Joseph Smith claimed to have numerous visions and visitations from heaven, all of them of some significance to the origin and development of the LDS religion. In fact, he claimed to have so many such experiences that it can be difficult to keep track of them all. This article provides a simple overview of these reported experiences. No attempt is made in this article to evaluate any of the specific reports. 

An important distinction to be observed is that between visitations and visions. A visitation is an event in which a heavenly being literally became physically present on the earth and was visible to a person’s natural eyes. A vision is an event in which a mortal human being on earth had an experience in his mind (whether awake or asleep) of seeing heavenly beings (or other non-earthly realities). In a vision, the heavenly beings are understood not to have made a literal physical visit to the visionary. It is not always clear whether a specific event reported by Joseph Smith should be classified as a vision or a visitation. 

In the two tables below, all visitations and visions are to Joseph Smith alone, unless stated otherwise. The reported events are listed in chronological order according to official LDS dates. In a couple of instances the heavenly being is not mentioned but is traditionally believed to have been the same angel that dominates the early appearances, namely, the angel that Joseph Smith later identified as Moroni. See the end of this article for a list of the sources cited in the tables.