How I Obtained a Testimony of the Gospel

HOW I OBTAINED A TESTIMONY OF THE GOSPEL, BY WILLIAM A MORTON.

I have been requested to relate how I obtained a testimony of the truth of the Gospel, and I will do so as briefly as possible. I was born on the 10th of January, 1866, in the town of Banbridge, County Down, Ireland. My father was a shoemaker by trade. We lived in humble circumstances, and in this I feel to acknowledge the hand of God. My parents did not take much interest in religion. They were members of the Episcopal church, and they sent me regularly to the Sunday School and meetings of that denomination. But the teachings of the ministers of that church failed to satisfy my soul. They had a form of godliness; but they did not have the power. I longed for something higher, something better. And I will here testify that often I heard a still small voice whisper to my heart, "you shall yet hear the truth, and be a minister of righteousness." My father died when I was thirteen years of age, and I went to work to assist my mother. Often when in distress, I prayed to God, and he answered my prayers directly. Thus, notwithstanding my weaknesses and failings, my faith increased in him. Having obtained a situation in the city of Belfast, I went there, where my mother joined me two years later. When I was about twenty-two years of age, I joined a religious sect known as the Plymouth Brethren. They believe in baptism by immersion, they also adminster the sacrament each Sabbath day, and they do not have a hired ministry. These things, I saw, were in harmony with the Scriptures. I remained

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with these people for one year. During that time I prayed often; yea, several times aweek I would go out into the country and pour out my soul to God in prayer. I prayed to him to enlighten my mind, that I might be able to understand the Scriptures. And the Lord heard my prayers and answered them. At the end of a year, and when I saw the members of the Plymouth Brethren church would willfully pervert the Scriptures and wrest them from their proper meaning, I severed my connection with them. I fully believed that the true Gospel and the true Church were not upon the earth. In a letter to one of my aunts, (a very pious and religious woman) written at this time, I said:

"I do not believe that the Church of Christ is upon the earth today, and I am going to wander about as a pilgrim until I find an organization that will correspond with the Church as it was organized by the Savior." A few months after this, I heard for the first time of the restoration of the Gospel, to the boy Joseph Smith. As soon as I heard the news I said, "I believe that; for it has been God's way of doing from the beginning." I know that God had chosen the

weak things of the earth in preference to the mighty. The following Sunday evening, I attended a meeting of the Saints. The speaker was Elder David H. Morris, of St. George. I drank in every word as it came from his lips, and my soul

swelled with delight and happiness as I feasted upon the glorious principles of truth as they came from the mouth of a humble servant of God. I determined, however, to put the matter to a test. I would pray to God to reveal to me if Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and had received the ministering of angels, etc. I reasoned thus: *lf God has revealed himself to Joseph Smith, then he is surely anxious for all the world to know it; if God has revealed himself to Joseph Smith, then he will reveal to me that he has done so." Accordingly the following Saturday night (about midnight) I went some distance outside the city, for the purpose of calling upon God. All was silent as the dead. I lifted my face toward heaven and prayed with all the earnestness of my soul to God ta reveal to me if Joseph Smith was his prophet. No sooner had I