Testimony of W.R. O'Dell

June 23, 1886

At this time my room was filled with a light as bright as day and a personage appeared before me clothed in white and spoke as follows:

"Thus saith the Lord unto thee, my son, I have heard your prayers and supplications unto me in regard to the Church and its final destiny, and in answer will say that the Church of Jesus Christ of which you are now a member is My Church upon the earth, and besides it there is none other; neither branch thereof, that is acceptable unto me. And Joseph Smith {III}, now at the head thereof, is My prophet indeed; and I will be with him unto the end of his days upon the earth, saith your Lord and your God unto thee.

"And now, dear brother, I say unto thee, This Church shall remain until I shall come again to make up My jewels, and all that remain faithful unto Me shall come forth and reign with me on this glorified earth. I also say unto thee, dear brother, that if thou art faithful unto me, thy days shall be long upon the earth; but they will be full of persecution, trials, and trouble. You shall suffer much for My name's sake, almost even unto death. You shall, if faithful, receive the priesthood at My hands and shall preach the gospel to many people, and also in foreign lands, and shall be the means of bringing many precious souls into my kingdom. You shall also be blessed in a financial way and shall do much good for My Church with your means, which I will place in your hands as My steward. But, dear brother, you will have to live very close to Me in prayer and fasting or you will not be able to stand the fiery trials that shall come unto thee on account of the bitterness that shall come in the Church through the desires of the leaders thereof to introduce new and false doctrines which are contrary to the Bible, Book of Mormon and the revelations given to My servant Joseph Smith.

"You will live to see the time when My Church shall be divided because of this false teaching and desire for power of supremacy by those who shall claim the authority to do so. But be not deceived thereby, for I am God: I change not. My ways are one eternal round. Have no hesitancy in aligning yourself with those who refuse to follow in this new way. But continue ye in the Old Path and seek My face often and ye shall be blessed in so doing. And all that follow in the old way will be numbered with Me when I come to make up My jewels. For I am preparing a place for them, that where I am ye may be also. And now I say unto thee that if these would-be leaders shall persist in trying to carry out their wishes, which are not in harmony with My will, I will remove them, saith your Lord and your God unto thee. Amen."

The personage left the room immediately and went east in a long stream of light resembling the headlight of a locomotive and the stream of light seemed to continue for a number of years. I saw many people striving to keep within the light but some fell by the wayside. Then seemingly after a number of years, I saw the stream of light divide, one part going to the right and the other to the left. I saw a few people follow this light to the right and as they marched onward their numbers increased until they were a great army, all singing and rejoicing in the Lord, 'til the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ. And I saw that the light grew brighter unto the end. In the light going to the left, I saw a great many people seemingly striving with each other and contending one with another and many going over to the light on the right till only a few remained. They finally vanished and it became utter darkness.

Fulfillment of Portions of the Prophecy

Five portions of this revelation have already come to pass, which fact lends credence to the truthfulness of the rest of the prophecy. It stated that if Brother O'Dell were faithful, he would (1) have a long life, (2) see the division in the Church, (3) suffer religious persecution "almost unto death", (4) preach the gospel in foreign lands, and (5) be blessed financially.

Elder O'Dell lived to eighty-seven years of age and died in 1947 (data from the Auditorium Membership Records Office). He lived through the 1925 crisis with its supreme directional control problem--which was the beginning of the present liberal apostasy. This was a fulfillment of the statements that he would have a long life and live to see the division in the Church.

He was attacked by a mob in January 1902 for preaching the gospel, and at the mobsters hands suffered a broken jaw. The Saints Herald reported that this was probably the worst mob action against a minister of the gospel for the entire year (RLDS Church History 5:586). As for preaching in foreign lands, it is known that he went to Mexico to preach the gospel to the natives in 1912. This he did by using an interpreter who could speak Spanish and the dialects of the Indians (Saints Herald, February 1938).

The part about his having financial success is evidenced by the fact that "When the RLDS church decided to build Graceland...Elder W.R. O'Dell bought one of the first scholarships for $100,000..." for his daughter (The Graceland Bulletin, May 1985, p. 2). One hundred dollars then would have been equal to a thousand in today's money. The Bulletin also stated that "he often traveled around the neighborhood towns preaching the gospel message." No doubt he paid his own expenses for all of his travels, as well as his evangelistic trip to Mexico.

(Quoted in Vision #5, p. 3,42, emphasis added)

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