Question from a Customer!
Does the border immigration crisis have possible connections to the gathering of the Lamanites so they can participate in the construction of the NEW JERUSALEM?
Prepaid Preacher?
An LDS man on you tube called the prepaid preacher, quoted these following scriptures, claiming that maybe these illegal immigrants crossing the southern border today into our country are the house of Jacob as lions (Illegal Immigrants) going into the midst of sheep (Current Americans)
16 Then shall ye, who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, go forth among them; and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many; and ye shall be among them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
22 And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you. 3 Nephi 20:16,22
First of all the illegal immigrants coming from our southern border are mostly Asian and if they were chosen by the Lord to come to America, the Lord would allow them here without a lot of legal hankering. We already have a very orderly way to bring immigrants legally into the USA but the system is broken and overwhelmed. The Lord works in an organized way not in chaos. We already allow over 1 million legal immigrants each year, how many should we allow illegally before we will be overrun? Besides, as Rod Meldrum explains below, those in Central and Mesoamerica are not the people spoken of in the Book of Mormon, these illegal immigrants just received some of the blood of Lehi from actual Nephites much later in about 900 AD.
Answer by Rod Meldrum:
“If our research on the geography of the Book of Mormon is correct then the vast majority of the remnant Lamanites are the North American Indians, not the Maya, Inca, or other populations of Central or South America who genetically are Asian, not Semitic or Hebrew
We know that the ancient people’s of North America had Middle-eastern genetic ancestry.
We know that the Asiatic Mayan civilization suffered the ‘Great Collapse’ around 800-900 AD leaving their cities abandoned and new findings indicate they came north into the Mississippi river valley. Indications are that they subjugated the remnant Lamanites, forcing them into slave labor to build their massive earth mounds (Cahokia, Etowah, Ocmulgee and other massive mound complexes) and after 300 years the Lamanites overthrew them and the Maya descendants returned to their original lands around 1100-1200 AD. There was considerable intermixing between the two peoples over that 300 years, resulting in some Lamanite genetic ancestry being brought back into Central and South America and giving them claim to having Lamanite ancestry.
However, the New Jerusalem location in the Heartland of America (USA) was never the ancestral home of the Maya. Neither was this the case for any other Central American ancient civilization.
The Heartland of America was anciently occupied first by the Adena (Jaredite) culture, and then the Hopewell (Nephite) culture. The descendants of the later Hopewell culture are the North American Indians of the Algonquin language groups, which consists of some 110 tribes primarily located in the Northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada. There are a few of those tribes that migrated west, such as the Sioux, Cheyenne and Blackfoot.
So, in order for the people now crossing the border illegally to be some type of fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the building of the New Jerusalem…
First, wouldn’t they need to be primarily Lamanites?
Second, how can they be returning to their ancestral lands when the Heartland of America was never their lands anciently?
Therefore, as I see it, the crisis going on at the border has little or nothing to do with Lamanites coming to reclaim ancestral lands they never occupied in order to begin construction of the New Jerusalem.
I hope this makes sense in the brevity in which I’ve attempted to explain a complex issue that really deserves more time.
If you’d like to delve further into this subject may I suggest getting a copy of my DVD, The Hinterland Hypothesis, which I released a couple of years ago that goes into detail about what happened in North America after the end of the Book of Mormon’s Nephite civilization. I think you’d find it fascinating.” Rod Meldrum March 22, 2021
Who are the Lamanites?
I believe the understanding of who the Lamanites are, and where they lived, has been a topic of interest for many years in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many of us have been taught the “Hemispheric Model” about the Book of Mormon. Meaning, that generally speaking all of the Lamanites lived in South America and all the Nephites lived in North America and the “Narrow Neck of Land” was Central America. That has now become obsolete to most people in the Church, whether they believe in a Mesoamerican, a Heartland, a Baja theory, or any other theory about Book of Mormon Events. The reason is that the distances required to make this a reality has created an almost consensus opinion that it just doesn’t make sense.
I believe the best evidence of who the Book of Mormon Lamanites are, comes from the Lord in D&C 32:2-3: “And that which I have appointed unto him is that he [Parley P. Pratt] shall go with my servants, Oliver Cowdery and Peter Whitmer, Jun., into the wilderness among the Lamanites. And Ziba Peterson also shall go with them; and I myself will go with them and be in their midst; and I am their advocate with the Father, and nothing shall prevail against them.”
These first missionaries to the Lamanites first visited the Cattaraugus Indians in Buffalo NY, then the Wyandot Indians in Sandusky, OH, and finally the Shawnee and Delaware Indians in MO. It seems that we know from the Lord that these Native American Tribes are Lamanites. See Church Article Here!
Many dedicatory prayers by Prophets at Temples in South and Central America have mentioned that the people have, “the blood of Father Lehi”, or Prophets refer to “Lehi’s blood” or “Lehi’s descendants,” or even the “Lamanites,” how should we understand these terms? (See Rod’s answer above), and more information below.
Hinterlands?
Who are the Lamanites? To help answer this question let’s first discuss an issue called “the Hinterlands.”
Mormon could not “write the hundredth part” of the events of his people. For this reason we have the record of the Nephites from Mormon’s abridgement, but we don’t have the written record of those who lived in the periphery or “Hinterland.” See Words of Mormon 1:5, Ether 15:33, Isaiah 18:1 Read my other blog here:
Defining Hinterlands from a Heartland Perspective
“Hinterlands is defined here as meaning the unknown area of North and South America that are not within the scope of the writings of the Book of Mormon. In other words, since we believe main events of the Book of Mormon happened in a limited area of North America around the Great Lakes in the east, and Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri to the west, and south in Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, and Florida, all other areas will be discussed as “The Hinterlands”. We propose that Mesoamerica is the Hinterlands along with many other areas of the continent. As Mormon has said, “…I shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people (Words of Mormon 1:5). There are many people in South and Central America that are Lamanites and part of the Hinterlands.” Jonathan Neville
In other other words, if the Book of Mormon events took place in Mesoamerica, then every other area would be the “Hinterlands” where other Lamanites may have migrated and lived. If however the events of the Book of Mormon took place in the Heartland of the United States (As we believe they did), then every other area outside of this limited Heartland area would contain migrating Lamanites, including the western United States, Canada, Mexico, and South and Central America. Heartland Core – Where the main Nephite and Lamanite events occurred! Mesoamerican Periphery – Where Nephites and Lamanites migrated to outside of this core! (See map above left). Please read my entire blog here on the Heartland Theory.
Are Illegal Immigrants Lamanites?
As I said before I believe there is possibly a small amount of Lamanite blood in some of those in Mesoamerica and South America but the amount would be small and limited and would have came from intermarrying many years ago. It is well known those people in Central and South America are of Asian descent. There are only 3 choices of descendants through Noah. Ham, Shem or Japeth. We believe Ham are the African nations, Japeth are the Asian nations, and Shem are the Priesthood line in the Middle East, Europe and in Eastern North America.
Under President Trump we had the highest number of children without adults at the southern border at about 3,000. Today at the southern border there are over 14,000 unaccompanied children and that number is growing. The government won’t let us look inside the holding cells and the press can’t interview anyone. How is that for transparency?
However, Representative Cuellar and a group called Project Veritas has obtained some pictures from the border and it is very troubling. We have a crisis. We can’t be responsible for the entire world population. We must have borders and a way to bring good people who have earned a right to be in our country legally.
Here is a very interesting letter former Pres Trump just shared:
Border Policies
“In a blistering statement on Sunday, former President Donald Trump excoriated his successor, blaming Joe Biden’s policies for the border crisis.
“We proudly handed the Biden Administration the most secure border in history. All they had to do was keep this smooth-running system on autopilot. Instead, in the span of a just few weeks, the Biden Administration has turned a national triumph into a national disaster. They are in way over their heads and taking on water fast,” the former president declared.
The border crisis is quite dire. Border crossings are on pace to top the past three years combined, and immigration officials have more than 15,000 minors in U.S. custody.
Biden’s campaign rhetoric — promising a deportation moratorium (that got blocked by court order) and health care for illegal aliens, among other things — arguably encouraged migrants to rush to America. Immigrants have come to the border wearing shirts that read, “Biden please let us in!” Source PJ Media
Today’s Border News
There is no easy answer to fixing the border problem. I feel both sides need to organize and execute an efficient plan to help these wonderful children and adults. The USA can’t solve every problem as other nations must step up and help their own people. No other country would allow any of these illegal immigrants into their country without proper vetting in an orderly manner. Until the USA gets organized and even tougher with a humane and good plan, we will continue to have this problem. It seemed under Trump the problem was being reduced and I am hopeful President Biden can do the same thing.
“The Biden administration has awarded ICE an $86.9 million contract for hotel rooms near the border to provide temporary shelter and processing services for families who have not been expelled from the United States but have been placed in immigration proceedings for their removal.
The contract, through Texas-based nonprofit Endeavors, provides 1,239 beds and “other necessary services.” The families will receive a comprehensive health assessment, including COVID-19 testing. The announcement comes days after White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday that the White House planned to provide 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to Mexico.” Fox News
Illegal Immigrants to Receive $4.38 Billion in Stimulus Checks: Report
BY CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON March 22, 2021 Updated: March 22, 2021 biggersmallerPrint
As Americans start to receive the latest round of stimulus checks, a new analysis reveals that about $4.38 billion will also go to illegal immigrants.
The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that 2.65 million illegal immigrants have Social Security numbers that allow them to receive stimulus checks. This group of illegal immigrants can be described as “aliens temporarily present without status,” according to Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies.
“These individuals are in the country illegally and could be required to leave. Yet, under the current system, they are still given work authorization and Social Security numbers,” he said. Source Epoch Times
