If you were visited personally by SOMETHINGs that CLAIMED to be God the Father (who has a body), and Jesus Christ, would you put them to some kind of test?
Yes, I would certainly test them. Very good point.
The point I was leading up to is this: If you were visited (verification assumed) by God the Father and Jesus Christ, would it not be THE defining moment of your life? Of course it would. So, my problem is, why would Joseph Smith not be able to RECALL THE EXACT DATE this occurred? Nowhere in any pro or con Mormon writings/history is there a single mention of a date, other than “oh, sometime in the Spring of 1820”.
As Gordon B. Hinckley has recently said (paraphrasing): “If the first vision story is not true, then our church is a sham.”
If this date is the pivotal point in world history of restoring the Gospel to all mankind, wouldn’t it make sense that Joseph Smith would have this date burned in his memory, rather than only being able to give us a roundabout 2-3 month maybe period?
"If you were visited personally by SOMETHINGs that CLAIMED to be God the Father (who has a body), and Jesus Christ, would you put them to some kind of test?"
My first thought was - yes, it would have an life altering impact, but it would have an even greater impact if it turned out that the persons that claimed to be God and Jesus Christ gave me prophesies to proclaim to the world, and then, it turned out that there were false prophesies contained in the words and new gospel that they revealed to me. It is not possible for God or His prophets or angels to give false prophesy.