Have The LDS Prophets Seen Jesus Christ? (12 Yes!)(2 No!)(3 Quite Possibly!)

The absolute #1 question in the Church, according to polls I may or may not have actually conducted, is “Why do the 16 year old priests have to squish the bread so hard when they’re ripping up the sacrament?” It gives the whole thing a very distracting, mashed and rubber-like consistency.

If I may, I’d like to suggest a solution. Give everyone in the congregation their own entire slice of bread. Two if it’s thin sliced and a fast Sunday. We would take it right out of the bag ourselves, of course. The only possible squishing then would be in the shopping cart under a bag of apples. Such damage would taste a lot less teenage-fingery. I feel like I could cope with that better.

A close second most-asked question, of course, pertains to tithing discounts. I have it on good authority that we all get one of those on our baptism anniversary. (I don’t have that on any authority.)

The third-most asked question, according to several internets, is do the modern prophets actually see Jesus Christ? You want to know, right? Everyone does, really. It doesn’t matter though. I mean it really shouldn’t matter to a testimony. If your testimony hinges totally on someone else’s spiritual experiences, you may want to add to it.

I do have good news for you though. Of the 17 prophets that have presided since the restoration of God’s Church, a vast (and I mean VAST) majority have seen Him. Some have written about the experience themselves. Some have kept it sacred and close to the chest – telling only family members. Some of those family members, thankfully, didn’t keep it as close to their chest. Below is a list. I do not believe it has every sighting of every prophet. But it does show that heaven plays a very active role in our top tiers. Heaven plays big roles in all the other tiers too, but that’s for another post.

Below is every single prophet in chronological order along with whether there’s any recording of them seeing Jesus Christ. Excerpts from some of their experiences are included where they could be:

1) Joseph Smith - (Seen Him!)

Joseph Smith, putting it bluntly, saw the Father and Son a lot. Listing the sacred grove experience would be easy. It’s not even included in the numbers listed below. For the sake of keeping things a bit more interesting - here’s a lesser-known example:

“In addition to the four appearances of the Father and Son during this five-year span (1831-36), historical sources reveal that Joseph Smith saw Jesus Christ separately on four occasions. Thirteen-year-old Mary Elizabeth Rollins was present when one of these visitations transpired. She remembered the event occurring in 1831, at a meeting of Saints held at the Isaac Morley farm, where the Prophet was the main speaker. She recalled Joseph speaking very solemnly during the meeting. “All at once his countenance changed and he stood mute,” Rollins recounted. “Those who looked at him . . . said there was a search light within him, over every part of his body. I never saw anything like in on the earth. I could not take my eyes off of him. He got so white that anyone who saw him would have thought he was transparent. I . . . thought I could almost see the bones through the flesh.” The Prophet stood silent for several minutes before he asked those present if they knew who had been in their midst. Martin Harris told them it was the Savior, to which the Prophet responded that God had revealed that truth to Martin. He then said, “Brothers and Sisters, . . . the Savior has been here this night and I want to tell you to remember it. There is a vail [sic] over your eyes for you could not endure to look upon Him.”” (https://devotional.byuh.edu/node/160)

Notice Joseph started to glow when this vision occurred. We’ve talked about that phenomenon before.

 2) Brigham Young - (Seen Him!)

Brigham Young wrongfully has a rep for not being as spiritually in-tune as JS. That, I boldly say, is not true. Did you know he once commanded a sea storm to calm in a very Biblical manner? Did you know that after the martyrdom he was caught up into ‘eternity’ and met with Joseph Smith? You can read more about all that here. 

But this, specifically, is about Brigham Young Seeing Christ. In his own words he said “I have had many revelations, I have seen and heard for myself.” But that’s pretty vague. He may not like to brag, but his good friend Heber C. Kimball wasn’t afraid to bolster faith in the prophet:

“You need not ask who administer to brother Brigham; for I will tell you: They are Moses and Aaron, Elijah, Jesus, Peter, James, and John, brother Joseph, Michael the Archangel, and the hosts of the righteous behind the veil: they are all engaged in this great work.” (http://ogdenkraut.com/?page_id=358)

 3) John Taylor - (Seen Him!)

John Taylor’s experience comes to us via Spencer W. Kimball. It is simple and straight forward:

“‘I know that Jesus Christ lives,’ said John Taylor, my predecessor, ‘for I have seen him.’ I bear this testimony to you brethren in the name of Jesus Christ.”(“Strengthening the Family—the Basic Unit of Society,” Ensign, May 1978, 48).

It’s also President Kimball talking about what he himself has seen. More on that later. We’re still way back in the 1800s here…

4) Wilford Woodruff - (Seen Him!)

Wilford Woodruff had a vision of the Salt Lake Temple around 50 years before it was built. He was in Boston at the time. He became almost obsessed with finishing it. It makes sense, then, that his experience with the Savior happened at it’s long prophesied dedication:

“One brother in attendance at the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple reported, “President Wilford Woodruff told some of the saints that our Savior had appeared unto him in the east room in the Holy of Holies, and [Jesus] told him that he had accepted of the Temple and of the dedicatory services. . . . President Woodruff saw the Savior and talked with him face to face.””(https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/banner-gospel-wilford-woodruff/5-every-man-given-gift-spiritual-legacy-wilford-woodruff)

5) Lorenzo Snow - (Seen Him!)

Aside from the billions of visits to Joseph Smith (slightly exaggerated), this visitation of Christ is probably the best known. The setting is that Wilford Woodruff just died. Snow was next in line and was absolutely overwhelmed by the thought of it. He prayed and prayed for some kind of guidance but an answer didn’t come – at first:

“Lorenzo Snow was still at work in his office in the Salt Lake Temple. It was dark outside, and the stars had come out. He was the fifth President of the Church, but he was also serving as the first president of the Salt Lake Temple at the time.  He often stayed late into the evening to finish his work. President Snow’s granddaughter Allie Young loved to visit him at his office. In those days, family members of the temple president were allowed to visit him there.  They were not allowed to go through the entire temple, however, until they were old enough and had been found worthy and ready to make the sacred temple covenants. This special evening Allie was with her grandfather in his office. The doorkeepers had gone home and the night watchmen had not yet come in, so they were alone. When Allie was ready to leave, President Snow went to a dresser and took a large bunch of keys from the drawer so that he could let her out the main entrance. Together they walked down a large corridor near the celestial room. President Snow suddenly stopped and said,  “Wait a moment, Allie. I want to tell you something.” Allie listened intently as her grandfather told her of an unforgettable experience he had once had at that place in the temple: “It was right here that the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to me at the time of the death of President Woodruff. He instructed me to go right ahead and reorganize the First Presidency of the Church at once and not wait as had been done after the death of the previous presidents, and that I was to succeed President Woodruff [as President of the Church].”President Snow held out his left hand and said, “He stood right here, about three feet above the floor. It looked as though he stood on a plate of solid gold. ”Still speaking in hushed, reverent tones, President Snow told Allie that the Savior’s appearance was so glorious and bright that he could hardly look at Him. President Snow put his right hand on Allie’s head and said, “Now granddaughter, I want you to remember that this is the testimony of your grandfather, that he told you with his own lips that he actually saw the Savior, here in the temple, and talked with him face to face.””

(https://www.lds.org/friend/1993/08/lorenzo-snow-and-the-sacred-vision?lang=eng)

In some of these visitations we have to take the word of but one person that they heard these events happened. If you desperately don’t want to believe any of this, one person’s word can be easy to discount. We have Allie Young above with her Grandfather’s tale – but was she honest?

Luckily we also have LeRoi C. Snow agreeing with her. In a 1933 issue of the Improvement Era The Younger Snow wrote an article called ‘An Experience of My Father’s.’ Here is an excerpt:

“After finishing his prayer, [my father] expected a reply, some special manifestation from the Lord. So he waited—and waited—and waited. There was no reply, no voice, no visitation, no manifestation. He left the altar and the room in great disappointment. Passing through the celestial room and out into the large corridor, a glorious manifestation was given President Snow which I relate in the words of his granddaughter, Allie Young Pond. …”

[He then quotes from his niece (see above)]

LeRoi goes on to state:

“… I related this experience in the Eighteenth Ward sacramental service. After the meeting Elder Arthur Winter told me he also had heard my father tell of the Savior’s appearance to him in the temple instructing him not only to reorganize the First Presidency at once but also to select the same counselors that President Woodruff had, Presidents George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith.” (https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/09/a-visit-from-the-savior?lang=eng)

So what does this prove so far? It proves that the family Snow definitely talked about this. They knew about this. So did Heber J. Grant:

"In confirmation of the testimony given by Brother LeRoi C. Snow quoting the granddaughter of Lorenzo Snow, I want to call attention to the fact that several years elapsed after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith before President Young was sustained as the president of the Church. After the death of President Young, several years elapsed again before President Taylor was sustained, and again when he died several years elapsed before President Woodruff was sustained. 

"After the funeral of President Wilford Woodruff the Apostles met in the office of the First Presidency and Brother Francis M. Lyman said: 'I feel impressed although one of the younger members of the quorum, to say that I believe it would be pleasing in the sight of the Lord if the First Presidency of the Church was reorganized right here and right now. If I am in error regarding this impression, President Snow and the senior members of the council can correct me.' 

"President Snow said that he would be pleased to hear from all the brethren upon this question, and each and all of us expressed ourselves as believing it would be pleasing to the Lord and that it would be the proper thing to have the Presidency organized at once. 

"When we had finished, then and not until then did Brother Snow tell us that he was instructed of the Lord in the Temple the night after President Woodruff died, to organize the Presidency of the Church at once. President Anthon H. Lund and myself are the only men now living who were present at that meeting." (https://scottwoodward.org/lorenzosnow_sawtheLordintemple.html)

6) Joseph F. Smith - (Seen Him!)

Joseph F. Smith is another easy one. His sighting is the only one, Joseph Smith Jr. aside, whose vision of Christ is canonized.

“I saw the hosts of the dead, And while this vast multitude waited and conversed, ... the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful” (D&C 138:11, 18) (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/138.16-19)

 7) Heber J. Grant - (Seen Him!)

Heber J. Grant – much more than just backup for LeRoi Snow. He was kind of an everyman president. Of course, so far on this list an ‘everyman’ would have had to see Christ:

“As I rode along alone, I seemed to see a Council in Heaven. The Savior was there; the Prophet Joseph was there; my father and others that I knew were there. In this Council it seemed that they decided that a mistake had been made in not filling the vacancies in the quorum of the Twelve, and conference had adjourned. The chances were the brethren would wait another six months, and the way to remedy the situation was to send a revelation naming the men who should fill the vacancies. In this council the Prophet said, “I want to be represented by one of my own on that council.”

“I had always understood and known that my mother was sealed to the Prophet, and that Brigham Young had told my father that he would not marry my mother to him for eternity, because he had instructions from the Prophet that if anything happened to him before he was married to Rachel Ivins she must be sealed to him for eternity, that she belonged to him.

“That is the reason that father spoke up in this council to which I have referred, and said: “Why not choose the boy who bears my name who belongs to you, to be one of the Apostles?” That is the inspiration that was given to me.

“I can truthfully say that from February, 1883, until today I have never had any of that trouble, and I can bear testimony that I know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, and that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the living God.” (https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/dissenters-portraying-the-church-as-wrong-so-they-can-be-right-without-it/)

8) George Albert Smith - (Didn't See Him!)

George Albert Smith didn’t see Christ, and he’s refreshingly straight forward about it.

I don’t know at what point in his apostleship he made the statement below, but I’ve found no reference to him having a divine vision of that exact type. He did, however, feel he had spent some time in the company of the unseen Lord:

“I have not seen Him face to face but have enjoyed the companionship of His spirit and felt His presence in a way not to be mistaken. I know that my Redeemer lives and gladly yield my humble efforts to establish His teachings. ... Every fiber of my being vibrates with the knowledge that He lives and some day all men will know it.”

It is almost refreshing that this President Smith makes no claim of seeing Christ. It proves, without a doubt, that there are no conspirators meeting in dimly lit (but smoke-free) rooms to manufacture such tales. I believe it lends real credence to the other claims.

GA Smith did receive other revelations, though. Here’s one if you’re interested. It involves a panoramic life review – something that pops up all over the place in different apostolic stories (It’s on my list of future posts).  

9) David O. McKay - (Seen Him!)

President McKay was once seen emitting light through his skin after returning from the Holy of Holies. Though he never said what happened in that room that day, he did say what happened in this vision:

"During a tour of the Church in the South Pacific in 1921, President David O. McKay, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, had a remarkable vision of the celestial kingdom. His description provides a glimpse of how the premortal heavenly home probably appeared.

"I ... beheld in vision something infinitely sublime. In the distance I beheld a beautiful white city. Though far away, yet I seemed to realize that trees with luscious fruit, shrubbery with gorgeously tinted leaves, and flowers in perfect bloom abounded everywhere. The clear sky above seemed to reflect these beautiful shades of color. I then saw a great concourse of people approaching the city. Each one wore a white flowing robe, and a white headdress. Instantly my attention seemed centered upon their Leader, and though I could see only the profile of his features and his body, I recognized him at once as my Savior! The tint and radiance of his countenance were glorious to behold. There was a peace about him which seemed sublime—it was divine!" (https://grandmapalspocket.blogspot.com/2015_01_14_archive.html)

10) Joseph Fielding Smith - (Didn't See Him!)

Joseph Fielding Smith was son of the canonized Joseph F. Smith (seen above) and grandson of Hyrum Smith, one of the 8 Book of Mormon witnesses. He was a humble man. Humble enough to say:

“I have not beheld him. His Father and He have not felt it necessary to grant me such a great blessing as this. But it is not necessary. I have felt his presence. I know that the Holy Spirit has enlightened my mind and revealed him unto me, so that I do love my Redeemer...” (https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-joseph-fielding-smith/chapter-2-our-savior-jesus-christ?lang=eng)

So, much like George Albert Smith, Joseph Fielding claimed no visual visitations from Christ. But also like George Albert – he felt Christ’s presence. Interesting how that repeats. It’s also interesting that he, too, is so open about it.

11) Harold B. Lee - (Seen Him!)

I’m excited to talk about Harold B Lee. But first I’ll let him talk:

“I shall never forget my feelings of loneliness the Saturday night after I was told by the President of the Church that I was to be sustained the next day as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. That was a sleepless night….

And then one of the Brethren, who arranged for Sunday evening radio programs, said, “Now you know that after having been ordained, you are a special witness to the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want you to give the Easter talk next Sunday night.”

“The assignment was to bear testimony of the mission of the Lord concerning His resurrection, His life, and His ministry, so I went to a room in the Church Office Building where I could be alone, and I read the Gospels, particularly those that had to do with the closing days and weeks and months of the life of Jesus. And as I read, I realized that I was having a new experience.

“It wasn’t any longer just a story; it seemed as though I was actually seeing the events about which I was reading, and when I gave my talk and closed with my testimony, I said, “I am now the least of all my brethren and want to witness to you that I know, as I have never known before this call came, that Jesus is the Savior of this world. He lives and He died for us.” Why did I know? Because there had come a witness, that special kind of a witness, that may have been the more sure word of prophecy that one must have if he is to be a special witness.” (https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Question:_Did_any_twentieth_century_leader_after_Joseph_Smith_report_divine_visions%3F#cite_note-10)

Joseph Smith once had a panoramic Bible review, too. His was with his seer stone. 

But we're getting sidetracked. Here is one more thing from President Lee. It is only a comment from a Facebook group – but it is profound. This fits the Lorenzo Snow pattern like a glove. It happened in the Salt Lake Temple and it was a small, personal statement meant only to bolster the testimony of the listener:

“Harold B. Lee was walking with me right behind him, down a corridor in the SL Temple, he stopped and said that THIS spot, was where he FIRST saw the Saviour. I believed him.”

Here’s a pic of that beautiful first hand statement so you can see I’m not making it up:

Do you believe it? Do you want to believe it? Do you want to not believe it? It fits the pattern. It fits a distinct pattern. It was a comment on a post talking about James E. Faust seeing Christ. It really strikes home to me. I believe it. It's first hand. I’m sold.

12) Spencer W. Kimball - (Seen Him!)

President Kimball is another exciting one. Remember the John Taylor quote up towards the top of the post? That was this same man – and it included his own testimony of seeing Christ. And then you have stuff like this:

“…I want to add to these testimonies of these prophets my testimony that I know that He lives. And I know that we may see him, and that we may be with him, and that we may enjoy his presence always if we will live the commandments of the Lord and do the things which we have been commanded by him to do and reminded by the Brethren to do.”

(https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Question:_Did_any_twentieth_century_leader_after_Joseph_Smith_report_divine_visions%3F)

“I know that we may see him, and that we may be with him…” is pretty direct, but it doesn’t specifically say President Kimball saw Christ himself. But this does - from an article originally posted 17 February 2014. It was titled Grandma Burton’s Witness By Justin Collings, a grandson. The setting is just after J. Collings returned from his mission. His grandfather recently passed and his grandmother, perhaps sensing her own mortality, seemed eager to share her most spiritual experiences. This is one of them. It appears to be a zone-conference type setting with Spencer W. Kimball of the twelve presiding:

“After the testimonies had been borne, Elder Kimball addressed Grandma and her fellow­laborers. She told me that because of the caliber of missionaries he was addressing, Elder Kimball felt at liberty to speak more freely than the Brethren generally do about the sacred and solemn interviews involved in calling [an] apostle and qualifying him to stand as a special witness of the Lord Jesus Christ in all the earth. He told them a story familiar to many of us—of the anxiety and the inadequacy he felt; of the nagging doubt that he had been called, not by revelation, but because he was the grandson of President Heber C. Kimball; and of his flight to the mountains, amid fasting and prayer, to seek a witness from the Lord that the call had come from Him and not from man. From the familiar story, we know that Elder Kimball obtained the witness. But to Grandma Burton and to her stalwart missionary peers, this mighty man of God revealed an additional and dramatic detail about how that witness came. President Kimball, like so many others of the noble and great ones called to the holy apostleship in this final dispensation of grace, saw the Lord Jesus and heard from the mouth of the Savior Himself the soul­cheering affirmation, "I have called you to be my witness to the world. Doubt not, but be of good cheer."”
(https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/5299320)

13) Ezra Taft Benson - (Seen Him!)

President Benson is straight up blunt about it. Were people listening? I, most definitely, wasn’t. But President Benson – I hear you now:

“There have been many in this dispensation who have seen Him. As one of those special witnesses so called in this day, I testify to you that He lives. He lives with a resurrected body. There is no truth or fact of which I am more assured or more confident than the truth of the literal resurrection of our Lord.” (https://www.lds.org/ensign/1991/04/jesus-christ-our-savior-our-god?lang=eng)

14) Howard W. Hunter - (Maybe Saw Him!)

Howard W. Hunter got called as an apostle in 1959. In 1986 he gave a spectacular talk at the April General Conference called ‘An Apostle’s Witness of the Resurrection.’ The purpose of this talk, as the title suggests, was to hammer home the point of apostleship. He starts out with a Joseph Smith Quote:

“Joseph Smith said, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.””

 He then quotes Peter:

 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36.)

“But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, ... and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.” (Acts 3:14–15.)

Then Paul:

“And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

“But God raised him from the dead:

“And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.” (Acts 13:29–31.)

And more Paul:

“Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? ... For the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 9:1–2.)

Then Hunter throws in, almost casually:

“I humbly testify of my privilege to bear the holy apostleship and to work daily with a modern Quorum of Twelve Apostles who are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to go forth as “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world.” (D&C 107:23.) And so have the Apostles always testified.”

Now Hunter doesn’t directly say anything here, but he does clearly say that apostles testify of their witness of the risen Lord – and that he is that kind of apostle. He never says he didn’t see Jesus either, which thus far is a clear move for the prophets that haven’t (see G.A. Smith & the younger J.F. Smith up there). 

At best, with everything I’ve found so far, I can only put President Hunter in the ‘Maybe’ column.

15) Gordon B. Hinckley - (Seen Him!)

This next bit is from a video made by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve in 2001 titled Special Witnesses of Christ. It’s a pretty long transcript so the below quotes kind of jump around a little bit – and it really echoes Hunter:

“In our day the Lord has called 15 special witnesses to testify of His divinity before all the world. Theirs is a unique calling; they are Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, chosen and commissioned by Him. They have been commanded to bear witness of His living reality by the power and authority of the holy apostleship in them vested….

[Speaking of Christ’s Biblical apostles] “Those who were witnesses of that event, all who saw and heard and spoke with the Risen Lord, testified of the reality of this greatest of all miracles. His followers through the centuries lived and died in proclamation of the truth of this supernal act….

To all of these we add our testimony that He who died on Calvary’s cross arose again in wondrous splendor as the Son of God, the Master of life and death….

“Of the reality and personality of the living God and of His Son, our Redeemer, I stand as a solemn and reverent witness, speaking these words by the power of the Holy Ghost.” (https://www.lds.org/ensign/2001/04/special-witnesses-of-christ?lang=eng)

Now think about the word ‘personality’ up there. It kind of jumps off the page. The Google definition of Personality sums it up pretty well: ‘the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character.’

Can one learn the qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character without personal interaction? I don’t think so. Given the apparent free-flowing visitations listed above, I think GB Hinckley may have been telling us something big there.

If that’s not enough, interestingly, here’s a third hand account of Gordon B. Hinckley describing what Christ looks like. I’ve never seen it before and it is, somewhat, an uncommon description. This is a quote from a former believer named Tom Philips, taken from an email he wrote to the author of MormonPath.com. For the life of me I can’t think of why a former believer would want to push this if he hadn’t actually heard it:

“Harold G. Hillam of the Seventy (now deceased) said to me that President Hinckley had described Jesus as having fair hair and blue eyes with no beard.” (http://www.mormonpath.com/2017/12/28/)

16) Thomas S. Monson - (Maybe Saw Him!)

President Monson was a giant among men, and I do believe he saw Christ but there are no direct public statements. Below is a smattering of statements that could be interpreted as such:

1) In one week we will celebrate Easter. Our thoughts will turn to the Savior’s life, His death, and His Resurrection. As His special witness, I testify to you that He lives and that He awaits our triumphant return. That such a return will be ours, I pray humbly in His holy name—even Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer, amen. Thomas S. Monson, “The Race of Life,” Ensign, May 2012

2) I know without question, my brothers and sisters, that God lives. I testify to you that this is His work. I testify as well that our Savior Jesus Christ is at the head of this Church, which bears His name. I know that the sweetest experience in all this life is to feel His promptings as He directs us in the furtherance of His work. ("Looking Back and Moving Forward," Ensign, May 2008)

There are Mormon-lore type legends about Monson seeing Christ. I found this one in the comments section of a something or other:

“Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:19 pm

“Pres. Monson saw the Saviour during the San Diego Temple dedication (after the day's sessions) while he was First Counselor (reported by the Temple president to the Temple workers the first week the Temple was open for ordinance work).” (https://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=23995)

Anyone who has ever had an in-depth talk with a temple worker has heard stories like this. I’ve heard some myself and trust the sources. I couldn’t find anything about this specific item though, so I’ve got to keep President Monson in the ‘Maybe’ column. If I could find a first hand account – like the HB Lee comment listed above, I’d happily slide President Monson on over to the concrete ‘Seen Him’ column.

17) Russell M. Nelson - (Maybe Saw Him!)

President Nelson has been Q&A-ed a few times. Some of those Qs, predictably, have gone like this: “As an apostle, you are a special witness of Jesus Christ. Does that mean you’ve seen Jesus Christ?

The answer to this question has been something along the lines of “No it does not necessarily mean that.” I’ve heard two such stories recently. In one of the tellings (a ward member over the pulpit recently in a fast & testimony meeting) that answer was quickly followed up with “But I’ve heard him. I’ve felt him…”

“I’ve felt him” very much echoes G.A. and J Fielding Smith. However – President Nelson has only just become the Prophet. Perhaps he has had an experience akin unto Lorenzo Snow – seeing Christ just after assuming the mantle. For now I feel confident putting President Nelson in the ‘Maybe’ column too.

This list makes it apparent that although the vast majority of Latter-Day prophets have seen Christ – seeing him isn’t mandatory. He can guide his prophets without making eye contact.

Let’s allow President Nelson to close things in his own words:

“As a special witness of Jesus Christ, I testify that He lives! I also testify that the veil of death is very thin. I know by experiences too sacred to relate that those who have gone before are not strangers to leaders of this Church.” (https://www.lds.org/ensign/1992/05/doors-of-death?lang=eng)