary. I knew what I should do. Instead of trying to prove the Church true by reasoning from the Bible, I would rely on latter-day revelation. Specifically, I would teach the First Vision because it is God’s answer to the question of which church is true. The Holy Ghost could then confirm that answer to each individual. As one former mission president counseled, I would take “the quickest and most direct route to the Sacred Grove.”
Teaching others about the First Vision to introduce our message is nothing new. In fact, the First Vision has been part of the first missionary lesson since the Church began producing standardized lesson plans. I believe there are at least three important reasons for this:
First Vision, by Walter Rane
1. The First Vision lays the foundation of all that we believe.
One reason we teach the First Vision early in our missionary lessons is that it quickly introduces our unique belief that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, speak today through modern revelation to living prophets. So much of what we believe grows out of that basic doctrine. Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared an experience he had that beautifully illustrates this point:
“My wife and I once visited a university in Athens, Greece. As part of that visit, we were taken on a sightseeing tour. While we were actually inside the Parthenon, our hostess, a graduate student in archaeology, said, ‘Next, I would like to take you to my favorite coffee house in all of Athens.’
“My wife said that we would love to go with her, but she said, ‘Please don’t be offended if we don’t drink the coffee.’
“Our hostess asked, ‘You don’t drink coffee?’
“‘No,’ we answered.
“‘Why not?’ she asked.
“As I was formulating a response, my wife said, ‘The short answer is this: In 1820, a young man by the name of Joseph Smith went into a grove in upstate New York to pray. He wanted to know which church he should join. There he saw God, our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. Joseph was told he should join none of the churches. But he was told that through him, the Church Jesus had established while He was on the earth would be restored. The restoration would be through a process of revelation. And it is through revelation that we know that we shouldn’t drink coffee. My husband will now explain it to you further.’
“How do we really explain ourselves? How do we explain anything that we do or believe if we do not go back to the Sacred Grove and establish the principle of revelation, that God reveals His will to prophets in this day and age? We obey because we have understood through the Holy Ghost something of eternal import. The reason you and I observe the Word of Wisdom, obey the law of chastity, and keep other commandments is because of revelation.”
This story shows why sharing the First Vision with others lays a foundation to help them understand all of our other beliefs and teachings. So much of what we believe that is unique and interesting to others comes from modern revelation, beginning with the First Vision.
2. Friends of the Church can relate to the First Vision.
A second reason we share the First Vision early in our missionary conversations is that honest truth-seekers can relate to and find inspiration from Joseph Smith’s search for Christ’s true church. My wife had an experience shortly before we were married that illustrates this powerfully.
She was working at a part-time job at Brigham Young University and met a student who was the only Church member in her family. When my wife asked about her conversion story, she explained:
“When I was about 14 or 15 years old, I began to wonder which church was true and felt compelled to find it. I attended all of the different denominations in my area, but none of them ever felt quite right. I even researched some non-Christian religions, but again I didn’t feel right, and as time went by, I almost gave up. One day I was on the internet, when I remembered that I had a friend who was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so I searched online and found the Church’s website. Through a link on that site, I was led to the account of the First Vision found in Joseph Smith—History. As I read it, a feeling came into my heart that let me know that Joseph’s story was my story, and he had found the answer I was seeking. In that moment, I knew that I had found the true Church of Jesus Christ.”
Shortly after, she followed Joseph Smith’s example, asked God, and received further confirmation.
As this story shows, there is a universal quality to Joseph Smith’s search that can inspire others. It can answer their questions and set a pattern to follow in their own search for truth and salvation.
3. Learning about the First Vision brings the Spirit.
The story of my wife’s friend reminds us of another reason we should strive to share the First Vision at every opportunity—it brings the Spirit. Because this foundational event of the Restoration is essential in helping people receive the restored gospel, we can be sure that God will send the Holy Ghost to confirm this truth with spiritual power.
As a missionary, I never had more spiritual power than when I taught others about the First Vision. There were moments when the Holy Ghost confirmed that vision to me so strongly. These experiences taught me that when God the Father and His Son appeared in the Sacred Grove, They did not intend Their visit to be a revelation to Joseph alone. It was a revelation for all of God’s children. It is our First Vision. It is one way we can better come to know the Father and the Son. And as we share it with others, God will confirm it by His Spirit to every sincere heart.
This is the lesson I began learning that day in the MTC, and it continues to deeply impact my approach to sharing the gospel today. I hope the First Vision continues to inspire all of us as members of Christ’s restored Church to open our mouths and teach others about the greatest event that has happened in Christianity since the Savior’s Resurrection. And I hope that others will feel the truth of this glorious message and ask God for themselves if it is true. He will answer their sincere prayers—just as He answered Joseph’s.