“I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days.” — Joseph Smith Jr.1
In the spring of 1820, Joseph Smith Jr. walked into a grove of trees near his home and knelt to pray. Here, he experienced the First Vision and saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.2 A few days later, Joseph decided to share the vision with a Methodist preacher who first treated the experience with contempt and then anger. the preacher announced that the vision was "of the devil" and that all visions had ceased with the apostles.1
Joseph found that many people around him reacted this way and he experienced much persecution and ridicule because of it.3 But Joseph still held to his experience of the vision. He stated, "For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it."4
