Appearances of the Resurrected Savior Jesus Christ in the Dispensation of the Fulness of TImes

After literally a few years of searching, I finally found enough information to write a post about Jesus Christ's post-mortal appearances to Prophets and Apostles in the dispensation of the fulness of times (see Ephesians 1:10). I will cite instances of a few appearances to Prophets and Apostles except for Joseph Smith, because I assume most visitors to this site know of his many visions of Messiah. Here goes nothing!

I will go in order, from earliest ordination date to the Apostleship to latest date of ordination thereto. The appearances of Christ, as He appeared to His servants the Prophets anciently, in modern times are both in revelatory dreams and in daylight visions; both will be represented here.

President Wilford Woodruff
At the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple in April of 1893, Woodruff stated, "Our Savior had appeard unto [me] in the East Room in the Holy of Holies, & told [me] that He had accepted of the Temple & of the dedication services, & that the Lord forgave us His Saints who had assisted in any manner towards the erection and completion of the Temple."[1]

President Lorenzo Snow
This is a more-well known account, which occurred in the House of the Lord at Salt Lake City immediately after the death of Woodruff. President Snow said that "the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to me at the time of the death of President Woodruff. He instructed me to go right ahead and reorganize the First Presidency of the Church at once and not wait as had been done after the death of the previous presidents."[2]

President George Q. Cannon
This experience also occurred during the almost month-long dedication of the House of the Lord in 1893. President Cannon said, "My mind has been rapt in vision and have saw [sic] the bea[u]ties and Glory of God. I have saw [sic] and conversed with the Savior face to face."[3]

Elder Orson F. Whitney
Elder Whitney was ordained an Apostle in 1906, along with David O. McKay and George F. Richards. His experience happened while he was on his first mission as a youth. He recollected, "One night I dreamed … that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. . . . As He prayed the tears streamed down His face, which was [turned] toward me. . . . Three times this happened, until I was perfectly familiar with His appearance—face, form, and movements. He was of noble stature and of majestic mien . . . the very God that He was and is, yet as meek and lowly as a little child. . . . I could endure it no longer. I ran from behind the tree, fell at His feet, clasped Him around the knees, and begged Him to take me with Him. I shall never forget the kind and gentle manner in which He stooped and raised me up and embraced me. It was so vivid, so real that I felt the very warmth of His bosom against which I rested."

Elder Melvin J. Ballard
Elder Melvin J. Ballard was ordained an Apostle in 1919, serving until 1939. Incidentally, he is the grandfather and namesake of current LDS Apostle M. Russell Ballard. Elder Melvin Ballard had this vision while he was a Mission President in Portland, Oregon, shortly before his ordination to the Apostleship. He remembered, "'I saw, seated on a raised platform, the most glorious Being my eyes have ever beheld or that I ever conceived existed in all the eternal worlds. As I approached to be introduced, He arose and stepped towards me with extended arms, and He smiled as He softly spoke my name. If I shall live to be a million years old, I shall never forget that smile. He took me into his arms and kissed me, pressed me to His bosom, and blessed me, until the marrow of my bones seemed to melt! When He had finished, I fell at His feet, and, as I bathed them with my tears and kisses, I saw the prints of the nails in the feet of the Redeemer of the world. The feeling that I had in the presence of Him who hath all things in His hands, to have His love, His affection, and His blessing was such that if I ever can receive that of which I had but a foretaste, I would give all that I am, all that I ever hope to be, to feel what I then felt!' (quoted by Bryant S. Hinckley, in Sermons and Missionary Service of Melvin J. Ballard [1949], 156)."

Elder David B. Haight
This is the most recent, given in a 1989 General Conference talk, wherein the Apostle recollected his comatose-induced vision he had after a heart attack. Elder Haight said, "I was shown a panoramic view of His earthly ministry: His baptism, His teaching, His healing the sick and lame, the mock trial, His crucifixion, His resurrection and ascension. There followed scenes of His earthly ministry to my mind in impressive detail, confirming scriptural eyewitness accounts. . . . I was given, by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, a more perfect knowledge of His mission. . . . I cannot begin to convey to you the deep impact that these scenes have confirmed upon my soul."

I hope this information is helpful in helping you understand the true meaning of what it means to be an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Stuy, Brian H., "Come, Let Us Go Up to the Mountain of the Lord": The Salt Lake Temple Dedication", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 31 (Fall 1998), no. 3, 111.
2. Madsen, Susan Arrington. "Lorenzo Snow and the Sacred Vision." Friend, August 1, 1993.
3. Stuy, "Mountain of the Lord", 119.

Mormonism and the Christ no. 5 - Christ the Mediator

 On Sunday 8 November 2011, President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke in a Church Educational System fireside about truth, but specifically about the most valuable truths. 

The depths of the wisdom spoken by President Packer shall not be elucidated upon within this post, but I shall quote the Apostle and Prophet as to what the most important truth is.

Jesus Christ as Mediator
The most important truth anyone can ever know is that Jesus Christ lives and is the Savior of the world, the Mediator of all men's sins, and the Advocate with the Father.  President Packer spoke Sunday of how all have fallen into sin, and therefore need a Mediator and Creditor to fully pay the debt justice demands, while also giving mercy its chance.  The Apostolic sage said, "Unless there is a mediator, unless we have a friend, the full wieght of justice, untempered and unsympathetic, must, positively must fall on us.  The full penalty for every transgression, however minor or however deep, will be exacted from us to the uttermost farthing.  There is a Mediator, a Redeemer who stands both willing and able to appease the demands of justice and extend mercy to those who are penitent" ("Some truths are 'most worth knowing,' Pres. Packer tells students", Deseret News, Monday 7 November 2011, B3).

The statement above squares with Scripture.  The Savior in 3 Nephi 9:15, 21-22 saith,

Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God.  I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning.  I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name. . . . Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.  Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me bas a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God.  Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved.

Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5 reads, "Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life."

Thus it is shown, through the words of a true Apostle of the Lord, as well as through modern revelation, that Christ is indeed the Savior and Redeemer of the World, and our Mediator if we repent.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.