John Martin Johnson (or Larsen) (Mormon Pioneer)

Testimony of John Martin Johnson

I will tell you of my experiences, how I got a testimony of the gospel. I had been sailing to France, England, Germany and Denmark. [When] I came home my Father and Mother had embraced the gospel, and they [told] me that God had revealed himself to a man named Joseph Smith. I said, “That cannot be, for we have the Bible, and Martin Luther brought it [forth] for us to use. One day my Uncle, my Mother's brother, was going to be baptized. He lived on a little farm across the harbor. Father [and] Mother, with two Elders and myself, sailed in my Father's boat to my Uncle's home. My uncle got baptized and my parents got me to be baptized. When we were sailing home I was thinking I had done a wrong thing. When we got to our house they said “We have got to go to a meeting.” I said “What for?” They said, “You shall have the Elders hands laid on your head for the gift of the Holy Ghost,” and I told them to go and I would go the next time. 

 

Well, it was a fine moonlit night. I took and lit my lamp. The table was standing between two windows. I took the Bible and the Book of Mormon and put them on the table to read. As I read, a voice read after me, [bothering] me. I thought it was eavesdroppers. I went around the house [looking] everywhere, and [could find] nothing. I went into the center of the room [with] the books. I stood and cried, and wished I could pray and get to know if this church was right. I turned to see if anyone was outside, and to the East Father had a frame building for wood. Against the wall stood a man. Such a homely man I had never seen. He was covered with hair. I immediately knelt down to pray—being so frightened. It felt like something leaped on my back and was about to press the life from me. The spirit within me told me he was the devil. I prayed with all my heart for deliverance and understanding if this church was true. I cared not for anything of this world but wanted wisdom and understanding. Then came a voice from where I had stood and read, and it said “You have asked for nothing but wisdom and understanding. Secure all kinds of good books and you shall go to the West and you shall be tried hard.” There he stopped, and I turned myself around to see, and there stood a man, a white cap on his head, white shoes, apron on him, and a robe hanging from his shoulders. The Gospel is true, believe me or not. [It says] in the Bible that some shall have dreams and visions and visitors. Some believe and some do not believe.

John Martin Johnson was born 4 Sept 1835 in Risor, Norway. He was in Winter Quarters in 1856 and 1857. He went back for saints in 1863. He died March 20^th, 1913 in Chester, Freemont County, Idaho.

*He recorded many spiritual dreams in a diary that we have copies of. We also have his Death Certificate.