(4/17/05)
"This is how Joseph Smith's First Vision blesses our own personal lives, the lives of families, and eventually the whole human family-we come to believe in Jesus Christ through the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Prophets and apostles throughout the history of mankind have had divine manifestations similar to Joseph's. Moses saw God face-to-face and learned that he was a son of God 'in the similitude of [His] Only Begotten' (see Moses 1:1-6 ). The Apostle Paul testified that the resurrected Jesus Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus and made Paul one of His great missionaries (see Acts 26:9-23 ). Hearing Paul's witness of his heavenly vision during the trial at Caesarea, the powerful King Agrippa admitted, 'Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian' ( Acts 26:28 ).

"And there were many other ancient prophets who also bore powerful testimony of Christ. All of these manifestations, ancient and modern, lead those who believe to the divine source of all righteousness and hope-to God, our Heavenly Father, and to His Son, Jesus Christ." -  Dieter F. Uchtdorf, " The Fruits of the First Vision ," General Conference, April 2005

(5/10/05)
"But Joseph Smith did not go into the grove seeking to become a prophet or to found a church! His operating assumption in the spring of 1820 was that one of the contending sects was probably right and it was his task to find out which one he should join. God's reply may seem to some harsh in its indictment. (Parenthetically, this should remind us that in a sense, God cares little for cosmetic 'public relations' and everything for human relations!) The theophany at Palmyra displayed God's perfection in the attributes of truth and love. He loved us enough to appear, and having appeared, to tell the truth. Joseph Smith was equally truthful in faithfully reporting that episode; he could do nothing else since, as he said, he knew he had had a vision and God knew that he knew. Inasmuch as we 'know' on our own scale of action, we cannot deny, by our silence, what must be shared with others as our personal Palmyra, our tiny theophany." - Neal A. Maxwell, " Talk of the Month ," New Era, May 1971, p. 30

(10/2/05)
"We who have a testimony of the Gospel believe that in that Sacred Grove, on that beautiful spring morning, the Father and Son actually appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and this is the basis of every testimony and belief which we have, and were it not that we believe implicitly and without doubt in this testimony of the First Vision, we should not be led to believe any of the other principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which have been revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

"Because of this testimony which we have, and this feeling which is within our hearts, our minds, and our souls, we are led to the conclusion that our great responsibility is to honor and reverence God our Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ." - Thomas W. Muir, "Conference Report," October 1955, General Priesthood Meeting, p.81