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Valiant K. Jones is the author of The Heart of Our Covenants: Temple Principles that Draw Us unto Christ. For more information, see www.valiantjones.com or www.cedarfort.com

Early in our marriage, my wife and I became close friends with a Catholic couple in our neighborhood that the missionaries introduced us to. We were both starting our families, and we invited them to church when our children were blessed as new babies. They, in turn, invited us to the christening of their new son. As our children grew, we invited them to our Sacrament Meeting Primary programs and to baptismal services for our children. They invited us to the masses where their children received their first communion and to family parties where they had celebrated certain saints.

I learned that this Catholic family celebrated many minor holy days honoring specific saints, and I enjoyed learning about them. At one point, the mother of this family asked what religious holidays we celebrated, in addition to Christmas and Easter. I had to think about that for a minute. I then told her about Pioneer Day on July 24 and the Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood on May 15. I thought some more and added that we also hold general conferences near April 6 and in early October each year, in part to celebrate the founding or restoration of our church.

In recent years I have added March 26 to my personal calendar of holy days to celebrate my faith. The following are five significant events that occurred on that date in the early days of the Restoration.

March 26, 1820: A Grand New Year Is Begun on the Enoch Calendar

The late Dr. John P. Pratt[1] was an astronomy professor who specialized in chronology and ancient religious calendars. He wrote a regular series of science articles in Meridian Magazine for many years. In the early 2000s, he wrote some articles explaining the Enoch calendar, which is described in the ancient Book of Enoch.[2]

The Enoch Calendar is based on a 364-day year, with 91 days or 13 weeks per quarter and exactly 52 weeks per year. The uniformity is nice, but it has been dismissed as “hopelessly primitive,” since it misaligns with the sun by about five days every four years.

Dr. Pratt showed that the Book of Enoch gives a clue for realigning the calendar every few years by adding in a “leap week.” A leap week is not unreasonable, since the Hebrew calendar occasionally adds a leap month, and it has been used for centuries. Fifty-two leap weeks are added over a period of 293 years, making the accuracy of the Enoch calendar better than our current Gregorian calendar.

Dr. Pratt saw that in the 1,820 years between Christ’s birth and the First Vision, there were exactly five sets of 364 years (5 x 364 = 1820). This is significant because each standard year in the Enoch calendar has 364 days. He calls a set of 364 years “one grand year,” so there were five grand years between Christ’s birth and the spring of 1820.

Furthermore, Dr. Pratt noticed that in 1820, New Year’s Day on the Enoch Calendar fell on March 26 on our calendar. However, this was not just any New Year’s Day. It was the first day in the first year of the sixth grand year since the birth of Jesus Christ. He believed that this was likely a significant day in the eyes of God, for “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork” (Psalms 19:1).

March 26, 1820: The Heavens Are Opened with Joseph’s First Vision

Many Meridian Magazine readers already know this story. When Dr. Pratt had realized that March 26, 1820, was such a significant holy day on the Enoch calendar, he proposed that date as the most likely day for the First Vision.

Upon reading Dr. Pratt’s proposal, Brother John C. Lefgren revisited some research he had been involved with years earlier. Knowing that Joseph Smith’s First Vision occurred “on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of 1820” (JS-H 1:14), Brother Lefgren searched for historical weather reports for to see if the First Vision could have occurred on April 6, 1820, exactly ten years before the founding of the Church.

Brother Lefgren discovered that in 1820 the U.S. Surgeon General required medical officers on army bases to keep weather diaries, and one such record was kept in Sacket’s Harbor, New York, just 80 miles from Palmyra—a location generally in the same weather system which is influenced by nearby Lake Ontario. He obtained a copy of those weather records and found that the first week of April brought snow, sleet, and rain to that area, discounting the possibility of the First Vision occurring on April 6.

With Dr. Pratt’s proposal of March 26 as a likely date for the first vision, Brother Lefgren looked again at the weather records from Sacket’s Harbor and discovered that March 26, 1820, was indeed “a beautiful, clear day.” He further showed that it was also the best First Vision candidate of all the clear days that Spring, based on the fact that in the Smith family produced an average of one thousand pounds of maple sugar from tree sap each spring in that period of their lives, and this exhausting work probably would have prohibited Joseph from having sufficient time for such a solitude quest on any other clear day that season. His analysis of the records and how the weather would have impacted maple sugar production is fascinating.[3]

The independent research studies of Dr. John Pratt and Brother John Lefgren both point to March 26, 1820, as the most likely candidate for the day of Joseph Smith’s First Vision. We are blessed to have their corroborating studies.

March 26, 1830: The Publication of Book of Mormon Is Announced to the World

On March 26, 1830, Palmyra’s weekly newspaper, the Wayne Sentinel, publicly advertised for the first time that copies of the Book of Mormon were available for sale on the ground floor of Egbert Grandin’s printing office.[4] This was a huge milestone in the Restoration, setting the stage for formal Church organization eleven days later.

Joseph Smith had received the plates two and a half years earlier on September 22, 1827. Those thirty months can be separated into three periods. The first twelve months were a season of learning and preparation. This included a move from Palmyra to Harmony, the birth and death of Joseph and Emma’s first son, the translation of the Book of Lehi with Emma and Martin Harris as the primary scribes, the loss of the 116-page manuscript, and the return of the plates to Moroni.

Joseph Smith received the plates again on September 22, 1828. This began the second period of translation. Joseph had learned a lot from the experiences of the previous year, and he felt the joy of forgiveness and a fresh start. He was instructed to begin translating where he had previously left off, and this time his translation would end up in the published book. Nevertheless, he still had family responsibilities and lacked a full-time scribe, so little progress was achieved before April 7, 1829, about a day after Oliver Cowdery arrived to assist with the work.

For the next three months, the work of translation proceeded at a miraculous speed, interrupted on occasion by revelations, angelic visitations, and a move from Harmony to the Whitmer home in Fayette. Oliver wrote of this period: “These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom!”^[5] John W. Welch has done a thorough analysis of this translation period and determined the Book of Mormon was completed in a maximum of seventy-four working days—a phenomenal pace.[6]

By the first of July 1829, the translation was complete, and a third period began. This included writing the testimonies of the three and eight witnesses, creating the printer’s manuscript, contracting a printer, and then getting the book printed and bound. This work brought additional challenges and divine guidance.[7]

With all that occurred after Joseph Smith first received the plates, it is remarkable that the book was ready for publication on March 26, just eleven days before the formal organization of the church. This was undoubtedly a day of joy and relief for Joseph Smith after all he had gone through, marking it again as a holy day in the sight of God.

March 26, 1836: The Dedicatory Prayer for the Kirtland Temple is Received by Revelation

The first session of the dedication of the Kirland temple was held on Sunday, March 27, 1836. Saints Volume 1 recounts that Joseph Smith “offered the dedicatory prayer, which he had prepared with the help of Oliver [Cowdery] and Sidney [Rigdon] the day before.”[8] That day before was, of course, March 26, 1836. Although historical records show that the preparation was a collaborative effort, Joseph saw it as a revelatory experience. As stated in the heading of Doctrine and Covenants 109, “According to the Prophet’s written statement, this prayer was given to him by revelation.”

This revelation has been the model for all the dedicatory prayers that have been offered for all temples built in this dispensation. It begins with words of praise and gratitude: “Thanks be to thy name, O Lord God of Israel, who keepest covenant and showest mercy unto thy servants who walk uprightly before thee, with all their hearts” (D&C 109:1, emphasis added). How fitting it was to begin with an acknowledgement of the constancy of God’s covenants and mercies, years before the saints would come to understand the important role covenants would play in temple ordinances. Later this revealed prayer returns again to the topic of covenants, beseeching, “Put upon thy servants the testimony of the covenant, that when they go out and proclaim thy word they may seal up the law” (D&C 109:38).

This dedicatory prayer also emphasizes the power of God that emanates from temples, praying “that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord’s house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness” (D&C 109:13). Later, the prayer adds: “And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them” (D&C 109:22). Receiving godly power remains a central objective of our temple covenants and ordinances today. President Russell M. Nelson taught, “Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead.”[9]

The dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple, received on March 26, 1836, and presented the following day, ends with this plea: “O hear, O hear, O hear us, O Lord! And answer these petitions, and accept the dedication of this house unto thee, the work of our hands, which we have built unto thy name” (D&C 109:78). A week later, on Easter Sunday, April 3, Jesus Christ Himself appeared to Joseph and Oliver and accepted the temple as His holy house. Christ was followed by Moses, Elias, and Elijah, who bestowed upon Joseph and Oliver the sacred priesthood keys of temple work—keys that continue with us today because of one more March 26 event.

March 26, 1844: Priesthood Keys Are Sealed on the Twelve Apostles

Joseph Smith long felt burdened with the weight of carrying the keys of the kingdom of God on the earth alone or nearly alone. Until he had sealed upon the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles all of those keys, he knew that his mission on this earth was not complete and that the perpetuation of his authority was at risk. Researchers have determined that Joseph fulfilled this desire at a meeting of the Council of Fifty on March 26, 1844, where he gave his last charge to the twelve.[10]

At the time of Joseph’s death, most of the Twelve Apostles were away on missions. Apostle Wilford Woodruff and quorum president Brigham Young were in New England, and they met together in Boston shortly after learning of the martyrdom. Later, when President Woodruff was prophet himself, he recounted the following memory of that occasion: “We were overwhelmed with grief and our faces were soon bathed in a flood of tears. … After we had done weeping we began to converse together concerning the death of the prophets [Joseph and Hyrum Smith]. In the course of the conversation, [Brigham] smote his hand upon his thigh and said, ‘Thank God, the keys of the kingdom are here.’ . . .

“President Young . . . referred to the last instructions at the last meeting we had with the Prophet Joseph before starting on our mission. . . . The Prophet Joseph, I am now satisfied, had a thorough presentiment that that was the last meeting we would hold together here in the flesh. We had had our endowments; we had had all the blessings sealed upon our heads that were ever given to the apostles or prophets on the face of the earth. On that occasion the Prophet Joseph rose up and said to us: ‘Brethren, I have desired to live to see this temple built. I shall never live to see it, but you will. I have sealed upon your heads all the keys of the kingdom of God. I have sealed upon you every key, power, principle that the God of heaven has revealed to me. Now, no matter where I may go or what I may do, the kingdom rests upon you.’ ”[11]

We are blessed to have these keys with us today, held active and viable by a living prophet who is a modern apostle of Jesus Christ. It is under the direction of these keys that sacred priesthood ordinances are now performed in temples throughout the earth. President Nelson said, “Priesthood keys give us the authority to extend all of the blessings promised to Abraham to every covenant-keeping man and woman. Temple work makes these exquisite blessings available to all of God’s children, regardless of where or when they lived or now live. Let us rejoice that priesthood keys are once again on the earth!”[12]

We are blessed to live in a time when these priesthood keys are active on the earth, allowing us to participate in the work of salvation and exaltation on both sides of the veil. Besides maintaining our own personal righteousness, there is no better way to show our love for Jesus Christ and to prepare for His Second Coming than to gather the children of Israel under the direction of these priesthood keys so that all have the opportunity to progress along the covenant path toward exaltation.

March 26: A Special Day is Celebrated by my Family

After learning from Brother Lefgren in the early 2000s the basics of maple syrup production and how it led to the dating of the First Vision, our family decided to try it out. We live in central Michigan, in a climate similar to Palmyra with lots of maple trees around, so my teenage children and I tapped some trees and were amazed at the quantity of sap that flowed and how much water we had to boil away before a sugary syrup would form.

My children have now grown and formed families of their own, but I continue to make maple syrup. Gathering sap every March still makes me think of young Joseph Smith and the break from maple syrup production he took when he went to the place in the woods where he had previously left his ax and prayed to God to know if his sins were forgiven and to learn which church he should join.

My grandchildren are now the biggest beneficiaries of my retirement hobby. Each March 26, we usually celebrate the many Restoration events that occurred on that special day by eating pancakes with maple syrup. The annual event also provides a great opportunity for me to share my testimony of Joseph Smith with my posterity. I know that he was a prophet who saw God and Jesus Christ, translated and published the Book of Mormon, established temples, and shared the keys of the priesthood with other apostles, starting  a chain of successors so that those keys remain with us today, binding our families together eternally. Praise to that man!

Valiant K. Jones is the author of The Heart of Our Covenants: Temple Principles that Draw Us unto Christ. For more information, see www.valiantjones.com or www.cedarfort.com.

[1] Regrettably, John P. Pratt died October 12, 2021, aligned with a different Restoration sect and no longer a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. See dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/millcreek-ut/john-pratt-10398606.

[2] John P. Pratt, “Enoch Calendar: Another Witness of the Restoration,” Meridian Magazine (5 Aug 2002). John P. Pratt, “Celestial Witnesses of the Meridian of Time,” Meridian Magazine (July 10, 2002). John P. Pratt, “Enoch Calendar Testifies of Christ,” Meridian Magazine (Sept. 11, 2001).

[3] John C. Lefgren and John P. Pratt, “Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning: Sun 26 Mar 1820?” Meridian Magazine (9 Oct 2002).

[4] “Chapter 08 The Rise of the Church of Christ,” Saints, Volume 1 The Standard of Truth, p. 83.

[5] Joseph Smith-History, endnote.

[6] John W. Welch, “Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon: Days [and Hours] Never to Be Forgotten,” BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 57: Iss. 4, Article 3. (2018).

[7] “Chapter 08 The Rise of the Church of Christ,” Saints, Volume 1, The Standard of Truth.

[8] “Chapter 21 The Spirit of God,” Saints, Volume 1, The Standard of Truth, p. 236.

[9] Russell M. Nelson, “The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation,” Liahona, November 2021, emphasis in original.

[10] Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “‘There’s the Boy I Can Trust’: Dennison Lott Harris’ First-Person Account of the Conspiracy of Nauvoo and Events Surrounding Joseph Smith’s ‘Last Charge’ to the Twelve Apostles,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, Vol. 21, 2016, pp. 23–117.

[11]Wilford Woodruff, “The Keys of the Kingdom,” Ensign, April 2004.

[12] Russell M. Nelson, “Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys,” Liahona, May 2024.