Description
He Was Not an Ordinary Man
Mary Alice Cannon was born in England in 1828, the second of eight children. In 1840, a relative of hers, Elder John Taylor of the quorum of the 12 twelve apostles, came to the Isle of Man and preached the gospel to the Cannon family. The parents and three of the children were baptized, including Mary Alice.
In 1842, the family set out to join the Saints in Nauvoo. On the journey across the sea, Mary Alice’s mother passed away. She had had a dream, a premonition, that she would not live to see Zion and she didn’t. She died in childbirth at sea.
Mary Alice and the family went on, bereaved, arriving in Nauvoo. As was often the case when the prophet Joseph learned that river boats were coming up with loads of immigrants, he would go down to meet the boat. Mary Alice describes this first time laying eyes on the prophet Joseph Smith:
“l first saw Joseph Smith in the Spring of 1843. When the boat in which we came up the Mississippi River reached the landing at Nauvoo, several of the leading brethren were there to meet the company of Saints that had come on it. Among those brethren was the Prophet Joseph Smith. I knew him the instant my eyes rested upon him, and at that moment I received my testimony that he was a Prophet of God, for I never had such a feeling for mortal man as thrilled my being when my eyes first rested upon Joseph Smith. He was not pointed out to me. I knew him from all the other men, and, child that I was (l was only fourteen), I knew that I saw a Prophet of God.
“Many, many times between the time I reached Nauvoo and his martyrdom, I heard him preach. The love the Saints had for him was inexpressible. They would willingly have laid down their lives for him. lf he was to talk, every task would be laid aside that they might listen to his words He was not an ordinary man. Saints and sinners alike felt and recognized a power and influence which he carried with him. lt was impossible to meet him and not be impressed by the strength of his personality and influence.
“ln May,1844, he went to the stone shops where the men were working on the Nauvoo Temple and blessed them, each man by the power of his Priesthood. Brother Lambert (whom I afterward married) he gathered right in his arms and blessed, and it was ever his testimony that he was thrilled from head to foot by that blessing.
“l well remember the night of the Prophet’s death. The spirit of unrest was upon all, man and animal, in the city of Nauvoo. Why, we did not know, but we could not rest. My father was on guard. No one in the house had slept, the dogs were noisy, and even the chickens were awake.
“About 3 o’clock the news of the martyrdom was brought to us, and we realized what had kept us awake. And oh, the mourning in the land! The grief felt was beyond expression – men, women and children, we were all stunned by the blow.”
What is the world to do with a witness like that?
It’s like a giant boulder dropped into the river of humanity. When I share the witness of Mary Cannon with you, you have a simple choice to make: to believe or to reject. To reject her witness is to call her a liar or duped. But you can’t ignore her and testimonies like this coupled with yours will stand before a guilty world and they will face these testimonies and yours, burning brightly and the world will be judged by those words.
Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, don’t go home, stand up in fast and testimony meeting and share a travel log. Bear your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bear a testimony that matters. Bear testimony of the restoration of the priesthood, of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, the divinity of the prophet Joseph’s mission, of the atonement of Jesus Christ, that God lives and His plan works. Bear a real testimony and leave the world accountable and free yourself from the blood and sins of this generation.
Sources:
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/K2MQ-X32
By C. C. A. Christensen – Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1578729
Young Women’s journal Dec 1905
