In 1829, when Joseph Smith was translating
the Book of Mormon,
some people in Harmony, Pennsylvania were becoming increasingly aggressive towards them.
Threats were becoming more and more common.
During this difficult time, Oliver Cowdery
wrote a letter to his friend David Whitmer,
asking for help in moving them to the safety
of the Whitmer home in Fayette, New York.
David discussed this possibility with his
parents and siblings.
They decided that, despite the sacrifice,
letting the Smiths and Oliver stay with them was the right thing to do.
However, David couldn’t leave right away.
He still needed to plow and fertilize his fields to grow the wheat that they depended  on for survival.
But then something miraculous happened.
David later recalled,
“on going to the field I found between 5 and 7 acres of my ground  had been plowed during the night.
I don’t know who did it,
but it was done, just as I would have done it myself,
and  the plow was left standing in the furrow.”
Although it is impossible to know who plowed
David’s fields,
Lucy Mack Smith later recalled that three unknown men worked the fields.
They never explained who they were and why
they were there.
And they left without asking for payment.
David was able to leave for Harmony far earlier
than he had expected.
Once the Smiths were finally out of harm’s way,
the Book of Mormon translation was able to continue at a rapid pace until its completion.
This unexplained plowing of a field
allowed Oliver and the Smiths to move out of danger sooner than expected,
and it allowed the work
of the Lord to move forward confidently.
And now you know why.
