And as many of the plates as Joseph Smith translated I handled with my hands, plate after plate.

While praying I passed into a state of entrancement, and in that state I saw the angel and the plates.

And as many of the plates as Joseph Smith translated I handled with my hands, plate after plate.

I do hereby assert and declare that in four years from the date hereof, every sectarian and religious denomination in the United States shall be broken down, and every Christian shall be gathered unto the Mormonites, and the rest of the human race shall perish. If these things do not take place, I will hereby consent to have my hand separated from my body.

I never saw the gold plates, only in a visionary or entranced state.