“Go, and Be Baptized”

On May 15, 1829, an angel appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the woods near the Smith home and identified himself as John the Baptist from the New Testament. He conferred the Aaronic Priesthood on them, giving them authority to baptize by immersion for the remission of sins, and instructed them to go and be baptized. They likely went to the river in the evening after river traffic had ceased for the day, and the water was high enough for them to baptize one another without leaving the Smith’s pasture. Joseph first baptized Oliver, and then Oliver baptized Joseph. Joseph Smith later wrote that after coming up out of the water, they experienced great and glorious blessings from their Heavenly Father, were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in the God of their salvation.

Pennsylvania · United States