I got in trouble a lot on the mish (no surprise there) but one thing that caused quite a bit of cog diss for me was when I was reprimanded by the pres for using the term "first visitation" instead of "first vision" which I thought was a misrepresentation of what I believed took place.

I mean, the whole point of the experiences was the god the father and jesus christ visited joseph physically in the grove, such that joseph had to be transformed to keep from being annihilated.

"Vision" could mean anything. It could a dream, something imagined. The weight of the story was in the fact that these 2 aliens traversed the cosmos from kolob to earth and chatted with a 14-year old human.

I couldn't understand why church leadership was hell-bent on calling it a vision instead of a visitation. Now I get it, though. A vision is something that can be reinterpreted later on if they get backed into a corner. Visitation is what it is and can't be watered down later.

(Facepalm)

In Joseph Smith's account that is published in the Pof GP, two personages appeared to Joseph Smith. Nowhere [ in this account ] does he say it was god and jesus. One pointed to the other and says "This is my son here." All we know is that it was a father and a son. Maybe it was Mormon and Moroni. Or Lehi and Nephi!

Also, in an account of the early life of JS, in his own words, published in the Deseret News, May 29, 1852, JS used the phrase "first visitation" to refer to his experience when he was "about 14 years old". He is clearly talking about what has become known as the "first vision."

Oddly, in that account he called it the "first visitation of angels." The same account is in the History of the Church, 2:312, but the word "angels" is deleted.

Do you recall when Lehi is blabbering to his boys after he saw the vision of the tree of life? He tells them that he has seen a vision or in other words he has dreamed a dream (order might be reversed). Visions are dreams according to JS? Is that a subtle way to admit what he did- dreamt it all up? Visitation would have been such a mo honest way to convey what you have been led to believe occurred, but it does not allow wiggle room when the 15 would need it in the future.