Rob Gardner - Hymn to the Prophet lyrics

So, in accordance with this, my
Determination to ask of God
I retired to the woods to make the attempt it
Was on the morning of a
Beautiful, clear day
Early in the spring it was the first time
In my life that I had made such an attempt
For amidst all my anxieties I had never as
Yet made the attempt to pray vocally

After I had retired to the place
Where I had previously designed
To go, having looked around me
And finding myself alone
I kneeled down and bеgan to offer up
The desirеs of my heart to God
I had scarcely done so
When immediately I was seized upon by
Some power which entirely overcame me
Thick darkness gathered around me
And it seemed to me for a time as
If I were doomed to sudden destruction but
Exerting all my powers to call upon God
To deliver me out of the power of
This enemy which had seized upon me
And at the very moment when I was ready to
Sink into despair and abandon
Myself to destruction

I saw a pillar of light exactly over my
Head, above the brightness of the sun
Which descended gradually until it
Fell upon me

When the light rested upon me I saw two
Personages, whose brightness and glory
Defy all description, standing
Above me in the air one of them spake
Unto me, calling me by name and said
Pointing to the other This is
Mv Beloved Son hear Him!5
I soon found that my telling the
Story had excited a great
Deal of prejudice against me among
The professors of religion however
It was nevertheless a fact that I had
Beheld a vision i had actually seen
A light, and in the midst of
That light I saw two Personages
And they did in reality speak
To me and though I was hated and persecuted
For saying that I had seen a vision
Yet it was true

Three years later, on the evening of
The 21st of September 1823, young Joseph was
Feeling condemned for his weaknesses
And imperfections as
He called upon God for forgiveness
A light appeared in his room and
An angel stood at his bedside

The angel called me by name
And said unto me that God had a work for
Me to do he said there was a
Book deposited, written upon gold plates
Giving an account of the former inhabitants
Of this continent he also said
That the fullness of the everlasting
Gospel was contained in it