Editing David Whitmer (section)

===Book of Mormon witness===
[[File:David Whitmer - 1864.jpg|150px|thumb|Whitmer by R. B. Rice, c. 1864]]
Whitmer was baptized in June 1829, nearly a year prior to the formal organization of the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Christ]]. During that same month, Whitmer said that he, along with Smith and Cowdery, saw an [[angel]] present the golden plates in a vision. [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] reported that he experienced a similar vision with Smith later in the day. Evidence places this event near Whitmer's father's home in Fayette, New York, on June 28, 1829.<ref name=Anderson2012>{{citation |first= Gale Yancey |last= Anderson |date=Spring 2012 |title= Eleven Witnesses Behold the Plates |journal= [[Journal of Mormon History]] |volume= 38 |issue= 2 |pages= 146–52|doi= 10.2307/23292761 |jstor= 23292761 |s2cid= 254492716 }}</ref> Later, in an 1878 testimony, Whitmer claimed to have seen a light, "not like the light of the sun, nor like that of a fire, but more glorious and beautiful".<ref name=":0" /> He then went on to describe a table appearing with the [[golden plates]], the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]], and other objects referenced in the Book of Mormon narrative. Whitmer continued: "I heard the voice of the Lord, as distinctly as I ever heard anything in my life, declaring that the records of the plates of the Book of Mormon were translated by the gift and power of God."<ref name=":0" /> Whitmer, Cowdery, and Harris signed a [[Three Witnesses|joint statement]] declaring their testimony to the reality of the vision. The statement was published in the first edition of the Book of Mormon and has been included in nearly every subsequent edition.<ref>[[Richard Lyman Bushman]], ''[[Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling]]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), pp. 77-79.</ref>