Old McDonald's Farm

Movie: How Lovely Was The Morning

For additional information, take a look at this website Working independently, John C. Lefgren and John P. Pratt give evidence for determining the date of the First Vision. Their evidence comes from these sources: (1) The personal account of Joseph Smith where he tells that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to him in the early spring of 1820 in a grove of trees near his father's farm. (2) The ancient prophecy from the Book of Enoch concerning the whole history of the world. (3) The repeating cycles of time as measured by earth, moon, sun and week within the framework of the Calendar of Enoch. (4) The weather-dependent cycles for the production of 1,000 pounds of maple sugar that the Smith Family made in the early spring of 1820. (5) The world's first systematic national weather reports ordered in 1820 by the Surgeon General of the Army. In that year medical officers from 16 army posts in the United States were required to record weather conditions three times a day: 7:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. Many of these original reports can be found in the National Archives. In June 1820 the Surgeon General took these records and prepared the first weather report in the history of the world. His report was printed by the National Intelligencer, the dominant newspaper in Washington, D.C. In July 27, 1820 issue of the newspaper, the date for the First Vision was identified as the warmest and most beautiful day for the month of March 1820 at Sackets Harbor, New York. That is to say, Sunday, March 26, 1820, satisfies the weather conditions that were required for the setting of the First Vision.

Why is this date important? Because we all search for the Hand of God in our lives? Surely, God moves in a mysterious way. God will restore the broken pieces of history. He loves His children and He allows His Spirit to give His children light and knowledge as they are willing or capable of receiving more light and more knowledge. Someone with the mind of John Pratt is required in order to understand the ancient calendar which the Angel Uriel gave to Enoch. Enoch was the seventh from Adam and two thousand years ago his calendar had great significance for the people of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Book of Enoch has seven chapters that describe the functioning of the revealed calendar. Enoch made prophecies covering the history of the world which he carefully placed into ten cycles of time.

Without John Pratt's understanding of Enoch, there would be no chance for anyone to find Sunday, March 26th, 1820 as the date for the First Vision. Let's give thanks to God that He gave such a mind to John Pratt. His mind came to us from the same family that gave to the Church Parley P. Pratt and Orson Pratt. The Pratt Family. What a family! John Pratt. What a mind! Does anyone know of anyone else who at age four discovered the uniqueness of prime numbers? Or, that at age three found incredible joy in the fact that each day has a unique number? John Pratt is an unusual person. May we all learn from John Pratt. May we marvel that through the gift and power of God we have received the Book of Mormon and that we can all stand as witnesses of the Restoration. May God bless us as we try to come to a unity of the faith.