As he stood looking at them in wonder, the angel Moroni came to his side, and Joseph was taught many things about the future.

He was shown in a vision the glory of the good and the darkness of the evil.
[Illustration: THE HILL CUMORAH.] Joseph was about to take the plates from the box, when the angel forbade him, telling him the time had not yet arrived, but that he should come to the hill in one year from that date when the angel would meet him.

This he must do for four years, at the end of which time, if Joseph was faithful, the plates would be given to him to translate and publish to the world.
True to the angel's instructions, Joseph went to the hill Cumorah on the 22nd day of September of each year, at which time Moroni appeared to him and gave him many teachings about the word of God.
During all this time Joseph had to labor hard on the farm, sometimes hiring out to work for others.

In October, 1825, he worked for a man by the name of Josiah Stoal, who took Joseph to the State of Pennsylvania, and set him with other men, digging for a silver mine which he thought he could find.
After working at it for some time, Joseph persuaded his employer to give it up.

It was from this incident that Joseph's enemies sometimes called him a "money digger." While working for Mr.Stoal, Joseph boarded for some time with the family of Isaac Hale.