In the early 1800’s, the prophet Joseph Smith was commanded by God to preach to the descendants of the Lamanites who were living in the Ohio, Missouri and other areas in the heartland of the United States. Years later, in 1877, the St. George Temple registrar recorded the endowment work of many of the descendants of the Lamanites by temple president Wilford Woodruff and others. Many of the Indians in America possess the pure blood of Israel, as their Father Lehi and his family, who were Jews, came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C. and traveled to the Promised Land, America.They are believed to have landed in the United States, according to Hopewell dating, prophecies and many other cultural facts. The Hopewell Indian sites have been correlated with the Book of Mormon time-frame, and matches beautifully with the location and culture of these ancient people. Appropriate to this song, the land of Nephi correlates with the Hopewell areas in Tennessee. See evidences shown in the FIRM FOUNDATION, LDS ARCHAEOLOGY, BookofMormonEvidence.org, ancientamerican.com. Mentors who have helped Kaye Starr Heninger with this project are professionals Rod Meldrum and Wayne May. This song was included in the program, “Songs of the Prophets” by Kaye Starr Heninger and won the Deseret Dramatic Arts award from the LDS Church.This song was sung by Angela Ortiz Smith and recorded by Dean Kaelin in 1991.
Queen Lamoni: I Believe by Kaye Starr Singers
This song was written in 1990 by Kaye Starr Heninger, and tells the story of great faith as written in Alma chapters 18-19 in The Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It concerns the conversion of King Lamoni, a Lamanite king who lived near the land of Nephi. After Ammon, a missionary to the Lamanites, had expounded the records and scriptures to King Lamoni, he believed all his words and "fell to the earth, as if he were dead." His servants took him and carried him in unto his wife and laid him upon a bed. The story tells us that "he lay as if he were dead for the space of two days and two nights," and that his family "mourned over him, greatly lamenting his loss." Just before they were to bury the body, the Queen called for Ammon. It was her simple belief that the powers of Ammon's God, a God she knew little about, could bring her husband back to life. Her example of trust caused Ammon to say: "Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding faith; I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites." King Lamoni saw the Redeemer, and was miraculously brought back to life. It was this Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who would come to America in the Meridian of Time and provide a Second Witness and fulfillment of the gospel of Jesus Christ.