This is one of the most remarkable visions of the Savior's atonement for us. Given to Orson F. Whitney while on his mission in Pennsylvania:
"Then came a marvelous manifestation, and
admonition from a higher source, one impossible to ignore. It was a dream, or a
vision in a dream, as I lay upon my bed in the little town of Columbia,
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I seemed to be in the Garden of Gethsemane, a
witness of the Savior's agony. I saw Him as plainly as ever I have seen anyone.
Standing behind a tree in the foreground, I beheld Jesus, with Peter, James and
John, as they came through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three
Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, the Son of God passed
over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed. It was the same prayer
with which all Bible readers are familiar: "Oh my Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou
wilt."
"As He prayed the tears streamed down His
face, which was toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of
pure sympathy. My whole heart went out to Him; I loved Him with all my soul,
and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else.
"Presently He arose and walked to where those
Apostles were kneeling-- fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in
a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or
impatience, asked them plaintively if they could not watch with Him one hour.
There He was, with the awful weight of the world's sins upon His shoulders,
with the pangs of every man, woman and child shooting through His sensitive
soul-- and they could not watch with Him one poor hour!
Returning to His place, He offered up the
same prayer as before; then went back and again found them sleeping. Again He
awoke them, readmonished them, and once more returned and prayed. Three times
this occurred, until I was perfectly familiar with His appearance-- face, form
and movements. He was of noble stature and majestic mien-- not at all the weak,
effeminate being that some painters have portrayed; but the very God that He
was and is, as meek and humble as a little child.
"All at once the circumstances seemed to
change, the scene remaining just the same. Instead of before, it was after the
crucifixion, and the Savior, with the three Apostles, now stood together in a
group at my left. They were about to depart and ascend into Heaven. 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, raised me up, and embraced me. It was so vivid, so
real. I felt the very warmth of His body, as He held me in His arms and said in
the tenderest tones: "No, my son, these have finished their work; they can
go with me; but you must stay and finish yours." Still I clung to Him.
Gazing up into His face-- for He was taller than I-- I besought Him fervently:
"Well, promise me that I may come to you at the last." Smiling
sweetly, He said, "That will depend entirely upon yourself."
"I awoke
with a sob in my throat, and it was morning.
... I saw the moral clearly. I have never
thought of being an Apostle, nor of holding any other office in the Church, and
it did not occur to me then. Yet I knew that these sleeping Apostles meant me.
I was asleep at my post -- as any man is who, having been divinely appointed to
do one thing, does another.
But from that hour, all was changed. I never
was the same man again. I continued to write, but not to the neglect of the
Lord's work. I held that first and foremost; all else was secondary."
Orson F. Whitney, "Through Memories Halls", 1930, p. 82 Quoted in Bryant Hinckley, _The Faith of our Pioneer Fathers_, 211-213
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