The Kirtland Endowment

The Kirtland, Ohio, temple.

(Note: Deleted words are in braces "{}", interpoations are in angeled brackets, "[]".)

Account by Joseph Smith:

"At about 3. oclock P.M. I dismissed the school and the presidency, retired to the loft of the printing office, where we attended the ordinance of washing our bodies in pure water, we also perfumed our bodies and our heads, in the name of the Lord at early candlelight, I meet with the presid=ency, at the west school room in the Chapel to attend to the ordinance of annointing our heads with holy oil— also the councils of {Zion} Kirtland and Zion, meet in the two ad=joining rooms, who waited in prayer while we attended to the ordinance,—I took the oil in my {right} hand, father Smith being seated before me and the rest of the pre=sidency encircled him round about.—we then streched our right hands to heaven and blessed the oil and consecrated it in the name of Jesus Christ— we then laid our hands on our aged fath[er] Smith, and invoked, the blessings of heaven,—I then annointed his head with the consecrated oil, and sealed many blessings upon him, {head} he presidency then in turn, laid their hands upon his head, beginning at the eldest, untill they had all laid their hands on him, and pronounced such blessings, upon his head as the Lord put in their hearts— all blessing him to be our patraark [Patriarch], {and} annoint our heads, and attend to all duties that pertain to that office.— I then took the seat, and father annoint[ed] me head, and sealed upon me the blessings, of Moses, to lead Israel in the latter days, even as moses led him in days of old,—also the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.—all of the presidency laid their hands upon me and pronounced upon my head many prophecies, and blessings...."

(Source: Joseph Smith’s Diary, 21 January 1836, as recorded in Dean C. Jessee, ed., The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984), pp. 145-146.)

Index

The Kirtland temple is owned by Community of Christ (The Reorganized LDS Church) and has a homepage. It's open for tours through the year, free of charge.