050. Prelude to 1832 Account of the 1st Vision

The 1832 account of Joseph Smith's 1st Vision records:

"I pondered many things in my heart
concerning the situation of the world of mankind:
the contentions and divisions,
the wickedness and abominations,
and the darkness which pervaded the minds of mankind.

My mind became exceedingly distressed
for I became convicted of my sins.
And by searching the scriptures
I found that mankind
did not come unto the Lord
but that they had apostatized
from the true and living faith
and there was no society or denomination
that built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ
as recorded in the New Testament.

And I felt to mourn for my own sins
and for the sins of the world.
For I learned in the scriptures
that God was the same yesterday, today, and forever.
That He was no respecter to persons,
for He was God.

For I looked upon the sun -
the glorious luminary of the earth -
and also the moon rolling in their majesty through the heavens,
and also the stars shining in their courses,
and the earth also upon which I stood,
and the beast of the field
and the fowls of heaven,
and the fish of the waters,
and also man walking forth upon the face of the earth
in majesty and in the strength of beauty -
whose power and intelligence in governing the things
which are so exceeding great and marvelous,
even in the likeness of Him who created them.

And when I considered upon these things
my heart exclaimed, "Well hath the wise man said,
'It is a fool that saith in his heart there is no God.'"
My heart exclaimed, "All all these bear testimony
and bespeak an omnipotent and omnipresent power;
a Being who maketh laws and decreeeth
and bindeth all things in their bounds;
who filleth eternity;
who was, and is, and will be from all eternity to eternity."

And when I considered all these things
and that that Being seeketh such to worship Him
as worship Him in spirit and in truth,
therefore I cried unto the Lord for mercy
for there was none else to whom I could go and obtain mercy."

Joseph Smith, History 1832, pp. 1–2; 
Letter Book 1, 1829–35, 
Joseph Smith, Collection, LDS Church Archives.