A Story I Overheard...

I was sitting under the stairs one day at work just taking a break, when I overheard two women talking about one of the women's son's Youth Conference experiences this summer here in Utah. Woman #1 (Marge) was telling about how her son, Ryder, and husband had put together a short skit about Joseph Smith's vision of the Father and Son. Here is how I remember her telling it:

Ryder and his father were both dressed in the clothing of the time-period (1800's); Ryder was young Joseph Smith, his father was an adult Joseph. They assembled all of the kids attending the conference in a clearing in the woods that was dark - this was done in late afternoon. In front of where the kids were sitting was a small stage-size clearing of grass. Ryder's dad stood to the front-left of this space and Ryder was kneeling in the middle of it. As Dad read through Joseph Smith's First Vision, as recorded in Joseph Smith - History in the Doctrine and Covenants, Ryder acted as 14-year-old Joseph did that day when he knelt to ask God which church was right. As Dad reached the part where Joseph was engulfed in the power of the devil, Ryder began to tremble - much to the concern of his mother watching behind all the kids. Then, when the Father and Son appear, a patch of sunlight made it through the trees above Ryder as he looked up into the sky and highlighted only him, like a spotlight. Finally, Ryder and his father stood together and read the end of Joseph Smith's account. A burst of light had begun to shine behind them, making them look like dark shadows so those listening could only concentrate on the men's voices. When they finished, they turned and walked away into the dark of the trees. It was completely silent for several long minutes as people cried and stared at where Ryder and his dad had been standing.

Marge said she looked around and most of the kids seemed entranced as tears streamed down their cheeks. One boy, in particular, who had been giving the adults a lot of trouble during this conference, was riveted on where young Joseph had been kneeling and was balling like the woman had never seen. Others began looking around at each other and a murmur started as people talked about what had just happened. This boy, though, could not look away from the same spot and stayed there for quite a long time afterwards.

Marge later asked her son why he was trembling so bad and he said that it came on suddenly and that he absolutely could not stop it. He was kneeling comfortably and had not meant to tremble like that because he didn't think anyone would see it from that distance.