The Mantle of Joseph Fell on Brigham Young | The Transfiguration Witnesses (LDS)

Send us Fan MailDid the mantle of the prophet Joseph Smith really fall on Brigham Young? In this LDS (Latter-day Saint) episode, Tia Smith gathers eyewitness accounts of the August 8, 1844 miracle in Nauvoo — often called the Transfiguration of Brigham Young — when, six weeks after Joseph Smith's martyrdom, the grieving Saints met to decide who would lead the Church.With Sidney Rigdon contesting the Quorum of the Twelve (led by Brigham Young) for the right to lead, many who were present testified that as Brigham Young rose to speak he looked, sounded, gestured, and even seemed the very height of Joseph Smith — some believing the Prophet had returned. Tia reads account after account: adults and children who saw and heard it, and secondhand witnesses who accepted a loved one's testimony. At least 100 people — 129 documented accounts — recorded this witness, which united and comforted the Saints and settled the succession when they sustained Brigham Young and the Twelve. She ties it to the Old Testament pattern of the mantle of Elijah falling on Elisha, and frames the whole event as a mass "thinning of the veil" — a group spiritual manifestation of the kind that tends to accompany pivotal moments in the gathering of Israel.The episode opens with President Dallin H. Oaks's February 2026 BYU devotional on the meaning of the prophetic mantle, and closes with W.W. Phelps's 1862 poem "Israel Reigns," written for Brigham Young. It's a testimony that the veil can part for many at once — and an invitation to pray for eyes to see and ears to hear. This is the story of the mantle of Joseph falling on Brigham Young.Q: Did the mantle of Joseph Smith fall on Brigham Young, and what was the Transfiguration of Brigham Young?A: On August 8, 1844, at a Nauvoo meeting to decide who would lead the Church after Joseph Smith's martyrdom, many Latter-day Saints testified that as Brigham Young spoke he looked and sounded like Joseph Smith — remembered as the mantle of Joseph falling on Brigham Young, or the Transfiguration. At least 100 people (129 documented accounts) recorded the experience, and it convinced the Saints to sustain Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve as the Lord's chosen leaders.Q: Why would God let the Saints see and hear Joseph Smith in Brigham Young?A: Wilford Woodruff and others explained the manifestation came at a moment of confusion and competing succession claims, given to convince the people whom the Lord had chosen — echoing the Savior's words that "my sheep know my voice." It united and comforted the mourning Saints and left no doubt about who should lead the Church.Q: Can ordinary Latter-day Saints witness group spiritual manifestations like this today?A: In this episode Tia Smith frames the Transfiguration of Brigham Young as a mass "thinning of the veil" — experienced by hundreds, including young children — and observes that such revelatory experiences tend to accompany pivotal moments in the gathering of Israel. She encourages listeners to pray for eyes to see and ears to hear, testifying that manifestations of the veil parting can still come in our day.▶️ WATCH & LISTEN🎬 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thinningoftheveil🌐 Website: https://www.thinningoftheveil.com🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinning-of-the-veil/id1753511394🟢 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6jWCfMHkZXwnSwy2b98J4M🎵 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a0a45561-d4c2-46d3-af8d-a1e967a21a25📖 BOOKPatterns of Revelation — Spiritual Foundations for Hearing God's Voice: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW36MG9B📱 CONNECTInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinning.of.the.veilFacebook Group (Gathering of the Gatherers): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1429562078443774Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/thinningoftheveil💛 SUPPORT THE SHOWVenmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/thinningoftheveilPayPal: https://paypal.me/thinningoftheveil✉️ Have you had a thinning of the veil experience? Email [email protected] — your testimony may be exactly what someone needs to hear.#ThinningOfTheVeil #SpiritWorld #TempleWork #FamilyHistory #LDS #LatterDaySaints #GatheringOfIsrael #MinisteringAngels #FamilySearch #PersonalRevelationCITATIONS:Lynne W. Jorgensen, "The Mantle of the Prophet Joseph Passes to Brother Brigham, A Collective Spiritual Witness", BYU Studies: https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/the-mantle-of-the-prophet-joseph-passes-to-brother-brigham-a-collective-spiritual-witnessWilliam W. Phelps, "Israel Reigns", January 1,  1862, Letter to Brigham Young: https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/a0e34109-e112-4868-9d07-4543120031b6/0/1Opening the Heavens: "The Mantle of the Prophet Joseph Passes to Brother Brigham: One Hundred Twenty-nine Testimonies of a Collective Spiritual Witness": https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-book/opening-the-heavens/the-mantle-of-the-prophet-joseph-passes-to-brother-brigham-one-hundred-twenty-nine-testimonies-of-a-collective-spiritual-witness#footnote-147Joseph Smith FoundatiSupport the show