Experience of Brother T.T. Hinderks

1884

"In 1884, the RLDS General Conference was held in Stewartsville [Missouri]. Among other leading men of the Church present at this conference was Apostle Jason W. Briggs. He came over to my house several times and told me about some of the conditions in Nauvoo.

"He got me to doubting a little about some of the things of the Reorganization, and I got to the point where I thought I would make it a subject of prayer, for the Lord knew I wanted to do right and be with the right people. Sometime after the conference was over, I had the following dream:

"I was at the Maple Grove Church and was to preach there at the eleven o'clock hour. While I was on the platform getting ready to open the meeting, the door on the east side opened, and Brother Joseph [Smith III] came in accompanied by another man, a stranger to me. This was a pleasant-looking man, about middle age. I walked up to the prophet and said, "Well, Brother Joseph, I am glad you have come; you are just in time to give us a good sermon. We are all glad to see you. I had been associated with Brother Joseph quite a good deal, and knew he lost no time in introducing his friends to each other, but this stranger stood behind him and Joseph did not say a word about him. I thought this strange, and as the prophet walked down the aisle, shaking hands with different ones, I went up to the stranger and said, "I guess I will have to make myself acquainted with you. T.T. Hinderks is my name." The stranger looked at me and said pleasantly, "My name is Wonderful."

"This struck me very forcibly, and I mused, "Wonderful. Who can this man be?" He followed Brother Joseph down the aisle, and when they got to the front of the building He raised His right hand and laid it on Joseph's shoulder. Then He turned to me and said, "This is the true Prophet of God." He continued, "Do you see that over there?" pointing on the east side of our building, where there was a rock about three quarters of a foot square. The rock was rough in places, but in the center of the rock there was resting a place of pure white marble, a square piece placed in the solid rock. He asked, "Do you see that?" I said, "Yes, sir." Then He said, "That piece of white marble resting in the head of rock is the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It shall never be moved."

(quoted in Vision #11, p. 11, emphasis added. See also On Memory's Beam, by Elbert A. Smith, pp. 244-245)

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