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Dedicatory Prayer of the Three Witnesses Monument¹

"O God, our Heavenly and Eternal Father, we approach thee at this time in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, and we pray thee that thy Spirit may be attendant with us. We pray thee, Father, to accept, as an offering from our hearts, the monument that has been erected to the memory of the late Oliver Cowdery, in the cemetery of this ciy. We pray thee that in the ravages of the elements, in the future, that this monument may never be disturbed, but remain firm and steadfast, that those who visit the same may read the testimony this man bore to all the world: That he was called of God, and that the claim made by him concerning the Book of Mormon is correct.

"We thank thee that the angel did descend from heaven and restore the sacred record, the Book of Mormon, and the message of love and salvation that thy servants are declaring unto the world. We thank thee not only, Heavenly Father, for this spot of ground where the remains of Oliver Cowdery lie, but we thank thee, also, because of Father Peter Whitmer, and his wife, and those who were loyal and true to the cause of truth, whose remains lie in this cemetery.

"We thank thee for the feeling of good will and fellowship that has been manifested by the inhabitants of this city, during the erection of this monument, and we pray thee that it may continue, and that the bond of love and sympathy between the believers in the Book of Mormon and the people of Richmond, and those who read the message of this monument, may grow and increase in strength every year.

"We thank thee for the gospel of thy Son, Jesus Christ, and for those who have received a testimony of the same. We thank thee for the knowledge we have received that Jesus is the Christ; for the testimony we have that Joseph Smith was and is, in very deed, a prophet of the true and living God, and for Oliver and David and Martin, and for all those who bore these testimonies; and we ask thee that, as we grow in years and understanding, we may grow in knowledge, that we may grow in power to live, that our light may so shine that men may glorify thee, and may be led to investigate the gospel.

"Guide us always, and may thy Spirit be with us during the remainder of this meeting, and finally bring us back in thy presence, we ask it all, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

¹ Junius F. Wells, "The Oliver Cowdery Monument at Richmond, Missouri," Improvement Era, Vol. 15, No. 3, January 1912.