40 years ago today - Oct 23, 1978-Monday

[Leonard Arrington]
Saturday night Grace and I were invited to have dinner with Dean and Cheryll May. ... With respect to the revelation of June 9, Dean May mentioned an experience he had in England; or was this George giving the story? At any rate, he was present when Elder [Mark E.] Petersen made a visit to the European Mission. ... A new missionary asked him if he had ever seen the Saviour. The mission president was very embarrassed and started to explain to the missionary that that was not a proper question. But Brother Petersen calmed him and said he would be glad to give a response. Brother Petersen said no, he had never seen the Saviour, and this was not a source of disappointment to him. He said the Saviour had revealed himself to only a few people and that it was not necessary for an apostle to see the Saviour physically to be a witness for him. He did not know for certain the experience of all of the Brethren, but he knew that there were some of them who, like he, had never seen the Saviour. ...

Brother Durham said that he had been given an account of the June 1 experience from Jim McConkie, who had received it from Elder [Bruce R.] McConkie. It was very similar to the account that I had earlier heard. I had the impression that Jim McConkie had understood that the Holy Ghost had visited the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency on June 1 and that there had been a rushing of winds, heavenly music, and some visions of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and perhaps other personalities and scenes as well.

[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]

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