In the spring of 1820, a fourteen-year-old boy in upstate New York witnessed one of the most transcendent visions in all recorded history. The boy was named Joseph Smith, and in response to an earnest prayer, he saw a glorious manifestation of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. In that encounter, Joseph was told that his sins were forgiven--and that the Lord had appointed him to do a vital work on the earth. That vision was followed by others, and it therefore came to be called the First Vision. This book brings together several accounts of the vision that Joseph personally shared during his lifetime. It also features a new, single-narrative harmony of those accounts, published here for the first time. Other sections of the book present accounts of the vision given by those who personally knew Joseph Smith, followed by teachings and testimonies of others, including prophets and apostles. The Heavens Were Opened: Joseph Smith's First Vision will be a valued addition to any Latter-day Saint library and an essential resource for the study of the First Vision of the founding prophet of this dispensation, Joseph Smith.