The Prophet Joseph Smith
Heavenly Mother
Vision of Heavenly Mother with Apostle Cannon
For instance, the LDS archives contain a journal entry from Abraham H. Cannon, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and son of George Q. Cannon. On August 25, 1880, Abraham Cannon recorded a time when the Prophet Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Zebedee Coltrin saw a vision of our Heavenly Mother:
One day the Prophet Joseph Smith asked him (Zebedee Coltrin) and Sidney Rigdon to accompany him into the woods to pray. When they had reached a secluded spot Joseph laid down on his back and stretched out his arms. He told the brethren to lie one on each arm and then shut their eyes.
After they had prayed he told them to open their eyes. They did so and they saw a brilliant light surrounding a pedestal which seemed to rest on the ground. They closed their eyes and again prayed. They then saw, on opening them, the Father seated upon a throne; they prayed again and on looking saw the Mother also; after praying and looking the fourth time they saw the Savior added to the group. He had auburn brown, rather long, wavy hair and appeared quite young” (Journal of Abraham H. Cannon , 25 Aug. 1880, LDS archives).
Though rare, this vision might not have been a singular occurrence. The Church’s Gospel Topics Essay “Mother in Heaven” states, “Susa Young Gates, a prominent leader in the Church, wrote in 1920 that Joseph Smith’s visions and teachings revealed the truth that ‘the divine Mother, [is] side by side with the divine Father'” https://tinyurl.com/JSMother2
Peter Bauder Interview 1830
In October 1830 Peter Bauder visited Joseph Smith; "I will name some of the particular discoveries which I was favored with in an interview with Joseph Smith, I called at P[eter]. Whitmer’s house, for the purpose of seeing Smith, and searching into the mystery of his system of religion, and had the privilege of conversing with him alone, several hours, and of investigating his writings, church records, &c. I improved near four and twenty hours in close application with Smith and his followers: he could give me no christian experience." Joseph mentioned angels visited but "No Christian Experience." Several years later he came up with the story of the first vision but it was not well known or published until the 1840's
Prophet Joseph Smith Zebedee Coltrin Sidney Rigdon google search and find numerous related articles