_Newel K. Whitney and the "Stranger."_--Another instance of Joseph's use of the seeric gift connects with the occasion of his arrival at Kirtland, Ohio, where the Church, at an early day, established its headquarters. A few months prior to that time, Oliver Cowdery and three other Elders, on their way to preach the Gospel to the Lamanites, or Indians, had tarried for a season at Kirtland, where they converted a number of the white dwellers in that region. Among these were Sidney Rigdon, Newel K. Whitney, and others who became prominent in the "Mormon" community. The Saints in Ohio, learning that the Church would probably move westward, began to pray for the coming of the Prophet. The prayer was soon answered. About the first of February, 1831, a sleigh, driven into Kirtland from the East, drew up in front of the mercantile store of Gilbert and Whitney. A stalwart young man alighted and walked into the store. Approaching the junior partner and extending his hand cordially, as if to an old and familiar acquaintance, he saluted him thus: "Newel K. Whitney, thou art the man!" The merchant was astonished. He had never seen this person before. "Stranger," said he, "You have the advantage of me; I could not call you by name as you have me." "I am Joseph the Prophet," said the stranger, smiling. "You have prayed me here, now what do you want of me?" Joseph Smith, while in the State of New York, had seen Newel K. Whitney, in the State of Ohio, praying for his coming to Kirtland; and therefore knew him when they met. [11] The purpose of this vision, in all probability, was to pave the way for a meeting between the Prophet and the man who was to have the honor of entertaining him during the first weeks after his arrival in Ohio. _Vision of the Three Glories._--One of the most glorious manifestations ever vouchsafed to mortals, came to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, in the month of February, 1832. They were at Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, where the Prophet, assisted by Elder Rigdon, who had been a Campbellite preacher, was occupied with revising the English translation of the Hebrew Bible--a circumstance that may have given rise to the oft-refuted story of Rigdon's authorship of the Book of Mormon. [12] The manifestation referred to was a vision of human destiny, including the three general conditions of glorified man--celestial, terrestrial, and telestial. Concerning this marvelous vision, Joseph and Sidney thus testify: "We, Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon, being in the Spirit on the sixteenth of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, by the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God . . . . "Of whom we bear record, and the record which we bear is the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son, whom we saw and with whom we conversed in the heavenly vision." [13]