Elder McConkie, speaking to seminary and institute teachers a few months after the revelation, described the events in poetic language that some misunderstood. He said of the experience:

From the midst of Eternity, the voice of God, conveyed by the power of the Spirit, spoke to his prophet. . . . And we all heard the same voice, received the same message, and became personal witnesses that the word received was the mind and will and voice of the Lord.

President Kimball’s prayer was answered and our prayers were answered. He heard the voice and we heard the same voice.

His phrasing left some with the mistaken impression that the group had heard a voice speaking specific words. When President Kimball read the talk as published in 1981, he asked Elder McConkie to revise the statement to avoid possible misunderstanding. Elder McConkie agreed that he meant only that “God’s will was made known,”86 pointing out that in the same talk he said, “The Lord could have sent messengers from the other side to deliver it but he did not. He gave the revelation by the power of the Holy Ghost. . . . [T]he Brethren involved, the thirteen who were present, are independent personal witnesses of the truth and divinity of what occurred.” He said he would clarify his meaning in future printings of the book, but he did not.