I have recently come upon the name of Seymour Brunson who is an amazing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who was a friend, a saint, a leader and so loved by the Prophet Joseph Smith.
My acquaintance about Mr. Brunson came from a conversation I had with a wonderful and loving friend, Dr. Joyce Hunt Brown. In our dialogue Dr. Joyce and myself on May 18, 2024, were speaking about the name Brunson, in relationship to a current U.S. Supreme Court cases of Loy Arlan Brunson vs. Alma S. Adams # 22-1028 and Raland J. Brunson vs. Alma S. Adams # 22-380 (Picture above), which have been considered by the US Supreme Court since Oct, 2022 and are still viable today, as important cases that may help restore our inspired Constitution as it hangs by a thread. Supreme Court documents on the two cases here and here. This is my own personal information and does not represent the views of Firm Foundation or its employees.
Quotes Ring True To Me Today More Than Ever.
D. Michael Stewart, Brigham Young University, Department of History said,
“The documents show that Joseph Smith did prophesy a number of times that the United States and the Constitution would be imperiled and that the elders would have a hand in saving them. The first known record of the prophecy dates to July 19, 1840, in Nauvoo, when the prophet spoke about the redemption of Zion. Using Doctrine & Covenants 101 as a text, he said, “Even this nation will be on the verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground and when the Constitution is on the brink of ruin this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction.” (Joseph Smith Papers, LDS Church Historical Archives, Box 1, March 10, 1844.)
There are also other documents in Church History files that show that five different early Saints recorded some remarks by the Prophet Joseph Smith on this same prophecy, perhaps voiced by the Prophet a number of times in a number of ways after 1840. Parley P. Pratt wrote in 1841 that the prophet said, “The government is fallen and needs redeeming. It is guilty of Blood and cannot stand as it now is but will come so near desolation as to hang as it were by a single hair!!!!! Then the servants goes [sic] to the nations of the earth, and gathers the strength of the Lord’s house! A mighty army!!!!!! And this is the redemption of Zion when the saints shall have redeemed that government and reinstated it in all its purity and glory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (George A. Smith Papers, Church Archives, Box 7, Folder 5, January 21, 1841.)
A Revelation and a Prophecy
The first known record of the prophecy [Baptisms for the Dead] dates to July 19, 1840, in Nauvoo, when the prophet spoke about the redemption of Zion.” JSP. What inspired revelation came less than one month later in Nauvoo on August 15, 1840? The Church News said, “During the funeral for Seymour Brunson on Aug. 15, 1840, Joseph Smith cited 1 Corinthians 15 and revealed that the Lord would allow the Saints to be baptized by proxy for their deceased ancestors. These first baptisms were done in the Mississippi River.” The Church News by Christine Rappleye
A quote from Joseph in Nauvoo on July 19th, and a revelation about baptisms for the dead a few weeks later on Aug 15 of 1840, a coincidence? I think not. Great wars and battles bring a great need to baptize for those who didn’t have the opportunity because of death by war and other means. This is the reason for the urgency I feel about getting the message out about this great pioneer and saint, Seymour Brunson. Inspired because of Brother Brunson’s death, our dear Prophet Joseph Smith was to reveal the critical need of baptisms for the dead. What a blessing. Thank you Seymour Brunson for your diligence and service which greatly contributed to the Salvation of those who have passed without the saving ordinance of baptism.The above mentioned four Brunson Brothers, Loy, Raland Deron, and Gaynor, are directly related to Seymour Brunson and they are continuing the work of their Great Great… Grandfather in serving the Lord. In my opinion their attempt to save the Constitution is part of Joseph Smith’s words that the Constitution is indeed hanging by a thread. There are also many Christian’s, Patriots and Saints who continue a brave attempt at helping to secure our Constitution, including Judy Byington, Tom Fairbanks, Ken Cromar, Glenn Beck, and Angel Studios and their film “The Sound of Freedom”
We might see the Supreme Court Announcement of the Brunson Case which was that SCOTUS agreed that Congress did not investigate valid allegations of 2020 Voter Fraud. That decision would automatically nullify the 2020 Election and dissolve the Biden Administration and all of Congress. It is possible.Complete Blog on the quotes of Leaders about the Constitution Hanging by a Thread Here.
“It was on a bend in the Mississippi River with a bluff that overlooked the river where early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints decided to build their new gathering place in the summer of 1838.
Church members had left Ohio and Missouri and took refuge in communities along the Mississippi River, including Quincy, Illinois, and in the Iowa Territory. The area on maps was known as Commerce. Church leaders changed the name of the area to Nauvoo.
Of the 135 sections in the current edition of the Doctrine and Covenants that were written during Joseph Smith’s lifetime, nine of them date from the five years he lived in Nauvoo.
It was in Nauvoo, Illinois, that baptisms for the dead was introduced and refined, and the endowment was administered, first in the Red Brick Store and later in the unfinished Nauvoo Temple. Also, the Relief Society was organized in the Red Brick Store in 1842.
Members of the Church left Nauvoo in 1846.
Baptism for the dead and the Nauvoo Temple
The Nauvoo Illinois Temple can be seen from the Montrose, Iowa, side of the Mississippi River in 2018. | Credit: Kenneth Mays
During the funeral for Seymour Brunson on Aug. 15, 1840, Joseph Smith cited 1 Corinthians 15 and revealed that the Lord would allow the Saints to be baptized by proxy for their deceased ancestors. These first baptisms were done in the Mississippi River
Doctrine and Covenants 124, received in January 1841, includes the commandment for the Saints to build a temple with a baptismal font (see vs. 29-31).
More directions for baptism for the dead, including witness and record keeping, were received in Doctrine and Covenants 127 and 128.
It was during this time that Joseph Smith was accused in connection with an assassination attempt against former Missouri Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs and Joseph was in and out of hiding to avoid arrest from Missouri and Illinois officials.
The rebuilt Edward and Anne Hunter home in historic Nauvoo, Illinois, is shown in 2020. The Hunter home is part of the Temple District of Nauvoo. The West Grove regeneration project is next to the home. | Credit: Kenneth Mays
The Hunter home is next to the West Grove, an outdoor meeting grove that is being regrown. The Hunter home has been rebuilt as part of the Temple District of Nauvoo. From the home’s windows, Joseph would have been able to see the construction of the Nauvoo Temple.
In addition to instructions on baptisms for the dead, he also offered encouragement: “Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad” (Doctrine and and Covenants 128:22).
The Nauvoo Temple temple site in 1978. The temple was rebuilt and dedicated in 2002. | Credit: Raleigh Davis
The Nauvoo Temple’s baptismal font in the building’s basement was dedicated in November 1841 and used before the temple was completed.
The temple’s attic was completed in November 1845 and dedicated and used for administering the endowment. Nearly 6,000 Latter-day Saints received their endowments before moving west. The temple was dedicated in the spring of 1846.
Fire in 1848 and a tornado in 1850 destroyed the temple and only the west face was standing. In the 1930s, the Church began to acquire the property on the temple block. In April 1999, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced the temple would be rebuilt. It was reconstructed and dedicated in 2002.” Church News bold and color added.
More about Seymour Brunson
(1798–1840) Seymour Brunson was born in Plattsburg, New York. He served in the War of 1812, and, in about 1823, he married Harriet Gould. He was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January 1831 and ordained an elder by John Whitmer that same month. That December he was ordained a high priest. In January 1832, Brunson was instructed by revelation to “be united in the ministry” with Daniel Stanton (Doctrine and Covenants 75:30, 33), and he served a mission to Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia that year. He moved with other Church members to Caldwell County, Missouri, in 1836 or 1837. In 1839, he moved to Commerce, Illinois, which was later renamed Nauvoo, where he was appointed to the Nauvoo high council (Doctrine and Covenants 124:132). He died at Nauvoo. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWJ1-MCB
Soldier, body guard and defender of the faith. Missionary in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia. Captain, 59th Regiment Missouri Militia. High Councilor, Commerce-Nauvoo Stake Died of disease
1812 Served in War of 1812 with father Reuben and brother Lemuel Brunson. The three Brunsons served in light artillery. Discharged 1815. 1831 Strongsville, Cuyahoga, Ohio January 1831, Baptized by Solomon Hancock 1831, Confirmed Elder by John Whitmer [LDS Church 9 months old] 1834-1836 Kirkland, Ohio Held a valid minister’s license; Married approx. 13 couples: Amasa M Lyman – Louisa Tanner 10 June 1835 Lyman Stevens – Martha Durfee 21 Jan 1836 Horace Burgess – Almira Pulsifer 6 March 1836 1838 “In April 1838, it was Seymour Brunson who brought the charges against Oliver Cowdery that led to Cowdery’s excommunication.” 1839 May Filed redress petition facts relative to the suffer of the saints by the Missourians May 8 1839 with Daniel Allen “when they were surrounded with Boart’s company on Log Creek, five miles south of Far West”. Obituary for Danial Allen DN 1892-02-13 1839 October Nauvoo, Illinois General Conference 5-7 October 1839 Two stakes: Commerce; one in Iowa organized: Seymour Brunson called as High Council of Commerce Stake. 1840 July “In the month of July 1840, my father having occasion to get up in the night to drive some cattle out of his lot caught cold which brought on a serious illness which ultimately resulted in death. Lewis Brunson, son of Seymour Brunson 1840 Nauvoo, Illinois At his [Seymour Brunson] funeral on August 15th, 1840, the Prophet Joseph Smith publicly introduced the doctrine of baptism for the dead. Doctrine and Covenants 124:132 “Seymour Brunson I have taken unto myself; no man taketh his priesthood, but another may be appointed unto the same priesthood in his stead.” 1 Corinthians 15:29 King James Bible “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” Luke 20:38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. Notes: Nauvoo records show he is actually buried at the Old Nauvoo Cemetery on the hill. Son Lewis Brunson 1831-1888 UT Brother Lemuel C Brunson Grandson Hyrum Brunson Great-granddaughter Beatrice Brunson Great-granddaughter Ardella Brunson Parents: Reuben Brunson and Sally Clark. Harriet married John Elmer 1876-1871 UT https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWJ1-MCB
“Orson Hyde recalled that the Prophet predicted that “the time would come that the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow and said he, if the constitution be saved at all, it will be by the Elders of this Church. I believe this is about the language as nearly as I can recollect it.” (JD, 6:150.)
In a Pioneer Day celebration in Ogden in 1871, Eliza R. Snow said, “I heard the prophet say, ‘The time will come when the government of these United States will be so nearly overthrown through its corruption, that the Constitution will hang as it were by a single hair, and the Latter-day Saints—the Elders of Israel—will step forward to its rescue and save it.” (Journal History, MSF 143 #28, July 24, 1871.)
Book of Commandments 7:3 “the gift of working with the rod” D&C 8:6 changed to “the Gift of Aaron”
O remember, these words and keep my commandments. Remember this is your gift. Now this is not all, for you have another gift, which is the gift of working with the rod: behold it has told you things: behold there is no other power save God, that can cause this rod of nature, to work in your hands, for it is the work of God; and therefore whatsoever you shall ask me to tell you by that means, that will I grant unto you, that you shall know.
Among the instruments used by seers is found mention of a “rod.” The terms of a shepherd’s “rod and staff,” as mentioned in the 23rd Psalm, were synonymous with the great “Shepherd of Israel.”
The rod and staff being the ensigns of power and government, as well as instruments for punishing offenders. (Cruden’s Concordance, p. 497)
Instruments of Revelation
The Lord is to “rule with a rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27). Under Moses’ dispensation it was Aaron who used “the rod” to smite the waters of Egypt (Ex. 7:19), and to swallow up the “rods” of the Egyptians which were transformed into snakes (Ex. 7:12). Moses used the “rod” for a blessing to Israel by smiting the rock to obtain the much needed water (Ex. 17:6), and it was also used in determining the tithing of the Israelites (Lev. 27:32). Each tribe of Israel was to have a rod with their name upon it, and one of these rods was to “blossom” on the following morning. Aaron’s rod “brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms,” thus showing his rod to be “for the head of the house of their fathers” (Num. 17:5).
Oliver Cowdery lived in a culture steeped in biblical ideas, language and practices. The revelation’s reference to Moses likely resonated with him. The Old Testament account of Moses and his brother Aaron recounted several instances of using rods to manifest God’s will (see Ex. 7:9–12; Num. 17:8). Many Christians in Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery’s day similarly believed in divining rods as instruments for revelation. Cowdery was among those who believed in and used a divining rod.
Jeffery G. Cannon, “Oliver Cowdery’s Gift,” Revelations in Context (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 15 December 2012).
Oliver Cowdery’s Gift D&C 6, 7, 8, 9, 13 Jeffrey G. Cannon15 December 2012
Oliver Desires to Translate
As Joseph and Oliver continued their work, Oliver grew anxious to play a greater part in the translation. The Lord had promised him the opportunity to translate and he wanted to claim it. Joseph dictated another revelation. The word of the Lord assured Oliver he could have the gift he desired. The requirements: faith and an honest heart (see D&C 8:1). D&C 8 on JosephSmithPapers.org
The revelation continued, informing the would-be translator how the process was to work. The Lord would “tell you in your mind & in your heart by the Holy Ghost which Shall come upon you & which shall dwell in your heart.” Revelation had always come in this manner. The revelation declared this was the means, or “spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the red Sea on dry ground”7 (see D&C 8:2-3).
Oliver Cowdery lived in a culture steeped in biblical ideas, language and practices. The revelation’s reference to Moses likely resonated with him. The Old Testament account of Moses and his brother Aaron recounted several instances of using rods to manifest God’s will (see Ex. 7:9-12; Num. 17:8). Many Christians in Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery’s day similarly believed in divining rods as instruments for revelation. Cowdery was among those who believed in and used a divining rod.8 D&C 9 on JosephSmithPapers.org
The Lord recognized Oliver’s ability to use a rod: “thou hast another gift which is the gift of working with the rod.”9 Confirming the divinity of this gift, the revelation stated: “Behold there is no other power save God that can cause this [Gift of Aaron in today’s D&C]thing of Nature to work in your hands for it is the work of God.” If Oliver desired, the revelation went on to say, the Lord would add the gift of translation to the revelatory gifts Oliver already possessed (D&C 8:8-11).
Though we know very few details about Oliver Cowdery’s attempt to translate, it apparently did not go well. His efforts quickly came to naught. In the wake of Oliver’s failure, Joseph Smith received another revelation, counseling Oliver, “Be patient my son, for it is wisdom in me, and it is not expedient that you should translate at this present time.” Oliver was further told he had not understood the process. He was first to “study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right, I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you”10 (see D&C 9:7-8).
What if the “rod of nature” was indeed a physical object? See FAIR Mormon below:
https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Oliver_Cowdery_and_the_%22rod_of_nature%22
If we presume, for the sake of argument, that the Book of Commandments revelation of 1829 did refer to a physical rod, it is useful to consider just what Oliver was told:
Oliver Cowdery’s first revelation commanded him to lay aside the world and build the restored kingdom: “Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich” (D&C 6:7). Whatever prior use Oliver made of his “gift of working with the rod,” this revelation directed him to heavenly treasure. Indeed, this first commandment names but one special power: “Thy gift” is “sacred and cometh from above.” It is defined as the ability to “inquire” and “know mysteries which are great and marvelous.” Thus Oliver is commanded to “exercise thy gift, that thou mayest find out mysteries, that thou mayest bring many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, convince them of the error of their ways.” Thus his gift of knowledge of salvation will lead to the “greatest of all gifts,” the “gift of salvation” (D&C 6:10-13).
Oliver’s initial revelation closes with the command to seek heavenly “treasures” by assisting “in bringing to light, with your gift, those parts of my scriptures which have been hidden because of iniquity” (D&C 6:27). The revelation on the gift of the rod probably followed within a week. It continued the theme of learning ancient truth through translating: “Remember, this is your gift” (D&C 8:5). And it could be exercised by believing “you shall receive a knowledge concerning the engravings of old records” (D&C 8:1). Then a second promise was made:
Now this is not all, for you have another gift, which is the gift of working with the rod. Behold, it has told you things. Behold, there is no other power save God that can cause this rod of nature to work in your hands, for it is the work of God. And therefore whatsoever you shall ask me to tell you by that means, will I grant unto you, that you shall know.
But there were strict limits to this promise: “Trifle not with these things. Do not ask for that which you ought not. Ask that you may know the mysteries of God, and that you may translate all those ancient records.”
So the “rod of nature” in Cowdery’s “hands” would be a means of gaining revelation on doctrine.[4]
Thus, the alteration which describes the “rod” as “the gift of Aaron” clarifies the Lord’s intent, and explains how Oliver and Joseph understood the matter. Aaron’s rod was an instrument of power, but only insofar as God revealed and commanded its use. Such a perspective is a far cry from the “occult” links which the critics attempt to create:Rod of Aaron Budded. Others did not. Moses’ and Aaron’s rods represented authority, as in Ex. 4:1–5; 7:9–12, 17.
D&C 8 approves a rod only for sacred information. It also suggests the rod that displayed God’s power in the Egyptian plagues, in striking the rock for life-giving water or in calling down strength on Israel’s warriors. That rod was a straight shaft, the shepherd’s staff possessed by Moses at his call (Ex. 4:2-4). Used by both Moses and Aaron, it was foremost the “rod of God,” also Moses’ rod, but formally called the “rod of Aaron.” It functioned as a visible sign of authority, just as Judah’s “scepter” was a sign of divine kingship in Jacob’s blessing or Elijah’s staff held by the servant who went in his name. Thus the rod of Aaron was a staff of delegated agency, and the 1835 revision to “The gift of Aaron” suggests Oliver’s spiritual power to assist Joseph Smith as Aaron assisted Moses.[5] FAIR Mormon here:
Proper Mode of Translation?
Below is a picture I had commissioned of the instruments from the stone box with which Joseph Smith translated the plates. This process was called, “by the gift and power of God.” Joseph and Oliver used the items found in the stone box, not a stone in a hat.
“These Stones, Fastened to a Breastplate” JSH 1:35 by Ann Marie ObornJoseph Smith said, “Also, that there were two stones in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted “seers” in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.” JSH 1:35
Oliver saw the Plates, Breastplate and Interpreters
“When Cowdery returned to Church membership in 1848 he spoke to an Iowa conference. His words there were recorded by Reuben Miller: “I wrote with my own pen the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the lips of the Prophet as he translated it by the gift and power of God by means of the Urim and Thummim, or as it is called by that book, holy interpreters. I beheld with my eyes and handled with my hands the gold plates from which it was translated. I also beheld the Interpreters. That book is true. … I wrote it myself as it fell from the lips of the Prophet.”
The Miller journal can be tested by comparing it with official records of the Cowdery speeches, and it is clearly accurate. Thus the above words are likely to be Cowdery verbatim. This judgment is essential because in the report Oliver Cowdery says, “I … handled with my hands the gold plates.” Yet another Witness, David Whitmer, insisted that he had never handled the plates; he only watched as the angel in the vision displayed the plates and other sacred objects. Since Whitmer and Cowdery were together at this impressive vision, one must infer that Cowdery did not handle the plates at that time. Thus a distinction emerges between the key secretary and his witness brother-in-law: at some time during the translation process Oliver Cowdery evidently handled the plates.” By the Gift and Power of God By Richard Lloyd Anderson
“Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, ‘Interpreters,’ the history or record called ‘The Book of Mormon.’ D&C 1:75*More information here:Below is from The Joseph Smith Papers- Revelation, April 1829–B [D&C 8]6th. Commandment AD 1829
A Revelation to Oliver [Cowdery] he being desirous to know whether the Lord would grant him the gift of Revelation & th◊ Translation given in Harmony Susquehannah Pennsylvania8
Oliver Verily Verily I say unto you that as Shuredly as the Lord liveth which is your God & your Redeemer even so shure shall ye receive a knowledge of whatsoever things ye shall ask with an honest heart believeing that ye [p. 12] Shall receive, a knowledge concerning the engraveings of old Records which are ancient which contain those parts of my Scriptures of which hath been spoken by the manifestation of my Spirit9 yea Behold I will tell you in your mind & in your heart by the Holy Ghost which Shall come upon you & which shall dwell in your heart now Behold this is the spirit of Revelation Behold this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the red Sea on dry ground therefore this is thy gift apply unto it10 & blessed art thou for [it] shall deliver you out of the hands of your enemies when if it were not so they would sley thee11 & bring thy soul to distruction O remember these words & keep my commandments remember this is thy gift now this is not all for thou hast another gift which is the gift of working with the sprout12 Behold it hath told you things Behold there is no other power save God that can cause this thing of Nature13to work in your hands for it is the work of God14 & therefore whatsoever ye shall ask to tell you by that means that will he grant unto you that ye shall know remember that without faith ye can do nothing trifle not with these things do not ask for that which ye had not ought ask that ye may know the mysteries of God & that ye may Translate all those ancient Records which have been hid up which are Sacred15 & according to your faith shall it be done unto you Behold it is I that have spoken it & I am the same which spake16unto you from the begining amen.
(12) In preparing the text of Revelation Book 1 for publication, Sidney Rigdon replaced “sprout” with “rod.” Green, flexible shoots or rods cut from hazel, peach, or cherry trees were sometimes used as divining rods. (Revelation Book 1, p. 13 [D&C 8:6]; see also Silliman, “Divining Rod,” 202; and “The Divining-Rod,” Milwaukie [Wisconsin Territory] Sentinel, 7 Sept. 1842, [1].)
As Dallin H. Oaks remarked:
Recent Events Involving Church History and Forged Documents,” Ensign (October 1987)
It should be recognized that such tools as the Urim and Thummim, the Liahona, seerstones, and other articles have been used appropriately in biblical, Book of Mormon, and modern times by those who have the gift and authority to obtain revelation from God in connection with their use. At the same time, scriptural accounts and personal experience show that unauthorized though perhaps well-meaning persons have made inappropriate use of tangible objects while seeking or claiming to receive spiritual guidance. Those who define folk magic to include any use of tangible objects to aid in obtaining spiritual guidance confound the real with the counterfeit. They mislead themselves and their readers.[6]
Conclusion
We know based upon the text of the revelation that Oliver possessed a gift of working with something alternately referred to as a “sprout,” “thing of nature,” or “rod of nature.” We also know that the Lord approved of Oliver’s use of this gift. The reference was later changed to the “gift of Aaron,” but we can only speculate as to the exact reason why. We do not know if the “rod” referred to by Sidney Rigdon when he edited the revelation was referring to a divining rod, since there is no other record beyond the revelation itself that indicates this.
We do know that Oliver’s gift had to do with receiving revelation, and that Oliver attempted to employ it during the period in which the Book of Mormon was being translated. We also know that Oliver’s experience in attempting to translate produced one of the lasting lessons which continues to be taught in Church even today—the knowledge that one must study things out in their mind in order to know the truth of something.
https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/sections-1-9/section-8-the-spirit-of-revelation?lang=eng
What Was Oliver Cowdery’s Gift Concerning Ancient Records?
D&C 8:1, 11.President Joseph Fielding Smith explained that “the Lord seemed perfectly willing that Oliver Cowdery as well as Joseph Smith should engage in this labor of translating the plates, and he gave in some detail what qualifications are necessary for the reception of knowledge by revelation and also the procedure necessary in translating ancient records. Oliver was informed that this power could not be received except by the exercise of faith with an honest heart, and by this faith, knowledge of the ancient records and their engravings should be made known. …
Oliver Cowdery was a scribe to Joseph Smith.
“The Lord told him that he was to continue as scribe until the translation of the Book of Mormon was completed, and that there were other ancient records to come forth, and that he might have the privilege of translating these at some future day if he would remain faithful. We learn from the Book of Mormon that there are many records and that at some time, when the people are prepared by faith to receive them, that they shall also be translated and published for the knowledge and salvation of the faithful. (II Nephi 27:7–8;III Nephi 26:6–11; Ether 3:22–28; 4:5–7.)” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:50, 52.)
What Is the Spirit of Revelation?
D&C 8:1–3.
Elder George Q. Cannon taught that “the same spirit of revelation that Moses had … rests upon him who holds the presidency as senior apostle in the midst of the people of God. The apostles of this Church have all the authority, they have all the keys, … all the spirit of revelation necessary to lead this people into the presence of the Lamb in the celestial kingdom of our God. …
“… You will find it so to your entire satisfaction if you will listen to their counsels and be guided by them.” (In Journal of Discourses, 21:270–71.)
Enrichment C in the Appendix contains a more complete discussion of personal revelation and how it is received.
A Warning Given to Oliver Cowdery that Applies to Everyone
D&C 8:4.Oliver Cowdery was given the gift of understanding the voice of the Spirit. If he hearkened to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, he could protect himself from those who would seek to bring about his physical death and also from those who would tempt him to sin and thus bring his soul “to destruction” (D&C 8:4).
Concerning the destruction of the soul, President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“A soul cannot be destroyed.
“Every soul born into this world shall receive the resurrection and immortality and shall endure forever. Destruction does not mean, then, annihilation. When the Lord says they shall be destroyed, he means that they shall be banished from his presence, that they shall be cut off from the presence of light and truth, and shall not have the privilege of gaining this exaltation; and that is destruction.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:227–28; see also Alma 12:16; Helaman 14:18.)
The Lord’s response to those who neglect gifts He gives them is recorded in Matthew 25:14–29; 2 Nephi 28:30;D&C 9:1, 5, 10–11.
What Was the Gift of Aaron?
D&C 8:6–9.
“There was another gift bestowed upon Oliver Cowdery, and that was the gift of Aaron. Like Aaron with his rod in his hand going before Moses as a spokesman, so Oliver Cowdery was to go before Joseph Smith. Whatever he should ask the Lord by power of this gift should be granted if asked in faith and in wisdom. Oliver was blessed with the great honor of holding the keys of this dispensation with Joseph Smith, and, like Aaron, did become a spokesman on numerous occasions. It was Oliver who delivered the first public discourse in this dispensation.” (Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:52.)
“Oliver Cowdery also had the ‘gift of Aaron.’ Aaron was the elder brother of Moses. Being prompted by the Spirit of the Lord, he met his younger brother in the wilderness and accompanied him to Egypt. He introduced him to the children of Israel in the land of Goshen. He was his spokesman before Pharaoh, and he assisted him in opening up the dispensation which Moses was commissioned to proclaim (Exodus 4:27–31). This was the gift of Aaron. In some respects Oliver Cowdery was the Aaron of the new and last dispensation.” (Smith and Sjodahl, Commentary, p. 44.)
Question
What is “the gift of Aaron” referred to in D&C 8:6-8?
Answer
The revelations given to Joseph Smith were often edited prior to publication in order to clarify their application to the Church members who would read them. The original revelation to Oliver Cowdery referred to “the gift of working with the sprout”, later edited to “working with the rod”. Cowdery was apparently able to channel revelations through a divining rod earlier in his life.
One of the problems with these “folk-magical” means of revelation like divining rods and seer stones was that they could be easily co-opted in order to produce revelations that were not of divine origin– see, for example, D&C 28, which concerns revelations an early church member claimed to receive through a seer stone. As the Church moved away from these particular means of revelation and relied more on direct inspiration from the Lord, the phrase “gift of working with the rod” was eventually modified to “gift of Aaron”, in reference to the Biblical figure who had a rod through which God’s power was shown but was more popularly remembered as a spokesman for and ardent supporter of Jehovah’s appointed prophet Moses.” Ask Gramps
DIVINING ROD:
Book of Commandments 7:3 D&C 8:6 changed
O remember, these words and keep my commandments. Remember this is your gift. Now this is not all, for you have another gift, which is the gift of working with the rod: behold it has told you things: behold there is no other power save God, that can cause this rod of nature, to work in your hands, for it is the work of God; and therefore whatsoever you shall ask me to tell you by that means, that will I grant unto you, that you shall know.
Among the instruments used by seers is found mention of a “rod.” The terms of a shepherd’s “rod and staff,” as mentioned in the 23rd Psalm, were synonymous with the great “Shepherd of Israel.”
The rod and staff being the ensigns of power and government, as well as instruments for punishing offenders. (Cruden’s Concordance, p. 497)
The Lord is to “rule with a rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27). Under Moses’ dispensation it was Aaron who used “the rod” to smite the waters of Egypt (Ex. 7:19), and to swallow up the “rods” of the Egyptians which were transformed into snakes (Ex. 7:12). Moses used the “rod” for a blessing to Israel by smiting the rock to obtain the much needed water (Ex. 17:6), and it was also used in determining the tithing of the Israelites (Lev. 27:32). Each tribe of Israel was to have a rod with their name upon it, and one of these rods was to “blossom” on the following morning. Aaron’s rod “brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms,” thus showing his rod to be “for the head of the house of their fathers” (Num. 17:5)
Those who have not the gift of revelation and gift prophecy, and do not understand the “language of the fathers,” in translating scriptures, have a much different understanding and interpretation of the wording reviewed here, than those who do. So these things can only be fully understood by the Spirit, and naturally much of what is stated here is not to be taken as fully valid, but too much of the philosophies of man. Because of my extensive background and experience in translating the Hebrew Old Testament into English, I would give a much different approach. But the conclusion of Oliver’s gift of Aaron and the rod, would be more related to the Lord saying (in another context) that he would smite with the rod of his mouth (D&C 19:15), his word, revelation. In addition, there are too many assumptions made about Oliver having a diving rod, etc., which assumptions have contradictions.
I find it difficult to ignore the symbolism of the sheepskin, especially in North America. Starting in the days of Adam, [Missouri] men were required to offer a blood sacrifice to God—an unblemished, first-born male animal, which of course, was symbolic of the sacrifice of the coming Christ. Then Jesus fulfilled this law and ended the need for blood sacrifice: And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away. . . . And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost. (3 Nephi 9:19–20). For Christ is the Lamb of God, and the Good Shepherd.
Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Page 533 Purchase Today!
“Shamed by their nakedness after the Fall, they tried unsuccessfully to cover their shame with garments of their own devising, aprons made of fig leaves (Gen. 3:7). God made them coats of skins,” which involved the sacrifice of life – something they could never forget— “and clothed them” with redemptive garments that covered their shame and allowed them to come into his presence with fear (Gen. 3:21).
After Adam and Eve had partaken of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, after they had blood flowing in their veins, after all things in the world of which they were a part had become subject to death, the God of Heaven taught them the law of sacrifice. This law required the death –by the shedding of blood – of two lambs whose skins were then placed on Adam and Eve. Those special garments were worn by them when they went out into the lone and dreary world. The garments constituted a constant reminder of the protection they would enjoy (through the shed blood of the Lamb, even the Son of God) from all the effects of the Fall.”(Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig J. Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000], 223)
“and they were naked, save it were a skin which was girded about their loins…” (Alma 43:20)
If I was a Gaddianton and wanted to destroy the Nephites I would cause a greater pain than physical. I would hit them at the very core of their belief system. For example if an Anti-Mormon desecrated my Sacred Garment, or repeatedly said the name of Deity in vain, that would be more difficult for my spirit to feel and thus hurt me even more than physical pain.
We understand how sacred the Lamb is in the Jewish tradition, and the shedding of blood on the cross, and a symbolic apron given to Adam? I believe the Gaddiantons are using those sacred symbols as disrespect to the Nephites trying to arouse the Nephites even more to hate them and fight them. The Gaddiantons are ridiculing and mocking and being sacrilegious with those things that are very sacred to the Nephites.
Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Page 533
On a side note, we know there were no sheep or goats in Central America, during the time of the Nephites, so with the sheep being such a sacred symbol during the Law of Moses, would the Lord offer substitution for another animal such as the caribou or llama? (Why do I mention a Caribou? Because Mesoamericanists do). I don’t think so. The Nephites lived in the North American Land of the Book of Mormon. The Lord wouldn’t guide Lehi to a land that doesn’t have sheep, goats, oxen, and doves, would He?
Sheep or a Caribou?
Does this young Caribou look like a young Lamb?
About sheep in Central America, I quote from The Interpreter a Mesoameriica blog by Daniel Sorensen. “A second challenge for Bible translators has to do with translating animal names in the Biblical languages into target languages. In some languages this poses fewer difficulties, but in others this can pose interesting challenges. As an example from the New Testament, Jesus is said to have been moved with compassion on the multitude because “they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). A Greenlandic translation made in 1744 renders sheep as “small animals which are nearly like caribous.” Inge Kleivan explains that, The comparison may at first sight appear astonishing, but in fact Poul Egede [the 1744 translator] has chosen the animal which is nearest to the sheep in size, appearance, and behavior if he wanted to compare the sheep with an animal which the Greenlanders knew. There were only the following land animals in West Greenland: hares, foxes, caribous, and polar bears. The comparison is, however, unsatisfactory at a very important point, because the caribous are not tame animals and the pastoral culture which pervades the Bible was quite unknown to the Greenlanders.33” Source
These caribou can substitute for a Lamb?
Editors note: Wow, no sheep; the most sacred emblem as a representative of Christ himself, and all Mesoamerica has is a caribou? Oh no, that’s in Greenland which is North America correct? Here is another opinion from Book of Mormon Central.
Mesoamerica Opinion: “Possible that the translated word “lamb” refers to a similar animal found in the New World”
“While the fierce appearance of the warriors would have been frightening, it may have been the lamb-skins and their being dyed in blood that was the most disturbing.2 Early in the Book of Mormon, the Lamanites were known to shave their heads and dress only in a skin about their loins,3 yet this scripture uniquely identifies the army as wearing a lamb-skin, possibly a new choice in garment that was particularly appalling to the Nephites. Perhaps the Gadianton robbers had girded themselves with a “lamb-skin” and had dyed themselves in blood as a visual mockery of the sacrificial Lamb of God.” (Good idea but Mesoamerica doesn’t have sheep right?
Editors note: Why not substitute llamas for sheep? “The camel, the hare, the llama, the rock badger, and the pig. These are the animals that possess only one of the two criteria required in order to be acceptable as food in the Law of Moses. “The llama is indeed a ruminant [chews the cud] whose hoofs are not cloven.” Food Regulation in Biblical Law A Paper Submitted in Satisfaction of the Written Work Requirement of Harvard Law School By Wendy Ann Wilkenfeld
BOMC continues, “The terms “lamb” and “sheep” appear in the Book of Mormon text over a hundred times, used most often in religious metaphors, such as with the phrase “Lamb of God.” 4While there is some evidence of sheep in the Americas, 5it is also possible that the translated word “lamb” refers to a similar animal found in the New World. 6 Whether the Nephites had sheep in the New World, or whether the word “lamb” refers to a different animal, the usage of “lamb” in the Book of Mormon is more often connected with Jesus Christ than it is to a specific species of livestock. 7
(Note 5 from Book of Mormon Central quote above) For evidence of “sheep” in the New World, see Wade E. Miller, Science and the Book of Mormon: Cureloms, Cumoms, Horse and More (Laguna Niguel, CA: KCT & Associates, 2010), 43–48. Wade E. Miller and Matthew Roper, “Animals in the Book of Mormon: Challenges and Perspectives,” Interpreter Blog, April 21, 2014; For evidence of the remains of a young domestic sheep in western New York, see William A. Ritchie, The Archeology of New York State (Garden City, NY: Natural History Press, 1969), 242–243
Editors note:As you can see from the Note 5 above, Book of Mormon Central uses a reference book about New York Archaeologist William A. Ritchie to verify that Mesoamerica had sheep. They are making things up and claiming sheep in New York proves there were sheep in Mesoamerica.
How does this above list of ancient animals in NY validate ancient sheep in Mesoamerica?
Kipp Island NY. Ceramic Dates 310 AD
Kipp Island, Hunters Home, and the Point Peninsula Tradition
The Kipp Island and Hunters Home sites are both located north of the Finger Lakes region of Central New York State. Most of the Kipp Island site has been destroyed by canal work, adjacent marsh drainage, damming, highway construction and many years of collectors digs (Ritchie 1944, 1965; Ritchie & Funk 1973). Accordingly, Ritchies excavations in 1963 were concentrated on the southern remnant of the island, where he discovered some habitation features and a cemetery respectively attributed to the Kipp Island and Hunter’s Home phases of the Point Peninsula cultural tradition. These cultural identifications were made on typological grounds and were supported by two radiocarbon dates of A.D. 610±100 and A.D. 895±100, both derived from charcoal found in hearth features (Ritchie & Funk 1973:155). Earlier occupations dating from the Middlesex and Squakie Hill phases were also identified on the site but were absent from the area excavated by Ritchie.
The Hunters Home site, discovered and partly dug by an amateur archaeologist, was later visited by Ritchie who opened a 268 square foot trench in a nearby refuse midden (Ritchie 1965: 258). The site also contains some pits and burials but there is no radiocarbon date for this site. Unfortunately, as was the case with Kipp Island, Ritchie does not say much about excavation procedures, stratigraphy, and exact provenience of the artifacts discovered at Hunters Home.
BOMC continues, “Since the Nephites practiced the Law of Moses, they would presumably have preferred to have an animal equivalent 8 to a lamb in order to perform sacrificial ordinances at the temple. 9 Thus, when 3 Nephi 4:7 describes the skin as a “lamb-skin,” it may be a reference to the New World equivalent of a sacrificial lamb.10 In fighting the armies of the Nephites, Gadianton robbers’ slaughtering and wearing the skins of an animal of holy sacrifice would certainly have been a jarring image for the Nephites.
Fierce Gaddianton Warriors not in Lamb Skin in Mesoamerica.
The shock-factor of the lamb-skin is heightened when put in the context of Mesoamerican intimidation tactics. The donning of animal pelts was intended to create a fearful spectacle, 11 so it may have been unexpected for the Gadianton robbers to appear in the skins of a non-aggressive herbivore—like a lamb. Brant Gardner explained, “Mesoamericans were well known to wear animal skins, though the animal would typically be a ferocious jaguar, not a peaceful ‘lamb.’”12
While this unusual choice of a lamb (or a similar animal) may not have been terrifying for surrounding Mesoamerican cultures, the blood-stained pelt of an innocent lamb was clearly “great and terrible” (3 Nephi 4:7) to the temple-oriented Nephites. 13 If the objective of the Gadianton Robbers was to stun and terrify the armies of the Nephites, the sacrilege of a slaughtered sacred symbol would surely accomplish just that.” Book of Mormon Central Why Did the Gadianton Robbers Wear a Lamb Skin? Post contributed by BMC Team September 20, 2016 KnoWhy #191
3 Nephi 4:7 And it came to pass that they did come up to battle; and it was in the sixth month; and behold, great and terrible was the day that they did come up to battle! And they were girded about after the manner of robbers: and they had a lamb-skin about their loins, and they were dyed in blood, and their heads were shorn, and they had head-plates upon them; and great and terrible was the appearance of the armies of Giddianhi because of their armor, and because of their being dyed in blood!
“The Nephites observed the Law of Moses by sacrificing lambs during Passover. The Lamanites possibly mocked the Nephites and their religion by wearing a lamb-skin about their loins “dyed with blood…” (3 Nephi 4:7). The Lamanites might have killed Nephite lambs, then wore and displayed the lamb-skin as an act of defiance and sacrilege to the Law of Moses during battles with the Nephites” – Amberli Nelson.
THE LAMBSKIN APRON
SHORT TALK BULLETIN – Vol.V November, 1927 No.11 by: Unknown
In Masonic symbolism the Lambskin Apron holds precedence. It is the initial gift of Freemasonry to a candidate, and at the end of life’s pilgrimage it is reverently placed on his mortal remains and buried with his body in the grave.
Above all other symbols, the Lambskin Apron is the distinguishing badge of a Mason. It is celebrated in poetry and prose and has been the subject of much fanciful speculation. Some Masonic writers have contended that initiation is analogous to birth, or our advent from prenatal darkness into the light of human fellowship, moral truth and spiritual faith. Much ancient lore has been adduced in an effort to show that the Lambskin Apron typifies regeneration, or a new life, and this thought of resurrection may be the cause of its internment with the body of a deceased brother. At least it will serve until a better reason is advanced for this peculiar custom in the Masonic burial service. The association of the lamb with redemption and being born again is expressed by John, the Apocalyptic Seer, who had a vision on the Isle of Patmos, and beheld the purified and redeemed “Of All Nations, Kindreds, People and Tongues.” Of them it was said, “These are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”…
As a badge of honor, the Lambskin Apron spells out integrity, honesty of purpose, probity of character, and soundness of moral principle. Source
Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. (Judges 6:37)
Did the Lord Reject the Fig Leaf Apron?
Q. Why do Mormons wear aprons in the Temple, which represent the fig leaves worn by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, when it is obvious that God rejected the apron of fig leaves?
A. (by Michael W. Fordham) Latter-day Saints view the temple as a sacred place, and as such, we don’t discuss many things about the temple ordinances outside of the temple. There are things that the Lord deems as sacred. The teachings of the Lord to the eleven Apostles after His resurrection and before His ascension could be considered one example (see Acts 1:3). I make this point only to demonstrate why I won’t be going into any lengthy discussion on the Temple ceremonies, per se.
Additionally, everything about the temple is symbolic, from the architecture to the ordinances performed within. Remembering this symbolic perspective is important, not unlike the parables Jesus taught, as you consider my answer to your question.
Your question is based upon an assumption that is never mentioned in the scriptures. The Bible never says that God rejected the fig leaf aprons Adam and Eve wore. Let’s examine what actually took place in the Garden of Eden.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:4-5)
Notice that Satan told Eve that their “eyes shall be opened,” giving reference to knowledge, not eyesight. This means that Adam and Eve now had knowledge. The Lord has used the symbolic use of our eyes and ears in reference to foolishness and rebelliousness. They had eaten of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil”, thus they became knowledgeable about the difference between good and evil.
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. (Genesis 3:22)
This symbolic teaching is not unique to the Adam and Eve account (see Ezekiel 12:2, Matthew 13:15-16). After both Adam and Eve had partaken of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, indeed, both of their eyes were opened.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.
Garments of Lamb
“Shamed by their nakedness after the Fall, they tried unsuccessfully to cover their shame with garments of their own devising, aprons made of fig leaves (Gen. 3:7). God made them coats of skins,” which involved the sacrifice of life – something they could never forget— “and clothed them” with redemptive garments that covered their shame and allowed them to come into his presence with fear (Gen. 3:21).
After Adam and Eve had partaken of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, after they had blood flowing in their veins, after all things in the world of which they were a part had become subject to death, the God of Heaven taught them the law of sacrifice. This law required the death –by the shedding of blood – of two lambs whose skins were then placed on Adam and Eve. Those special garments were worn by them when they went out into the lone and dreary world. The garments constituted a constant reminder of the protection they would enjoy (through the shed blood of the Lamb, even the Son of God) from all the effects of the Fall.” (Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig J. Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000], 223)
d; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:7)
They understood that it was not good to be naked all the time. There is a difference between the ideas that Adam and Eve “saw” their nakedness and that they “knew” their nakedness was not necessarily good, at all times and that modesty was to play a part in their lives.
Adam and Eve then hid when they heard the voice of the Lord and only came out, when asked by the Lord,
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (Genesis 3:8-10)
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies Volume 6 | Number 2 Article 7 7-31-1997 Matthew B. Brown Brigham Young University
This perspective may help explain the warning given by the Lord to his disciples to beware of “false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15). In Zechariah 13:4 we learn that false prophets were in the habit of dressing in the same distinctive vestments worn by the true prophets in order to deceive the people with their message. This is also reminiscent of 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, where we learn that false prophets somehow “transform” themselves to be like the Lord’s apostles just as “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (emphasis added). Curiously enough, Joseph Smith taught that one of the ploys Satan uses to deceive others into thinking that he is an “angel of light” is ‘ that he wears “holy garb. “65 This leads us directly back to the circumstances surrounding 3 Nephi 4:7 and a possible explanation for why the lambskin apparel is mentioned there.
Notes: 65– He, 4:573. “These evil ‘angels’ use deception as their main tool of destruction. They simulate all that is good. . . . Sometimes they may come as angels of light, in borrowed or stolen raiment. Always they fail to reveal themselves as they are.” John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1960), 108-9.
66– Daniel C. Peterson, “The Gadianton Robbers as Guerrilla Warriors,” 146, and “Notes on Gadianton Masonry,” 204, 212, both in Warfare in the Book of Mormon. 67– Victor Ludlow, “Secret Covenant Teachings of Men and the Devil in Helaman through 3 Nephi 8,” The Book of Mormon: Helaman through 3 Nephi 8, According to Thy Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr.
Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing Thirteen years after the Book of Mormon’s final mention of the leather apparel (see 3 Nephi 4:7), the Lord personally warned his followers to beware of false prophets who would approach them in “sheep’s clothing” (3 Nephi 14:15). This could be seen both as metaphorical language and as an identifying characteristic of the Nephite’s enemy. Alma 43:20 mentions that some among the Nephite’s enemy were accustomed to wearing “a skin which was girded about their loins.” A few verses earlier we learn that the enemy consisted of dissenters, apostates, and “descendants of the priests of Noah” (Alma 43: 13). Daniel Peterson has noted several times that the Gadianton robbers should be viewed as “a n alternative religious option within Nephite society. “66 In the beginning of this paper, I proposed that the Nephite temple priests may have worn the priestly robes prescribed for use among the ancient Israelites. If so, it is conceivable that the “descendants of the priests of Noah” may have introduced this sacred clothing among members of the secret combinations because they wanted to make a claim for legitimate priestly power. Indeed, there is evidence within the Book of Mormon itself that members of the secret combinations were blasphemous imitators of the holy order of God.67 And since the objectives of priestcraft and the secret combinations were one and the same (to get gain) it is proposed that this is the context in which the lambskin apparel of 3 Nephi 4:7 can best be understood. The following ideas should serve to illustrate this point.
Priestcraft:” get gain and praise of the world” (2 Nephi 26:29); “riches and honor” (Alma 1: 16) Secret Combinations: “get gain” (Moses 5:31; Helaman 6: 17); “kingdoms and great glory” (Ether 8:9)One more correlation should be pointed out here. The apron was an emblem of power in several ancient cultures, but in Israel it could represent the power to speak rightfully in the name of God (prophet), to administer legally his saving ordinances (priest), and to reign lawfully in his stead (king). The express purpose of those who joined the secret combinations was for them to obtain power (see Helaman 2:8; Ether 8: 14-19, 22-23; 11: 15). What could have been a more meaningful symbol for them than an emblem which for long ages past had represented the very thing for which they sought?
“In Mormon 1: 18-19 a connection is made between the secret combinations and thepractice of magic. In Moses 5:30-31 and 49 a connection is also made between secret combinations and the strange title Master Mahan. Anti-Mormon critics have long claimed that Master Mahan is a thinly veiled variation of Master Mason, which is the designation for the third degree of initiation within Freemasonry. They believe that the presence of this title in LDS scripture clearly demonstrates that Joseph Smith plagiarized Masonic material for his creative ventures. Footnote d for Moses 5:31, however, offers several possible meanings for Mahan based on its etymological root.70 Of the choices offered I personally feel that “destroyer” is the most probable one. My reasoning for this is that the Hebrew word maha means “destroy, “71 and the addition of an n would make the word a noun.72 Hence, maha(n) = destroy(er). Destruction is one of the attributes applied to Satan in the scriptures (see John 8:44; 1 Corinthians 5:5; Hebrews 2:14; 1 Peter 5:8), and he has been identified as the destroyer in latter-day revelation.73 In Moses 5:29-31 we read that it was after Cain had bound himself to Satan with a secret oath, accompanied by the threat of destruction if he revealed this action, that he obtained the title Mahan. It would appear that he obtained this title because he had been taught how to become a destroyer himself. It is of interest to note that in certain ancient cultures Satan was known by the name Mahoun and those who swore their allegiance to him acquired that name for themselves.74
74 John Jamieson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, rev. ed. (Paisley, Scotland: Gardner, 1879), 3:205; see also the various references in D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1987), 167 n. 4.
The symbolism ascribed by Masons to their white lambskin apron is that it represents innocence. But even this idea is not original to Freemasonry. Some Masonic researchers have come to he conclusion that the white apron’s meaning was derived directly from the white garment given to the ancient Christians when they were initiated into a state of innocence at baptism (see Revelation 3:5}.77 This concept goes much farther back among the Israelites. When the high priest entered the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement, each element of his vesture consisted of unadorned white linen (see Leviticus 16:4). This clothing signified that on that sacred day the nation was reborn and became innocent before the Lord (see Revelation 19:8). The various symbols that decorate Masonic aprons are also not original to Freemasonry, but came about through a long process of assimilation and evolution.78 It should be noted that some of the symbols found on Masonic aprons are identical to those found on Greek Orthodox liturgical aprons.79
79 The Greek Orthodox aprons were inherited from the Coptic monks. Both were made of leather. For illustrations see Sherrard, Athos-The Holy Mountain, 57, 123, 127, 129, 131; Norwich and Sitwell, Mount Athos, 28, 66, 69.
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:12-13)
Because of their transgression, Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” (Genesis 3:23) Adam and Eve did not have to work in the Garden of Eden in order to survive, for food was provided already. However, outside of the Garden of Eden, life would be very different. “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field” (Genesis 3:18).
There was no condemnation of the aprons Adam and Eve wore while in the Garden of Eden, only a chastisement and grave consequences for eating of the forbidden fruit. In actuality, the Lord demonstrated his agreement with the covering of their nakedness. That agreement along with the result of now having to live in a different world, with harsh conditions as compared to life in the garden, the Lord gave them something BETTER to clothe themselves with. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21)
The objective of the aprons of fig leaves was to cover their nakedness, in modesty. It was the best Adam and Eve could come up with, given the circumstances. Had the Lord rejected this modesty, He would have taken the aprons and left Adam and Eve in their nakedness. The coat of skins was provided after the instruction of the Lord of what they would now have to endure. A coat of skins was much more practical and protective from the elements, thorns and thistles outside of the garden than were fig leaves. God did not reject, but gave them something better with which to live in their new conditions.
As I mentioned before, there is symbolism in everything about the temple, this includes the clothing worn there as well. Since your question concerns the apron, let’s discuss that from a Biblical perspective. Let’s examine the word “aprons” which Adam and Eve wore and the symbology behind it. The Hebrew word from which “aprons” was translated was:
chagowr {khag-ore’} or chagor {khag-ore’} and (feminine) chagowrah {khag-o-raw’} or chagorah {khag-o-raw’} Hebrew: personal noun masculine Possible Definitions: 1) girdle, belt 2) girdle, loin-covering, belt, loin-cloth, armour (Strongs’ 2290, see also Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 640a, 640c)
The “apron,” or “girdle” worn by Adam and Eve was most likely a loincloth type covering (much like you see Tarzan wearing) made from leaves. As a loincloth style garment, it served as a “shield” against immodesty.
In addition to being a symbol of modesty, the girdle is also a symbol of righteousness to the Lord. “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” (Isaiah 11:5) The Lord has even commanded some to wear an apron, or girdle.
THUS saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins. (Jeremiah 13:1-2)
Evidently, even the Lord wears a girdle apron (or will in the future) as part of His holy garments.
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. (Revelation 1:11-13)
This doesn’t sound like a rejection to me.
Besides being a symbol for modesty and righteousness for the Lord, there is yet another symbol for the girdle (apron). It has to do with Priesthood authority. The book of Exodus is very detailed about the dress of “holy garments” for those in authority, and the girdle was part of that.
…and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. (Exodus 28:4-8)
The apron, or girdle, is a symbol of righteousness to the Lord, and of Priesthood authority. The Lord never condemned the wearing of fig leaf aprons. Rather, it is a Biblical symbol of Priesthood Authority, righteousness to the Lord, and the creation of man by God, not to mention the clear representation of the symbolism referring to modesty. I hope this answers your question.
One key to understanding a symbol is that it often resembles the thing it stands for. For example, the bread and water of the sacrament represent the body and blood of the Savior—in that order. It would make no sense to have bread represent the Savior’s blood or to have water represent the Savior’s body. Bread, like flesh, is solid; water, like blood, is liquid.
Another example is the decoration embroidered on the clothing of the high priest in the Old Testament: “They made upon the hems of the [high priest’s] robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet” (Exodus 39:24). Have you ever eaten a pomegranate? If so, you know that it is full of seeds. So the pomegranate can be seen as a symbol of fertility, of posterity. In addition, the juice of the pomegranate is red, suggesting blood, or life: “The life of all flesh is the blood thereof” (Leviticus 17:14).
After Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, “they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:7). What color are fig leaves?Green, which symbolizes life and growth. Figs also contain hundreds of tiny seeds, so the fig, like the pomegranate, can represent fertility and posterity. In addition, it was only after the Fall that Adam and Eve were able to have children. As Eve said, “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed” (Moses 5:9–11) 5 Tips to Better Understand Temple Symbols by Jack M. Lyon
Breechclout Fact Sheet
Breechclout Fact 1: The Native Indian breechclouts were basic one-piece articles of clothing that covered the loins of the wearer
Red Color Symbolizes war, blood, strength, energy, power and success in war paint. Red clays containing oxides of iron, roots, berries, barks and beets. The Lachnanthes plant commonly known as redroot native to eastern North America Redroot and also used as red war paint. When the root is crushed it “bleeds” a reddish dye. Bloodroot plants are also used to produce red war paint. Red was predominately used for painting because of its availability. https://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-culture/war-paint.htm
There have been many witnesses of the events of the Book of Mormon beginning in the Heartland of the United States, by Prophets, Apostles, and other members of the church. Some were shared at General Conferences, some from church pulpits and some from the ordinary lives of our beloved Pioneers. All statements are important to read and reflect upon and search for the spirit of truth. For myself, knowing the Land of Joseph is indeed the Promised Land of America, is an important part of my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I will share why geography is important to me at the end of this blog.
“If you live into the next century you will see evidence for the Book of Mormon come forth in droves.” Truman G. Madsen, speaking of what the Prophet Joseph Smith said to a colleague, in the opening statement of the 2005 video, “Journey of Faith.”
F. Michael Watson
“The Church has long maintained, as attested to by references in the writings of General Authorities, that the Hill Cumorah in western New York state is the same as referenced in the Book of Mormon.” F. Michael Watson, Secretary to the First Presidency, in a letter dated October 16, 1990
Anthony W. Ivins
“The passages which I have quoted from the Book of Mormon and the more extended discussion of this subject by Elder B. H. Roberts which was published in The Deseret News of March 3 definitely established the following facts: That the hill Cumorah, and the hill Ramah are identical. That it was around this hill that the armies of both the Jaredites and Nephites fought their great last battles. That it was in this hill that Mormon deposited all of the sacred records which had been entrusted to his care by Ammaron, except the abridgment which he had made from the plates of Nephi, which were delivered into the hands of his son, Moroni. We know positivelythat it was in this hill that Moroni deposited the abridgment made by his father, and his own abridgment of the record of the Jaredites, and that it was from this hill that Joseph Smith obtained possession of them.
According to the Book of Mormon, many hundreds of thousands of people fell in battle around this hill and in the immediate vicinity. It was here that two once-powerful nations were exterminated so far as their national existence was concerned. It was here that these nations gathered together for their last great struggles.
All of these incidents to which I have referred, my brethren and sisters, are very closely associated with this particular spot in the state of New York. Therefore I feel, as I said in the beginning of my remarks, that the acquisition of that spot of ground is more than an incident in the history of the Church; it is an epoch—an epoch which in my opinion is fraught with that which may become of greater interest to the Latter-day Saints than that which has already occurred. We know that all of these records, all the sacred records of the Nephite people, were deposited by Mormon in that hill. That incident alone is sufficient to make it the sacred and hallowed spot that it is to us. I thank God that, in a way which seems to have been providential, it has come into the possession of the Church” The Hill Cumorah by President Anthony W. Ivins, Improvement Era, 1928, Vol. Xxxi. June, 1928 No. 8
In the Midst of the Lamanites
“No,” said the old Patriarch [Joseph Smith Sr.], his whole being seeming to be alive with animation. “The Lord has told Joseph that when we leave here we will go into the Rocky Mountains, right into the midst of the Lamanites.”
This information filled our hearts with unspeakable joy, for we knew that the Book of Mormon and this gospel had been brought to light more for the remnants of Jacob upon this continent than for the Gentiles.
Father Smith again enjoined upon us profound secrecy in this matter, and I don’t think it was ever uttered by one of Father Huntington’s family.
The history of Nauvoo shows that we located in Nauvoo in 1839 and left it in 1846.
See Sources here: The Young Woman’s Journal, II, (December, 1890), pp. 124-125; (February, 1891), pp. 225-226; (April, 1891), pp. 314-315; (May, 1891), p. 366; (July, 1891), pp. 466-468; IV (March, 1893), pp. 274-275; (April, 1893) pp. 320-321; (June, 1893), pp. 424-425; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 63
A Veritable Swamp
“When President Young visited the proposed sites, he requested that his teamster conduct the party to the lowest place in the valley, a veritable swamp infested with marsh-grass and cattails. Pointing out the marsh to the brethren, he explained that the [St. George] Temple must be built at that place, because the Nephites had previously dedicated that very site for the erection of a Temple, but had been unable to bring their hopes to a full fruition.” McGavin, E. Cecil, 1935, Mormonism and Masonry, Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press, p. 156
This Spot was Dedicated by the Nephites
Another account by David Henry Cannon Jr., a witness to the event, says:
By Al Round
To the South, they finally stopped. ‘But, Brother Young,’ protested the men, ‘this land is boggy . . . There is no place to build a foundation. We will make a foundation, said President Young. Later on while plowing and scraping where the foundation was to be, my horse’s leg broke through the ground into a spring of water. The brethren then wanted to move the foundation line twelve feet to the south, so that the spring of water would be on the outside of the Temple. Not so,’ replied President Young, ‘We will wall it up and leave it here for some future use. But we cannot move the foundation. This spot was dedicated by the Nephites. They could not build it (the Temple), but we can and will build it for them.’ To this day the water from that very spring is running through a drain properly built for it.” Heinerman, Joseph, 1986, Temple Manifestations, Salt Lake City Utah: Joseph Lyon and Associates, Inc. dba Magazine Printing and Publishing, pp. 60-
Prophet Moroni Stood and Dedicated this Piece of Land
Once, Brigham Young, accompanied by Warren S. Snow, went to where they would build the Manti Temple. Warren S. Snow said:
Native American – Minerva Teichert and the Manti Temple
“We two were alone: President Young took me to the spot where the Temple was to stand; we went to the southeast corner, and President Young said: ‘Here is the spot where the Prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can’t move it from this spot; and if you and I are the only good persons that come here at high noon today, we will dedicate this ground.’ A Source Book, Provo, UT: FARMS; Whitney, Orson F., 1974, Life of Heber C. Kimball, Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, p. 477; Cheesman, Paul R., 1978, The World of the Book of Mormon, Horizon Publishers, Bountiful, Utah, p. 25; Heinerman, Joseph, 1986, Temple Manifestations, Salt Lake City, Utah: Joseph Lyon and Associates, Inc. dba Magazine Printing and Publishing, p. 101
Gadianton Robbers
Upon one occasion President Brigham Young was in the Tabernacle at St. George and was speaking on the spirit world. He stated that it was not far from us and if the veil could be taken from our eyes there wouldn’t be either a man, woman or child who would dare go out of “this tabernacle as the spirits of the Gadianton robbers were so thick out there. This is where they lived in these mountains,” said he.” Crowther, Duane S., 1967, Life Everlasting, Bookcraft, SLC, UT, p. 165, as quoted from N. B. Lundwall, Temples of the Most High, p. 89.
“Of course, the significance of this statement makes sense only in light of the land of Zarahemla being in the United States [D&C 125]. The Nephites wouldn’t have gone all the way from Mexico into the United States to hunt the Gadianton Robbers, nor would the Gadiantons have gone into the United States to hide from Nephites in Mexico. It is clear that since the Gadianton Robbers were hiding out in Utah in the St. George region, the Land of Zarahemla must have been in the United States as well. The “mountains” mentioned in the following scriptures, therefore, are the Rocky Mountains of the United States.” Some references used from Joseph Smith Foundation Website
A Nephite or a Jaredite?
EXPERIENCE OF ZEKE JOHNSON, son of Joel Hills Johnson, born in 1869. (Recorded in the JOHNSON BULLEITN, September 1973)
Zeke Johnson son of Joel Hills Johnson (Picture from J Gregory Barron)
“I have been requested to relate an experience I had in 1908-9 in San Juan Co. I was just making a home in Blanding and the whole country there was covered with trees and sagebrush. I was working hard to clear the ground to plant a few acres of corn. We had five acres cleared and stared to plant corn. My little boy, Roy, about 7 or 8 years old was there to help me plant the corn. I’d plow around the place, then he would plant the furrow with corn, then I’d cover it and plow again. While I was plowing on that piece of ground, I discovered there were ancient houses there, that is the remains of them.
As I was plowing around I noticed that my plow had turned out the skeleton of a small child, the skull and backbone, but most of the bones of course were decayed and gone. Part of the skeleton was there, so I stopped immediately as my plow had passes it a little. I turned and looked back against the bar of the plow between the needles. As I was looking at that little skeleton that I had plowed out and wondering, all of a sudden, to my surprise, I saw the bones begin to wiggle and they began to change position and to take different color and within a minute there lay a beautiful little skeleton. It was a perfect little skeleton.
Then I saw the inner parts of the natural body coming in the entrails, etc. I saw the flesh coming on, and I saw the skin come on the body when the inner parts of the body were complete. A beautiful head of hair adorned the top of the head, and in about a half minute after the hair was on the head, it had a beautiful crystal decoration in the hair. It was combed beautifully and parted on one side. In about half a minute after the hair was on the head, the child raised up on her feet. She was lying a little on her left side with her back toward me. Because of this I wasn’t able to discern the sex of the child, but as she raised, a beautiful robe came down over her left shoulder and I saw it must be a girl.
She looked at me and I looked at her, and for a quarter of a minute we just looked at each other smiling. Then in my ambition to get hold of her, I said, ‘Oh you beautiful child.’ I reached out as if I would embrace her and she disappeared. That was all I saw, and I just stood there and wondered and thought for a few minutes… Now, I couldn’t tell that story to anyone, because it was so mysterious to me and such. Why should I have such a miraculous experience? I couldn’t feature a human being in such a condition as to accidentally plow that little body out and see it come alive. A body of a child about 5 to 7 years old, I’d say. I just couldn’t tell that story to anyone until finally, one day I met a dear friend of mine, Stake Patriarch, Wayne II. Redd of Blanding. He stopped me on the street, and said, ‘Zeke, you have had an experience on this mesa you won’t tell, and I want you to tell me.’ Well, I told it to him. Then he had me tell it to other friends and since then I’ve told it in 4 temples in the United States, and many meeting houses, many socials, Fast meetings, and at Conference time.
I wondered and worried about it for years as to why I was allowed to see it, a common man like me – uneducated as I was. Why was I, just a common man, allowed to see such a marvelous manifestation of God’s powers? One day as I was walking along with my hoe on my shoulder, going to hoe some corn, something said, ‘Stop under the shade of the tree for a few minutes and rest.’ This just came to me and I thought I would, so I stopped there and this was given to me:
Jaredites Land. Brooke Malia Mann
It was an answer to my prayers. I prayed incessantly for an answer as to why I was privileged to see that resurrection. Then I was told why. When the child was buried there, it was either in time of war with the different tribes, or it was wintertime when the ground was frozen, and they had no tools to dig deep graves. If it were during time of war they couldn’t possibly take time to dig a deep grave. They just planted the little body as they could under the circumstances. Then it was done, the sorrowing Mother knew that it was such a little shallow grave that in her sorrow she cried out to the little group present, ‘That little shallow grave, the first beast that comes along will smell her body, and will dig her up and scatter her to the four winds. Her bones will be scattered all over these flats.’
There just happened to be a man present holding the Priesthood. (A Nephite or a Jaredite, I don’t know which, because they both had been in this country.) This man said, ‘Sister, calm your sorrows. Whenever that little body is disturbed or uncovered, the Lord will call her up and she will live.’ Since that time I have taken great comfort, great cheer, consolation, and satisfaction with praise in my heart and soul, until I haven’t the words to express it, that it was I that uncovered that little body.
Thank you for listening to me. I just can’t tell this without crying.” Zeke Johnson, son of Joel Hills Johnson
Why Geography Matters by Rian Nelson
“If we in the church cannot even decide among ourselves where the Book of Mormon happened, how confusing is that to our youth and adults? Many anti-Mormons love the idea that we don’t even know where our sacred scriptures happened. There are over 100 theories of where the Book of Mormon happened, including, Baja, Chile, Malaysia, Honduras, Peru, etc. My feelings on all geographical theories about the Book of Mormon must include the following -The Hill Cumorah in NY is the hill where Joseph Smith received the plates from Moroni, and it is also the place of the last battles of the Nephites (Cumorah) and of the Jaredites (Ramah). I also believe the letter of Joseph Smith to his wife Emma in 1834 Illinois where he said “The whole of our journey, in the midst of so large a company of social honest men and sincere men, wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting [p. 57] occasionaly the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity” Joseph Smith Papers Letter to Emma Smith, 4 June 1834 Page 56-7 (spelling not corrected), is a true statement. Any other specific locations of the Book of Mormon cities and places are not fully known.
Large Map
Any other geography that doesn’t include these preceding important details isn’t a viable interpretation in my opinion. No scholar, computer or archaeology tells me this, I just feel it is true by personal revelation.
I also believe the Promised Land spoken of in the Book of Mormon is indeed the United States of America and its Constitution was written under the Savior Jesus Christ’s direction. D&C 101:80. Also knowing that Adam lived in Missouri and the New Jerusalem will be in Missouri, tells me the importance of “this Land” of the United States as the cradle of civilization and is critical as the headquarters of the Church, the land where the Gospel goes forth from, the place where the “Marvelous Work and Wonder” takes place, and the “Land of Joseph” of Egypt spoken of by prophets, is indeed the United States of America. I also believe there is a great possibility that D&C 125:3 is the Lord designating the area west of Nauvoo, Illinois as the ancient place of Zarahemla. I also feel the Prophet Joseph Smith had a vision about the warrior Zelph who was killed during one of the many last and great battles between the Nephites and Lamanites, near Valley City, Illinois. This information makes me conclude that indeed the Book of Mormon events happened in the heartland of the United States of America.
I believe there are great Lamanites all over North, South and Central America today and in other countries, but they are not necessarily the ones spoken of in the Book of Mormon time frame. The Book of Mormon only contains a fraction of the history of the Promised Land Lehites. But I believe that small fraction of Book of Mormon history speaks about Lehi, and Nephi, and Alma, and Mormon as they lived and fought in these United States.
I spent over 40 years looking and studying the Mesoamerican theory and other many theories, and found them very lacking. Like I mentioned, I will have an open mind if and until the church acknowledges the specific location. I will follow the 15 chosen Prophets and Seers.
I know the Brethren of the Church take a neutral position on the geography of the Book of Mormon. For you and me to take a neutral stand is not required. The Lord told us to read and study, and in the promise to Moroni, He said we may know the truth of ALL things, and I feel that would include knowing the location of the Book of Mormon events. I believe knowledge of the Spirit and of the head, are both important in learning truth. As Elder Holland in 2017 said, “truth borne by the Holy Spirit comes with, in effect, two manifestations, two witnesses if you will—the force of fact as well as the force of feeling.”
What does Rahab (OT), Abish (BofM) and Woman Caught in Adultery (NT), have in common? They were all Heroines of the scriptures and sinners like ourselves.
Rahab of the Old Testament was the first recorded Gentile convert. There are many ways in which Rahab depicts many in the church today. (Picture of Abish right, is by Mandy Jane Williams here)
She was part of a pagan world system, and a harlot
She was saved because of her faith in God
Rahab and others are saved by an act of grace through faith, which requires action. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:17
To be spared she had to follow the directions given to her by Israelite Leaders
Like Rahab, once we come to Christ, our pasts no longer matter. (Repentance)
She was adopted into the line of Christ, and she has a place in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
There is so much to learn from the great women in the scriptures. Women like Mary Mother of Christ, Martha, Sariah, Ruth, Naomi, Mary Magdalene, and the heroines I mentioned above. I respect the women of my life, my wonderful Mother and Wife Stacy. They are my spiritual rocks of love and guidance.
In my heart I believe the role of women is to be honored and cherished. Who else can have the spiritual offspring of our Father in Heaven? What a power and blessing. I fell strongly that many women in the Scriptures may not be mentioned as often as men, to protect them and honor them, as not being like prey to the evil condemnation of this world. Where else is there such a strong group of stalwart women as in the possible 10 Million women in the Relief Society which began in 1842? No where.
All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose…
We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife. We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.
Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children… Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.
Joshua Chapter 2
“Joshua sends spies to Jericho—They are received and concealed by Rahab—They promise to preserve Rahab and her household.” Chapter Introduction
“And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.” Joshua 2:1
Who was Rahab in the Bible?
ANSWER
In the book of Joshua, we are introduced to one of the most thought-provoking and astonishing heroines of the Old Testament. Rahab, the prostitute of the Canaanite city of Jericho, ultimately is noteworthy for her great faith and for her place in the lineage of Jesus Christ. But a closer examination of the life of this remarkable Gentile woman can lead to deeper insights into God’s plan for His church and His dealing with individual believers in grace and mercy.
Rahab’s story is found in Joshua 2–6. This passage describes the conquest of the fortified city of Jericho by the Israelites. In its day, Jericho was the most important Canaanite fortress city in the Jordan Valley. It was a stronghold directly in the path of the advancing Israelites, who had just crossed the Jordan River (Joshua 3:1-17). Before entering the land west of the Jordan, Joshua sent two spies to look over the land. The king of Jericho heard that two Israelite spies were within his city and ordered them to be brought out to him. Rahab, the woman with whom the spies were staying, protected them by hiding them on her roof. She told them how the citizens of Jericho had been fearful of the Israelites ever since they defeated the Egyptians via the Red Sea miracle (some 40 years prior). She agreed to help them escape, provided that she and her family were spared in the upcoming battle. The spies agreed to her request, giving her three conditions to be met: 1) she must distinguish her house from the others by hanging a scarlet rope out of the window so the Israelites would know which home to spare; 2) her family must be inside the house during the battle; and 3) she must not later turn on the spies.
Safely escaping the city, the two spies returned to Joshua and reported that the “whole land was melting with fear.” The Israelites crossed the Jordan into Canaan where they laid siege to the city of Jericho. The city was completely destroyed, and every man, woman, and child in it was killed. Only Rahab and her family were spared. Ultimately, Rahab married Salmon, an Israelite from the tribe of Judah. Her son was Boaz, the husband of Ruth. Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, is her direct descendant.
Rahab was a young Canaanite prostitute and as such not a very likely candidate for a heroine of the faith. Jericho was one of the principal seats of idol worship, being especially devoted to Ashtaroth, the goddess of the moon. Here was centered all that was the vilest and most degrading in the religion of the Canaanites. Many Bible commentators, eager to remove the stigma of the designation “harlot” from one included in the genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:5), have described Rahab as a hostess or tavern keeper. But scriptural usage of the Hebrew word zanah (Leviticus 21:7-14; Deuteronomy 23:18; Judges 11:1; 1 Kings 3:16) and the authority of the apostles (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25), establish the credibility for use of the word “harlot.”
It is clear that Rahab was perceptive, intelligent and well informed. Rahab identified the spies for what they were, hid them, and had a plausible story ready with which to deceive the king’s agents. Rahab didn’t deny that she had entertained the men. She says that they left at dusk when it would be difficult for anyone to be sure of clearly seeing anything. The agents did not dare to risk stopping to search Rahab’s house because, if they did, the spies might get away. Finally, the Canaanite prostitute gives the two Israelites excellent advice. She tells them to hide in the hills for three days before attempting to cross the Jordan.
Spiritually, Rahab was not in an ideal circumstance to come to faith in the one true God, the God of Israel. She was a citizen of a wicked city that was under God’s condemnation. Rahab was part of a corrupt, depraved, pagan culture. She had not benefited from the godly leadership of Moses or Joshua. However, Rahab had one asset—she had heard from the many men she came into contact with that the Israelites were to be feared. She heard the stories of their escape from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the wanderings in the wilderness, and their recent victory over the Amorites. She learned enough to reach the correct, saving conclusion: “For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:11). It is this change of heart, this faith—coupled with the actions prompted by faith—that saved her and her family.
It is often said that Rahab, while being a true historical person, also serves as a symbolic foreshadowing or “type” of the church and Gentile believers. She was, in fact, the first recorded Gentile convert. There are many ways in which Rahab depicts the church. First, she was part of a pagan world system, a prostitute, who by her conversion was enabled to become a legitimate bride. In like fashion, Israel was the first chosen people of God, but they were set aside temporarily so the Gentiles could be brought into the kingdom of God, and the church is now considered the bride of Christ (Romans 11; Ephesians 5:25-27). Second, Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was saved because of her faith in “God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Hebrews 11:31). Likewise, Christians are saved through faith in Jesus Christ. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
Third, although Rahab and Christians are saved by an act of grace through faith, true faith requires and is exemplified by action (James 2). Rahab had to put the scarlet cord out of the window. Christians must accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and then go on to live in a manner that verifies that our faith is real. Fourth, Rahab could have indicated the location of her home in any number of ways. But the only way that she could be spared was to follow the directions given to her by the Israelite spies. The world tells us that there are many ways to God and salvation, all equally valid. But the Bible tells us, concerning Jesus Christ, that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Fifth, Rahab’s faith enabled her to turn away from her culture, her people, and her religion and to the Lord. Commitment to a true faith in God may necessitate setting priorities that are contrary to those of the world, as we are exhorted to do in Romans 12:2.
Finally, once we come to Christ, our pasts no longer matter. The slate is wiped clean for all who believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross on our behalf. Rahab was no longer viewed as an unclean prostitute, but as one worthy by grace to be part of the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as she was grafted into the line of Christ, so we become children of God and partakers in His inheritance (Romans 11). We find in the life of Rahab the inspiring story of all sinners who have been saved by grace. In her story, we learn of the amazing grace of God that can save even the worst of sinners and bring them into an abundant life in Christ Jesus.” GotQuestions.org
Salmon
He was the son of Nahshon, married “Rachab” of Matthew 1:5 (possibly Rahab, of Jericho), and Boaz (or Booz) was their son. Thus, according to the biblical genealogies, Salmon is the patrilineal great-great-grandfather of David. Salmon is mentioned in 1 Chronicles (1 Chronicles 2:10–11), the Book of Ruth (Ruth 4:20,21), Matthew 1:4-5, and Luke 3:32. Nahshon was one of the Israelite leaders present with Moses. During the exodus from Egypt who undertook a “census of all the congregation of the children of Israel” and therefore Salmon would probably have been a contemporary of Joshua and part of the generation of Israelites who entered the promised land.
Rahab’s marriage to Salmon is not mentioned in the account of her hiding Joshua’s messengers sent out to spy out Jericho, although the narrative regarding her role concludes that “she dwells in Israel to this day“. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_(biblical_figure)
Boaz
The son of Salmon and his wife Rahab, Boaz was a wealthy landowner of Bethlehem in Judea, and relative of Elimelech, Naomi’s late husband. He notices Ruth, the widowed Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi, a relative of his (see family tree), gleaning grain in his fields. He soon learns of the difficult circumstances her family is in and Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi. In response, Boaz invites her to eat with him and his workers, as well as deliberately leaving grain for her to claim while keeping a protective eye on her.
In the bible he functions as the power center for the entire further development. For example he brings about the acceptance of Ruth and the reacceptance of Naomi as well.
Ruth approaches Boaz and asks him to exercise his right of kinship and marry her. Boaz accepts, provided that another with a superior claim declines. Since the first son of Ruth and a kinsman of her late husband would be deemed the legal offspring of the decedent and heir to Elimelech, the other kinsman defers to Boaz.
In marrying Ruth, Boaz revives Elimelech’s lineage, and the patrimony is secured to Naomi’s family. Their son was Obed, father of Jesse, and grandfather of David. According to Josephus, he lived at the time of Eli. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boaz
Elimelech
“Elimelech is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Ruth.
Elimelech is a descendant of the Tribe of Judah, and was the husband of Naomi and the father of Machalon and Chilyon. The family lived in Bethlehem in Judea. Due to famine, Elimelech and his family left the Land of Israel and settled in Moab, where he died.
His children, Machalon and Chilyon, married two Moabite women, Ruth and Arpah. When Elimelech’s two sons later died, Naomi and Ruth returned to Bethelehem. Ruth later married Boaz, a relative of Elimelech. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimelech_(biblical_figure)
Mahlon and Chilion
Mahlon (Hebrew: מַחְלוֹן Maḥlōn) and Chilion or Kilion (כִּלְיוֹן Ḵilyōn) were two brothers mentioned in the Book of Ruth. They were the sons of Elimelech of the tribe of Judah and his wife Naomi. Together with their parents, they settled in the land of Moab during the period of the Israelite Judges. On foreign soil, Mahlon married the Moabite convert Ruth (Ruth 4:10), while Chilion married the Moabite convert Orpah.
Biography The test of childless Ruth and Orpah
Elimelech and his sons all died in Moab, leaving Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah widowed. Ruth and Orpah did not bear Jewish children, too. The story in the book tells that Naomi plans to return to Israel, and that she tests her daughters-in-law. She gives them the advice to return to their mother’s home: which would mean drastically violating Jewish Law and reverting to Moabite culture and idol worship.
Ruth in Israel
While Orpah returns and leaves Judaism, Ruth chooses to stay with Naomi, thus proving her former conversion to be a real one. In Israel, Ruth then takes part in a levirate marriage, according to Jewish law. By marrying a relative of Mahlon’s, she is doing an act which will ensure that Mahlon’s paternal lineage is not forgotten. Any child she bears in the levirate marriage will be considered as if it were Mahlon’s child. Actually, she marries a relative of Elimelech, Boaz. Her child, Obed (biologically Boaz’s but counted as if Mahlon’s), becomes the paternal grandfather of David ha-Melech (King David).” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahlon_and_Chilion
Ruth
Ruth (/ruːθ/; Hebrew: רוּת, Modern: Rūt, Tiberian: Rūṯ) is the person after whom the Book of Ruth is named. She was a Moabite woman who married an Israelite, Mahlon. After the death of all the male members of her family (her husband, her father-in-law, and her brother-in-law), she stays with her mother-in-law, Naomi, and moves to Judah with her, where Ruth wins the love and protection of a wealthy relative, Boaz, through her kindness. She is the great-grandmother of David.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_(biblical_figure)
Naomi
“Naomi is married to a man named Elimelech. A famine causes them to move with their two sons, from their home in Judea to Moab. While there Elimelech dies, as well as his sons who had gotten married in the meantime. Near destitute, Naomi returns to Bethlehem with one daughter-in-law, Ruth, whom she could not dissuade from accompanying her.[4] Her other daughter-in-law, Orpah, remains in Moab…
The arrival of Naomi and Ruth in Bethlehem coincides with the barley harvest. Naomi gives Ruth permission to glean those fields where she is allowed. Ruth is working in the field of Boaz, when a servant identifies her to him as Naomi’s daughter-in-law. It happens that Boaz is a kinsman of Naomi’s late husband. He tells her to work with female servants, warns the young men not to bother her, and at mealtime invites her to share his food.
When Naomi learns that Ruth has the attention and kindness of Boaz, she counsels Ruth to approach him directly: “… put on your best attire and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man before he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, take note of the place where he does so. Then go, uncover a place at his feet, and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” (Ruth 3:3–4)
To me what is amazing about the story of Rahab, is her love of Christ and through her seed the Savior himself was born. What a blessed woman Rahab was. Repentance is for all including each one of us. We can all be Sons and Daughters of God through the four steps of, Faith, Repentance, Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We can live with God and Christ after we have exercised our Free Agency wisely.
The State of Ohio contains a larger number of prehistoric remnants than any other equivalent area in the Mississippi valley. Some have estimated the number of mounds at 10,000 and the enclosures, villages, and caches at around 1,500, making the total number of earthworks in Ohio more than 11,000.
Since its inception in 1966, more than 80,000 properties have been listed in the National Register. Together these records hold information on more than 1.4 million individual resources including buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects which provides a link to the country’s heritage at the national, state, and local levels.
There are over 3,700 properties and sites listed in Ohio. Of these, approximately 200 are prehistoric locations. Within Ohio’s 88 counties, 50 counties include prehistoric sites listed in the National Registry. Do you know of a mound or earthwork site that is not protected? We can help you register your site with the National Register.
The following chart is from the Archaeological Atlas of Ohio which was published in 1914. Many of the mounds and earthworks were destroyed by farming and development by this time. This chart shows the number of recorded and mapped mounds:
The territory embraced within the State of Ohio probably contains a greater number of prehistoric remains than any other equal area in the Mississippi valley. The number of these earthworks has been variously estimated. Some writers have estimated the number of tumuli at 10,000 and the enclosures, etc., at 1,000 to 1,500, making the total number of earthworks more than 11,000, As a matter of fact these estimates were based upon what was known of such counties as Scioto, Ross, Pickaway, Butler, Hamilton, Warren, “Washington and Licking, all of which were great centers of prehistoric activity.
If all the counties in the state were dotted over with the earthworks of prehistory man, as are the counties mentioned, the estimate would be inadequate. But we find the entire northwest part of the state unsuited in prehistory times for occupancy by a prehistoric people, as the greater portion was low and swampy and at certain seasons of the year covered with water. [The Black Swamp shown below]
Ohio Mounds with the Great Black Swamp
Again the southeast part of the state was entirely too rough and hilly and the valleys of the streams small, so that agriculture was carried on with great difficulty. The valleys of the two Miamis, Scioto and Muskingum were well adapted for the abode of prehistoric man and here we find his principal monuments. The task of recording these monuments was begun in a very early day by Col. Chas. Whittlesey, President of the Western Reserve Historical Society. He had constructed a large 12 X 14 feet wall map and had recorded upon it all the known monuments. This map is now the property of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and was drawn by Thomas Mathew, Professor of Drawing at the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College (State University). No date is marked upon the map but no doubt it dates back to the 1870’s.
In 1891 an Archaeological map of Ohio was published by the Smithsonian Institution, upon which many additional mounds were noted. In 1895 Prof. Warren K. Moorehead constructed for the Society a new Archaeological map and commenced to map the state .systematically. The size of the new map was 6×6 feet which was much smaller than the map made for Col. Whittlesey. After Prof. Moorhead’s resignation in 1897 the writer conducted a systematic examination of the State, county by county, verifying wherever possible those monuments already known and at the same time adding new records to the map. After due consideration the Executive Committee of the Society found that a wall map would be entirely too unwieldy and undesirable as a published account of the earthworks of Ohio and they changed the plan of publication to an Archaeological Atlas of Ohio, by counties, a more convenient form for examination and study. In presenting the Archeological Atlas of Ohio, the author wishes to state it is as near complete as is at present possible, remindful of the fact that many monuments have been destroyed by a century or more of cultivation of the soil and by other destructive agencies and that many, no doubt, exist that we have no records of.
The various classes of earthworks shown on the maps of the Atlas are as follows:
Mounds (mortuary)
Enclosures (circular, crescent and square) Village sites burials (ordinary interments)
cemeteries
stone graves
effigies
petroglyphs flint quarries and caches.
The symbols designating the various earthworks are shown in the subjoined cartographic table (left): The mound, for the most part erected as a monument to the dead, is the best known and most abundant of the earthworks of Ohio. They are usually conical in form and varying in height from a few feet to 67 feet and in diameter from 10 to several hundred feet. They may occur singly or in groups but always in close proximity to their villages.
Ross County has 370 recorded burial mounds; Licking County has 225, Butler County 221, Jackson County and Pickaway County tie for fourth place with 173 each, while Auglaize, Henry and Wood counties have no records of a single mound. Total number of recorded mounds in the state of Ohio is 3,513.
The division of enclosures into three classes — the circular, the square and the crescent — is merely an arrangement of convenience suggested by their forms and is not necessarily indicative of purposes for which they were constructed. With respect to purpose and location, the following classification probably is more desirable:
“Hilltop enclosures, of irregular form, conforming to the topography of the mound on which they lie and from the natural strategic advantage of their position, suggesting a military. that is, a defensive use, closures, geometric in design more or less symmetrical and located on low or level lands, the purpose of which may have been the same, but perhaps constructed by a different culture; among enclosures partaking somewhat of the characteristics of the two preceding classes but located on high or low ground apparently with little regard to topography.
Fort Ancient, in Warren County, is the best example of the hill-top enclosures of the state. Enclosures of this class usually are constructed of stone and earth combined, and occur most frequently in the southern half of the state though not uncommon elsewhere. The best examples of the second named (the square) class are found in Licking, Ross, Butler, and other counties contiguous to the Muskingum, Scioto and Miami rivers. They take the form of circles, squares, crescents, etc., singly or in combination and usually are constructed entirely of earth. The third class of enclosures (the crescent) occur principally in the southern portions of the state and in several counties south of Lake Erie. They vary greatly in form and location and consequently in probable uses. The total number of enclosures recorded in the various counties of Ohio is 587.
Ross County stands first with 49, Licking County 36, Pickaway County 33 and Franklin County comes fourth with 28. The village sites marking the places where aboriginal villages or camps existed are scattered pretty generally over the state. They furnish intimate data regarding the domestic life of the aborigine. Among the important village sites are the Baum village site and the Gartner site, in Ross County. Both have been explored by the Society and the results printed in the Society–s publications. The total number of village sites recorded in the state is 354. Miami County leads with 35 recorded sites, Jackson County 22, Hamilton 17, and Darke County 13.
Cemeteries and burials are self-explanatory. They usually occur in or near village or camp sites. The stone grave is merely a local variation of burial custom occurring most frequently along the Ohio River where the abundance of slabs of loose stone encouraged their use in preparing graves. Of the effigy mounds, the greatest is the Serpent Mound of Adams County. Others are the Opossum Mound of Licking County, the Warren County Serpent, the tapir like figure in Scioto County and several anomalous figures in Pickaway, Ross and other counties. These works are described under their respective counties.
Petroglyphs or rock pictures are found cut into exposed rock surfaces and are most abundant along the Ohio River. Among the more important of the petroglyphs are those in Jackson, Meigs, Belmont, Columbiana and Cuyahoga counties and are described under those counties. Flint quarries, the principal ones of which are located in Licking, Muskingum and Coshocton counties, were of great importance in the aboriginal economy. Their purpose is evident — the supplying of raw material for the manufacture of the multitude of chipped flint objects found in practically every section of the state.
Flint Quarries recorded number 109. The total number of the various classes of earthworks recorded upon the maps of the Atlas are: Mounds (burial) 3,513 Enclosures (Square, circular and crescent) 587 Village Sites 354 Burials (Ordinary internments) 714 Cemeteries 39 Stone Graves 17 Effigy Mounds 5 Petroglyphs 16 Flint Quarries 109 Caches 6 Rock Shelters 35 Total 5,395
The author (of the 1914 Archeological Atlas) is under many obligations to Mr. H. C. Shetrone for his untiring efforts in assembling the records of the earthworks and placing the marks in the proper position on the maps and for personal examination of sections along the Ohio River. To Mr. Phillip Hinkle of Cincinnati for furnishing the records for Hamilton County. To Mr. Almer Hegler for furnishing the records for Fayette County. To Judge H. C. Miller and Mr. F. E. Bingman of Jackson for the records of Jackson County. The author is also indebted to many others in the various counties of the state, who aided in many ways to furnish records and assist in locating the archeological remains for a permanent record. Wm. C. Mills. Columbus, Ohio. March, 1914.
James Talmadge said, “Parallels of the Hopewell Culture as described by William C. Mills, Chief Archaeologist of Ohio, with the Book of Mormon. [May 20, 1917; Sunday] Attended Sunday School and afternoon service in Hawthorne Hall, and was a speaker at each assembly. Evening meetings here, as also in Brooklyn, have been discontinued for the summer. The attendance both at Sunday School and afternoon meeting was surprisingly large in view of the fact that many of the Utah college students have left for the vacation period. This evening at the hotel I had a long and profitable consultation with Professor Wm. C. Mills, State Archaeologist of Ohio. He is continuing his splendid work of exploration in the Ohio mounds, and I went over with him again the remarkable agreement between his deductions and the Book of Mormon story.
He has reached the following (10) conclusions: The area now included within the political boundaries defining the State of Ohio was once inhabited by two distinct peoples, representing two cultures, a higher and a lower. These two classes were contemporaries; in other words, the higher and the lower culture represented distinct phases of development existing at one time and in contiguous sections, and furnish in no sense an instance of evolution by which the lower culture was developed into the higher.
These two cultural types or distinct peoples were generally in a state of hostility one toward the other, the lower culture being more commonly the aggressor and the higher the defender. During limited periods, however, the two types, classes, or cultures, lived in a state of neutrality, amounting in fact to friendly intercourse.
The numerous exhumations of human bones demonstrate that the people of the lower type, if not indeed both cultures, were very generally affected by syphilis, indicating a prevalent condition of lasciviousness.
There (are) two peoples or cultures…the lower culture was most commonly the assailing party, while the people of the higher type defended as best they could but in general fled.
As a further consequence of this belligerent status they buried their dead, with or without previous cremation, in such condition as to admit of expeditious covering up of the cemeteries by the heaping of earth over the sepulchers [sic], in which hurried work the least skilled laborers and even children could be employed.
From a careful collating of data it is demonstrated that the general course of migration through the area now defined as the State of Ohio was inward from the west and outward toward the east.
Professor Mills states that no definite data as to the age of these peoples have as yet been found, but that the mounds may date back a few hundred years or even fifteen hundred or more. Several years ago I placed a Book of Mormon in the hands of Professor Mills and, while he is reticent as to the parallelism of his discoveries and the Book of Mormon account, he is impressed by the agreement.”James E. Talmage 20 May 1917
Tony & Lorraine George
“Ancient Clues from Old Ohio History”
Tony and Lorraine have been researching the Mound Builder culture most of their lives. Tony was born and raised in southern Ohio, otherwise known as Hopewell Central, and follows in the footsteps of his father’s passion. Lorraine, his high school sweetheart, joined with him on an early date to Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, and the rest is history, literally. Having been surrounded by countless earthworks during their life and working closely with current archaeologists, they share enthusiasm and excitement and their love of history with countless visitors to Ohio. Purchase their Map Book called Moroni’s America Maps,”Land Bountiful Edition” HERE
“Lorraine is a princess of very distant royal ancestry who courted and married an Appalachian goober. Her family has roots in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tony’s family arrived in the Ohio valley seven generations ago, among the earliest of pioneers in that region. He has been the beneficiary of stories and observations of the ancient peoples and their land and has continued the pursuit with earnestness. He has served as a Bishop and in various other capacities in Church and community organizations. Together they provide a simple but curious perspective of an ancient culture who kept their eyes aligned to the horizon, but their hearts to the heavens.”
Possible Places for The Savior’s Appearance –
Ross County, Ohio
Principal location of Ross County Ohio – even in historic times, the geology, geography, and biotic zones have been recognized as significant and even desirable for habitation. Modern Chillicothe serves as regional commerce center and a crossroads of transportation. The Scioto River and large tributaries in Paint Creek and Deer Creek converge in one relatively concentrated region. The Shawnee revered the place. Ohio pioneers made Chillicothe the first capital of the newly formed state.
Sugarloaf Mountain, Ohio – Eternal Geography
Sugarloaf Mountain – “The Hopewell road from Newark points straight as an arrow to Sugarloaf Mountain, the hill directly behind the Cedar Bank site. It is also the hill which many Chillicothe earthworks align to. Additionally, the Marietta Road, another ancient thruway, points straight to Sugarloaf from Marietta. Then consider the Kanawha Trail from Charleston WV and the Scioto Trail from Portsmouth OH…yep, the same. It seems everything in southern Ohio points to Sugarloaf. And there is more. The largest concentration of Hopewell earthworks are within minutes of Sugarloaf (over 500). You can see Columbus OH from the top of the hill. It commands the valley more in presence as opposed to height. Anthony George Lifelong Resident of Chillicothe, Ohio and Archaeological Researcher.
Trail#1– The “Great Trail” so-called, was the most important of the east and west trails in Ohio. It was the western extension of the great highway between the Indian country around Delaware and Chesapeake Bay traveling westward to the forks of the Ohio
Trail #2- Of striking importance was the Scioto trail running north and south through the state, between Sandusky Bay,“ and the mouth of the Scioto River. Ascending the Sandusky River crossing the portage and descending the Scioto to its juncture with the Ohio, the Scioto trail crossed the 1atter river and joined the famous “Warrior’s Path”, leading far into the southland.
Trail #3- This trail connected the Indian country about the forks of the Muskingum with the Shawnee settlements on the Scioto and thence west and north to the important Miami towns.
Trail #13- Extended from Maguck [Circleville] southeast to the Muskingum River thence southward, crossing the Ohio river in Washington County. This was a well-known war trail from the Shawnee settlements on the Scioto to the Indian settlements in southwestern Pennsylvania.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL ATLAS OF OHIO INDIAN TRAILS AND TOWNS
By William C. Mills 1914
5,396 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES Identified by 1914
The importance of the aboriginal trails of Ohio to the settlement and development of the state, hardly can be overestimated. In many instances they determined the location of the early white settlements as well as the first forts and military roads, many of them later becoming permanent highways. They ranged in width from a mere trail threading the wilderness to paths of a few feet wide in the more open country and generally followed the high ground between the water courses of hills and ridges adjacent to the streams. It was along these trails that the aboriginal Ohio peoples traveled from one part of the state to another, whether engaged in warfare, the chase, trade and barter, or migration. Later they served, together with navigable streams, as the only means of entrance for the white traders and settlers who pushed their way into the country west and north of the Ohio River. Thus, the trails in great measure determined the course of improved highways and in this way strongly influenced the location of communities and towns.
SPECIFIC EARLY WOODLAND MOUNDS AND SITES AROUND CLEVELAND
Indian Point
“Indian Point, located just 14 miles northeast of the Kirtland Temple. This ancient Indian enclosure features two earthen walls bordered by ditches and protected on two sides of a triangle by steep cliffs. The walls were built around 140 B.C.” Jonathan Neville by reading the signage at the site.
“The most spectacular Cleveland area earthworks are surprisingly little known to many area residents. The prehistoric embankments are still sufficiently high as to be easily viewed. The site isIndian Point (33La2) located at the juncture of the Grand River and Paine Creek just east of Painesville, Ohio. The site is now part of the Lake Metropark system. The archaeological community, who has been interested in the area long before it became a park, calls it the Lyman Site because it is on the former grounds of a military training camp operated by Charles Lyman. The site consists of three earthen enclosures atop a steep river bluff. (The western set of walls is severely eroded but the eastern two are easily viewed.) Indian Point did not have mounds; mound-like structures found there have more recently been determined not to be of prehistoric human origin. Until recently the Early Woodland date of Indian Point was not recognized; it was considered strictly a Late Prehistoric site (900 AD-1650 AD) because of the large amount of ceramics and bone tools of this period found there. Archaeologist James Murphy has long obtained radiocarbon dates prior to the First Millennium AD. He tested remains of cooking fires from deep within the inner earthworks. He also found an Early Woodland Stemmed point. The dates of specific portions of the site including the earthen walls still remain a matter of controversy. Murphy has proposed that the two sets of earthworks may have been constructed at different times.” 2011 LAURA PESKIN Prehistoric Indian Earthworks in the City of Cleveland and Environs
Cedar Bank Works – Ancient Temple? Chillicothe, OH
A comet-shaped mound was constructed near the epicenter of the airburst at a Hopewell site called the Milford Earthworks.” Scientific Reports
Proximity of likely temple site – the Cedar Bank site is a great candidate for a temple site. It is situated on the east bank of the Scioto and below Sugarloaf Mountain. Incidentally, Sugarloaf has a very, majestic shape. Even Squire and Davis suggest Cedar Bank as a place of “religious observances”. And then there is the name ‘Cedar Bank. It is understood that the site was named from the inordinate number of cedar trees growing on a bank among one of the thickest hardwood forests in the world.
Cedar Bank Site
Propagated from an ancient introduction of cedars? Additionally, the earthwork appears to have had a graded way to the water feature. It also resembles very, very closely the constructions found in Marietta, OH, Cincinnati, OH, Havana, IL and what we know as the Zarahemla site across from Nauvoo. Keep in mind that upon the Savior’s coming the people would be practicing the law of Moses. Although the Newark works are wonderful at offering symbolism of the Plan of Salvation through its geometric, earthen constructions, so do likewise other geometric construction’s in Ohio and opposite Portsmouth in Kentucky. These constructions were likely built or ‘added upon’ (from earlier constructions) after the Savior’s coming and teachings. Anthony George, Lifelong Chillicothe Resident & Archeological Researcher (For points 1-5 see page 2)
Hopeton Great Circle
“There was a wall at the Great Circle at the Hopeton site. For those of you interested in dry archeological research, here is more about an interesting and recent discovery at the Hopeton Great Circle (adjacent to the Cedar Bank site near Chillicothe OH and also adjacent to the Chillicothe Ward building). Typically, I try to remain abreast with the research happening each year in Ohio and nearby. I spoke with an archaeologist last summer [2017] at the site, and learned of his confirmation of anomalies indicated by a an extensive magnetometry survey. The other day in conversation, we discussed more details regarding the findings. It appears the Great Circle has evidences of a wooden fence, where the at least 6 ft height 1050 ft diameter earthen wall (enclosing 20 acres) was located. Indications are a pattern of very large posts spaced every 6 meters. This excavation last season revealed a post mold to be 96cm (about 38 inches) in diameter and 1.13 meters deep. One can estimate the height from that data. Indications are that smaller posts existed between the larger ones. The Hopeton site is significant in its location in relation to Cedar Bank, Sugarloaf, Mound City, and Dunlap Works and likely others. The current Chillicothe Ward building aligns with the Cedar Bank site (specifically the platform mound) and is within sight of Sugarloaf and in association with other major earthworks, including Hopeton. I am pretty sure Church engineering had not considered the earthworks when the building was designed.” Anthony George Lifelong Resident of Chillicothe, Ohio and Archaeological Researcher
Promised Land Bountiful
“And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land. And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance. And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper.” 1 Nephi 18:23-25
The Small Neck of Land
Triple Divide – 3 River Sources
Susquehanna Flows to the Atlantic
Allegheny/Ohio Flows to the Gulf of Mexico
Genesee Flows to the Gulf of St Lawrence
“… I propose that the narrow strip of wilderness is a major river—or system of rivers—that serves as an effective border. Here is my rationale. First, Moroni tells us it is a border. The “narrow strip” element suggests a feature that is visible and obvious to people on the ground; i.e., narrow enough that observers can see how wide it is, and long and thin enough that it is not mistakable. It is a definite border, not a vague region. Second, the definitions of the terms offer similar connotations. Narrow suggests a vale, valley, or river bed. Strip suggests something that is long and thin—like a river… In the past, however—in Book of Mormon times—the Ohio River often dried up in late summer. This left the riverbed as an expanse of silt and mud. In that state, it could not be called a river. But it could still be a border, and it could still be called a narrow strip of wilderness.” Jonathan Neville Moroni’s America page 23, 51-5
Research Group SENSYS Magnetometer Survey
“James Dutcher, in June 1987, received permission from Elizabeth Cooperrider, the owner, to excavate the stone mound… He measured the mound at 129 feet east to west and 110 feet north to south, with the highest point being 12 feet. Using a backhoe, he removed large portions of stone from the center of the mound, excavating a trench 30 feet by 10 feet on the northwest side of the stone mound. In the trench he found a fire hearth and a layer of charcoal on thirteen flat stones; four post molds were also located. The charcoal was sent to Beta Analytic in Florida in January 1988 for radiocarbon dating, and the results produced a date of 2220 ± 50 b.p., which translated to a date of ca. 270 b.c., suggesting a late Adena or early Hopewell period structure”. Glenford Stone “Fort” and Other Stone Constructions in Ohio and Beyond Norman Muller NEARA Journal, 2010
Many areas in Ohio have had magnetometer surveys. Above left, is an example of what those surveys look like. Experts search for post holes, fire pits, moved earth, and other things 3-5 feet below the surface .
Newark Earthworks
Click to Purchase Annotated Book of Mormon
The Newark Works, built between 100 B.C. – 500 A.D. is the largest surviving Hopewell earthwork complex in North America and originally encompassed more than four square miles. Taken as a whole, the earthwork symbols appear to represent a fundamental understanding of the essential elements of the Plan of Salvation:
1. Pre-Mortal Life: The Great Circle (light yellow) may symbolize our spirits eternal nature (circle), being born from a fluid-lined womb which opens toward the east, entering a—
2. Veil of forgetfulness: Two converging paths between the Great Circle and square are juxtaposed symbolizing
our forgetting of the pre-mortal life.
3. Telestial Kingdom: Mortal life (green square) represents earth and is likened to having four corners, “and gather
together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (2 Nephi 21:12).
4. Direct path: If all ordinances are performed on earth the individual can enter this path passing only one checkpoint.
5. Spirit Prison: Entrance from the earth, having only a dead-end holding area for the wicked.
6. Paradise: Another holding area following earth life where the gospel is preached and accepted or rejected.
7. Vicarious path: Those who accept the gospel in Paradise must have their temple ordinances performed by others
thereby passing multiple checkpoints.
8. Lake of Filthy Water: This man-made stagnant lake symbolizes the temptations each person must pass through.
9. Terrestrial Kingdom: (blue octagon), represented as the Seal of Melchizedek or eight-pointed star or octagon.
10. Celestial Kingdom: (gold circle) Entered only through the Terrestrial realm of Melchizedek through a straight and narrow path to be eternally encircled about by God. (Annotated Book of Mormon page 250- Original research by Amberli Nelson)
HOPEWELL EFFIGY OF A HUMAN HAND
“Effigy of a human hand cut from sheet mica, Ohio Hopewell culture, 100 BC-500 AD. Excavated from Hopewell Mound Group, Ross County, Ohio ca.1922-1925. The Hopewell obtained mica from western North Carolina. This object is 11” x 7” and is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. Hopewell culture spiritual leaders used small slabs of mica for a kind of mirror, possibly used in divination ceremonies, and artisans cut sheets into a variety of delicate shapes that may have been sewn onto garments to serve as personal ornaments. Around 400 A.D Hopewell culture began to decline for an unknown reason according to archaeologists.” Ohio History Connection Archaeology.
3 Nephi 11: 13-17
Zechariah 13:6
John 20:24-29
D&C 45:52
Pictured-Actual artifact at Ohio History Connection Museum, Columbus, OH
Dr. John C. Lefgren of Bethlehem, PA was the person who first made the association of the Fibonacci Series to this Hopewell artifact which shows the nail print in the hand of Christ. (See great video “The Fibonacci Sequence” here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0tLbl5LrJ8)
So we ask the question, were the Mayans & Aztecs Scattered by the Gentiles as it states in the Book of Mormon? The simple answer is No! However the Native American Lamanites in the USA were SMITTEN and SCATTERED. We report, you make your own decision.
The Book of Mormon, which contained Lehi’s prophecies, was published in March, 1830. The infamous “Indian Removal Act” was passed by Congress on May 28, 1830.
In speaking to the Lamanites and others who are disobedient, the Book of Mormon said, “and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten.” 2 Nephi 1:10-11
At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States. Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians’ land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk thousands of miles to a specially designated “Indian territory” across the Mississippi River. This difficult and sometimes deadly journey is known as the “Trail of Tears.”
Indian removal took place in the Northern states as well. In Illinois and Wisconsin, for example, the bloody Black Hawk War in 1832 opened to white settlement millions of acres of land that had belonged to the Sauk, Fox and other native nations.
“Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.” 2 Nephi 1:7
The Lamanite Civilization began in North America
The Lamanites of North America have the blood of Joseph through Manasseh and the blood of Judah through Mulek and Zedikiah. The Mayans and Aztecs have no Hebrew DNA as shown by thousands of DNA reports. There may be a small sprinkle of blood in the Mayans through intermarriage or migration, but the first Lamanites began in the United States where there are many artifacts and blood relations connecting the Hebrews to the Native Americans near the Great Lakes. See blog here:DNA article here:
“And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, [Nation of America among the Remnant] yea, even upon the face of this land;[USA] and by them [Wicked Americans] shall our seed [Lamanites] be scattered.
And after our seed [Lamanites] is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, [Coming forth of the Book of Mormon] which shall be of great worth unto our seed;[Lamanites] wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.”[Righteous Pilgrims and Saints] 1 Nephi 22:7-8 (Bold, Color, Parenthesis and Italics added)
We believe the Lamanites and Jews (who were one in the same mixed race), were smitten and scattered for their unbelief. The Jews have been scattered all over the world. The Native Americans were pushed and scattered to lands west of the Mississippi. Who has smitten and scattered these groups? The Gentiles or the Europeans and others who were non-Jewish.
“Which is my word to the Gentile, that soon it may go to the Jew, of whom the Lamanites are a remnant, that they may believe the gospel, and look not for a Messiah to come who has already come.” D&C 19:27
“And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews.” 2 Nephi 30:4
We also know that Lehi was a direct descendant of Manasseh and the daughters of Ishmael were Ephraimites. Further we understand the people of Mulek to be from the tribe of Judah, and the Mulekites and Nephites combined together into a mixed race. We also believe the Jaredites were of possibly a mixture of Ham, Shem and Japeth. We do understand the Jaredites had the Priesthood. “These promises of God to the Jaredites contain the essential elements of the everlasting covenant detailed later to Father Abraham and to every covenant people. These elements include priesthood, posterity, and a land of inheritance” Bruce McConkie, A New Witness 505
Can you see the great mixture of people at Hill Cumorah? The most important thing was to know that the seed of Lehi was left at that hill. The Lamanites had a mixture of Joseph and Judah and they remained in North America previous to Columbus.
“And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise, and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren, and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten.” (1 Nephi 13:14)
“And also that a knowledge of these things must come unto the remnant of these people, and also unto the Gentiles, who the Lord hath said should scatter this people, and this people should be counted as naught among them—therefore write a small abridgment, daring not to give a full account of the things which I have seen, because of the commandment which I have received, and also that ye might not have too great sorrow because of the wickedness of this people.” (Mormon 5:9)
On the other hand have the Mayans and Aztecs been smitten and scattered? They may have been oppressed but not scattered. The Mayans of 700 AD are the fathers of the Mayans of today. Most of the Mayans have come from Asia, and they weren’t scattered by the Gentiles. There has been only Asian DNA found for the people of Western USA, Central and South America. On the other hand DNA of the Native Americans near the Great Lakes has matched DNA among the Iraqi Jew, the Ashkenazi Jew and other Jews or Hebrews. See blog post here:
Pawnee Nearly Extinct
Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk, General Authority Seventy (left), talks about his great-grandfather (right) during his June 27 LDS Business College devotional address at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. Click for Article
Elder Larry Echo Hawk, Emeritus General Authority, a descendant of the Pawnee Indian tribe describes his great-grandfather being forced from their native homeland in the Midwest:
“On the title page [of the Book of Mormon] I read that it is “written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the House of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile.” In the introduction to the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, it says that the Lamanites “are among the ancestors of the American Indians.” As I read the Book of Mormon, it seemed to me that it was about my American Indian ancestors. It tells the story of a people, a part of which were later described as “Lamanites,” who migrated from Jerusalem to a “land of promise” (1 Nephi 2:20) about 600 B.C. It is an account of God’s dealings with these ancient inhabitants located somewhere on the American continents…Their prophets foretold that many multitudes of Gentiles would eventually come to this land of promise and the wrath of God would be upon the Lamanites and they would be scattered, smitten, and nearly destroyed.
Elder Echo Hawk’s grandfather. A photo taken by a photographer who traveled throughout Indian country taking pictures of Native Americans. Photo courtesy of Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk.
“My great-grandfather Echo Hawk, a Pawnee Indian, was born in the mid-1800s in what is now called Nebraska. When he was 19 years of age, the Pawnee people were forced to give up their 23-million-acre (9.3 million-hectares) homeland to make room for settlers. In 1874 the Pawnee people were marched several hundred miles south to a small reservation located in the Oklahoma Indian Territory… “The Book of Mormon has a special message for descendants of the Lamanites, a remnant of the house of Israel. Nephi expressed this message while interpreting his father’s vision of these latter days: “And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the House of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer, which was ministered unto their fathers by Him…” (1 Nephi 15:14)” – Elder Larry Echo Hawk, “Come Unto Me, O Ye House of Israel,” Ensign, [Nov. 2012].
“The population of Pawnee people had declined from over 12,000 to less than 700 upon their arrival in Oklahoma. The Pawnee, like other tribes, had been scattered, smitten, and nearly destroyed” – Larry Echo Hawk, “Come Unto Me, O Ye House of Israel,” Ensign, [Nov. 2012].
Written to the Lamanite
“THE BOOK OF MORMON AN ACCOUNT WRITTEN BY THE HAND OF MORMON UPON PLATES TAKEN FROM THE PLATES OF NEPHI
Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites—Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile—Written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation—Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed—To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof—Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile—The interpretation thereof by the gift of God.” Title Page of the Book of Mormon
I believe Joseph Smith, who speaking Near Atlas, Illinois on the Mississippi River on Jun 2, 1834 said,
“The whole of our journey, in the midst of so large a company of social honest and sincere men, wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity… During our travels we visited several of the mounds which had been thrown up by the ancient inhabitants of this country-Nephites, Lamanites, etc.” Joseph Smith Papers Letter to Emma Smith, 4 June 1834 Page 56
Copy from the Joseph Smith Papers boxes added.
There ARE Hopewell Mounds that date to Book of Mormon Times in Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, and Iowa as Joseph Smith described while on Zion’s Camp march. This should not be denied if we believe the Prophet Joseph. He wrote this letter to his dear wife Emma saying, “picking up their [Nephite] skulls & their bones, as a proof of its [Book of Mormon’s] divine authenticity”
THIS IS WHY BOOK OF MORMON EVIDENCE, AND HEARTLAND RESEARCH GROUP, ARE IN MONTROSE IOWA. WE VERIFY TRUTH OF THE BOOK OF MORMON BY THE SPIRIT BUT CONFIRM MANY THINGS WITH SECONDARY WITNESSES THROUGH MANY ARTIFACTS, RESEARCH, MAGNETOMETRY, LiDAR, RESISTIVITY AND CORE DRILLING.
Joseph Smith and Family Buried among the Nephites
“The connections between Mormonism and the mounds of North America have yet to be fully explored. …The increasing awareness of the numerous Hopewell mounds in the Nauvoo area may give renewed attention to the connection between Mormons and the mounds. When workers dug a utility trench between the Red Brick Store and the Joseph Smith Homestead, the equipment churned up Hopewell bones and artifacts. This area is adjacent to the Smith Family Cemetery, leading to the possibility that Joseph Smith, his wife Emma, his brother Hyrum and his parents are buried in a Hopewell burial site.” The Mormons and the Mounds – Jonathan Neville Mormon History Association June 2017.
“Nauvoo appears to have been a destination for the living and the dead for centuries. According to Community of Christ Historic Sites Coordinator Lachlan Mackay, workmen digging a power wiring trench between the Smith Cemetery and Red Brick Store during the 1970s uncovered bones and artifacts, including a cardinal platform pipe from the Hopewell era (ca. 200 BC to 500 AD). This means that the Smith Family Cemetery was most likely built over an ancient Nephite graveyard.
Nauvoo Map with Tumuli (Mounds)
Lachlan Mackay referred to Gustavus Hills 1840 map above of Nauvoo which revealed ancient tumuli, or burial mounds, including some on Partridge Street below the temple hill. In 1844, Henry Brown quoted John C. Bennett’s 1842 description of Nauvoo: “The surface of the ground upon which Nauvoo is built, is very uneven. . . A number of tumuli, or ancient mounds, are found within the limits of the city, proving it to have been a place of some importance with the extinct inhabitants of this Continent” (History of Illinois, 1844, p. 490). Settlers, however, leveled the land for houses and gardens.” Laid to Rest in Nauvoo By Rosemary G. Palmer · July 17, 2014 Meridian Magazine
The Nauvoo Hopewell Mounds
Hopewell Mound on Curlee Property
“Beginning in 1998, Wilson [Curlee] and I had felt a gravitational pull to Nauvoo from our home in Helena, Montana, and began making yearly trips there, usually in conjunction to see family in other states. Without having a concrete plan, we decided in 2005 to buy a small second home in Nauvoo for retirement in a few years, and in the meantime, a place to spend our summers. And so it came to be that in 2009 when we retired and semi-relocated to Nauvoo that we were introduced to Heartland Model of the Book of Mormon geography. We were invited to a small gathering of people to hear a presentation about the possibility of the ancient city of Zarahemla having been located across the Mississippi from Nauvoo, near Montrose, Iowa, with the Mississippi River being the River Sidon. It was as if that night I began wearing a new pair of glasses. My view was broadened, clarified and in focus. I felt the hand of the Lord was in this, much like when I learned about the True Gospel taught by the Missionaries when I was 19 years old in Billings, Montana. At that time it was less than 12 hours later that I gained a testimony that the Gospel had been restored to the earth in these last days.
The Curlee’s on their Hopewell Mound
After hearing the presentation that summer night, I went home with my head spinning. As I was getting ready for bed, I had many thoughts about the years I had spent reading about Mesoamerica supposedly being where the Book of Mormon happened, although I never doubted that there was just one Hill Cumorah. I was sort of muttering to myself and to God at the same time, saying that I didn’t like this feeling of my “head being messed with”. Then very quickly and emphatically a voice came into my mind saying “You were always into archaeology and history, and wanted to go to Central America, but I put you in the MIDDLE of it here!!”. From the bathroom I called out to Wilson, “It’s True”! Once the Spirit answers, the discussion is over. It was the same voice that spoke when I knew the Restored Gospel was true. Was this the main reason we felt pulled to move to Nauvoo after all? Since that night it has been one roller-coaster ride after another. I have been writing significant things down as they happened, and then at the end of each fall I have typed them up to make a ruining log of the year’s events. If I had not actually lived it, I would think I was writing a novel made up out of my own imagination. That eventful summer ended with sharing this new information with like-minded friends and family; buying books and videos on the subject, and looking forward to the next summer when we would once again immerse ourselves in the spirit of Nauvoo, and see more of what the Midwest and the Nauvoo area would reveal regarding Book of Mormon evidence…” Jennice Curlee [The complete story blog at the end]
Heartland Research Update
Here is an update from the FIRM Foundation about the work moving forward by the Heartland Research Group. Some of you may have received this information from Dr. John Lefgren, or Mike or Betty LaFontaine, and their Heartland Research Group. This is research being done to discover physical evidence of the City or Land of Zarahemla spoken of in the Book of Mormon and also clearly spoken about in D&C 125:3, as being across the river from Nauvoo, Illinois.
The Heartland Research Group also own the replica 600 BC ship which is being restored. There are many working and volunteering on this project and if you visit their site phoenicia.rocks, you can read more information and donate to their cause.
The ‘Phoenicia’ has sailed over 30,000 nautical miles captained by British Sailor Philip Beale.
The Phoenicia Voyages by Captain Philip Beale and Team are an ideal test of the veracity of the Book of Mormon account. It shows not only that the materials and technology of 600 B.C. allowed construction of ocean-going vessels for both Lehi’s group and the Mulekites, but that both groups could have crossed the Atlantic and landed in North America, coming from the east.
As you see in the maps below “The Phoenicia Expedition 2009-2010 and 2020, you will see the Phoenicia Ship Expedition has now demonstrated unequivocally that Lehi’s voyage could have left the Arabian Peninsula and sailed around Africa to Florida, rather than attempting to cross the earth’s largest ocean the Pacific at its widest point, as proposed by many Mesoamerican theorists. In 2009, the Phoenicia Expedition supports our vision, that Lehi’s Voyage to America was very possible. In the Phoenicia Voyage of 2020 seen below, is also evidence of a plausible voyage from Israel to North America, possibly traveling up the Mississippi River and having forced to stop just south of Nauvoo, Ill, by the presence of the Des Moines River Rapids. (See Omni 1:16)
Heartland Research would love to have guests, visitors, volunteers, speakers, and other experts that may want to help find Zarahemla and rebuild the Phoenicia. Phoenicia.rocks
Nov. 6th 2021, a historic flyover near (article below) Nauvoo, Illinois of 34,000 acres that was completed, obtaining LiDAR Data to continue searching for more evidence about the Montrose, IA, or the Zarahemla area. In Nauvoo, Heartland Research has found ancient fire pits and artifacts, and they continue core hole drilling, magnetometry, LiDAR, archaeological digging, drone exploring, and many other new world scientific studies from experts all over the world. You will be fascinated with their work below.
Here are some resent partial results of the Nov 6, 2021 LiDAR scanning completed. It shows you the obvious Hopewell Mounds found today on the Wilson and Jenny Curlee property near Nauvoo, Illinois. This is fantastic and more will come. Without a doubt previous Historians, Scientists and Archaeologists have verified ancient Hopewell mounds all over the Nauvoo, IL and Montrose, IA areas. Once again the Heartland Research Group continues to find details about the time period of the Nephites all over the Heartland of the United States.
Report from Landowners on High-Definition LiDAR
“High on a river bluff overlooking the Mississippi (Sidon) River near Nauvoo, Illinois, lay a group of ancient burial mounds known by archaeologists as the “Hopewell” culture, or Middle Woodland time period of 2000 years ago. The 10 larger mounds are known of and protected by the State of Illinois, but due to the technology known as LiDAR, we know there are many dozens of smaller mounds. As the owners for the past 12 years of the 20 hilltop acres that these mounds are located on, we had benefited greatly from an earlier version of LiDar of Hancock County provided to us.
“Things have been moving fast for the past two years. We are privileged to be a part of the Heartland Research Group that partnered with Air Data Solutions who recently flew their airplane over 34,000 acres on both sides of the Mississippi, producing high-resolution images of the ground that was previously unavailable to us. The 34,000 acres flown over also focused on the Iowa side of the river across from our bluff, where we believe the ancient capital city named Zarahemla existed for over 1,000 years, as written about in the Book of Mormon. This area includes the town of Montrose, Iowa today. We believe that the ancient mounds and fortification on our property are one and the same civilization that lived in Zarahemla. The excitement is building as this higher quality of LiDAR is now available for us to go to the next level of archaeological research, as we look forward to using the new LiDAR maps to identify even more previously hidden information. We are thankful for the many qualified people who are involved and dedicated to bringing “truth out of the ground.”
– Jennice and Wilson Curlee
Note from Heartland Research
The new LiDAR scans show dozens of features that are associated with the ancient mounds of Zarahemla on an area of 20 acres. We have scanned 34,000 acres. The data files are very large. We are only at the very earliest stages of the analysis of the data. In this case, we looked for a high density of ancient habitation and these first readings certainly confirmed our expectations.
This map (was produced by Cyrus Thomas in 1894 in a Bureau of Ethnology book. “I am fairly certain that over 1,000,000 mounds once existed” – Gregory L. Little, Ed.D.
By the Nephites fruits, we shall know them. In other words, by the millions and millions of mounds and artifacts of life in North America from 600 BC to 400 AD, has been left the fruits or artifacts of the labors of the great Lamanite and Nephite people. To say evidence doesn’t exist is to deny the artifacts found in many museums. To be shown the evidence of the Nephites path, you could simply follow the path of the Hopewell Culture. This article will focus on artifacts in Tennessee, Ohio and several other states, and any one item on it’s own could help the honest in heart find physical and spiritual proof of the Book of Mormon. Of course one would have to find room in their heart to believe the Book of Mormon did happen in North America, which I do. (Your contrary opinions are welcome).
If the Book of Mormon is true, then this world is full of evidence of it’s existence both temporally and spiritually. If the Nephites were a real people in a real time and place, there is found evidence of their existence. If Zarahemla was a city near Nauvoo, we will find evidence of its existence. If metal and copper are mentioned in the Book of Mormon, we will find its evidence in the ground. If Joseph Smith is a Prophet born and raised in the United States and he talks of “this country” or “this land” he is speaking of the USA. If the Land of Tennessee is the place of the Nephites, proof of habitation will exist.
If you haven’t found physical evidence of the Book of Mormon in North America, you haven’t researched hard enough. If you haven’t found evidence of God and Christ, you just aren’t looking and praying hard enough in my opinion. The Book of Mormon is true and you can know through personal revelation. I believe the Lord is always available and He lives and He loves us.
“For it came to pass that they did deceive many with their flattering words, who were in the church, and did cause them to commit many sins” Mosiah 26:6
The Old Stone Fort was built during the Middle Woodland Period, 1,500-2,000 years ago. Native Americans used this area continuously for about 500 years, eventually leaving it abandoned. By the time European settlers arrived, it was unclear of what the area had been used for which resulted in it being misnamed as a fort. In 1966, the state of Tennessee purchased 400 acres of the Chumbley estate as the core of what is now Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park. Source
Old Stone Fort Franklin TN
“Almost 2000 years ago, the native peoples who lived along the Harpeth River in Williamson County created a sacred site, akin to what we would call a cathedral today,” said Dr. Kevin Smith, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University. “It remains the only known major sacred site of its type from the Cumberland River drainage – and much have involved peoples from throughout the region. For modern peoples, this site is important not only as the remnants of an ancient shrine, but also as a site that was recognized nationally in the 1870’s by early archaeologists and antiquarians. While only these two remnants of this sacred complex survive for us to preserve, remember and honor today, they are an important reminder that our history as Tennesseans extends much deeper into the past than we might usually think.”
A diagram of placement of mounds, works and stone box burials at the Old Town Archaeological Site in Williamson, Tennessee. Based on a map found in “The antiquities of Tennessee and the adjacent states, and the state of aboriginal society in the scale of civilization represented by them” by Thruston, Gates Phillips
Editors note: These Tennesseans need to know that their land is very possibly the land of the Nephites after Lehi’s escape from his brothers Laman and Lemuel. It is the Land where Alma was converted by Abinadi and the land near the Waters of Mormon. With Chattanooga as the City Nephi it is very likely the city of Amulon is where Franklin Tennessee is today and the city of Helam near the Pinson Mounds Park just south of Jackson, Tennessee. Both of these places show some amazing archaeology dating from 100 BC to 200 AD which is the appropriate time for of the exitance of these Book of Mormon People.
Purchase over 200 Book of Mormon Maps in North America Maps here
In early 1875, Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, wrote to a number of Tennessee citizens asking for assistance in collecting specimens for the United States National Museum. A fire in January of 1865 had destroyed significant portions of the museum’s early collections (DesRochers 2012), and the approach of the United States Centennial — to be celebrated in concert with the first major world fair and exposition held in the country — required acquisition of new materials. Among those individuals Henry contacted was Dr. William Martin Clark, a physician and resident of Franklin, Tennessee and later the editor-in-chief of the Nashville Banner (Clayton 1880).
Clark began his efforts on behalf of the Smithsonian in May of 1875 with the excavation of an earthen mound on the farm of Dr. William Reid, near Franklin. From there, Clark shifted his efforts to the nearby Glass property, of which he wrote: There is a fine group here, and four of them are in a line from north to south, a large one in the centre [sic], flanked on the south by two small ones, and on the north by another, evidently intended to have been a large one, but from some interruption was never finished. This last was not more than three feet high, though seventy-five feet in diameter. It had been cultivated a great number of years, but distinctly showed its proportions. Being in cultivation at the time of my visit, I did not examine it. The two smaller ones were about six feet high and twenty in diameter, while the largest was twenty feet high and four hundred feet in circumference. They did not stand in a perfect circle, the largest mound forming the lowest part of the concavity (W.M. Clark, “Antiquities of Tennessee,” MS 2407, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Page 10).
In his account, Clark mentions four mounds (identified herein for reference as Clark-A, Clark-B, Clark-C, and Clark-D): Clark-A stood ca. 6 m in height and 40 m in diameter and most closely matches Mound 2 at the Glass Mounds; Clark-B and C were located to the south and each measured ca. 2 m in height and 6 m in diameter; and Clark-D, situated to the north, measured ca. 1 m in height and 23 m in diameter. The surviving Glass Mounds Mound 1 may be either Clark-B or Clark-C, although the information provided by Clark is insufficient to determine which. Neither of the two surviving mounds at the Glass Mounds site match the dimensions of Clark-D. Clark excavated two trenches into the largest mound at the site (Clark-A; Glass Mounds 2), beginning on opposite faces and meeting in the center.
Copper Face Plate
Within the mound he encountered a layer of ashes and burned earth five feet below the summit, with similar sequences recurring every five feet until the base of the mound. Clark records that the mound was constructed on top of a four-foot deep deposit of burned earth, ashes, and charcoal, from which he recovered “the only relics” from the excavation (W.M. Clark, “Antiquities of Tennessee,” MS 2407, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Page 11). See Below
Those materials consisted of a copper earspool and hammered copper face plate (Figure 2) (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution [NMNH] A19987-0 and A19986).
No skeletal remains were present within the basal mound deposit, suggesting that these artifacts represent either a cache of ritual objects, or perhaps were associated with a cremation or completely degraded grave.
The mask in particular fired Clark’s imagination, leaving him to ponder: Could it speak, what tales it could tell of the red men. [Lamanites & Nephites] No doubt it has witnessed many a torture of captives and heard them shriek, as their hearts were torn from their living bodies and thrown upon the fire to appease the vengeance of their captors. Now how low it has fallen! A small fragment of copper handed down from an antiquity far beyond our conceptions, only a slight token of the mythical nations (W.M. Clark, “Antiquities of Tennessee,” MS 2407, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Page 12). TENNESSEE ARCHAEOLOGY Volume 10 Fall 2020 Number 2 The Tennessee Division of Archaeology and Middle Tennessee State University
The natural and aboriginal history of Tennessee: up to the first settlements therein by the white people, in the year 1768
BY JOHN HAYWOOD, OF THE COUTNTY OF DAVIDSON, THE STATE OF TENNESSEE. NASHVILLE: PRINTED BY GEORGE WILSON, 1823. Page 341-349
First we will speak of the coins of the aborigines found in the neighboring countries, and then of metallic instruments and utensils also found there.
First. On the farm of Mr. Edward Payne, near Lexington [KY], were found two ancient coins ; one was of gold, and sold for hundreds of dollars : the other was of brass. Each had a head reversed, and both were inscribed with characters not understood, but said to resemble Hebrew. The date of the gold coin was probably 1214, and the date of the brass piece 1009. A few miles below Mr. Payne, a gold piece “Was found, on the plantation of Mr. Chambers, who says it was sold at Lexington for 13 dollars. It was inscribed in unknown characters; and, as Mr. Chambers thinks, was unlike any coin he had ever seen. He says, that a small piece of copper was found on his farm at the same time. The date 1214 could not relate to the “hegira.” [Muhammad’s departure from Mecca to Medina in AD 622]. If it related to the Christian era, it must have come from some of the modern kingdoms of Europe, which had adopted the use of the Arabic numerals. It is not known that the Persians ever used them. The most that can be made of the fact, is, a probability that these coins came to the country before the discovery of America by Columbus; for between 1214 and 1492, the time of his discovery, were 178 years, and before the Spaniards could have circulated it, many more years intervened prior to their intercourse with the nations on the continent. So that it must have circulated nearly 300 years, before it could have come hither from them, and by that time would have been worn out.
At Circleville [Ohio] a copper coin was taken from the central mound, from beneath the roots of a hickory growing on the mound, seven or eight inches in circumference. It has no resemblance in its devices to any British or other coins to which it hath been compared. A hickory six to eight inches in circumference, might have grown up long since the French settlements were on the Ohio and its waters.
On the plantation of Colonel William Sheppard, in the county of Orange, on the river Enoe; 6 miles above Hillsborough in North Carolina, and near the remains of a town which had been deserted in very remote times, was picked up, about the year 1803 or 1804, a round piece of copper about the size of an American eagle. On both sides was a short line of letters, with parallel lines increasing in length till past the center, whence they decreased in length to the bottom, accommodating themselves to the rounded shape of the copper. It was neatly executed. The letters were of some unknown alphabet. This copper was dropped again on the same plantation, where probably it now is. It was about the thickness of the coins called coppers. Similar pieces were sometimes given by the Spanish friars to their proselyted Indians.
Gold and silver ornaments have been found in many of the tumuli in Ohio. Silver very well plated, has been found in several of the mounds : copper in many: pipe bowls of copper, hammered, and not welded together, but lapped over, have been found in them. A bracelet of copper was found in a stone mound at Chillicothe. It resembles the links of a common chain, the ends passed by each other, but were not welded together. Ornaments of silver and copper have not been found north of Newark [OH The location of the Newark Earthworks of 100 BC to 100 AD]. Below that place, vast numbers have been found. North of that place are no wells perforated in the rocks. Arrow heads of copper, some of them five or six inches in length, circular medals of copper, several inches in diameter, very thin, and much injured by time, have been found in the tumuli of Ohio. Iron has been found in some instances oxidized.
Sword, Skeletons and Mirrors
Out of a mound near the circle of the large fort at Circleville [OH], was found the elk- horn handle of a small sword or long knife. Around the end where the blade had been inserted, was a ferule of silver; no iron was found, but an oxide remained. Also, charcoal and wood ashes in which those articles lay, which were surrounded by several bricks very well burnt.A skeleton appeared to have been burnt in a large and very hot fire, which had almost consumed the bones of the deceased. The skeleton was deposited a little to the south of the centre of the tumulus. And 20 feet to the north of it, was another. There was also a large mirror, three feet in length, one and a half in breadth, and one inch and a half thick. It was of “isinglass.” [mica or a similar material in thin transparent sheets]. Also a plate of iron, which had become an oxyde ; but before it was disturbed by the spade, resembled a plate of iron. This skeleton had been burned like the former and lay in charcoal and a considerable quantity of wood ashes.
Gold and Silver
An ornament of very pure gold was discovered, a few years since, in Ross County Ohio, near Chillicothe, lying in the palm of a skeleton’s hand, in a small mound. [Arch. Am. 176].
Not long since, a silver cup was taken from a mound at Marietta, on the Ohio. It is in the possession of Mr. Hill, of St. Clair county, Illinois. It is in the form of an inverted cone, measuring three and a half inches across at top, two and a half at bottom, and four inches in height. It is of pure silver, and so skillfully wrought, that no traces of the plating hammer are discernible. The bottom, which is circular, has been separately forged, accurately fitted to the sides, or barrel, and soldered on.
The line of attachment is plainly discernible. Its interior surface has been gilt, or washed, with a bright, yellow, untarnishable metal, which is undoubtedly gold ; but that gilding is impaired in some places. It was found in a mound at Marietta, half a mile east of those remarkable fortifications on the Muskingum. The mound is situated in woody plane, with a gentle declivity towards the river, and a small stream washes its base. During the autumnal rains, or the melting of the snow in the spring, it runs with the velocity of a current. Thus it has gradually washed away the earth, and laid open the mound for a considerable space, and in this situation the cup was discovered. It was then in a bruised or shapeless mass, and foul from adhering clay ; but being taken to a silversmith, was put into the shape it now presents, which was probably the shape it originally had. Its value by weight is about fifteen dollars. It bears no device or ornamental work of any kind, being a perfectly plain and heavy piece of workmanship. If it be not of European fabrication, the inference is inevitable, that some nation preceding the savages was formerly here, of far greater advancement in the arts of civilization than they ever possessed. But for fear of mistake, let us bear in mind that the French settled in Canada as early as the year 1608, and soon afterwards carried on trade extensively with all the Indians who lived on the waters of the Ohio.
Copper, Marble and Amulets
Copper instruments and ornaments have also been found. In 1813 was found in a mound a piece of copper incrusted with “erugo” [mildew, plant rust], half an inch thick It consists of thin plates of copper rolled up, encircling each other. It was about three inches in length, and one fourth of an inch in thickness. The plates were remarkably pure and fine. In the same mound a beautiful piece of marble was taken up in the year 1814. It was undoubtedly made and used for an ornament, being perforated with loopholes for fastening, which must have been bored by some hard instrument. The marble piece is about five or six inches in length, flat on one side, oval on the other, having an increasing width in the middle, the ends are apparently cut, and with some hard implement used for the purpose. The marble is of a dark dun colour, but the veins of the stones are very distinct. The magicians of India are provided with many articles against witchcraft, which they distribute amongst those who consult them. There are certain enchanted beads, very thin plates of copper, on which extraordinary figures are engraved, with inexplicable words and unknown characters. Amulets also, of various kinds, all which are worn by the Hindoos to serve as talismans, and to preserve them from every species of incantation. No other circum-stance at present recollected, can account in the least degree for the plates of copper above mentioned.
Verdigrease (patina), Helmet, Scull bone which lay under the plate of copper
In one of the tumuli on Grave Creek [WV], below Wheeling, near to the Ohio, were found, about 20 years since, sixty copper beads, made of a coarse “wire, hammered out, and not drawn and cut off at unequal lengths. They were soldered together in an awkward manner, the centre of some of them uniting with the edges of others. They were incrusted with “verdigrease” [A green patina or crust of copper sulfate or copper chloride formed on copper, brass, and bronze exposed to air or seawater for long periods of time], but the inside of them was pure copper.
Grave Creek Mound, West Virginia by Ken Corbett
Some copper pieces have been found in a mound near the Little Muskingum, four miles from Marietta, which appear to have been the front of a helmet, was originally eight inches long and four broad, and has marks of having been attached to leather. It is much decayed and is now a thin plate, and appears to have been attached to the centre of it by a rivet, the hole for which appears both in the plate and ornament. At this place the remains of a skeleton were found. No part retained its form but a portion of the forehead or scull, which lay under the plate of copper. These bones are deeply tinged with green, and appear to have been preserved by the salts in the copper.
Shield Boss, Belts, Buckler, Scabbard, Sword, Iron and 500 year old trees.
In an ancient mound of the streets of Marietta, in the margin of the plane near the fortifications, amongst other things, in 1819 were discovered three large circular bosses [A shield boss, or umbo, is a round, convex or conical piece of material at the centre of a shield], or ornaments, for sword belts, or a buckler composed of copper, oval, and with a thick plate of silver. The front is slightly convex with a depression like a cap in the centre. The measure, two inches and a quarter across the face of each. On the back side, opposite the depressed portion, is a copper rivet or nail, around which are two separate plates, by which they were fastened to the leather. Two small pieces of the leather were found lying between the holes of one of the bosses. They resemble the skin of an old mummy. The plates of copper are nearly reduced to rust. Around the rivet of one of them is a quantity of flax or hemp in a tolerable state of preservation. Near the side of the human body was a plate of silver, the upper part of a sword scabbard, six inches long, two wide, weighing one ounce. Three longitudinal ridges were on it, which perhaps corresponded with the edges or ridges of the sword. It had been fastened to the scabbard by three or four rivets, the holes of which yet remain in the silver.
HERE IS A VIKING SWORD found with the Viking ship outside of Memphis Tennessee. This ship was dated to 793 to 1066 AD.
Two or three pieces of a copper tube were also found, filled with rust. These compose the lower end of the scabbard, near the point of the sword. There is no sign of the sword itself, except this appearance of rust. Near the feet was a piece of copper weighing three ounces. It seemed by the shape to have been used for a plumb or for ornament. Near one of the ends is a circular crease or groove for lying a thread. It is round, two inches and a half in length, one in diameter at the centre, and half an inch at each end. It is composed of small pieces of native copper pounded together; and in the cracks between the pieces, are several pieces of silver, one nearly of the size of a fourpenny piece or half a “disme” [ an American silver coin with a face value of five cents.] This copper ornament was covered with a coat of green rust, and is considerably corroded. A piece of red ochre or paint, and a piece of iron ore, which has the appearance of having been partly vitrified or melted, were also found. The trees upon the mound, as evidenced by the annulars, were between 400 and 500 years of age, and on the ground beside them were other trees, in a state of decay that appeared to have fallen from dotage.
Bear Teeth, Mica, Copper Beads, Human Bones
From the ancient works where Circleville [OH] now stands, and from the mound there, were taken a few scattered human bones, a branch of a deer’s horn and a piece of earthenware containing muscle shells. At the distance of 500 feet from this pyramid, in the direction of north eight east, there is another. Nine feet high, of a circular figure, nearly flat on the top. In it were found some human skeletons, and a hand full of copper beads, which had been strung on a cravat of lint. There is another mound at the intersection of Third and Main streets; whatever it contained was deposited a small distance below a stratum of loam which is common to the town. The first artificial layer was gravel, considerably raised in the middle; the next, composed of large pebbles, was convex and of a uniform thickness ; the last consisted of loam and soil. The strata were entire, and must have been formed after the deposits in the tumulus were completed. Amongst other articles were these : A bone ornamented with several carved lines ; the sculpture representation of the head or beak of a rapacious bird, perhaps an eagle ; a quantity of isinglass ; a small oval piece of sheet copper with two perforations ; a large oval piece of some metal with longitudinal grooves or ridges ; a number of beads of bone or shell; the teeth of a carnivorous animal, probably those of a bear; seven large marine shells, belonging perhaps to the genus buccinum, cut in such a manner as to serve for domestic utensils, and nearly converted into a state of chalk; several copper articles, each consisting of two sets of circular concave and convex plates. The. interior one of each sort connected with the other by a hollow axis, around which had been wound some lint. Other articles have been found there, consisting of pure copper, human bones of different sizes, sometimes enclosed in rude stone coffins, but oftener lying blended with the earth, surrounded by a portion of ashes and charcoal.
Mica Artifacts
Iron and steel utensils and ornaments have also been found. There was dug up from the central mound at Circleville, a fragment of some culinary vessel. It was evidently of cast iron, and showed the marks of the mould. It was covered on the lower side with the black, smut contracted over the fire. It was found among ashes, and large pieces of charcoal.
Iron and Ivory Bracelets
In the large cemetery of Augusta were found four iron bracelets on the left arm of a female skeleton. They are formed with a loop at one extremity, and extend in an oval shape to a knob at the other end, “which hitches into the loop. The elongated central part of the oval is the thickest, from which it gradually tapers to the clasp. These bracelets are much corroded, and the loops destroyed; but even their present state of preservation can only be accounted for by the fortunate circumstance, that the alluvial soil of the burying ground was free from mineral acids. There are in this state some ancient ivory bracelets from Indostan, which exactly resemble in shape those iron ones. It is a well-known fact, that the dress and ornaments of the Hindoos have continued unchanged from the earliest periods of history.
Copper Bracelet
Iron Knives and Swords
The aborigines had some very well manufactured swords and knives of iron, and possibly of steel. A few years ago, near Blacksburg in Virginia, 80 miles from Marietta, was found about the half of a steel bow, which when entire would have measured five or six feet.
Stone Wall and Furnaces
On the main branch of Paint creek in Ohio, near some very ancient works, and on the inside of a wall on the side of an elevated hill 300 feet high, which wall is of stone, around the brow of the hill there appears to have been a row of furnaces or smiths’ shops, where the cinders now lie many feet in depth. The remains are four or five feet in depth even now in many places.” Source
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site consists of a restored town from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as ruins of an ancient blast furnace.
Conclusion:
I have shared with you many signs of ancient life in the Heartland of the United States. There is so much more if you want more. I absolutely know the Book of Mormon is true by the spiritual witness I have received often. Knowing this gives me tremendous personal knowledge and when I find secondary evidences of truth, it sure feels good. None of us know the exact facts of specific artifacts or dating methods, but I do know it is very likely many of these artifacts help me to understand the importance of the records of the Nephites and Lamanites. The events of the Book of Mormon beginning in the Heartland of America is a special part of my overall testimony of the truthfulness of this sacred book. I leave you with several quotes of our Prophets who seem to indicate my feelings:
“The Lord gave a divine promise to the ancient inhabitants of this favored country (the United States): ‘Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12).
“Our Heavenly Father inspired the leaders of…the United States of America, that they might together, under His direction, having been raised up by God for the purpose, establish the Constitution of this country and…Bill of Rights, that by the year of our Lord 1805 [there would be] a climate where our Heavenly Father could send into this period of mortality a choice spirit who would be known as Joseph Smith, Jr.” Teachings of Thomas S. Monson by Thomas S. Monson 2011 (Ordained an Apostle, 1963; ordained President of the Church, 2008)
“I marvel at the miracle of America, the land which the God of Heaven long ago declared to be a land choice above all other lands and concerning which He has made a promise and given a warning in these remarkable words: ‘Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ’(Ether 2:12.) “God bless America, for she is His creation.” (Hinckley, Gordon B., National Advisory Council of BYU College of Business [November 2, 1973]).
“The Book of Mormon reveals that Joseph, the son of Jacob who was once sold into Egypt, foresaw the Prophet Joseph Smith and his day (see 2 Ne. 3:6–21) and noted that there would be many similarities in their lives. Centuries later, the Prophet Joseph stated, “I feel like Joseph in Egypt.” (The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1984, p. 409; spelling modernized.) The Book of Mormon reveals that the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, was not forgotten when, as promised in the Abrahamic covenant, land was distributed to the tribes of Israel. Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. (See Ether 13:2, 8.) It was choice not because of beauty or wealth of natural resources, but choice because it was chosen. It was to be the repository of sacred writing on plates of gold from which the Book of Mormon would one day come, choice because it would eventually host world headquarters of the restored church of Jesus Christ in the latter days.” A TREASURED TESTAMENT By Elder Russell M. Nelson Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles JULY 1993
The Lord has said, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. It makes sense that our life will begin and end at the same location, and this life also includes the events of the Book of Mormon happening in that same area. This is not a coincidence. The Lord has planned out our existence and life, before, during and after. Missouri is an important place in the Lord’s plans. This is so obvious that those who believe in other geography theories seem to be in a great and spacious building. You just need common sense and the scriptures to determine that, as Elder L. Tom Perry said, “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon—a place where divine guidance directed inspired men to create the conditions necessary for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Elder L. Tom Perry Ensign Dec. 2012
When you type in a google search for, Where is the Garden of Eden? This is the first result:
Mesopotamia
The Garden of Eden is considered to be mythological by many scholars. [Wow this is how some of the same scholars feel about the Book of Mormon]. Among those who consider it to have been real, there have been various suggestions for its location: at the head of the Persian Gulf, in southern Mesopotamia (now Iraq) where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run into the sea; and in Armenia.
Most Bible commentaries state that the site of the Garden of Eden was in the Middle East, situated somewhere near where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are today. This is based on the description given in Genesis 2:8–14:The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. . . . Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon . . . . The name of the second river is Gihon. . . . The name of the third river is Hiddekel [Tigris]. ;. . . The fourth river is the Euphrates.
Give these four rivers some thought:The Maps below seems logical.
THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD QUOTE BY MANY THEORISTS-
“I have another revelation in relation to economy in the Church–a great, grand, and glorious revelation. I shall not be able to dwell as largely upon it now as at some other time; but I will give you the first principles. You know there has been great discussion in relation to Zion–where it is, and where the gathering of the dispensation is, and which I am now going to tell you. The prophets have spoken and written upon it; but I will make a proclamation that will cover a broader ground. The whole of America is Zion itself from north to south, and is described by the Prophets, who declare that it is the Zion where the mountain of the Lord should be, and that it should be in the center of the land. When Elders shall take up and examine the old prophecies in the Bible, they will see it.” President Joseph Smith’s Remarks–The Whole of America Zion–April Conference, 1844 Section Six 1843-44, p.362
Editors note: (Not, from north America to south America, but instead “from north to south.” And, “in the center of the land” means; in the center of North America, not in the center of North and South America.
Similar North and South Ideas concepts the Quote above:
Civil War: North and South Northern States and Southern States Slave States and Free States Union Army North, Confederate Army South
Book Of Mormon: Land North and Land South North of the Ohio River, Nephites; South of the Ohio River; Lamanites South Wilderness, Land Northward “the land south was called Lehi, and the land north was called Mulek” Hel. 6:10 North Country, Cumorah United States: Directions: Up North and Down South, not Up South and Down North Northern US and Southern US Bible: Northern Tribes, Southern Tribes Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom Joseph and Judah
”We must remember that the whole earth was paradisaical before the Fall. The Garden of Eden was a center place. After the Fall, there was no Garden of Eden or paradisaical status on earth. Yet relative to the locale of the site of the Garden of Eden, the Prophet Joseph Smith learned through revelation (D&C 57) that Jackson County was the location of a Zion to be and the New Jerusalem to come. The Prophet first visited Jackson County, Missouri, in the summer of 1831. The Prophet visited Jackson County again in April and May 1832. On one of the occasions, or perhaps both, the Prophet Joseph apparently instructed his close associates, and perhaps even a general Church gathering, that the ancient Garden of Eden was also located in Jackson County.” Bruce A. Van Orden, associate professor of Church history, Brigham Young University.
“When Lehi landed in the Promised land, it seems he found bounties of all kind, just as Adam and Eve had found in the garden of Eden. We hear of the Land Bountiful in Oman, and in Florida. It makes sense that Lehi was upon the same land as Adam began his life. Blog Here
Limited Geography vs. Hemispheric Geography
Adam was more northern and Lehi was more southern in the area known as the United States.
Sometimes when speaking about the Americas (North and South America), after Joseph Smith, many of the Brethren and members had the idea that the Hemispheric Model (HM) of the BofM said that the Nephites were north of Panama in North America, and the Lamanites were south of Panama, in South America, with the Narrow Neck of Land (Ether 10:20) being Panama.
Neither Mesoamerican Theorists nor Heartlander Theorists believe in the (HM) today, as the distances in the text of the BofM are too far and distant. But, the Limited Geography Theory (LGT) allows travel in the BofM in mileage of about 3-400 miles wide by 6- 700 miles long which both sides agree upon.
Heartlanders believe the proposed (LGT) area is from about Montrose Iowa to Kirtland, Ohio (600 miles) and from about Paducah, Kentucky to South Bend Indiana, (400 miles),
Janne Mattson Sjödahl
Janne Mattson Sjödahl (29 November 1853 – 23 June 1939) was a Swedish convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and was the author of influential commentaries on LDS Church scriptures. Sjödahl was among the first commentators to advance a “limited geography model” for the theorized geography of the Book of Mormon.
In 1874, Sjödahl moved to England and enrolled in Spurgeon’s College in London, where he graduated with a degree in divinity in 1876. While in England, Sjödahl mastered English and also specialized in Greek and Hebrew. In addition to knowing Swedish and Norwegian from his childhood, Sjödahl would also master the German, Icelandic, and Arabic languages…
On 8 June 1886, Sjödahl was excommunicated from the Baptist Church, possibly on charges of adultery.[1] Around the same time, Sjödahl became associated with Ferdinand Friis Hintze, a Danish missionary from the LDS Church. Following his excommunication, Sjödahl travelled to Utah Territory to further investigate Mormonism. On the sea journey, his son Janne Jr. died.
After arriving in Utah Territory, Sjödahl settled in Sanpete County, where a large number of Scandinavian Latter-day Saints had settled. On 7 October 1886, Sjödahl was baptized into the LDS Church in Manti.
Life in Manti
Upon settling in Manti, Sjödahl became the editor of the Manti Sentinel newspaper.
When the LDS Church’s Manti Utah Temple was completed in May 1888, Sjödahl became the first individual to receive his Endowment in the new temple.[2] On 30 May 1888, Sjödahl and Christina Christofferson were married in the Manti Temple by Apostle Francis M. Lyman; they were the first couple married in the new temple.[2] His second wife died in 1910.
Church Translator and Missionary
In 1888, Sjödahl completed a church-approved translation of the LDS Church’s Doctrine and Covenants into Swedish. In 1927, Sjödahl translated the Pearl of Great Price into Swedish, and in 1935 he completed the third revised translation of the Book of Mormon into Swedish.
Upon the completion of the translation, Sjödahl was asked by church president Wilford Woodruff to go on a mission to Palestine. In January 1889. Sjödahl arrived in Jaffa. He learned to speak Arabic and preached in Palestine for one year, organizing a branch of the church in Jaffa.[3] In January 1890, Sjödahl was asked to go to Bern, Switzerland to complete his mission. He arrived back in Utah Territory in July 1890.
Newspaper Editor and Publications
Upon returning to Utah, Sjödahl became employed by the Deseret News newspaper in Salt Lake City. From 1906 to 1914, Sjödahl was the chief editor of the newspaper. In 1914, Sjödahl returned to England and became an editor of the LDS Church’s Millennial Star in Liverpool.
In 1917, Sjödahl and LDS Church Apsotle Hyrum M. Smith, who was the president of the church’s European Mission, together worked on A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants. While Sjödahl wrote most of the text, it was reviewed and approved by Smith. When Doctrine and Covenants Commentary was first published in 1919 in Liverpool, it was a church-approved publication and only Smith was listed as an author. However, subsequent publication of Doctrine and Covenants Commentary have acknowledged Sjödahl as its coauthor. Doctrine and Covenants Commentary is still cited frequently by Latter-day Saint authors and commentators.
Upon returning to Utah in 1919, Sjödahl became an editor for the church’s Improvement Era magazine, in which he published more than 50 of his own articles. In 1920, Sjödahl worked with George F. Richards and James E. Talmage in revising the footnotes in the Book of Mormon; Sjödahl’s work was incorporated into the LDS Church’s 1920 English edition of that publication. In 1923 and 1924, he assisted Talmage in revising his church-approved book Articles of Faith.
An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon
In 1927, Sjödahl published An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon, an apologetic work and one of the founding works in the area of Book of Mormon studies. In this work, Sjödahl advanced an early version of the “limited geography model” of the Book of Mormon, one of the first authors to do so.
Sjödahl was also the editor of the LDS Church’s German, Danish–Norwegian, Dutch, and Swedish newspapers in Salt Lake City from 1919 until they ceased publication in 1935.
When Sjödahl died in 1939, he had partially completed an extensive commentary on the Book of Mormon. In 1955, Sjödahl’s material was taken by his son-in-law, Philip C. Reynolds, and combined with some materials by church general authority George Reynolds and published under their names the seven-volume Commentary on the Book of Mormon. In 1965, Philip Reynolds published under the same names Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price.
Publications
George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjödahl (1955) (Philip C. Reynolds, ed.). Commentary on the Book of Mormon (7 vols.) (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press)—— and —— (1965) (Philip C. Reynolds, ed.). Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press)Janne M. Sjödahl (1927). An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press) —— (1913). The Reign of Antichrist, or, The Great Falling Away: A Study in Ecclesiastical History (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press) Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjödahl (1955, 2d ed.). The Doctrine and Covenants Containing Revelations Given to Joseph Smith Jr., the Prophet, with an Introduction and Historical and Exegetical Notes (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press) [originally published in 1919 as A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants] source: Wikipedia
See my Blog Hereabout the stories in the D&C Commentary by Sjodahl and Hyrum Smith that support events of the Book of Mormon in North America
In 1927, Janne M. Sjödahl in his book he said; “The Onondagas: These have special interest… It appears from this, that this warrior, Zelph, was an Onondaga, as well as a “white” Lamanite, and that the Onondagas (of New York), consequently must be of Lamanite lineage. It also appears that at least some of the mounds in the Ohio Valley were erected by the descendants of Lehi”J.M. Sjodahl, An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon.
THE LATTER DAY SAINTS MILLENNIAL STAR THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 1917, Editorial by J.M. Sjodahl, CONFIRMING THE BOOK OF MORMON.
“According to the belief of the Latter-day Saints, the American continents were inhabited before the Flood. Somewhere in America, they believe, Enoch built his marvelous city, which was taken from the earth before the deluge. Somewhere in that region, Noah built the ark, and preached the gospel of repentance, and from America he was carried across the mighty deep until the vessel in which he and his family had found safety rested on Mount Ararat.
The Book of Mormon tells us that some of those who were engaged in the construction of the Tower of Babel and who were scattered over the face of the earth were brought to America. There they grew to become a mighty nation. In course of time, however, they became exceedingly wicked and destroyed each other. These people are known as the Jaredites. See my blog here about where the Jaredites landed in North America:
MILLENNIAL STAR continues, “The sacred record mentioned also tells us that about six hundred years before our era, the Lord brought another colony of settlers to America. They came from Jerusalem. They also increased, prospered, and became wicked. Like the Jaredites, they destroyed each other, and but few remained after their sanguinary wars. From these the Red Indians have descended.
The Book of Mormon teaches, then, that there has been communication between Asia and America during the past ages, and that the American ancient civilization, of which many marvelous monuments still remain, are of Semitic origin, influenced, however, by Egyptian culture. This is implied by Nephi, when he says that he makes his record in the language of his father, “which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians,” and, when the circumstances of the time in which Lehi lived before he emigrated from Jerusalem are considered, it is easily understood that the Egyptian influence must have been considerable upon the Hebrew mind and intellectual life generally. He lived at a time when Babylonia and Egypt were striving for supremacy in Palestine, and when the shortsighted leaders of the people favored the Egyptians in preference to the Chaldean’s, to such an extreme degree that many of them fled to Egypt, when the army of Nebuchadnezzar approached their beloved city. They even forced Jeremiah to accompany them to Egypt. Under the circumstances it is natural that Egyptian influence should have had a strong hold on the leading men among the Jews, as indicated in the Book of Mormon.
Lately, scientists have been inclined to doubt our belief in this respect. They have tried to account for the similarity observed in the civilizations of the Old World and the New, by supposing that similar needs and circumstances in different parts of the world may well lead isolated groups of men to work out systems of civilization of the same type. How much this theory owes to a desire to disprove the Book of Mormon, no one knows. Even scientists may have their prejudices. It is all the more noteworthy that a recent contributor to Science (New York, August 11th. 1910), G. Elliot Smith, contends that the pre-columbian civilization of the Americas came from Egypt. He places the date of its exodus from that country at 900 B.C. A “cultural migration,” he thinks, took place at that time, which left its influence also in India, China, and Polynesia. On this theory the trek eastward from the Red Sea of Lehi and his company, would appear quite natural, though miraculously guided by divine power.” As quoted in the Literary Digest, September 9th, 1910, G. Elliot Smith writes”
“The proof of the reality of this great migration of culture, is provided, not merely by the identical geographical distribution of a very extensive series of curiously distinctive, and often utterly bizarre, customs and beliefs, the precise dates and circumstances of the origin of which are known in their parent countries, but by the fact that these strange ingredients are compounded in a definite and highly complex manner, to form an artificial cultural structure, which no theory of independent evolution can possibly explain, because chance played so large a part in building it up in its original home.
“For instance, it is quite conceivable (though, I believe, utterly opposed to the evidence at our disposal) that different people might, independently the one or the other, have invented the practices of mummification, building megalithic monuments, circumcision, tattooing, and terraced irrigation; evolved the stories of the petrification of human beings, the strange adventures of the dead in the underworld, and the divine origin of kings ; and adopted sun-worship.
But why should the people of America and Egypt who built megalithic monuments, build them in accordance with very definite plans compounded of Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian, and East Asiatic models? And why should the same people who did so, also have their wives’ chins tattooed, their sons circumcised, their dead mummified ? Or why should it be the same people who worshiped the sun and adopted the curiously artificial winged-sun-and-serpent symbolism, who practiced terraced irrigation in precisely the same way, who made idols, and held similar beliefs regarding them, who had identical stories of the wanderings of the dead in the underworld?
“If any theory of evolution of customs and beliefs is adequate to explain the independent origin of each item in the extensive repertoire, either of the New Empire Egyptian or the pre-Columbian American civilization (which I deny), it is utterly inconceivable that the fortuitous combination of hundreds of utterly incongruous and fantastic elements could possibly have happened twice. It is idle to deny the completeness of the demonstration which the existence of such a civilization in America supplies of the fact that it was derived from the late New Empire Egyptian civilization, modified by Ethiopian, Mediterranean, West Asiatic, Indian, Indonesian, East Asiatic, and Polynesian influences. * * *
“All that I claim, then, is that the influence of Egypt was handed on from place to place ; that the links which all ethnologists recognize as genuine bonds of union can with equal certainty be joined up into a cultural chain uniting Egypt to America.
“In almost every one of the focal points along this great migration route the folklore of today has preserved legends of the culture heroes who introduced some one or other of the elements of this peculiarly distinctive civilization. * * *
“At every spot where they touched and tarried, whether on the coasts of Asia, the islands of the Pacific, or on the continent of America, the new culture took root and flourished in its own distinctive manner, as it was subjected to the influence of the aborigines or to that of later comers of other ideas and traditions ; and each place became a fresh focus from which the new knowledge continued to radiate for long ages after the primary inoculation.
“The first great cultural wave (or the series of waves of which it was composed) continued to flow for several centuries. It must have begun some time after 900 B.C., because the initial equipment of the great wanderers included practices which were not invented in Egypt until that time. The last of the series of ripples in the great wave set out from India just after the practice of cremation made its appearance there, for at the end of the series the custom of incinerating the dead made its appearance in Indonesia, Polynesia, Mexico, and elsewhere.” J. M. S.
Abstract: The First Presidency in 1923 of Heber J Grant, Charles W. Penrose and Anthony W. Ivins and again in 1950 The Publication Committee of Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee and Marion G. Romney, assigned by Pres George Albert Smith, approved some historical information from Church History that has much to do with Book of Mormon Geography. The last edition of the commentary was also published in 1978 by Deseret Book and approved by Pres Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney. This is my opinion of course.
Summary of what the First Presidency Approved in Commentary of the Doctrine and Covenants.
1- There were possibly two separate sets of plates that Joseph translated. 2- There existed in Hill Cumorah a Cave in a separate place other than the stone box where Joseph found the plates. This cave was in the same Hill Cumorah and contained the Sword of Laban, Liahona, and wagon loads of plates from previous generations. 3- A messenger named *Nephi and possibly one of the 3 Nephites took the plates from Joseph Smith in Harmony when he was finished with them. This same messenger refused a ride in Whitmer’s wagon as Nephi was going to Cumorah, while Whitmer, Cowdery and Smith were going to Fayette. *“I have heard my grandmother (Mary Musselman Whitmer) say on several occasions that she was shown the plates of the Book of Mormon by a holy angel, whom she always called Brother Nephi.” John C. Whitmer’s 1878 account, as recorded by Andrew Jenson [Page 37] (see his Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia 1:283, Salt Lake City, Utah: 1901): 4- This same messenger showed the second set of plates to Mary Whitmer, David’s mother in Fayette before Joseph began translating this possible second set of plates which would become 1 Nephi to Mosiah in our current Book of Mormon. They replaced the lost 116 pages. 5- You will see below that three different First Presidencies approved of the fact there was a Cave at Cumorah.
One quote below (In Green) is from Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, about the Cave at Cumorah existing in upstate NY and wasn’t just a dream or vision somewhere in Mexico as some suggest. It was the place that all of the Nephite records and the Liahona, Sword of Laban and other artifacts were stored.
Here is what Orson Pratt taught about the two depositories in the Hill Cumorah. “These new plates were given to Moroni to finish the history. And all the ancient plates, Mormon deposited in Cumorah, about three hundred and eighty-four years after Christ. When Moroni, about thirty-six years after, made the deposit of the book entrusted to him, he was, without doubt, inspired to select a department of the hill separate from the great depository of the numerous volumes hid up by his father. The particular place in the hill where Moroni secreted the book, was revealed, by the angel, to the prophet Joseph Smith, to whom the volume was delivered in September, A.D. 1827. But the grand repository of all the numerous records of the ancient nations of the western continent, was located in another department of the hill, and it’s contents under the charge of holy angels, until the day should come for them to be transferred to the sacred temple of Zion.” 1866 Orson Pratt Millennial Star (28 (27): 417)
Two Sets of Plates by Jonathan Neville
A second bit of history (In Green Below)from David Whitmer about a messenger appearing to him and Oliver and Joseph on the way to Fayette who was carrying the plates Joseph just finished translating in Harmony. They were in a knapsack on his back. The messenger appeared to them riding in the wagon and was taking this first set of plates to the Cumorah Cave, where the messenger would deposit them. The messenger then retrieves the “Small Plates of Nephi” from the Cave at Cumorah, and later gives this second set of plates to Joseph to translate in Fayette. This set of plates replaced the lost 116 pages which was part of the first set of plates.
Editor’s Note: It has also become a problem as some scholars insist the Gold Plates were simply a prop and Joseph Smith never translated from them. There is also a rumor many scholars insist that most of the Book of Mormon was transcribed by Joseph Smith looking into a hat with a seer stone and repeating the words on the stone he saw, to Oliver Cowdery. I hope you as a concerned member to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be aware of these possible misconceptions and stick with what the scriptures say and with what the Prophets teach. Although I believe Joseph had such stones, it isn’t clear if any of the Book of Mormon was translated using a stone, but was translated by the gift and Power of God, using the Urim and Thummim, or Interpreters as called in the Book of Mormon, which consisted of a large breastplate and two clear stones in the rims of a bow like a pair of spectacles.
“Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record by the gift and power of God” Joseph Smith- HC4:537
Oliver Cowdery said, “I wrote, with my own pen, the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph, as he translated it by the gift and power of God, by the means of the Urim and Thummim, or as it is called by the book, Holy Interpreters. I beheld with my eyes, and handled with my hands, the gold plates from which it was transcribed. I also saw with my eyes and handled with my hands the Holy Interpreters.”
Doctrine and Covenants Commentary Revision 1950
Between 1913 and 1916 Hyrum Smith of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles along with Elder Janne M. Sjodahl articulated a commentary of the Doctrine of Covenants which was approved by these two Presidencies as accurate and approved history as contained in the D&C Commentary of 1923 and 1950.
[The Doctrine and the Covenants Commentary] “A doctrinal and exegetical commentary on the book of scripture, known as the “Doctrine and Covenants” (the “D&C”), sacred to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” The Doctrine and the Covenants Commentary by Hyrum M. Smith (Picture left)
Exegetical Definition:
The message finds its sole source in Scripture. The message is extracted from Scripture through careful exegesis. The message preparation correctly interprets Scripture in its normal sense and its context. The message clearly explains the original God-intended meaning of Scripture. The message applies the Scriptural meaning for today.
The Doctrine and Covenants Containing Revelations Given To Joseph Smith, Jr., The Prophet, with an Introduction and Historical and Exegetical Notes By Hyrum M Smith, of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. And Janne M. Sjodahl.
“Commentaries on the Doctrine and Covenants follow the pattern of many biblical commentaries, supplying the historical context, that is, the time, circumstances, and situation of the revelations. In the most recent (1981) edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, headnotes for each section have been added or enlarged, with a brief synopsis of the historical setting. Additional notes and explanations are provided by the various separately published commentaries discussed here. Commentaries written by members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are given special consideration. Others are recommended as helps to the membership of the Church to provide historical insight to their study of the scriptures.
An early (1916) and still useful one-volume commentary was written by Hyrum M. Smith, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Janne M. Sjodahl. Doctrine and Covenants Commentary contains the text of the Doctrine and Covenants and gives historical background and commentary for each section. It is extensively footnoted with exegetical notes. The volume was later supplemented and expanded under the direction of Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, and Marion G. Romney of the Quorum of the Twelve in 1950.” Doctrine and Covenants Commentaries Author: Garrett, H. Dean
Preface To the Revised Edition of the Doctrine and Covenants Commentary
In the preface to the 1950 Revised Edition of the Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, we find the following:
“While laboring in the European Missions, Elder Hyrum M. Smith, of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Janne M. Sjodahl, were impressed very fervently with the desire to prepare a commentary dealing with the revelations given by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith. In their odd moments, when not otherwise engaged, during the years 1913-1916, these brethren carried on a careful research and study and prepared this volume which has met with popular favor.
For a number of years, the commentary has been out of circulation, and because of the increasing demand for it, the First Presidency instructed the Publication Committee to take the matter in hand and revise the volume ready for a re-printing. This the committee has done and after many months of labor has fulfilled the assignment given.
Since the time of the first publication many world-wide events of the greatest importance have occurred many of which have a bearing on the fulfillment of the prophecies found in the Doctrine and Covenants; these have been noted. The Doctrine and Covenants is a sacred volume of Scripture, and in the revision and preparation of the book, the members of the committee have felt their weakness in commenting on these sacred commandments and revelations coming from the Lord.”
THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 1950 (Note; Not the First Presidency) Joseph Fielding Smith
Harold B. Lee
Marion G. Romney
1950 First Presidency
(who assigned Publication Committee)
George Albert Smith
J. Reuben Clark
David O McKay
Within this Commentary are two sections which contain comments pertinent to Book of Mormon geography.
(1.) The first has to do with Section 9. This section is a revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, to Oliver Cowdery, at Harmony, Pennsylvania in April, 1829. Oliver had attempted to translate without success. Verse 1-2 are as follows:
Behold, I say unto you, my son, that because you did not translate according to that which you desired of me, and did commence again to write for my servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., even so I would that ye should continue until you have finished this record, which I have entrusted unto him.
And then, behold, other records have I, that I will give unto you power that you may assist to translate. . . .
In a verse note on the bottom of page 45 we find the following:
Other records] Other Nephite records. Oliver Cowdery, if he had remained faithful, would have had the privilege of assisting in their translation. He, however, was outside the Church, because of transgression, for eleven years, and although he was again received in full fellowship, some of the blessings he had lost could not be recovered.” 1950 Revised Edition of the Doctrine and Covenants Commentary page 45-46
Then in a related “General Notes” on a page which follows we find the following:
“Other records” are referred to in the 2nd paragraph of page 47 below. On that subject President Brigham Young makes the following statement: [The “Cave Story” is then recited as it appears in the 1877 notation– which is a discourse by Brigham Young delivered at a Special Conference held at Farmington, Utah on June 17,1877.]
Note*That such a story would be included in the 1923 edition is significant; that such a story would be upheld by Apostles in the publication committee of the Revised Edition is also significant.
“(2.) The second has to do with Section 84, a revelation on Priesthood. Verse 42 reads: ” . . . and even I [the Lord] have given the heavenly hosts and mine angels charge concerning you.” In a comment on this verse we find the following:
I have given * ** * charge concerning you] Note that the Lord in conferring the Priesthood upon the Elders present when this Revelation was given, assured them that angels had been appointed to guard them. The first Christians believed in guardian angels. . . .
The following anecdote, which was told by David Whitmer to Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith in 1878, may be retold here: [The David Whitmer story of meeting an angel “going to Cumorah” –see the 1878 notation– is then recited.]
Note*This story, like the Cave Story, reinforces the New York Hill Cumorah as a repository of the Nephite records. Since the last edition of the book would be published in 1978 by Deseret Book, these stories (reviewed by Apostles) would add authoritative weight to a New York Hill Cumorah viewpoint.
1978 First Presidency
Spencer W, Kimball
N. Eldon Tanner
Marion G. Romney
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 17 June 1877 below:
“You hear a great deal said about finding money. There is no difficulty at all in finding money, but there are a great many people who do not know what to do with it when they do find it. This is the great defect with the human family. I could relate many very singular circumstances. I lived right in the country where the plates were found from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and I know a great many things pertaining to that country. I believe I will take the liberty to tell you of another circumstance that will be as marvelous as anything can be. This is an incident in the life of Oliver Cowdery, but he did not take the liberty of telling such things in meeting as I take. I tell these things to you, and I have a motive for doing so. I want to carry them to the ears of my brethren and sisters, and to the children also, that they may grow to an understanding of some things that seem to be entirely hidden from the human family. Oliver Cowdery went with the Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates. Joseph did not translate all of the plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
General Notes Page 47
“When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: ‘This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.’ I tell you this as coming not only from Oliver Cowdery, but others who were familiar with it, and who understood it just as well as we understand coming to this meeting, enjoying the day, and by and by we separate and go away, forgetting most of what is said, but remembering some things. So is it with other circumstances in life. I relate this to you, and I want you to understand it. I take this liberty of referring to those things so that they will not be forgotten and lost. Carlos Smith was a young man of as much veracity as any young man we had, and he was a witness to these things. Samuel Smith saw some things, Hyrum saw a good many things, but Joseph was the leader.
Now, you may think I am unwise in publicly telling these things, thinking perhaps I should preserve them in my own breast; but such is not my mind. I would like the people called Latter-day Saints to understand some little things with regard to the workings and dealings of the Lord with his people here upon the earth. I could relate to you a great many more, all of which are familiar to many of our brethren and sisters.” Brigham Young Journal of Discourses 1XIX., p. 38).”1950 Revised Edition of the Doctrine and Covenants Commentary page 47-48 The crossed out lines above are not seen in the Commentary, I included them so you could see what was left out.
“The following anecdote, which was told by David Whitmer to Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith in 1878, may be retold here:
“When I was returning to Fayette, with Joseph and Oliver, all of us riding in the wagon. Oliver and I on an old- fashioned wooden spring seat and Joseph behind us — while traveling along in a clear open space, a very pleasant, nice-looking old man suddenly appeared by the side of the wagon and saluted us with, ‘Good morning, it is very warm,’ at the same time wiping his face or forehead with his hand. We returned the salutation, and, by a sign from Joseph, I invited him to ride if he was going our way; but he said very pleasantly, ‘No, I am going to Cumorah.’ This name was something new to me; I did not know what Cumorah meant. We all gazed at him and at each other, and as I looked around inquiringly of Joseph, the old man instantly disappeared, so that I did not see him again.” Whitmer described his appearance and added, it was the messenger who had the plates [of the Book of Mormon], who had taken them from Joseph just prior to our starting from Harmony”(Andrew Jensen, Historical Record, p. 209)”.1950 Revised Edition of the Doctrine and Covenants Commentary page 508
Quotes from D&C Commentary 1950
D&C Sec 3:19 Page 22 Commentary
The First Presidency in 1923 of Heber J Grant, Charles W. Penrose and Anthony W. Ivins and again in 1950 The Publication Committee of Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee and Marion G. Romney, assigned by Pres George Albert Smith, approved some historical information from Church History that has much to do with Book of Mormon Geography. The last edition of the commentary was also published in 1978 by Deseret Book and approved by Pres Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney.
Notice what D&C 3:19 says: “And for this very purpose are these plates preserved, which contain these records—that the promises of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to his people;”
Notice what the Commentary from these inspired Prophets says:
19. For this very purpose) The Book of Mormon plates were preserved and translated in order that all these should be brought to a knowledge of the Savior. It may be concluded, then, that among the American Indians and the Polynesians who are mostly the descendants of the Lamanites, is also a sprinkling of the descendants of the Nephites who may have escaped the general destruction. D&C Sec 3 page 22 Doctrine and Covenants Commentary by Sjodahl and Smith
D&C Sec 5 Page 30
31. Except Thou do this] Unless the Prophet followed the instructions here given, the plates and the sacred instrument would be taken from him.
This is a remarkable Revelation. It furnishes an irrefutable proof that the Prophet Joseph actually had the plates. He promised that Martin Harris, on certain conditions, which he could easily comply with, should obtain a view of them. Such a promise, if the records had not been in existence, would have been impossible to redeem. It would have been mere buffoonery. The fraud would have been detected at once. The promise was repeated a few months later (Sec 17) to two more witnesses. Joseph had the plates and the Urim and Thummim, and this Revelation proves the truth of that assertion.
D&C 6 Page 32
According to his own statement at Council Bluffs on October 21st, 1848, Oliver Cowdery wrote the entire Book (save a few pages) as the words fell from the lips of the Prophet, “as he translated it by the gift and power of God, by the means of the Urim and Thummim, or, as it is called by that Book, ’holy interpreters.’” So that the testimony of Oliver Cowdery was as firm in 1848, two years before his death as it was in 1829, when he first accepted the gospel, although he had been outside the Church for eleven years. When Joseph and Oliver had been engaged on the Book of Mormon a few days, this Revelation was received.
1923 First Presidency
Heber J Grant
Charles W. Penrose
Anthony W. Ivins
Source:MUCH OF THIS BLOG WAS USED FROM: A Chronology of LDS Thought on Book of Mormon Geography of the New World Statements by Church Authorities 1921 —–> 1980 Copyright 2003 by Alan C. Miner. All rights reserved
Janne M. Sjodahl Deseret News Press, 1923, 1932. Reprinted in 1950, 1951, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1971, 1978.
In the preface to the Original Edition, we find the following:
Before laying aside the pen, I may be permitted to express my grateful acknowledgment of the services rendered by Elder Orson F. Whitney and Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, of the Council of the Twelve, who, together with Elder Hyrum M. Smith, carefully read the manuscript of this Commentary before it was given to the printer; also to Elder George F. Richards, of the Council of the Twelve and President of the European mission, and to Elders John E. Cottam, George F. Richards, Jr., and Junius F. Wells, fellow-laborers int he British mission, for most valuable assistance.
Liverpool, May 1, 1919. J. M. Sjodahl.
Art by Val Chadwick Bagley showing these two historical narratives in pictures. Purchase his entire book here:
The contents of the stone box in Cumorah consisted of only the following:
1. The Gold Plates which a portion were sealed
2. The large Breastplate
3. The two stones in silver bows fastened to the breastplate
4. Two stones crossways. [Read Below]
“Having removed the earth, I obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up. I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the bottom of the box were laid two stones crossways of the box, and on these stones lay the plates and the other things with them.” JSH 1:52
The Liahona and the Sword of Laban were in the cave of Cumorah in a separate place from the stone box.[Read Below]
“These new plates were given to Moroni to finish the history. And all the ancient plates, Mormon deposited in Cumorah, about three hundred and eighty-four years after Christ. When Moroni, about thirty-six years after, made the deposit of the book entrusted to him, he was, without doubt, inspired to select a department of the hill separate from the great depository of the numerous volumes hid up by his father. The particular place in the hill where Moroni secreted the book, was revealed, by the angel, to the prophet Joseph Smith, to whom the volume was delivered in September, A.D. 1827. But the grand repository of all the numerous records of the ancient nations of the western continent, was located in another department of the hill, and it’s contents under the charge of holy angels, until the day should come for them to be transferred to the sacred temple of Zion.” 1866 Orson Pratt Millennial Star (28 (27): 417)
Only 3 people see the Plates, the Breastplate, and the Spectacles
1. Joseph Smith
2. Oliver Cowdery
3. Lucy Mack Smith
Lucy sees the spectacles and the breastplate under a thin linen. Art by Anne Marie Oborn.
Lucy Mack Smith sees “The Key”
“I trembled so much with fear lest all might be lost again by some small failure in keeping the commandments, that I was under the necessity of leaving the room to conceal my feelings. Joseph saw this and followed me. “Mother,” said he. “Do not be uneasy. All is right. See here,” said he, “I have got the key.”
I knew not what he meant, but took the article in my hands and, examining it with no covering but a silk handkerchief, found that it consisted of two smooth three-cornered diamonds set in glass, and the glasses were set in silver bows connected with each other in much the same way that old-fashioned spectacles are made. He took them again and left me, but did not tell me anything of the record….
That of which I spoke, which Joseph termed a key, was indeed nothing more nor less than a Urim and Thummim by which the angel manifested those things to him that were shown him in vision; by which also he could at any time ascertain the approach of danger, either to himself or the record, and for this cause he kept these things constantly about his person.” (History of Joseph Smith, Revised and Enhanced, p. 139, 145)
Lucy Mack Smith sees the Breastplate
“After bringing home the plates, Joseph now commenced work with his father on the farm in order to be as near as possible the treasure that was committed to his care.
Buried in the Stone box, the Interpreters, Spectacles & Breastplate, Not Brown Seer Stone and a Hat.
Soon after this, he came in from work one afternoon, and after remaining a short time, he put on his greatcoat and left the house. I was engaged at the time in an upper room in preparing some oilcloths for painting. When he returned, he requested me to come downstairs. I told him that I could not leave my work just then, yet upon his urgent request, I finally concluded to go down and see what he wanted, upon which he handed me the breastplate spoken of in his history.
It was wrapped in a thin muslin handkerchief, so thin that I could see the glistening metal and ascertain its proportions without any difficulty.
It was concave on one side and convex on the other and extended from the neck downwards as far as the center of the stomach of a man of extraordinary size. It had four straps of the same material for the purpose of fastening it to the breast, two of which ran back to go over the shoulders, and the other two were designed to fasten to the hips. They were just the width of two of my fingers (for I measured them), and they had holes in the end of them to be convenient in fastening.
The whole plate was worth at least five hundred dollars. After I had examined it, Joseph placed it in the chest with the Urim and Thummim.” (History of Joseph Smith, Revised and Enhanced)
Lucy sees the Gold Plates and other Items
I have myself seen and handled the golden plates; they are about eight inches long, and six wide; some of them are sealed together and are not to be opened, and some of them are loose. They are all connected by a ring which passes through a hole at the end of each plate, and are covered with letters beautifully engraved. I have seen and felt also the Urim and Thummim. They resemble two large bright diamonds set in a bow like a pair of spectacles. My son puts these over his eyes when he reads unknown languages, and they enable him to interpret them in English. I have likewise carried in my hands the sacred breastplate. It is composed of pure gold and is made to fit the breast very exactly.” (Lucy Mack Smith in Henry Caswall, The City of the Mormons; or, Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842, 2nd ed. revised and enlarged, (London: J. G. F. & J. Rivington, 1843), 26)
We are Entitled to a Seer Stone
Here are two quotes I think you will enjoy:
“Joseph Smith, Jr. said, every man who lived on the earth was entitled to a seer stone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness.” – Prophet Brigham Young, “History of Brigham Young,” Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, v. 26, February 20, 1864
“The power of seership is one of the greatest gifts ever given to man; and the time is not far distant when every man who bears the Priesthood will be a seer. But it can only be when men have proved themselves able to withstand all of the false deceptions of the devil. Today the powers of crystal ball gazers, astrologers, ouija boards, etc., are abounding because men have forsaken or rejected the true seers of God. Thousands of people seek unto ‘wizards who peep and mutter’ etc., but they will not seek unto the living God. I can say to all the inhabitants of the earth that before what is called spiritualism was ever known in America, I told the people that if they would not believe the revelations that God had given, He would suffer the devil to give revelations that they–priests and people would follow after. . . I told the people that as true as God lived, if they would not have the truth they would have error sent to them, and they would believe it.” (Brigham Young, Des. News, June 18, 1871, p. 308) (See Revelation 2:17 and D&C 130:11)
“These Stones Fastened to a Breastplate JSH 1:35 by Anne Marie Oborn
There is not one scripture that says Joseph used a stone in a hat to translate. There are many scriptures that say he used the two stones fastened to a breastplate. [See Here: JSH 1:35,52,62,75*; Mosiah 28:13, 20; Ether 3:22-23; 4:5; Alma 37:21, 24-25]
May we seek for the true priesthood and further the truth as we understand, about the Prophet Joseph Smith. I Love Joseph and the Savior and I know they are leading us in the way of God. Search your own testimony and please share with me how you feel about these things. May the Lord bless you.
My Summary of the actual Translation process is submitted below. The details are in the 30 page PDF at the end.
1- The Plates, Breastplate and Interpreters not allowed to be seen by others, unless the Lord authorizes. DC 5:3 (Those known to see and feel all 3 articles are Joseph, Oliver, and Lucy Mack, but Lucy only saw them through the linen they were wrapped in.
2- Most reports say Joseph sat on one end of a table and the scribe on the other facing one another.
3- It is never mentioned in scripture that anything other than “The Interpreters” were used for translation.(The term Urim and Thummim is never used in the text of the Book of Mormon)
4- Joseph could not translate unless he was in tune with the Lord and had all the proper equipment about him.
5- There was not a curtain between Jospeh and the scribes according to Emma and Anne Cowdery. (Possibly a curtain between Martin Harris and Joseph for the 116 pages as Martin was aware if he ever saw the 3 items he would be destroyed)
6- Joseph likely hid the breastplate under his shirt as Lucy was quoted twice saying “He (Joseph) had these things (Spectacles and breastplate) constantly upon his person.”
7- Lucy also said of the breastplate, “It is composed of pure gold and is made to fit the breast very exactly.” Lucy Mack Smith (in Henry Caswall, The City of the Mormons 8- There was a single rod connecting the spectacles to the breastplate. “These stones, he continued, “were attached to the breastplate by a rod which was fastened at the outer shoulder edge of the breastplate and to the edge of the silver bow.” William Smith
9- The Translation was accomplished only “By the Gift and Power of God” which none of us can fully understand.
10- The three witnesses saw the plates as Moroni turned the pages in front of them. (Spiritual Witnesss)
11- The eight witnesses saw Joseph hand the plates to each of them and each of the 8 handled and hefted the plates. (Physical Witness)
Detailed PDF Below of the Proper Method of Translation
Where are the Lost 10 Tribes? Are they really lost?
What DNA do the following have: European Gentiles, Lost 10 Tribes, Mormon, Lehi, Nephi, Mulek, Lamanites, Nephites, Pilgrims and Puritans?
The Mayflower landed and could the people have been some of the Lost 10 Tribes?
Why are the two Tribes of Israel, Judah and Joseph, so blessed? Judah was the fourth son (Leah 1st wife) and Joseph was the eleventh son, (Rachel 4th wife)?
Which 10 Tribes of Israel received a land inheritance in Canaan?
Why did those two tribes not receive an inheritance in Canaan?
What Land and where was Joseph of Egypt’s land inheritance?
Could there be Nephite blood in Europe and other nations besides North America?
Will America’s Constitution be saved in the last days?
Why is the Gathering of Israel so important today?
The Land of Joseph (America) Gathering Place of Ephraim, Manasseh & Judah
“It was not by chance that the Puritans left their native land and sailed away to the shores of New England, and others later followed. They were the advance guard of the army of the Lord, predestined to establish the God-given system of government under which we live and to make America,which is the land of Joseph, the gathering place of Ephraim, an asylum for the oppressed of all nations, and prepare the way for the restoration of the gospel of Christ and the establishment of his church upon the earth”– Heber J. Grant, Conference Report, April 1930.
“I am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi”. 3 Mormon 5:20.
So Mormon was a literal descendant of Lehi, who was a literal descendant of Manasseh. Nephi married one of the daughters of Ishmael who was from Ephraim. Zedikiah and Mulek were literal descendants of Judah. The Nephites, Lamanites and Mulekites were a mixed race near Zarahemla, and at the final destruction at Cumorah. All reunited in the Land of Joseph in 1620 AD at Plymouth Rock. What an amazing time. This in essence was the beginning of the Gathering of the Lost 10 tribes of Israel. Read more at the heading below titled,Tribes of Israel Migrate from Jerusalem to North America.
Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite
“It is the house of Israel we are after, and we care not whether they come from the east, the west, the north, or the south; from China, Russia, England, California, North or South America, or some other locality. … The Book of Mormon came to Ephraim, for Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite, and the Book of Mormon was revealed to him.” (Brigham Young Journal of Discourses 2:268–69.)
“In this Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, the gospel came first to the Gentiles and then is to go to the Jews. However, the Gentiles who receive the gospel are, in the greater part, Gentiles who have the blood of Israel in their veins. There is a very significant statement in the words of Moroni as recorded on the title page of the Book of Mormon that it was ” … ‘To come forth … by way of the Gentile. …’ Joseph Fielding Smith
So many immigrants from Europe are as Elder Smith said above, “Gentiles who have the blood of Israel in their veins.”
“Mormon prophet Joseph Smith Jr., was definitely descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish chieftain of the fifth century, Ugo Perego, a senior DNA researcher at Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation has discovered… Perego identified a part of Joseph Smith’s DNA that had a very rare marker called M222. With this “higher resolution” he found that the same marker was found in Northwest Ireland — with a little bit in Lowland Scotland.” Source
“Speaking about Lehi’s people, “Joseph wrote, “They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph.” It is possible that Joseph Smith was referring to Zoram after all, clarifying he was not a Jew. He may have been referring to those who accompanied the Mulekites (presumably Phoenicians). But it is also possible that he was referring to others who accompanied Lehi… To summarize: I think Lehi brought servants and landed in a mostly uninhabited area in Florida, among a small population of hunter/gatherers who lacked a well-organized society.” Jonathan Neville Moroni’s America page 84-86
Lehi= Manasseh; Ishmael= Ephraim; Mulek= Judah;
“Whoever has read the Book of Mormon carefully will have learned that the remnants of the house of Joseph dwelt upon the American continent; and that Lehi learned by searching the records of his fathers that were written upon the plates of brass, that he was of the lineage of Manasseh. The Prophet Joseph informed us that the record of Lehi, was contained on the 116 pages that were first translated and subsequently stolen, and of which an abridgement is given us in the first Book of Nephi, which is the record of Nephi individually, he himself being of the lineage of Manasseh; but that Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi’s family, and Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters, thus fulfilling the words of Jacob upon Ephraim and Manasseh in the 48th chapter of Genesis, which says: “And let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the land.” Thus these descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim grew together upon this American continent, with a sprinkling from the house of Judah, from Mulek descended, who left Jerusalem eleven years after Lehi, and founded the colony afterwards known as Zarahemla and found by Mosiah—thus making a combination, an intermixture of Ephraim and Manasseh with the remnants of Judah; and for aught we know, the remnants of some other tribes that might have accompanied Mulek…Nephi, which is the record of Nephi individually, he himself being of the lineage of Manasseh; but that Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi’s family, and Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters, thus fulfilling the words of Jacob upon Ephraim and Manasseh in the 48th chapter of Genesis.” (Erastus Snow, JD 23:184) Also see page 9 of the Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Purchase Here
America is the Land of the Book of Mormon
“What if the setting for the Book of Mormon was anciently located in the lands that we know as New York? . . . Might this location serve as a starting point to begin a search for the geography of the Book of Mormon? The more I studied and researched upon the matter, the more I became convinced that indeed the Book of Mormon itself contained sufficient clues that could resolve the issue of the geography of the Book of Mormon. The Lord showed Nephi that “many multitudes of Gentiles” would come “upon the land of promise.” (1 Nephi 13:14-16). What other people could this refer to, other than those Gentiles, pilgrims, who had come to occupy eastern United States and Canada in colonial times?” 1998 Duane R. Aston Return to Cumorah: Piecing Together the Puzzle Where the Nephites Lived, Sacramento: American River Publications [pp. 2-3]
“Nephi saw in vision also the coming of the Pilgrims, who came to escape religious persecution. He foresaw the coming to America of peoples from many nations, their wars and contentions. As Nephi said, they did humble themselves before the Lord. Thus the American colonies attained their independence and set up the government of the United States, all under the divine intervention of God in preparing this land for its divine destiny. We believe that both freedom and the continuing reformation that flourished here occurred in preparation for the restoration from heaven of the full gospel of Jesus Christ. That restoration began in the United States of America in the 1820s, through the [assistance] of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was chosen by the Lord and who, through [visits] from heavenly messengers, received … records that contained the authentic record of early American peoples and God’s dealings with them. He received the priesthood and authority to reestablish the church of Jesus Christ in these latter days. At the time of this restoration, God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ actually appeared to Joseph Smith, as they had appeared to leaders of previous dispensations. They announced to him that Christ’s church would be reestablished upon the earth. … This restoration was the greatest event in the history of mankind since the birth, death, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” A Choice Land President N. Eldon Tanner, First Counselor in the First Presidency
America will not be Destroyed!
“When this nation was established, the Church was restored and from here the message of the restored gospel has gone forth-all according to divine plan. This then becomes the Lord’s base of operations in these latter days. And this base-the land of America—will not be shifted out of its place. This nation will, in a measure at least, fulfill its mission even though it may face serious and troublesome days. The degree to which it achieves its full mission depends upon the righteousness of its people. God, through His power, has established a free people in this land as a means of helping to carry forward His purposes. It was His latter-day purpose to bring forth His gospel in America, not in any other place. It was in America where the Book of Mormon plates were deposited. That was no accident. It was His design. It was in this same America where they were brought to light by angelic ministry. It was here where He organized His modern Church, where He, Himself, made a modern personal appearance. It was here under a free government and a strong nation that protection was provided for His restored Church.
Now God will not permit America, His base of operations, to be destroyed. He has promised protection to this land if we will but serve the God of the land. He has also promised protection to the righteous even, if necessary, to send fire from heaven to destroy their enemies. No, God’s base of operations will not be destroyed.” Ezra Taft Benson, This Nation Shall Endure Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson; “I Testify”, General Conference, October 1988
Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, “The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.” It will be so. (JD 7:15; quoted by Brigham Young)
John Witherspoon 1776
“It is proper here to observe, that at the time of the reformation, when religion began to revive, nothing contributed more to facilitate its reception and increase its progress than the violence of its persecutors... There is not a greater evidence either of the reality or the power of religion, than a firm belief of God’s universal presence, and a constant attention to the influence and operation of his providence. It is by this means that the Christian may be said, in the emphatical scripture language, “to walk with God, and to endure as seeing him who is invisible.” John Witherspoon 1776 “Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men (Sermon)”
John Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. He was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration. Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution. In 1789 he was convening moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.
This quote above lets us know that evil persecutors facilitate reformation. Today’s Deep State world wide governments are not sustaining our moral character. We are rallying as Christians all over the world. We reject tyranny. In the midst of all this government turmoil, illegal immigration, riots, child trafficking, mandating unconstitutional laws, reducing free speech, tampering with our voting system, our mission as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not changed. We must serve the Lord our God with all our heart. Christ’s mission hasn’t changed which says, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Moses 1:39
Glenn’s PLEA for America, 10 years in the making Renewing the Covenant Part 1
We make a covenant with the Lord to obey His commandments and in return we receive Freedom, Protection, a Posterity, and a blessed country called the United States of America. The Book of Mormon Covenant Land is the United States of AmericaRead Rod Meldrum’s The Scriptural Basis for Book of Mormon Geography
John Howland’s Life
“President [Russell M.] Ballard said he sees the hand of the Lord in John Howland’s life. He recalled viewing earlier this year John Howland’s headstone in Plymouth.
John Howland’s headstone memorializes him as a “godly man” and “ancient professor in the ways of Christ.”
But President Ballard saw something much greater in the life of John Howland. It is something we can all see in our own lives as well.
“Brothers and sisters, please look for the Lord’s hand in your lives and in the lives of your family, as I do in the lives of my ancestors and family,” said President Ballard. “Expect it. Do not dismiss it.” Source Here
Elder Ballard Continues:
“A Pilgrim named John Howland, who landed at Plymouth Rock as a young unmarried man. His story is fascinating and it affects every member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord is definitely involved in our lives, each and every one of us individually. What a blessing.
During that historic voyage, the crew and passengers of the Mayflower encountered many turbulent storms, which kept the passengers below deck. In the middle of one storm, John emerged and was swept overboard.
William Bradford, also a passenger on the Mayflower, reported:
“In these storms the winds were so fierce and the seas so high the Pilgrims were forced to remain below deck. And one of them John Howland came above and, with a roll of the ship, he was thrown into the sea;but it pleased God that he caught hold of a rope that was trailing in the water and held on though he was several fathoms under water till he was hauled up by the same rope to the brim of the water, and then with a boat-hook and other means got him into the ship again and his life was saved; and though he was something ill with it, yet he lived many years after, and became a profitable member both in church and commonwealth… “Later, a leader of one of the villages arrived in the struggling settlement to help the Pilgrims. They formed an alliance, and during the second fall after their arrival in the New World, 52 colonists and some 90 natives celebrated Plymouth’s first successful harvest — the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth.
“At the time, John Howland was not as famous as fellow passengers William Bradford, John Carver and Myles Standish. However, standing where we now stand, with nearly 400 years between us and these courageous Pilgrims, he may have had a greater impact on the history of the United States than any of them.”
President Ballard explained that four years after arriving in the New World, John married fellow Mayflower passenger Elizabeth Tilley. From that union came 10 children and nearly 90 grandchildren.
Today, an estimated 5 million Americans trace their roots to John and Elizabeth, according to President Ballard.
Their descendants include three U.S. presidents… American poets Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; and two influential 19th-century American religious leaders — the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum Smith, explained President Ballard.” President Ballard pleads with Latter-day Saints to ‘pray for this country’ as United States is at ‘another crossroad’ By Sarah Jane Weaver 21 Oct 2019,
A Personal Thanksgiving Story
I realized a few years ago, that John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley are my 10th great grand parents through their oldest daughter Desire. That is unbelievable. I am so humbled to know who my ancestors are. This gives me a greater desire in this life to share the gospel with others. I was led to this information from a good friend named Vicki Darais who has a mother with the name Nelson. She gave me the information and I had my Sister Lori Nelson Merritt look up our genealogy. It is amazing what she found. What is interesting is that I am the 10th great grand son of John Howland through my Tueller and Dustin line, not through my Nelson line.
On Aug. 16, 2021 I was in the home of my dear friend Allen C. Christensen of American Fork, Utah. He was the author of “Joseph’s Remnant, Lamanites of the Latter Days”Purchase here. I was visiting with my good friend Paul Whippy from Fiji an Area Authority Seventy who I baptized 46 years ago. Paul had worked with Allen in Fiji on finding the first Temple site for the saints of Fiji, and I was reacquainting them. Allen had spent that week studying Paul Whippy’s Family History and Allen discovered that Paul Whippy’s father David Whippy was from Massachusetts and was a descendant of John Howland from his oldest daughter Desire, just as I was. Amazing. Even more incredible was that Allen Christensen found out he was also a direct descendant of John Howland’s second daughter Hope, who Emma Smith was also a direct relative of. We also know that the Prophet Joseph Smith was a direct descendant of John Howland’s oldest son named John Howland. What a beautiful reunion Paul and Allen and I had, knowing we are all direct descendants. What a beautiful world this is.
Elizabeth Tilley came on the Mayflower at age 7 with her parents John Tilley and Joan Hurst. John and Joan Tilley died shortly after arriving in America. Elizabeth was the only one of their 5 children to come with them on the Mayflower. At age 16 Elizabeth Tilley married John Howland who had been saved at sea. Their first daughter Desire Howland (1625-1683) married Captain John Gorham Sr. (1619-1676) who was later killed during King Philip’s War, which was also the First Indian War. They are my 9th great grand parents. This is a personal Thanksgiving day blessing.
Tribes of Israel Migrate from Jerusalem to North America (Joseph & Judah)
Think about this. Near Jerusalem around 722 B.C., the Assyrians invaded and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel.(Lost 10 Tribes scattered most likely north into Europe and beyond?), and in about 567 B.C., the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem (Judah and Benjamin) and destroyed the first temple, which was replaced by a second temple. The Second Temple, later known as Herod’s Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between c. 516 BC and 70 AD. It is very likely the Northern Tribes of Israel that were driven north by the Assyrians in about 722 BC, (1 Chronicles 5:26), are many of the Europeans that existed at the time of the Mayflower. The Southern Tribes of Israel, (Judah and Benjamin mostly) were driven and scattered in about 567 BC by the Babylonians. Remember the Tribe of Manasseh (Lehi) and the Tribe of Ephraim, (Ishmael) were sent to the Promised land of North America (near Tallahassee, Florida) in about 600-589 BC, according to the Book of Mormon. Many of the Tribe of Judah (Mulek of Zedikiah) were sent to the Promised land of North America in about 586 BC. Together these Tribes of Israel were brought together in the Land of Joseph (USA) where they were all joined together near Zarahemla (Montrose, Iowa about 200-300 BC), when Mosiah left the Land of Nephi (Tennessee area) and met the Mulekites in Zarahemla). So in the Heartland of North America the Nephites, Lamanites and Mulekites joined, as the Tribe of Joseph and the Tribe of Judah in the United States.
Hastening His Work to Gather Israel
It is my opinion that the coming together of the Puritans and the Wampanoag Native Americans in 1620 was a pivotal point in the last days. Our living Prophet says, “These surely are the latter days, and the Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today.Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it.” —President Russell M. Nelson, “Hope of Israel,” Worldwide Youth Devotional, 3 June 2018.
Who were the Pilgrims & Puritans, (Some of the Lost 10 Tribes), the Wampanoag’s (Natives first met by Pilgrims) and the Abenaki’s (Samoset)? I believe the Puritans were made up of many of the Lot 10 Tribes of Israel, and the Wampanoag and Abenaki, (Algonquian) were many of the remaining Lamanites who were of mixed race (Lamanites, Nephites, and Mulekites), after the final battle at Cumorah in upstate New York. In essence they reunited of the Tribe of Joseph and the Tribe of Judah in North America as spoken of in Ezekiel 37. (Stick of Joseph and Stick of Judah)
Land of Joseph is North America
“The Book of Mormon tells us that America is a land of promise, a land choice above all other lands. Nephi said that whosoever should possess it must serve the God of the land or they would be swept off. And we have read in the Book of Mormon of the nations that have been swept off because they ceased to worship the God who had led them and their forefathers here to this land. We have a great responsibility as citizens in this land, for the Lord said that he would fight its battles and be its king, if we will just serve him. So it’s appropriate at this time that we express our appreciation for this great land. I like the words Moses used when he gave a blessing to the twelve tribes of Israel. When he blessed Joseph, he promised him a new land in the utmost bowels of the everlasting hills (see Deut. 33:15).
Now that isn’t in Jerusalem because they don’t have everlasting hills over there, and the prophets have never predicted a regathering of all nations to the land of Israel. But they have predicted the gathering of Israel to this land of America, which is the land of Joseph. And we are the only people in the world who know what that land is that Moses promised to Joseph. It was so great in his eyes as he received the revelations of the Holy Spirit that in describing the land, he used the word “precious” five times in just four verses…We have so much to be grateful for. We are not here by chance. We are here because of the sacrifices of our pioneer fathers who came to this choice land that the Lord, according to the Book of Mormon, had hidden away from the eyes of the world that it should not be overrun. [Remember the original place Adam was placed was in Missouri, which is the original New World]. He preserved it for us, for the day and time in which we now live here in these valleys of the mountains.”Thanksgiving,LEGRAND RICHARDS of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Nov. 18, 1980
In Elder McConkie’s book “Mormon Doctrine”, he states: “One of the greatest spiritual gatherings of all the ages took place in the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman [Missouri North America] some 5,000 years ago.… At that great gathering Adam offered sacrifices on an altar built for that purpose. A remnant of that very altar remained on the spot down through the ages. On May 19, 1838, Joseph Smith and a number of his associates stood on the remainder of the pile of stones at a place called Spring Hill, Daviess County, Missouri. There the Prophet taught them that Adam again would visit the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, holding a great council as a prelude to the great and dreadful day of the Lord…”
The World has Gathered From Asher to Zebulon
Sister Wendy Nelson said, “One of my favorite places is Moscow, Russia. Why? Because of what I experienced there within one 24-hour period of time, which commenced on Saturday, June 15, 2013. While my husband taught the priesthood leaders of the area, I had the privilege of being with some of the sisters. I love our Russian sisters. They are spectacular! That Saturday happened to be one of those rare spring planting days in Russia, so less than 100 of us gathered. When I went to the pulpit, I found myself saying something I’d never anticipated: “I’d like to get to know you by lineage. Please stand as the name of the tribe of Israel, as declared in your patriarchal blessing, is spoken.” These women knew each other, but they didn’t know each other’s lineage. As the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were announced, from Asher to Zebulon, and as the women stood, we were all thrilled with what we were feeling, witnessing, and being taught. We were being taught about the reality of the days in which we now live! Question: How many of the twelve tribes of Israel do you think were represented in that small gathering of less than 100 women on that Saturday in Moscow? Eleven! Eleven of the twelve tribes! All but the tribe of Levi! Now here’s another question: How fast does news travel where you live? Pretty fast? Well, it certainly travels quickly in Eastern Europe. I went directly from that unforgettable gathering to the airport to meet my husband. We then flew to Armenia, where he was to create the first stake of Zion in that country the next day. The first people we met as we got off the plane were the mission president and his wife. And the first thing she said to me was, “I’ve got Levi!” Just imagine—one of their missionaries, from Gilbert, Arizona, no less, was of the tribe of Levi!This address was given Thursday, April 30, 2015 at the BYU Women’s Conference
The Land of Joseph is the United States of America, and the Gathering Place again of Ephraim, Manasseh & Judah! We are to gather Israel in these last days.
Beit Lehi or House of Lehi near Jerusalem
“Beit Lehi is a buried city just a few miles southwest of Jerusalem, and is currently under excavation. It received its name from the Bedouin Arabs who reside in the area. There are some very interesting possible correlations with this site and the home of Lehi in the Book of Mormon.” Read more about the place called Biet Lehi is where Samson killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, and likely it was the same location where Lehi and his family lived. This area is sacred to the Jews, Arabs, and Christians.” By Book of Mormon Evidence Origins of the Name “Beit Lehi”
“Almost every town or city is named for something—a person, an event, or a nearby geographical wonder. Beit Lehi is no different. “Beit” in Hebrew means “house or dwelling of,” while “lehi” means “jawbone.” The name “Lehi” seems to have originated in biblical times, apparently referring to the traditional resting place of Samson after he slew one thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. “But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En Hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day” (Judges 15:19). Thus, Beit Lehi means “dwelling place of Lehi.”
We suggest identifying the site of Beit Lehi with “Beit Tzedek”, or the “House of Righteousness” mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius in the 1st century A.D. Josephus recounts how, during the time of the Great Revolt against Rome (66–70 AD), a group of Jewish rebels escaped to a village by this name.” beitlehi.orgLEHI MANY HERITAGES Click to Enlarge
“The caravans of Egypt and Israel pass each other, guided through the sands by those men of the desert (Arabs) who were the immemorial go-between of the two civilizations. Arab: Arab designates a way of life, and was applied by the Jews to their own relatives who remained behind in the wilderness. , Manessah lived furthest out of Jerusalem and had contact with Arabs the mostIsraeli: Of Manasseh through Joseph and the 12 tribes of IsraelEgyptian: Language of Lehi consists of learning of Jews and language of Egyptians: Heritage, culture. Ammon was Manassah’s nearest neighbor and is an Egyptian name.Hebrew: Lehi means Jaw Bone in Hebrew. From Eber, Jewish because they live near and around Jerusalem. Learning of the Jews.” Hugh Nibley.
Christian: Through Christ, and lived the law of MosesArabic Names: Laman, LemuelEgyptian Names: Nephi, SamIsraeli Names: Jacob, JosephBiet Lehi Foundation Mission Statement:“The Beit Lehi Foundation was organized to support the excavation of the Beit Lehi archaeological site, located 22 miles south of Jerusalem, for the benefit of the general public and to advance the understanding and awareness of the general public of ancient religious history associated with this site through scientific research and education. Additional objectives include protection and preservation of the archaeological site, education for visitors and to facilitate the opportunity for families and young people to work at the excavation site under the guidance of a qualified archaeologist and his staff.Cave of Dove Nesting Places to utilize as a Sacrifice.In 1961 Israeli soldiers unearthed a cave that had inscriptions and drawings including the oldest known Hebrew writing of the word “Jerusalem” dated to approximately 600 B.C. by Dr. Frank Cross Moore, Jr. of Harvard University.“I am Jehovah thy Lord. I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem”“Absolve us oh merciful God. Absolve us oh Jehovah”The drawings depicted men who appeared to be fleeing and two ships.While investigating the cave, Dr. Joseph Ginat of The University of Haifa met a Bedouin who told him about the remains of an ancient oak tree about 1/4 of a mile away where, according to Bedouin legends and tradition, a prophet named Lehi blessed and judged the people of both Ishmael and Judah. The Bedouin told Dr. Ginat that Lehi had lived many years before Muhammad and that Arab people had built a wall of large rocks around the remains of the tree to protect it as a sacred spot, long known by arab inhabitants as “Beit Lehi”, meaning “Home of Lehi.”Dr. Ginat shared this information with W. Cleon Skousen whom he had met while studying anthropology at University of Utah and teaching at Brigham Young University from 1970 through 1975.In 1983 Dr. Skousen and Dr. Glenn Kimber worked with Dr. Ginat and Dr. Yoram Tsafrir of Hebrew University to secure permission and funding to excavate the site. The first excavations began in December 1983. By noon of the first day, archaeologists found an ancient village and well-preserved mosaic floor of a Byzantine era chapel. Since that time, “hewn subterranean installations, including columbaria, olive presses, water cisterns, quarries, a stable, and hideaways,” have been discovered along with pottery and other items suggesting that the area had been populated from 600 B.C. until the Mameluke period of 1500 A.D. The discovery has been featured in the book Ancient Churches Revealed, published in 1993 by the Israel Exploration Society.After 1986 the site was covered to protect it until additional funds could be raised and conditions were right to continue future excavations.In 1994 Dr. Kimber and about 40 others, including a number of students, joined Dr. Ginat and Dr. Tsafrir to re-open the site. Since 1994, many groups have visited the site and participated in the excavation.Dr. Tsafrir, has since retired and according to Israeli law, passed responsibility for archaeological exploration to Dr. Oren Gutfeld of Hebrew University who continues to manage the excavation.Name History Click to Enlarge
What’s in a name? Almost every town or city is named for something, a person, an event or a nearby geographical wonder. Beit Lehi is no different. Beit comes from the Arabic word meaning house or dwelling. Lehi means jawbone. Beit Lehi means the “house” or “dwelling” of the jawbone. An odd name without the rest of the story.The story begins around 1160 B.C. As recorded in the Bible Judges chapters 13-15, Manoah and his wife have no children, but a man of Manoah’s means and stature in the community must have an heir. He and his wife traveled often to a holy place near their home to make sacrifice and pray for a child. That prayer is heard and answered when an angel appears to his wife and tells her that she will bare a son by God’s providence; that he should be a goodly child, of great strength; by whom the Israelites will be delivered from the hands of the Philistines. He was to be a Nazirite, one who takes a vow of dedication to God. At the time of Samson’s birth, the Israelites had been in bondage to the Philistines for more than 40 years.Perhaps the strongest man in biblical history, Samson’s impetuous nature causes havoc among the Philistines. He ties torches to the tails of 300 foxes and releases them into the fields of the Philistines destroying all their crops. He kills 30 Philistines when they didn’t play fair in solving a riddle. The Philistines seek to remedy the situation by sending an army of one thousand men to capture Samson who is hiding in the cave of a rock at Etam. The army demands that 3,000 men of Judah capture Samson and deliver him into their hands. With Samson’s consent, the men of Judah bind him with rope and are about to hand him over to the Philistines when he breaks free. Using the jawbone of an donkey that lays at his feet, Samson slays 1,000 Philistines.Exhausted and near death from thirst, Samson prays for water. Miraculously, a spring bursts forth from the ground to revive the champion. “And when he drunk, his spirit came again and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore (meaning fountain of the crier), which is in Lehi unto this day.” (Judges 15:19). In writing “The Antiquities of the Jews”, the great Jewish historian Josephus (1st century A.D.) confirms the biblical account and notes that the spring remained vibrant in his day. Samson remained at Lehi for 20 years as a judge of the people of Israel.More than 3100 years later, Jewish tradition suggests that the spring that gave life to Samson continues to this day near Beit Lehi.” bietlehifoundation.com
Samson’s Well Jesus is Here, in Hebrew Lehi’s Tree at Samson’s Spring Ritual Bath at Biet Lehi
Jesus is Here Cave
In October 2005, at the beginning of the excavations in the site of Beit Lehi, one of the students from the Kimber Academy made a survey in the area and found a Hellenistic water cistern (Jesus is Here Cave) dating to the 3rd century BCE. When we entered this water system we couldn’t believe what we saw: a large ancient Greek inscription starting with a cross mentioning the name of Jesus “Yasoos Hodus” in ancient Greek, which means “Jesus is Here.” Below the inscription we found a graffiti of cross with the abbreviation of the two ancient Greek letters chi and rho for Cristos—Christ—and the above the inscription a graffiti of a boat with a person standing on the front of the boat holding the sail, probably Jesus, preaching in the Sea of Galilee. This was probably used as a hermit cell for one of the monks who lived in the site of Beit Lehi in the 5th century CE.
Biet Lehi, Israel
UVU Biet Lehi Project
LDS Scene
Book of Mormon Linked to Site in Yemen. A group of Latter-day Saint researchers recently found evidence linking a site in Yemen, on the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula, to a name associated with Lehi’s journey as recorded in the Book of Mormon. Warren Aston, Lynn Hilton, and Gregory Witt located a stone altar that professional archaeologists dated to at least 700 B.C. This altar contains an inscription confirming “Nahom” as an actual place that existed in the peninsula before the time of Lehi. The Book of Mormon mentions that “Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom” (1 Ne. 16:34).This is the first archaeological find that supports a Book of Mormon place-name other than Jerusalem or the Red Sea, says Brother Witt. https://www.lds.org/ensign/2001/02/news-of-the-church/lds-scene?lang=eng&query=ancient+altars
See the Biet Lehi Foundation Website Here! http://beitlehifoundation.org/
The purpose of this blog is to share with you significant archaeological evidence for the ancient Hopewell Culture nearby the Hill Cumorah. You can read this information from EG Squires here:
There is evidence of “Bone Pits”, fortifications, pottery, copper, weapons, palisades, forts, mass burials, mounds, tools and other artifacts all around this area. I believe the Hopewell culture matches up with the Nephite culture extraordinarily well. The Hopewell originated about 550 BC at the panhandle of Florida from Crystal River to Tallahassee, Florida. History documents this. The Hopewell then traveled north into Georgia and Tennessee. There is evidence of a huge society of the Hopewell from Missouri to Illinois to Indiana and then to Ohio which was the dominant historical area of this people. History shows the end of the Hopewell civilization around the year 400 AD. Historians say the Hopewell just disappeared and historians have no idea what happened. I feel I have a good idea. The final battle at Hill Cumorah was 385 AD. This is some great evidence of a possible link to the Hopewell and the Nephites.
E.G. Squire 1849
“I believe we may confidently pronounce that all the hypotheses which attribute those works to Europeans are incorrect and fanciful—first, on account of the present number of the works; secondly, on account of their antiquity; having from every appearance, been erected a long time before the discovery of America; and finally, their form and manner are totally variant from European fortifications, either in ancient or modern times.
It is equally clear that they were not the work of the Indians… It is apparent that Turner did not believe the American Indians were responsible, or connected with the ancient civilization that was responsible for the mounds. Would this culture of thinking deny the American Indians their rightful heritage?
Page 514 Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum
What knowledge is left that might enable society to unlock the enigma of the Mound-Builders’ existence? Many of the giant earthworks, temple mounds, and effigy constructions show signs of a central government and of a spiritual and religious turning, [Maybe 34 to 200 AD Book of Mormon times?]built in times of peace and prosperity where ceremonies and religious rituals were shared.” (For example the Newark Earthworks in Newark, Ohio are dated between 100 AD and 100 BC. These earthworks show no defensive fortifications. If fact the Newark earthwork seems to be describing the plan of Salvation during a peaceful time of the Hopewell).
Newark Earthworks at Newark Ohio showing the Plan of Salvation. See Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 250
Squires continues, “In their later constructions are found evidences of a time when the populations were motivated by fear [Maybe 250 to, 350 AD Book of Mormon times?] building hill-top fortifications and defenses. They incorporate ingenious military design and constructions and give signs of a time of ongoing conflicts, where the motivation behind these types of constructions was that of survival… In another section of EG Squires book he says, “Another which I [Squier] visited in the town of Clarence, Erie County, contained not less than four hundred skeletons. A deposit of bones comprising a large number of skeletons was found, not long since, in making some excavations in the town of Black Rock, situated on Niagara River, in Erie county…In Canada similar deposits are frequent. Accounts of their discovery and character appeared in various English publications, among which may be named the “British Colonial Newspaper” of September 1847, and the “Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,” for July 1848. From a communication in the latter by Edward W. Bawtree, M.D., the subjoined interesting facts are derived. “A quantity of human bones was found in one spot in 1846 near Barrie, and also a pit containing human bones near St. Vincent’s. Great numbers were found in the latter, with several copper and brass kettles, and various trinkets and ornaments in common use among the Indians.” E. G. Squier: Antiquities of the State of New York: (1851) Editor notes in blue italics
See a great new video below from Steven Smoot, exploring the agenda being the silencing of America’s Ancient History, and the once great civilizations that inhabited North America.
New York Antiquity
Squire continues, “The purposes of the mounds of New York, so far as can be determined, seem uniformly to have been those of sepulture. They generally occur upon commanding or remarkable positions. Most of them have been excavated, under the impulse of an idle curiosity, or have had their contents scattered by “money-diggers,” a ghostly race, of which, singularly enough, even at this day, representatives may be found in almost every village. I was fortunate enough to discover one upon Tonawanda Island, in Niagara River, which had escaped their midnight attentions. It was originally about fifteen feet in height. At the base appeared to have been a circle of stones, perhaps ten feet in diameter, within which were several small heaps of bones, each comprising three or four skeletons. The bones are of individuals of all ages, and had evidently been deposited after the removal of the flesh. Traces of fire were to be discovered upon the stones. Some chippings of flint and broken arrow-points, as also some fragments of deers’ horns, which appeared to have been worked into form, were found amongst the bones. The skulls had been crushed by the superincumbent earth. The mounds which formerly existed in Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Livingston, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Chenango, and Delaware counties, all appear to have contained human bones, in greater or less quantities, deposited promiscuously, and embracing the skeletons of individuals of all ages and both sexes. They probably all owe their origin to a practice common to many of the North American tribes, of collecting together at fixed intervals the bones of their dead, and finally depositing them with many and solemn ceremonies. They were sometimes heaped together so as to constitute mounds; at others placed in pits or trenches dug in the earth; and it is probable they were in some instances buried in separate graves, but in long ranges, or deposited in caverns, either promiscuously or with regularity. The period when this second burial took place occurred at different intervals amongst the different tribes, but was universally denominated the “Festival of the Dead.” Bartram, speaking of the burial customs of the Floridian Indians, says: “After the bone-house is full, a general solemn funeral takes place. The nearest kindred and friends of the deceased, on a day appointed, repair to the bone-house, take up the respective coffins, and, following one another in the order of seniority, the nearest relations and connections attending their respective corpses, and the multitude succeeding them, singing and lamenting alternately, slowly proceed to the place of general interment, when they place the coffins in order forming a pyramid. Lastly, they cover all over with earth, which raises a conical hill or mount. They then return to town in order of solemn procession, concluding the day with a festival which is called the ‘Feast of the Dead?’ The author here quoted adds in a note, that it was the opinion of some ingenious men with whom he had conversed, “that all those artificial pyramidal hills, usually called ‘Indian Mounts,’ were raised on such occasions, and are generally sepulchres;” from which opinion he takes occasion to dissent. There is no doubt a wide difference between the mounds thus formed and the great bulk of those connected with the vast ancient enclosures of the Western States. The large cemeteries which have been discovered in Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio, seem to have resulted from a similar practice. In these the skeletons were generally packed in rude coffins composed of flat stones, placed in ranges of great extent. The circumstance that many of these coffins were not more than two or three feet in length, gave rise to the notion of the former existence here of a pigmy race. The discovery of iron and some articles of European origin in one of these cemeteries in the vicinity of Augusta, Kentucky, shows that this mode of burial existed at a late period among the Indians in that direction. The “bone-pits” which occur in some parts of Western New York, Canada, Michigan, etc., have unquestionably a corresponding origin. Several of these have been described in a previous chapter. They are of various sizes, but usually contain a large number of skeletons. In a few instances the bones appear to have been arranged with some degree of regularity. One of these pits discovered some years ago, in the town of Cambria, Niagara county, was estimated to contain the bones of several thousand individuals. Another which I visited in the town of Clarence, Erie county, contained not less than four hundred skeletons. A deposit of bones comprising a large number of skeletons was found not long since, in making some excavations in the town of Black Rock, situated on Niagara River, in Erie county. They were arranged in a circle, with their heads radiating from a large copper kettle, which had been placed in the centre, and filled with bones. Various implements both of modern and remote date had been placed beside the skeletons.” ABORIGINAL MONUMENTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COMPRISING THE RESULTS OF ORIGINAL SURVEYS AND EXPLORATIONS; WITH AN ILLUSTRATIVE APPENDIX, BY E. G. SQUIER, A.M.
This story about Gertrud Specht needs to be read by all who love the gospel and the truths of our Standard Works. Some of the Lord’s most elect and intelligent beings on earth know the truth when they hear it. Hear the story of a lady who seemingly had all the knowledge of the world, but found the divine direction of Christ on this earth.
Gertrud Specht
by Jonathan Green • May 6, 2008
“Gertrud Specht had been a searcher her whole life before she found what she was looking for. Born in 1896 in Augsburg, she went on to Gymnasium and then to the university in Munich in 1915-17 at a time when women at the university were rare but not unprecedented, at a time also when a generation of university students was being lost to senseless slaughter throughout Europe. She studied for four more semesters in Tübingen, where she completed a dissertation on the German cotton industry.[1] Today, we would call her an economist.” Source and more hereThe following was sent to me by great friends, Mike and Betty LaFontaine
“This was read to us by Graham Doxey, President of the Manti temple. He added this note, I wonder what her feelings will be when she is served the dessert of the feast; the temple experience?”
C.1.6.2 Scott Anderson’s Journal Entry
Do We Really Know What We Have?
As written by Scott Anderson in his journal.
“We had an unexpected moment in the mission field. We knocked on a door and a lady said something to us we had never heard, “Come in”. Now remember, I was a German missionary. This never happened to us, not even the members would say that to us. At this point suddenly this dear lady invited us in. My companion said, “Do you know who we are?” “You want to talk religion, don’t you?” she said. “Yes we do” explained my companion.
“Oh, come in. I’ve watching you walk around the neighbourhood. I’m so excited to have you here. Please come into my study.” We went in and seated ourselves and she sat down behind the desk.
She looked at us with a smile, then pointed to three PhD’s hanging over her head. one in theology, the study of religion, one in Philosophy, the study of ideas, and one in European History specializing in Christianity. She then kind of rubbed her hands together and said, “Do you see this row of books here?” We looked at a well arranged row of books. She then said, “I wrote them all. I’m the Theology professor at the University of Munich. I’ve been doing this for 41 years. I love to talk about religion. What would you like to discuss?” My inspired companion said, ” we’d like to talk about the Book of Mormon.” She said,
“I don’t know anything about the Book of Mormon.” He said, “I know”. Twenty minutes later we walked out of the room. We had handed her a Book of Mormon and this trade off that we had been on was over. I didn’t see this lady for another 8 1/2 weeks.
It was a small room filled with people, {when I saw her again}, as she was standing in the front dressed in white. This Theology professor at the University of Munich was well known throughout Southern Germany. She stood up in front of this small congregation of people and said, “Before I’m baptized I’d like to tell you of my feelings. In Amos 8:11 it says, there will be a famine in the work of God. I’ve been in that famine for 76 years. Why do you think I have three PhD’s? I’ve been hungering for the truth and have been unable to find it. Then 8 1/2 weeks ago, two boys walked into my home. I want you to know these boys are very nice and wonderful young men, but they didn’t convert me. They couldn’t; they don’t know enough.” And then she smiled and said, “but since the day they walked in my door I have read the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, all of Talmage’s great writings, Evidence and Reconciliations by John A. Widtsoe and 22 other volumes of Church Doctrine.” She then said something which I think is a challenge for everyone of us here. She said, ‘I don’t think you members know what you have.”
Then in her quiet, powerful way, she said, “After those years of studying philosophy, I picked up the D & C and read a few little verses that answered some of the greatest questions of Aristotle and Socrates! When I read those verses, I wept for 4 hours.” Then she said again, “I don’t think you members know what you have. Don’t you understand the world is in a famine? Don’t you know we are starving for what you have? I am like a starving person being led to a feast. And over these 8 1/2 weeks I have been able to feast in a way I have never known possible.”
Her powerful message and her challenging question was then ended with her favorite scripture, “For you don’t see the truth can make you free.”
She said, “these missionaries don’t just carry membership in the church in their hands, they carry within their hands the power to make the atonement of Jesus Christ full force in my life. Today I’m going into the water and I’m going to make a covenant with Christ for the first time with proper authority. I’ve wanted to do this all my life.” None of us will forget the day she was baptized. When she got finished being baptized, she got back out and before she received the Holy Ghost , she stood and said, “Now I would like to talk about the Holy Ghost for awhile.” She then gave a wonderful talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost.
{Later in Elder Anderson’s journal}
Two young missionaries, both relatively new, {one had been out about 5 months, the other 3 weeks}, accidentally knocked of the door of the seminary in Regensburg. 125 wonderful men were studying to become priests inside. They didn’t realize this was the door they had knocked on because it looked like any other door. They were invited in. In somewhat of a panic, the man said, “I am sorry we just don’t have time right now.” The 2 missionaries were relieved, but then he said, “Would you come back next Tuesday and spend 2 hours addressing all 125 of us and answer questions about your church?” They agreed that they would, and ran down the road screaming. They made a phone call to their mission president and cried for help. The mission president called us and said, “Do you think that dear lady that you have just brought into the church would like to come help these 2 missionaries with this assignment?” I called her to explain what was to happen, and she said, “more than I would like to eat, more than I would like to sleep, more than…” I said, “Fine, you don’t have to explain.”
We drove her to the seminary, and as we went in, she grabbed the 2 missionaries that had originally been invited, put her arms around them and said, “you are wonderful young men. Would each of you spend about 2 minutes bearing your testimony and then sit down and be quiet please?”
They were grateful for their assignment. they bore their testimony and then seated themselves. Then she got up and said, “For the next 30 minutes I would like to talk to you about historical apostasy.” She knew every date and fact. She had a PhD in this. She talked abut everything that had been taken away from the great teachings the Saviour had given, mostly organizational, in the first part of her talk. the next 45 minutes were doctrinal.
She gave every point of doctrinal changes, when it happened and what had changed. By the time she was done, she looked at them and said, “In 1820 a boy walked into a grove of trees. He had been in a famine just like I have been. He knelt to pray, because he was hungry just like I have been. He saw God the Father and His Son. I know this is hard for you to believe that they could be two separate beings, but I know they are.” she shared scriptures that showed that they were and then said, “I would like to talk about historical restoration of truth.” she then, point by point, date by date, from the Doctrine and Covenants, put back the organizational structure of Christ’s church. The last 20 minutes of her talk were absolutely brilliant. For the first time we realized that she had been their Theology professor. She continued by saying, “Last year when I was teaching you, I told you that I was still in a famine.
I have been led to a feast. I invite you to come.” she finished with her testimony and sat down. What happened next was hard for me to understand. These 125 sincere, wonderful men stood and for the next 7 minutes, gave her a standing ovation. By the time 4 minutes had gone by I was crying. I remember standing and looking into their eyes and seeing the tears in their eyes too. I wondered why they were applauding after the message she had given. I asked many of them later. They said, “to hear someone so unashamed of the truth, to hear someone teaching with such power, to hear someone who finally has conviction.”
The truth is what can set us free…Do we really know what we have?
C.1.6.3 My Additions and Response
As indicated in the introduction to this account, the sister referred to really existed (she passed away in the mid-1980s) and was as remarkable, in my experience, as this account indicates. I know this because I not only knew Sister Gertrud Specht (or “Frau Doktor Doktor Specht” as she was known in German), but I was her home teacher and later worked with her in the mission office of the Germany Munich Mission. I also kept in touch with her until illness curtailed her activities in the early 1980s.
I first met Sister Specht, who was retired from the University of Munich by this time, but still living in the Bärerstraße in München-Schwabing, the university district, in the autumn of 1973. In our mission, missionaries were called to be home teachers as well, to supplement the local members’ efforts. We had three assignments: a single mother with a young girl, a middle-aged widow who had served a mission in pre-War Czechoslovakia (and served us huge servings of BöhmischKnödeln which we could never finish!); and this kindly old lady who lived in an apartment where absolutely every square metre of space was occupied by bookshelves or piles of books, or binders of correspondence.
From November 1973 until I was called to a new assignment in July 1974, I, along with my various companions, served as her home teacher and met with her at least once a month. Her apartment was within walking distance of our own apartment in the Habsburgerstraße and we’d often end up spending an entire afternoon with her while she regaled us with mini-lectures on ancient history, archaeology and languages. As far as I can recall she was fluent in English, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek and said she was “struggling with” learning Turkish. All this from a woman in her late 70s.
My new assignment, in July 1974, was as secretary to the mission president, Professor Doktor Hans-Wilhelm Kelling (originally from Bremen, now a renowned Goethe expert at Brigham Young University). About the same time, Sister Specht had been called as Mission Public Affairs Director, where she dealt with the media and VIPs. I had plenty of time to work with her there and got to know her better. She loved to talk to the missionaries and occasionally told the story of her conversion, which as I recall is accurately reflected by the Internet account of Elder Anderson’s journal. She met any visiting VIPs, including Elders (now Presidents) Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson who were then apostles who would stop off in Munich on their way to Eastern European countries, which were then behind the Iron Curtain. We had no idea how the Gospel would be spread there, but even back then, a quarter of a century ago, the apostles knew that the Wall would eventually fall, and they were preparing for that day.
Little did I know that 26 years later I would be thrilled as my own son was called to serve.”
“Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians.” Peterson, Mark E., General Conference, April 1962.
No Doubt. Hagoth Sailed From North America to the South Pacific
“Although some scholars insist that the Polynesian ancestors came from the Orient and sailed east to settle Polynesia, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always taught that they sailed west from America. In 1818, Stuart Meha, a Māori Latter-day Saint from New Zealand, sent a telegram to the Church leaders. Reply, “I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is NO PERHAPS about it!” Continuing, Joseph F. Smith told how it had been given to him by the spirit, while laboring in Hawaii, that the Polynesians were descendants of Lehi.
The Lord … directed their course away from this continent [America] to their [the Polynesian ancestors’] island homes, that they might not be left to be preyed upon and destroyed by the more wicked part of the House of Israel whose descendants still roam upon this continent in a fallen and degraded state. … This is the secret of the overruling hand of providence which has been over you all from that time until you received the gospel through the preaching of the elders, and until the present time. And we repeat, the reason that few of the islands of the sea have been more highly favored and blessed in the Lord than those of your brethren of this continent is because of the worthiness of your forefathers who were led away and separated from their brethren of this continent, and because of the blessing of the Lord which has attended you, their children, from that time to the present.” A letter from the First Presidency, 1911
Many Children of Israel Upon the Isles of the Sea
There are many distinct cultures among the Children of Israel in the Islands of the sea. The Polynesians are generally a mixture with Europeans. The Melanesians are generally a mixture with Africans, and the Micronesians most likely are a mix with the Asians. Another important mixture of people are the Australasians and the New Zealanders or Maori’s. The isles of the sea are blessed with Israelites as it continues to speak about in the scriptures.
Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Page 253
With the blood of Israel that will include the Tribe of Judah or Hebrews. Remember also, the Native American Lamanites are related to the Polynesians and to the Hebrews. “And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews.” 2 Nephi 30:4 (See also D&C 29:26-27; and D&C 19:27;)
Hagoth most likely was a mixture of the Nephites, Lamanites and the Hebrew as they once lived together in North America in the Heartland.
“Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee my servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;” 1 Nephi 21:8
“But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren.” 2 Nephi 10:21
“And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.” 2 Nephi 2:21 and Isaiah 11″11
Moroni’s America- Alma 63
“In the 37th year, “there was a large company of men, even to the amount of five thousand and four hundred men, with their wives and their children, departed out of the land of Zarahemla into the land which was northward.” This would make a group of 10-20,000, depending on family size. The text does not explain whether these people sailed north or traveled overland. It doesn’t even specify from where in the land of Zarahemla they left. All we know is that the land was “northward” from Zarahemla.
Whether they sailed or hiked, it seems unlikely that such a large group would veer far from a river. At a minimum, they would need a constant supply of water. The text says nothing about herds or grain; presumably the people would prefer fresh sources of food from fishing.
Two rivers they could follow north are the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries. Because the text does not say they left from the city of Zarahemla (on the west bank of the Mississippi), it seems more likely they would follow the Illinois River out of the land. This would have led them in proximity to the southern part of Lake Michigan and the Michigan peninsula. Anciently, much of northwestern Indiana was covered by the Kankakee marsh, through which the meandering Kankakee River flowed. That area has been called the “Everglades of the North.” It has since been drained and converted to farmland, but anciently it was an area of abundant wildlife and resources such as fresh water pearls. This would be a logical place for people to seek out. Although I don’t address archaeology in this book, archaeologists have suggested “a date of activity could logically be established as ranging from 100 B.C. to A.D. 200” in this area.[i]
The text suggests this northward migration piqued the curiosity of a man named Hagoth.
Alma 63:5-6 “And it came to pass that Hagoth, he being an exceedingly curious man, therefore he went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land northward. And behold, there were many of the Nephites who did enter therein and did sail forth with much provisions, and also many women and children; and they took their course northward. And thus ended the thirty and seventh year.”
Hagoth by Brook Malia Mann
The story of Hagoth shows the Nephites were proficient in shipbuilding, as Mormon implies in Helaman 3:14. Mormon does not mention Hagoth because he built a ship; he mentioned Hagoth because he built an exceedingly large ship. Because the entire civilization was founded by seafarers, it would be more surprising if the Nephites did not use ships than if they did, and Hagoth demonstrates that they knew how to build ships.
One wonders why he built such a large ship and which Nephites became passengers. Given the sequence of events, it is possible that the “large company of men” sailed north on the Illinois River, reaching the source. They would continue overland to the “land which was northward” where they reached the west sea and sent word back to Hagoth. Then Hagoth came north and built an “exceedingly large ship” to accommodate “many of the Nephites” who had gone northward.
Why did all these people go northward? One reason could be natural expansion; i.e., the Nephite population was growing and the Lamanites occupied all the land south of Zarahemla. The east (Bountiful) was already populated. The west may have been less appealing. Another reason could be economic opportunity in the north, perhaps associated with the abundant copper on the Keweenaw Peninsula where hundreds of ancient mines have been found.[ii]
The text says Hagoth built his ship “on the borders of the land Bountiful by the land Desolation.” This implies he constructed it inland, presumably in a protected area that would be deep enough, like on a river or inlet. From the construction site, he “launched it forth into the west sea by the narrow neck which led into the land northward.
This passage is susceptible to more than one meaning. Of course, a “narrow neck” can be either water or land, and the text doesn’t explain which it is in this case (unlike Ether 10:20, which specifies a “narrow neck of land”).
I discussed the various “narrow” features in the geography in Chapter 6. The Oxford English Dictionary includes these definitions of neck:
a. A pass between hills or mountains; the narrow part of a mountain pass.
b. A narrow channel or inlet of water; the narrow part of a sound, etc.
c. A narrow piece of land with water on each side; an isthmus or narrow promontory
d. A narrow stretch of wood, pasture, ice, etc.
No mountains or woods are mentioned in Alma 63, so presumably we are dealing with 1) a narrow channel or inlet of water; 2) the narrow part of a sound; 3) an isthmus; 4) or a narrow promontory.
A common interpretation treats by as a synonym of near; i.e., Hagoth launched his ship into the west sea near the narrow neck, and the narrow neck leads into the land northward. This interpretation assumes the neck was a neck of land, but it’s not clear how a neck of land would lead into a larger land mass. A neck of land would lead to a larger land mass, but not into one. This interpretation also raises the question of why the narrow neck is associated with the launch, but not the construction, of the ship. That is, Hagoth built the ship by the land Desolation but launched it by the narrow neck that led into the land northward.
A second interpretation assumes that because Hagoth built the ship inland, the narrow neck could be the neck of a river that led into—meaning penetrated—the land northward.
A third possibility is that the narrow neck was a waterway—a narrow channel or inlet—by means of which he launched his ship into the sea. In this case, the relative pronoun which would refer back to the west sea; i.e., the west sea leads into the land northward.
Yet another interpretation would have the launching itself constitute what led into the land northward. A comma after neck would clarify this meaning; i.e., “launched it forth into the west sea by the narrow neck, which led into the land northward.”
This interpretation is somewhat corroborated by the sequence of events. Hagoth built the ship by the land Desolation, launched it into the west sea, then picked up his passengers and took their course northward. Clearly, the west sea led into the land northward; it’s only a question of whether, and how, the narrow neck did also.
The text distinguishes between the land northward and the land Desolation. Again, this reflects the relative nature of these terms. Often in the text, the land Desolation is northward. Here, the frame of reference is near the land Desolation where Hagoth built his ship. Consequently, the land northward in these passages is north of Desolation.
Verse 7 points out that the first ship returned “and set out again to the land northward.” That seems inconsistent with the idea that Hagoth’s departure point was close to the land northward, which would be the case if it was next to a narrow neck that led into that land. His passengers were boarding a ship in the west sea because that sea led into the land northward, not because the narrow neck did.
There are several places along Lake Michigan that would qualify as a “narrow neck” under the definitions given. The lake today is at around 577 feet above sea level. There are areas such as Benton Harbor where the land is only a few feet higher than the lake. In ancient times, when the lake was higher, the harbor would have been much bigger than it is today, surrounded by peninsulas—narrow necks.[iii] It would be a good place to build an exceedingly large ship, and then launch it into the west sea.
This all becomes clearer by referencing the map to the left.
Hagoth was not satisfied with only one ship.
7 And in the thirty and eighth year, this man built other ships. And the first ship did also return, and many more people did enter into it; and they also took much provisions, and set out again to the land northward.
8 And it came to pass that they were never heard of more. And we suppose that they were drowned in the depths of the sea. And it came to pass that one other ship also did sail forth; and whither she did go we know not.
The text does not say in what month of the thirty-seventh year Hagoth launched his first ship, or in what month it returned in the thirty-eighth year. The first ship could have been gone an entire year, only a few months, or nearly two years. I assume it returned after about a year, only because Hagoth built other ships before it returned.
At any rate, the first voyage was successful. Either the ship sailed for six months, discovered something worth exploring, and turned around for supplies for an even longer expedition, or it spent some period of time—a winter, perhaps—at its destination before returning. It may have dropped off passengers at various locations, such as the mining areas in northern Michigan, and then continued exploring. There was at least one permanent community in the land northward because Alma’s son Corianton went forth to deliver provisions to the people who had settled there (Alma 63:10).
Polynesia
One aspect of the Hagoth verses is the link that has been made between Hagoth and the Polynesian people. Although the text says the Nephites thought Hagoth’s people were drowned at sea, there are LDS traditions that Hagoth’s people went to Japan, Hawaii, and Polynesian Islands.[iv]
Without commenting on the merits of these traditions, is the North American setting consistent with them?
Although the common view regarding Hagoth is that he launched his boats directly into the Pacific Ocean (i.e., the west sea), his ships could have arrived in the Pacific from Lake Michigan also. The Black and White map above left, shows a northeast waterway that leads to the St. Lawrence Seaway. From there, a ship could navigate to the Pacific by going south around South America or north through the Northwest passage and down through the Bering Strait.
In a 1976 talk to the Samoans, President Kimball referred to the scattering of Israel in connection with the Polynesians. He said, “Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point.”[v] That could be consistent with the Northwest Passage route.
Other traditions refer to the ancestors of the Maoris coming from “the joining of two waters.”[vi] Although Matthew Cowley and others interpreted that phrase to refer to the “narrow neck of land between two bodies of water,” meaning Central America, the two waters do not join there. Two waters join at the southern tip of South America: the Atlantic and the Pacific.
The North American setting doesn’t establish the Hagoth-Polynesia link, but it doesn’t contradict it, either. Moroni’s America by Jonathan Neville page 181-190
[ii] “The Native Americans used the copper from this area for the last 6800 years. The natives mined the copper from the bedrock as well as from glacial deposits. The entire peninsula from Keweenaw Point to the Ontonagon River area contain ancient mining pits. The deposits on Isle Royale were also mined by natives (a conservative estimate is that there were at least 1089 pits on the island).” Collector’s Corner, Mineralogical Society of America, http://bit.ly/Moroni144.
[iii] One “analysis of 115 geographic features English-speaking colonists called a ‘neck of land’” concluded that the Book of Mormon narrow neck of land would be a peninsula rather than an isthmus because 113 of the 115 features studied were peninsulas. “Necks of Land,” Book of Mormon Resources, http://bit.ly/Moroni145. Of course, if the narrow neck here was a water feature, it would not be a peninsula.
[iv] For a thorough overview of LDS teachings, see Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr., (Religious Studies Center, BYU 1992), 249-62, online at http://bit.ly/Moroni146. Genetic data suggests the Polynesians came from Southeast Asia and Taiwan. See K. R. Howe, “Ideas of Maori Origins,” The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni147.
4,000 Latter-day Saints in Fiji welcomed President Nelson on his fifth stop of Pacific Ministry Tour on May 22, 2019. Here is the article about his Fiji visit.
I remember that beautiful land and the wonderful saints of Fiji very well, as I served a mission from 1975 to 1977. I was privileged to meet President Spencer W. Kimball the prophet who called me on my mission to Fiji. There in 1976 he visited Fiji with Elder Russell M Nelson as his personal Doctor along with Elder David B. Haight as a newly called Apostle. The picture on the left is Pres Kimball in Fiji in 1976 with District President Yee on his left and Sister Yee on his right. Over his left shoulder is Mission President Kenneth M. Palmer from New Zealand and over his right shoulder is Elder Rian W. Nelson. What an honor it was to be there that day. At that time in Fiji we only had about 600 members and today (2021) we have over 22,154. As part of the Fiji Suva Mission we also opened the missionary work in the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati today). My companion Richard Evans and I were the first to baptize the Gilbertese people, and today there are over 15,000 members there. It is now called Kiribati where in 2021 there are 20,946 members. In the entire Oceania (Pacific) area there are over 572,895 membersof the Church. The Church growth among Hagoth’s blessed people is growing all the time.
I have lived with Fijians, served them and had hundreds of visits with them at my home They are pure wonderful people. They have the Spirit of Lamanites about them. It is very interesting to me that their dwellings (called a Bure, pronounced bur-ey), very closely resemble the Hopewell civilization in the United States. The Fijians also have the chiefs home built higher on a platform rather than a regular villager as seen below.
Nephite and Lamanite Link to Polynesia by Joseph Smith Foundation
Summary
In 1836, the keys to direct the work of gathering the House of Israel were given to Joseph Smith by Moses in the Kirtland Temple (see D&C 110:11). Seven years later, the first missionaries were sent to the Polynesian islands, and later to Japan.
The story of Hagoth in the Book of Mormon, a Nephite who built several ships and sailed away with a large group of Nephites (Alma 63:4–9), has sparked an interest in the origins of the Polynesian people. Many statements have been made by Presidents of the Church and members of the Twelve Apostles in regard to their belief that the Polynesian people originated from Lehi’s American colony.
Inspired Teachings Polynesia
Mark E. Petersen
The Polynesian Saints are characterized by a tremendous faith. Why do they have this great faith? It is because these people are of the blood of Israel. They are heirs to the promises of the Book of Mormon. God is now awakening them to their great destiny. As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men. 1
George Q. Cannon
The doctrine that the Hawaiian people and all other Polynesians are heirs to the blessings promised to the posterity of Abraham had its origin through George Q. Cannon. While he was at Lahaina, he received a knowledge directly from the Lord that the Hawaiians were of the house of Israel. From this time on Elder Cannon and his associates began to teach that the Hawaiian people were an offshoot branch of Israel through the posterity of Lehi, the Book of Mormon prophet. 2
Patriarchal Blessings
Paul Cheesman notes in Early America and the Polynesians that Bruce G. Pitt, a graduate student, “viewed a portion of microfilm #34 in the BYU library” which contained the patriarchal blessings given to these people in regard to the lineage declared in the blessings. The following information was found: “Of 321 total Polynesian lineages viewed, 155 were declared to be of Manasseh, 2 of Manasseh and Ephraim, 68 of Joseph, 62 of Israel, 4 of Jacob, 28 of Ephraim, 1 of Lehi and 1 of Japeth. . . .
Another [graduate] researcher, Max Hirschi, recorded that out of 35 patriarchal blessings given to Polynesians, thirteen were from the tribe of Ephraim, fourteen were told they were from Manasseh, and the other eight were of the tribe of Joseph”.
During Dr. Paul Cheesman’s visits to the islands, he questioned patriarchs in the various places and found “that nearly three-fourths [of the declared lineages] were from Manasseh and one-fourth were from Ephraim, with some being designated as descendants of the tribe of Joseph”. Since Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh (Alma 10:3) and Ishmael was a descendant of Ephraim (Journal of Discourses 23:184), the common lineage of these two descendants of Joseph who was sold into Egypt and the Polynesian Saints gives support to the theory that the Polynesians came from the American Nephites. 3
Japan
Heber J. Grant
According to Alma Taylor’s reminiscences of the event [Elder Heber J. Grant’s prayer dedicating the land of Japan for missionary work in 1901], Elder Grant “spoke of those who, because of iniquity, had been cut off from among the Nephites . . . and said we felt that through the lineage of those rebellious Nephites who joined with the Lamanites, that the blood of Lehi and Nephi [and of all Israel] had been transmitted unto the people of this land, many of whom have the features and manners of the American Indians, [and he] asked the Lord that if this were true that He would not forget the integrity of His servants Lehi and Nephi and would verify the promises made unto them concerning their descendants in the last days upon this [the Japanese] people for we felt that they were a worthy nation”. 4
Hawaii
Matthew Cowley
Brothers and sisters, you are God’s children—you are Israel. You have in your veins the blood of Nephi. 5
New Zealand
David O. McKay
We express gratitude that to these fertile islands thou didst guide descendants of Father Lehi and hast enabled them to prosper. 6
Spencer W. Kimball
And so it seems to me rather clear that your ancestors moved northward and crossed a part of the South Pacific. You did not bring your records with you, but you brought much food and provisions. And so we have a great congregation of people in the South seas who came from the Nephites, and who came from the land southward and went to the land northward, which could have been Hawaii. And then the further settlement could have been a move southward again to all of these islands and even to New Zealand. The Lord knows what he is doing when he sends his people from one place to another. That was the scattering of Israel. Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point. And others of you came this direction.
[President Spencer W. Kimball continued by quoting former President Joseph F. Smith as saying:]
“I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is No Perhaps about it!” He didn’t want any arguments about it. That was definite. So you are of Israel. You have been scattered. Now you are being gathered. 7
It might be of interest to you to know that when Elder Spencer W. Kimball set me apart for my mission to New Zealand in 1946, he said: “We bless you with power and the ‘gift of tongues’ to learn the language of the Maoris. . . . We set you apart among the Children of Lehi to do good.” 8
Gordon B. Hinckley
Again, there was something prophetic about it. Here were two great strains of the house of Israel the children of Ephraim from the isles of Britain, and the children of Lehi from the isles of the Pacific. 9
Hugh B. Brown
We thank Thee, O God, for revealing to us the Book of Mormon, the story of the ancient inhabitants of America. We thank Thee that from among those inhabitants, the ancestors of these whose heads are bowed before Thee here, came from the western shores of America into the South Seas pursuant to Thy plan and now their descendants humbly raise their voices in grateful acknowledgement of Thy kindness, Thy mercy, and Thy love for them and those who went before them.
We humbly thank Thee that this building is erected in this land, so that those faithful Maoris who came here in early days, descendants of Father Lehi, may be remembered by their descendants and saved through the ordinances that will, in this House, be performed in their behalf. 10
Matthew Cowley
Elder Matthew Cowley tells of a great convention held in 1881 that represented all of the native tribes of New Zealand. They were gathered at a native village near Mastertown, near Wellington. Many who attended that conference were old enough to have seen the first Christian missionaries arrive in New Zealand, and all who attended belonged to a Christian church. They were Catholics, Methodists, or Presbyterians. One of the dominant topics considered was why the Maoris were no longer religiously unified as they had been before Christianity came to them. If Christianity was the higher light—the true religion—why were they divided into many churches? So they began asking themselves which of these Christian churches was the right one for the Maori race and which one they should all belong to so that there would be only one church among them. Not knowing the answer and not being able to decide in their debate, they turned to their wisest sage, Paora Potangaroa, and asked him which church they should all join. He said he would have to think on it and then went to his own residence which was nearby. After three days of fasting and prayer, asking Jehovah which was the right church for the Maori people, he returned to his people and said: “My friends, the church for the Maori people has not yet come among us. You will recognize it when it comes. Its missionaries will travel in pairs. They will come from the rising sun. They will visit with us in our homes. They will learn our language and teach us the gospel in our own tongue. When they pray they will raise their right hands.”
Paora Potangaroa then asked Ranginui Kingi to write down what he was going to say and his words were proclaimed to his people at the “eight-years house” on the 16th day of March 1881. Several things were said of interest to us: First, the year 1881 is the “day of fulness”; that is the year that the missionaries first taught the fulness of the gospel to the Maori people. It is also the year W. M. Bromley arrived to preside over the mission. He was told before leaving Utah “that the time had come to take the gospel to the Maori people.” Potangaroa said the next year, 1882, would be the year of the “sealing.” It was in 1882 when they were first taught about the sealing ordinances performed in the temple. He said the third year, 1883, would be the year of “the honoring,” when they would pay “tribute to whom tribute was due, custom to whom custom . . . honor to whom honor” (See Romans 13:7). Elder Cowley interpreted that as the year when Maoris joined the Church in great numbers and gave “tribute to whom tribute was due [and] custom to whom custom” was due as they began worshiping the Lord.
The prophecy went on to say that they were the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They would learn of the scepter of Judah, and of “Shiloh, the king of peace.” They would also learn of “the sacred church with a large wall surrounding it.” There would be an “increase of the[ir] race” and of their faith, love, and peace. That was at a time when the Maoris were beginning to be exterminated, much as the American Indian was in the United States. There was a great deal of apprehension among them, a fear they would disappear as a people.
This covenant was written down on a piece of paper, and at the top of the piece of paper they drew an “all-seeing eye.” This prophecy was then placed in a cement monument in the eight-years house where the convention was held. It remained there from 1881 until 1929, when a Maori sect known as the Ratana Church, in groping for substantiation that they were the true church of the Maoris as foretold by Potangaroa, broke open the cement monument to get at his prophecy, hoping to find something in it that would establish their claim to be the right church for the Maori. Unfortunately, the storage chamber which contained the prophecy had not been hermetically sealed and the paper had been so damaged by moisture that nothing was legible on it.
That was 1929. In 1944, Matthew Cowley was the New Zealand mission president. He was there during the war years, and the only American missionaries he had were himself, his wife, and their daughter. They held a convention for the Maoris in the same area where Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy in 1881. Present at the 1944 convention was Eriata Nopera, another great Maori chief. When he rose to speak, he told his people that he had been a little boy there when Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy and repeated what he remembered of the prophecy. At the end of that day’s convention, one of the women attending the convention had her husband go fetch parcel wrapped in brown paper from a trunk in their house. When he brought her the parcel, she called President Cowley and Eriata Nopera into an adjoining room and gave it to them. They opened the parcel and found a photograph of Potangaroa’s written prophecy wrapped up in it.
What had happened was that in 1881, when the prophecy was written down by Ranginui, a photographer in Wellington had heard that a Maori had made a prophecy. He traveled out to that village and asked for permission to photograph it. This was granted and he photographed the prophecy before it was sealed in the cement monument. This woman’s family got a copy of that photograph and had kept it since. She then gave it to Brother Nopera, who in turn gave it to President Matthew Cowley. That is the way we know what was in Paora Potangaroa’s prophecy. 11
Samoa
Spencer W. Kimball
I thought to read to you a sacred scripture which pertains especially to you the islanders of the Pacific. It is in the sixty-third chapter of Alma [He then read the account of Hagoth.]
And so it seems to me rather clear that your ancestors moved northward and crossed a part of the South Pacific. You did not bring your records with you, but you brought much food and provisions. And so we have a great congregation of people in the South seas who came from the Nephites, and who came from the land southward and went to the land northward, which could have been Hawaii. And then the further settlement could have been a move southward again to all of these islands and even to New Zealand. The Lord knows what he is doing when he sends his people from one place to another. That was the scattering of Israel. Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point. And others of you came this direction. 12
Tonga
Robert E. Parsons
I asked Elder John Groberg, who has spent years among the Tongans, if they had any traditions concerning their coming to the islands. He said they had nothing as detailed as the Maori, but that Church members among both Tongans and Samoans were adamant in their tradition that they came from the east, not the west as some modern scholars affirm. 13
Notes:
Petersen, Mark E. “New Evidence for the Book of Mormon,” Improvement Era (June 1962) 65:456–59; also in Conference Report (Apr 1962) 111–15
George Q. Cannon, as quoted in Britsch, R. Lanier. Unto the Islands of the Sea: A History of the Latter-day Saints in the Pacific. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986, pp. 97–98
Cheesman, Paul R. and Millie Foster Cheesman. Early America and the Polynesians. Provo, Utah: Promised Lands Publication, Inc., 1975, p. 15; as quoted in Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–62
Reminiscences by Alma Taylor of Elder Heber J. Grant’s 1901 prayer dedicating the land of Japan to receive the restored gospel, Palmer, Spencer J., and Roger R. Keller. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1989, p. 91
Elder Matthew Cowley, in an address to the Hawaiian people at Laie, as recorded in Cole, William A., and Edwin W. Jensen. Israel in the Pacific: A Genealogical Text For Polynesia. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1961, p. 384
Prayer offered by President David O. McKay the the dedicatory prayer of the New Zealand Temple, “Dedicatory Prayer Delivered By Pres. McKay at New Zealand Temple,” Church News, 10 May 1958, 2, 6
President Spencer W. Kimball in a talk to the Samoan people, as recorded in the “Official Report of the Samoa Area Conference Held in Pago Pago and Apia, Samoa,” February 15, 16, 17, 18, 1976
Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–62
President Gordon B. Hinckley’s comment at the dedication of the New Zealand temple upon observing Europeans assembling with the Maoris of the Pacific, “Temple in the Pacific.” Improvement Era (July 1958) 61:506–509, 538
Elder Hugh B. Brown’s closing prayer at the ceremony to lay the cornerstone for the New Zealand Temple, as told in Cummings, David W. Mighty Missionary of the Pacific. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1961, p. 63; and Cheesman, Paul R. and Millie Foster Cheesman. Early America and the Polynesians. Provo, Utah: Promised Lands Publication, Inc., 1975, p. 14
Cowley, Matthew. Matthew Cowley—Speaks. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1954, pp. 200-205, as quoted in Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 249–262
President Spencer W. Kimball in a talk to the Samoan people, as recorded in the “Official Report of the Samoa Area Conference Held in Pago Pago and Apia, Samoa,” February 15, 16, 17, 18, 1976
Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–62
1937 Stuart Meha and “The Personal Testimony of Stuart Meha,” Waipawa, H. B., New Zealand. Elwin W. Jensen A signed manuscript, recorded May 20, 1937, in the Missionary Journal, (abt. Joseph F. Smith) First Mission, Elder Elwin W. Jensen, Salt Lake City.
Although some scholars insist that the Polynesian ancestors came from the Orient and sailed east to settle Polynesia, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always taught that they sailed west from America. In 1818, Stuart Meha, a Maori Latter-day Saint from New Zealand, sent a telegram to the Church leaders thanking them for the privilege of allowing a group of Maori saints to travel to Salt Lake to go through the temple. In the telegram, Brother Meha added the words: “Who knows but that some of Hagoth’s people have returned–perhaps!”
Later, the First Presidency of the Church, and some of the General Authorities, gave a welcome, in Wandermere Park, in honor of this party of Maori Saints from New Zealand. In a speech delivered on that occasion, President [Joseph F.] Smith replied to the telegram: “I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is NO PERHAPS about it!” Continuing,
President Smith told how it had been given to him by the spirit, while laboring in Hawaii, that the Polynesians were descendants of Lehi. Brother Meha testifies that these statements touched his heart, and he had no more uncertainties as to whether the Polynesians were truly of the House of Israel. (From “The Personal Testimony of Stuart Meha,” Waipawa, H. B., New Zealand. A signed manuscript, recorded May 20, 1937, in the Missionary Journal, First Mission, Elder Elwin W. Jensen, Salt Lake City.
Source: Allen H. Richardson, David E. Richardson and Anthony E. Bentley. 1000 Evidences for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Part Two-A Voice from the Dust: 500 Evidences in Support of the Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: Envision Press, 2001, p. 33.
*The expression that Hagoth was an “exceedingly curious man” meant that his skills and knowledge in ship building were extremely good and was beyond the ability of common men. To those who could not comprehend how he could have constructed the ship, they used the term “curious” to describe his skills, similar to Nephi’s skill referred to in 1 Nephi 18:1.341 Hagoth’s Travels Alma 63:6 (55 B.C.)
“The map below suggests a possible area where Hagoth built and launched his ship. In ancient America, the Grand Kankakee Marsh and the Great Black Swamp almost merged. The land between the two wetlands produced a narrow neck which provided an entrance into “the land northward.” As shown, “the borders of the land Bountiful” are next to “seas.” Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 341
NEW INFORMATION TO STRENGTHEN HEARTLAND GEOGRAPHY The Plains of the Heartland! The Most Sacred Land!
WARNING: This is a long article. Only the brave need to move forward.
As I continue to look and research, I feel strongly that the most sacred and blessed land in the Promised Land of the United States which in my opinion should be called, “The Plains of the Heartland.” These plains are located in the United States Central Lowlands, roaming from the cradle of civilization where Adam dwelt near independence, MO, all the way to Kirtland, Ohio, where the first Temple of the Restoration was dedicated. It spans 800 miles of sacred land I now call,“The Plains of the Heartland” (See map below)
Sacred Plains of the Nephites. Nephihah and Bountiful/Mulek
Why are the Plains of the Nephite Heartlands so sacred? It is where life began where Adam was placed on these plains, and it will end where the New Jerusalem will be built at that same location. It was on these Plains that Joseph saw in vision, and said in a letter to Emma that he was, “wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity…” JSP
These Plains are where Captain Moroni at age 25, takes over the Nephite armies in 74 BC and he begins his defense on the Plains of the Nephites. Moroni will also travel over the Plains of Nephihah and the Plains of Bountiful/Mulek during their defense of freedom for our blessed country.
Captain Moroni commands the Lamanites to make a covenant of peace or be destroyed. Moroni said, “I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye deliver up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will spare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us.” Alma 44:6
In about 73 BC, Captain Moroni made that sacred oath with God we are very familiar with. We read in Alma 46:22, “Now this was the covenant which they made, and they cast their garments at the feet of Moroni, saying: We covenant with our God, that we shall be destroyed, even as our brethren in the land northward, if we shall fall into transgression; yea, he may cast us at the feet of our enemies, even as we have cast our garments at thy feet to be trodden under foot, if we shall fall into transgression.
Moroni said unto them: Behold, we are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; yea, we are a remnant of the seed of Joseph, whose coat was rent by his brethren into many pieces; yea, and now behold, let us remember to keep the commandments of God, or our garments shall be rent by our brethren, and we be cast into prison, or be sold, or be slain.” Alma 46:22-23
On the Plains between Mulek [Ft. Wayne Indiana?] and Bountiful [Newark, Ohio?], Captain Moroni, Teancum, and Lehi defeated Jacob and defended the City Bountiful for the Nephites in 65 BC (Alma 52:20). Therefore, Captain Moroni takes the city of Mulek by stratagem, Alma 52:21–26.
It was also on the plains of Nephihah where Pahoran and Moroni retook Nephihah in 62 BC (Alma 62:18). Then, Moroni takes the city of Nephihah, Alma 62:18–26. And, after fortifying Nephite lands, Moroni yields command of the army to his son Moronihah. Alma 62:42–43. We also see “Helaman and his brethren went forth, and did declare the word of God with much power unto the convincing of many people of their wickedness, which did cause them to repent of their sins and to be baptized unto the Lord their God.” Alma 62:45.
The blood of Captain Moroni and thousands of righteous saints was lost, on these very plains where Nephites battled for the their freedom. Sacred freedom is always worth fighting for, defending, and even sacrificing our very life.
Far West a Holy Consecrated Place
“To his steady drum roll about the Indian and his destiny, [WW] Phelps added his view of the land west of the Missouri settlements, which he called the “Far West.” Wasn’t this, the editor wondered, the land of the covenant, where the Book of Mormon Jaredites and Nephites had once roamed before meeting their destruction? While the world would never prize the area because of its want of timber and mill seats, Deity had a different view.
This land was Zion, he argued, the land of Joseph, the receptacle of “the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills.” In a few sentences, Phelps wove together some of the images that Joseph Smith had been using when speaking of the western Zion and the soon-to-be redeemed Indian 47” (47 Evening and the Morning Star 1 (October 1832): 137] Phelps was citing Deuteronomy 3313-17 The editor later would help select Mormon settlement sites in Daviess County and may have had a role in choosing the name of the region’s most prominent town, Far West, thus giving another expression to his fascination with the western region).” SEEKING THE “REMNANT”: THE NATIVE AMERICAN DURING THE JOSEPH SMITH PERIOD Ronald W Walker
Nephitish Altar
George W. Robinson, a scribe of Joseph Smith who was with him at the time, writes: “We next kept [traveling] up the river mostly in the timber for ten miles, until we came to Colonel Lyman Wright’s who lives at the foot of Tower Hill. A name appropriated by President Smith in consequence of the remains of an old Nephitish Altar and Tower where we camped for the Sabbath.” (Scott H. Faulring ed., An American Prophet’s Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, SLC: Signature Books, 1989, p. 184.) 1838 Joseph Smith, Jr. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3:34-35 Quoted in Step by Step through the Book of Mormonby Alan C. Miner
So what did Robinson mean when he said they discovered the remains of a “Nephtish” structure? It is important to note that the early Latter-day Saints clearly believed that the native North American tribes were descendants of the earlier Nephite-Lamanite civilization. With this belief, Robinson probably used the word “Nephitish” to indicate that the structure or altar was built by, or originated with, the North American Indians. He may have also used “Nephitish” to mean that the altar was of ancient origin. Therefore, what Robinson was attempting to describe were the remains of what appeared to be a sacred altar structure erected by early Native Americans.” (Alexander L. Baugh, “Joseph Smith in Northern Missouri,” in Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer, ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 291–346.)
The Spot where Cain killed Abel.
“In connection with President McKay’s visit at Far West, it is to be noted that while there the President appeared somewhat overwhelmed. The place made a deep impression upon him; so much so that he referred to Far West a number of times in the ensuing days as a place of deep impression.
“The feeling that President McKay had at Far West registered upon me once again, but now with greater impact. The events that transpired there are significant: (a) The Lord proclaimed Far West a holy and consecrated land unto him, declaring to Joseph Smith that the very ground he stood on there was holy. (b)The Prophet Joseph Smith contended with the devil face to face for some time, upon the occasion of the power of evil menacing one of his children in the Prophet’s home just west of the temple site. Lucifer declared that Joseph had no right to be there, that this was his place. Whereupon the Prophet rebuked Satan in the name of the Lord, and he departed and did not touch the child again. (c) The overwhelming feeling that President McKay had when he visited this sacred place.
“The Answer: I have often pondered the holy significance of Far West, and even more so since President McKay’s visit. The sacredness of Far West, Missouri, is no doubt due to the understanding that the Prophet Joseph Smith conveyed to the brethren, at these early times, that Adam-ondi-Ahman, the place to which Adam and Eve fled when cast out of the Garden of Eden, is where Adam erected an altar unto God, and offered sacrifices, and that Far West was the spot where Cain killed Abel.
“This information tends to explain why the Lord declared Far West to be a holy consecrated place; and no doubt explains why Satan claimed that place as his own, as it was here that he entered into a covenant with Cain, resulting in the death of Abel, the first of mortal existence [to die] upon this earth.
“It would appear that President McKay while there felt the spirit and significance of this holy place.” The Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, p.340
Holy Kirtland Temple
With Willard Richards acting as scribe, Joseph Smith gave a revelation on Aug. 2, 1833, “And again, verily I say unto you, my friends, a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall commence a work of laying out and preparing a beginning and foundation of the city of the stake of Zion, here in the land of Kirtland, beginning at my house…
On March 27, 1836, Joseph Smith gave the dedicatory prayer for the temple, which he said was given to him by revelation. This dedicatory prayer is now found in D&C 109.” Source
“The Bible tells us that the original followers of Jesus, known as ‘saints,’ gathered at the Temple in Jerusalem; the Latter Day Saints mirrored their experience by building the Kirtland Temple where they, too, could tarry until they were endowed or clothed with the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). They felt this endowment was necessary so they could then go forth into the world filled with the Spirit to share the message of Jesus Christ.” Source
Elder Alvin R. Dyer, whom President McKay subsequently ordained an apostle and later set apart as a counselor in the church presidency, offered some interesting after-thoughts on Far West:
Plains of Olaha Shinehah/Adam-ondi-Ahman
“The editor [Bruce R. McConkie] later would help select Mormon settlement sites in Daviess County and may have had a role in choosing the name of the region’s most prominent town, Far West, thus giving another expression to his fascination with the western region. “Certain lands were given to Israel for an inheritance in time and in eternity. America is the land of Joseph; it was the home of Nephite Israel, who were of Joseph, for a thousand years, and it is the headquarters of the Church in this final dispensation in which the church and kingdom of God are in the hands of Ephraim.” (McConkie, Bruce R., A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 511.)
But one of the most sacred events that happened on the Plains of Olaha Shinehahwas, three years before his death, Adam gathered his righteous posterity in Adam-ondi-Ahman and blessed them, “and the Lord appeared unto them” (see D&C 107:53–56). Before the Millennium, another important meeting will occur in Adam-ondi-Ahman, during which the Savior and Adam and other prophets will gather with righteous Church members(see D&C 27:5–14; Daniel 7:13–14, 22). Here we learn the Plains of Olaha Shinehah or the “place where Adam dwelt” is one of the most Holy sitesin the history of this Earth. All of this happened or will happen on the “Plains of the Heartland”.
Proof of its Divine Authenticity/Zelph
Zelph’s skeleton was found near Valley City, Illinois by Zions camp members in 1834 and in vision Joseph called his name Zelph and his great prophet was named Onandagus, and the mound referred in history is Naples Russell Mound 8. It is upon the “Plains of Nephi”
“The whole of our journey, in the midst of so large a company of social honest and sincere men, wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity… During our travels we visited several of the mounds which had been thrown up by the ancient inhabitants of this country-Nephites, Lamanites, etc.” Joseph Smith Papers Letter to Emma Smith, 4 June 1834 Page 56
“Before breaking camp the morning of June 3, the Prophet Joseph Smith, accompanied by several of the men, went to observe a large mound which was located approximately one mile below the Phillip’s Ferry crossing. It was of unusual size and lay within the proximity of a number of smaller mounds. Heber C. Kimball and Wilford Woodruff recorded in their journals that the mound was one hundred feet high and three hundred feet above the level of the river. The height of the mound enabled the men to look over the tops of the trees and view the surrounding area. At the crest of the mound, human bones were strewn around the base of what appeared to be a three-tiered altar. Heber C. Kimball wrote that the arrangement of the stones resembled the ancient order or altars..
The men were curious about the area, the mounds, and particularly about the scattered bones. As they began to descend the mound, Joseph Smith suddenly stopped, pointed to the ground, and said, “Brethren, dig in there.” When the earth had been removed to the depth of one or two feet, the men found the skeleton of a large man. Journal accounts state that, “the bones were all there and in a good state of preservation.” Buried in the backbone, between the ribs of the man was a stone arrowhead which Milton Holmes took. Examining the skeleton more closely, it was noted that one of the thigh bones had been previously broken and knitted together. The thigh bones and the arrowhead were taken back to camp and placed in Wilford Woodruff’s wagon. The skeleton was unusually large . It was estimated to be over eight feet tall.” James L. Bradley, Zion’s Camp 1834: Prelude to the Civil War (Salt Lake City: Publishers Press, 1990), p. 207.
“On the top of the mound were stones which presented the appearance of three altars having been erected one above the other, according to the ancient order; and the remains of bones were strewn over the surface of the ground. The brethren procured a shovel and a hoe, and removing the earth to the depth of about one foot, discovered the skeleton of a man, almost entire, and between his ribs the stone point of a Lamanitish arrow, which evidently produced his death. Elder Burr Riggs retained the arrow.
The contemplation of the scenery around us produced peculiar sensations in our bosoms; and subsequently the visions of the past being opened to my understanding by the Spirit of the Almighty, I discovered that the person whose skeleton was before us was a white Lamanite, a large, thick-set man, and a man of God. His name was Zelph. He was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet Onandagus, who was known from the Hill Cumorah, or eastern sea to the Rocky mountains. The curse was taken from Zelph, or, at least, in part-one of his thigh bones was broken by a stone flung from a sling, while in battle, years before his death. He was killed in battle by the arrow found among his ribs, during the last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites.” Joseph Smith Papers History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834], Page 483
President Wilford Woodruff warned: “I will here say that God has inspired me to keep a Journal History of this Church, and I warn the future Historians to give Credence to my History of this Church and Kingdom; for my Testimony is true, and the truth of its record will be manifest in the world to Come.” (Journal of Wilford Woodruff, 6 July 1877, Historical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; emphasis added. Spelling and punctuation have been standardized.) The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer
Manti in the Book of Mormon/Huntsville, MO
Joseph Smith accompanied several Church members in exploring the area around Lyman Wight’s northern Missouri home. In his journal, A. Jenson wrote: “The [Kirtland] camp passed through Huntsville, in Randolph County, which has been appointed as one of the stakes of Zion, and is the ancient site of the City of Manti.” A. Jenson, Historical Record, Book 1, p. 601Millennial Star 16:296
Inverted Parallels & Chiasmus on the Plains of the Heartland
1. The Nephites and Mulekites after settling in Zarahemla, traveled West to East in their LAST days, which is opposite of the travels of the restored LDS Church which went from the East (NY) to the West (Nauvoo). A form of Chiasmus. 2. Chiasmus is an inverted parallel structure in which a series of thoughts or movements are repeated in reverse order. (See Moroni’s America Chapter 4)
Chiasmus: (Latin term from Greek χίασμα, “crossing” and from the Greek χιάζω, chiázō, “to shape like the letter Χ”) is the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism. Chiasmus was particularly popular in the literature of the ancient world, including Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text. The elements of simple chiasmus are often labeled in the form A B B’ A’, where the letters correspond to grammar, words, or meaning. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiasmus)
From New Jerusalem to the 100 BC Earthworks of Newark, Ohio, are these same “Plains of the Heartland.”From Joseph’s letter to Emma in Atlas, Illinois to where Emma was residing on that date of June 4, 1834 in Kirtland, Ohio, these are also “Plains of the Heartland.” If fact it seems these Plains were traveled so often by so many, it has been a clear route within the heartland geography.
Many Travels on the Plains of the Heartland
West to East
Garden of Eden to Hill Cumorah
Zions’s Camp Kirtland to Missouri
New Jerusalem to Ontario New York
Adam-Ondi-Ahman to Kirtland Ohio
Atlas, Illinois (Emma’s Letter) to Kirtland Ohio
Zarahemla (Mormon/s Final Battles) to Cumorah
From Liberty MO to Kirtland Ohio
Zarahemla to Nephite Battles in MO, IL, IN, OH, PA, to NY
East to West
Cumorah (Young Mormon’s Journey) to Zarahemla (Montrose Iowa) (Mormon 1:6)
Kirtland, OH (LDS Church Migration) to Fishing River, MO Kirtland Camp to Missouri 1838
Where are the PLAINS in the JUNGLES of Mesoamerica?
Can there be any Doubt. Nephites in the Heartland of America?
“We see through the light of revelation that the wicked of this nation will someday be destroyed in that very area, [Cumorah] repeating the same pattern over and over again. The Nephites were destroyed there. The Jaredites were destroyed there. Will our nation go to Mexico to be destroyed at Cumorah? Of course not. Can there be any doubt that these lakes referred to are the Great Lakes? Brigham Young said: This book, which contained these things, was hid in the earth by Moroni, in a hill called by him, Cumorah, which hill is now in the state of New York, near the village of Palmyra, in Ontario County.” Cheesman, Paul R., 1978, The World of the Book of Mormon, Horizon Publishers, Bountiful, Utah, p. 24
Where did the Nephites specifically Live?
Jungles of Mesoamerica, or the Plains of the United States? Did they live on the Promised Land of America, or on a land somewhere else that may be nice, but wasn’t chosen as the Promised Land? “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon—a place where divine guidance directed inspired men to create the conditions necessary for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Elder L. Tom Perry Ensign Dec. 2012
Heartland Key Locations
As a Heartlander, I can now zone in on where many of the specific events happened in North America. What does the Book of Mormon text tell me? My key locations for the Nephites is the Hill Cumorah in Ontario, NY(D&C 128:20) and the City of Zarahemla(D&C 125:3) near Montrose, Iowa. Another very critical key location on the map is the “Plains of the Nephites”(Follow Zion’s Camp from the Mississippi River at Atlas Illinois all the way to Kirtland, Ohio. See bright green plains above).
Now I add two more key locations of the Nephites. The Plains of Nephihah, and the plains of Olaha Shinehah, are these two more important key locations which I discuss today in this blog.
Very New Information (April 2024)
Let’s tie together, these 4-Plains of the Heartland: 1- PLAINS OF OLAHA SHINEHAH, D&C 117:8Independence & Adam-Ondi-Ahman, MO
2- PLAINS OF THE NEPHITES Emma’s Letter[JSP]Atlas, IL to Kirtland OH
3- PLAINS OF NEPHIHAHAlma 62:18Springfield, IL to Indianapolis, IN
4- PLAINS OF BOUNTIFULAlma 52:20Fort Wayne, IN to Newark, OH
Where would the Nephites have lived, and why, and what archaeology may validate it? What would be the best places of defense or where to build a fort? How important to have high places where you could see your enemy? What method of transportation would be best, walking or canoe? Where to build a city and live for long periods of time because of the nearby agricultural land or type of soil? What long term trading paths existed to share goods from all over the United States? ” Would they fight in the Jungles of Mesoamerican or on the “Plains” of the United States? I’m excited to share NEW information about my discovery of the important “Plains found between two Book of Mormon cities“, in Alma 52:20 and also the show you the importance of D&C 117:8 with the “Plains of Olaha Shinehah
New Geography about the Plains of Nephihah
In this blog I discuss a very amazing discovery. I may have found where the “Plains of Nephihah”(Alma 62:18), are located in the USA, where the “Plains between the two cities”, are located in the USA (Alma 52:20), are located, and I will tie them into what we all know about, where the “Plains of the Nephites” are located that Joseph Smith identified.
“Two named Plains of the Book of Mormon and one from Joseph, and one from Adam, and they all four are in the same general location of successive plains. Between the City Bountiful (Newark, Ohio) and the city of Mulek (Fort Wayne, Indiana). I call these the “Plains of Bountiful” or the Plains of Mulek.” Read on and explore with me.
Click to enlarge
Alma 52:9,11-13, 21-22, 26-27, 31 About Nephihah
9 And he also sent orders unto him that he should fortify the land Bountiful, and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward, lest the Lamanites should obtain that point and should have power to harass them on every side. 11 And he also said unto him, I would come unto you, but behold, the Lamanites are upon us in the borders of the land by the west sea; and behold, I go against them, therefore I cannot come unto you. 12 Now, the king (Ammoron) had departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and had made known unto the queen concerning the death of his brother, and had gathered together a large number of men, and had marched forth against the Nephites on the borders by the west sea. 13 And thus he was endeavoring to harass the Nephites, and to draw away a part of their forces to that part of the land, while he had commanded those whom he had left to possess the cities which he had taken, that they should also harass the Nephites on the borders by the east sea, and should take possession of their lands as much as it was in their power, according to the power of their armies.” 20 And it came to pass they sent embassies to the army of the Lamanites, which protected the city of Mulek, to their leader, whose name was Jacob, desiring him that he would come out with his armies to meet them upon the plains between the two cities. But behold, Jacob, who was a Zoramite, would not come out with his army to meet them upon the plains. 21 And it came to pass that Moroni, having no hopes of meeting them upon fair grounds, therefore, he resolved upon a plan that he might decoy the Lamanites out of their strongholds. 22 Therefore he caused that Teancum should take a small number of men and march down near the seashore; and Moroni and his army, by night, marched in the wilderness, on the west of the city Mulek; and thus, on the morrow, when the guards of the Lamanites had discovered Teancum, they ran and told it unto Jacob, their leader. 26 And thus Moroni had obtained possession of the city Mulek with a part of his army, while he marched with the remainder to meet the Lamanites when they should return from the pursuit of Teancum. 27 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did pursue Teancum until they came near the city Bountiful, and then they were met by Lehi and a small army, which had been left to protect the city Bountiful. 31 And it came to pass that before the Lamanites had retreated far they were surrounded by the Nephites, by the men of Moroni on one hand, and the men of Lehi on the other, all of whom were fresh and full of strength; but the Lamanites were wearied because of their long march.
Summary of Alma 52
Lehi protects Bountiful. Teancum leaves Bountiful near seashore, to draw out the Lamanites. The Lamanites leave City of Mulek onto the Plains to overtake Teancum.Moroni overtakes City of Mulek from the west. Lehi leaves Bountiful to force Lamanites to retreat to Mulek. Moroni and Lehi surround Lamanites and defeat them on the Plains. The black dotted line is the St. Lawrence Divide which is the highest point that divides the plains. On this Divide, rain that falls on the divide will run either north or south when forming two opposite direction rivers.
Teancum stays on this higher ground most likely. This is also one of “three necks” spoken of as separate places in the Book of Mormon. This neck is called “The Narrow Neck” Alma 63:5, where later Hagoth sails his ships up Lake Michigan. See yellow on map below.
Plains Between Mulek and Bountiful
Mulek. Occupied by Jacob and the Lamanites Bountiful. Occupied by Teancum and Lehi Land Bountiful west wilderness of Mulek, Moroni was stationed.
In Alma 52:20 we read, “And it came to pass they sent embassies to the army of the Lamanites, which protected the city of Mulek, to their leader, whose name was Jacob, desiring him that he would come out with his armies to meet them upon the plains between the two cities.” What two cities? Three verses earlier in Alma 17, you will read the names of these two cities. Alma 52:17 “And it came to pass that Teancum made preparations to make an attack upon the city of Mulek [Ft. Wayne Indiana?], and march forth with his army against the Lamanites; but he saw that it was impossible that he could overpower them while they were in their fortifications; therefore he abandoned his designs and returned again to the city Bountiful [Newark, Ohio?], to wait for the coming of Moroni, that he might receive strength to his army.
Evaluating the Research
I was reading and researching last week and came upon something I thought was very significant. I was reading the wonderful quote of Joseph Smith while on Zion’s Camp march, in a letter to his wife Emma, that says, “Wandering over the Plains of the Nephites.” Joseph wrote this letter on the Banks of the Mississippi River near Atlas, Illinois.
The map shows you how green and forested “plains” are in Mesoamerica. Not fit for battle.
I began researching to see what other Geography theorists said about the word, “plains“, and how did they define it? I came across a site called, Book of Mormon Info, by Aric Turner. They believe in a Mesoamerican Geography. They had some good information about “plains” here, although they spoke about the Mesoamerican setting as you see in their map left. I have used some of their information and made it relate to the Heartland Geography. I learned from them in Alma 52:20 that said, “he would come out with his armies to meet them upon the plains, between the two cities.” This could be called the “plains” between Mulek and Bountiful.”
Understanding that in my Heartland Model, I feel strongly the “Plains” refer to North America and not Mesoamerica. I think of the Great Plains of the United States and I only think of Jungles in Mesoamerica. I discuss and evaluate that later.
This shows you how “plains” show up as black on this USA map. See the Plains of the Nephites in the Zarahemla circle? See the “Great Plains” in the Heartland of the USA?
These plains in Alma 52:20 that are quoted above, I never remembered hearing about them before, which opened up this research. I thought, how could two men come out with their armies upon the “plains” if there were a bunch of trees, jungle and shrubs around? They couldn’t. So, I believe I have found another plausible witness that the word “plains” as mentioned in the Book of Mormon follows the Heartland definition of grasslands or prairies, which validates my belief that the geography of the Book of Mormon was in the Heartland of the United States. (I encourage you to read the other theorists websites, as you may lean many other interesting things).
In another blog titled, “BofM- Jungles of Mayans or Plains of Nephites”, I ask the question again, how can the cities of Nephites in North America be hidden in plain sight, as many people have said? Yes in plain sight, just not to me and millions of others.
The Word “Plains”
This blog will explain to you about the word “Plains” found in the Book of Mormon record. In the Triple Combination Study Help it gives these “Plains” references:
Plains
Additional “Plains” in the Book of Mormon
D&C 117:8 “Is there not room enough on the mountains of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and on the plains of Olaha Shinehah, or the land where Adam dwelt, that you should covet that which is but the drop, and neglect the more weighty matters?”
What did the Lord tell us about “property” in verses 5–8? (The phrase “the plains of Olaha Shinehah” refers to the land surrounding Adam-ondi-Ahman.)
Read the section heading for Doctrine and Covenants 116 and Doctrine and Covenants 116:1. What is the name of the place the Prophet Joseph Smith explored? Spring Hill, Missouri! What did the Lord reveal about Spring Hill, Missouri?
Three years before his death, Adam gathered his righteous posterity in Adam-ondi-Ahman and blessed them, “and the Lord appeared unto them” (see D&C 107:53–56). Before the Millennium, another important meeting will occur in Adam-ondi-Ahman, during which the Savior and Adam and other prophets will gather with righteous Church members (see D&C 27:5–14; Daniel 7:13–14, 22). Here we learn the Plains of Olaha Shinehah or the “place where Adam dwelt” is one of the most Holy sites in the history of this Earth. This is why knowing more about the Plains of Olaha Shinehah, and knowing more about it, is so critical to our understanding of the Gospel.
Key and Sacred Heartland Geography
By understanding that the Plains of Olaha Shinehah, the Plains of the Nephites, the Plains of Nephihah, and the Plains of Bountiful, are all a critical part of the land and geography about the Book of Mormon. The location of these “plains” show there is little doubt about the Book of Mormon events happening in this blessed Heartland of the United States.
Where are the Plains of Olaha Shinehah?
“The plains of Olaha Shinehah, or the place where Adam dwelt,” wrote President Joseph Fielding Smith, “must be a part of, or in the vicinity of Adam-ondi-Ahman.
This name Olaha Shinehah, may be, and in all probability is, from the language of Adam. We may without great controversy believe that this is the name which Adam gave to this place, at least we may venture this as a probable guess. Shinehah, according to the Book of Abraham, is the name given to the sun. (Abraham 3:13.) It is the name applied to Kirtland when the Lord desired in a revelation to hide its identity. (Sec. 82.) Elder Janne M. Sjodahl commenting on the name, Olaha Shinehah, has said: ‘Shinehah means sun, and Olaha is possibly a variant of the word Olea, which is “the moon.” (Abraham 3:13.) If so the plains of Olaha Shinehah would be the Plains of the Moon and the Sun, so called, perhaps because of astronomical observations there made.’ We learn from the writings of Moses that the Lord revealed to the ancients great knowledge concerning the stars,and Abraham by revelations and through the Urim and Thummim received wonderful information concerning the heavens and the governing planets, or stars. It was also revealed by the Prophet Joseph Smith that Methuselah was acquainted with the stars as were others of the antediluvian prophets including Adam. So it may be reasonable that here in this valley important information was made known anciently in relation to the stars of our universe.” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 2:97–98.) D&C 117:8
The Lord commands William Marks and Newel K. Whitney to leave Kirtland, Ohio, and directs Oliver Granger to settle the First Presidency’s business affairs
Explain that after the Prophet Joseph Smith left Kirtland, Ohio, in January 1838, William Marks was appointed to oversee the Church in Kirtland and to settle Joseph Smith’s and Sidney Rigdon’s debts there. Bishop Newel K. Whitney was in charge of the Church’s businesses and property in Kirtland. These two men were to settle Church affairs in Kirtland and then promptly move with the rest of the Saints to Missouri. However, by July 1838, both men remained in Kirtland. (See The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents, Volume 6: February 1838–August 1839, 191.)
The following account is taken from the history of the travels of the Kirtland Camp: “The camp passed through Huntsville, in Randolph County, which has been appointed as one of the stakes of Zion, and is the ancient site of the City of Manti, and pitched tents at Dark Creek, Salt Licks, seventeen miles. It was reported to the camp that one hundred and ten men had volunteered from Randolph and gone to Far West to settle difficulties.” 1
The following account of the same event is taken from the daily journal of the Kirtland Camp, and was written by Samuel D. Tyler: “September 25, 1838. We passed through Huntsville, Co, seat of Randolph Co, Pop. 450, and three miles further we bought 32 bu. of corn off one of the brethren who resides in this place. There are several of the brethren round about here and this is the ancient site of the City of Manti, which is spoken of in the Book of Mormon and this is appointed one of the Stakes of Zion, and it is in Randolph County, Missouri, three miles west of the county seat. 23
Millennial Star, vol. 16, p. 296.
Journal of Samuel D. Tyler, Sept. 25, 1838, filed in Church Historian’s Office.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., edited by Bruce R. McConkie [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1956], 3: 239
These plains are most likely near Hill Ramah in upstate New York, where the final battles of the Jaredites occurred. Or maybe close to Kirtland Ohio as the battles continued for years northeast toward Hill Ramah.
17 Now I, Abraham, built an altar in the land of Jershon, and made an offering unto the Lord, and prayed that the famine might be turned away from my father’s house, that they might not perish.
18 And then we passed from Jershon through the land unto the place of Sechem; it was situated in the plains of Moreh, and we had already come into the borders of the land of the Canaanites, and I offered sacrifice there in the plains of Moreh, and called on the Lord devoutly, because we had already come into the land of this idolatrous nation.
Shechem
“Located in the Hill Country of Ephraim, the city of Shechem played a vital role in the history of Israel. This location, in the middle of the nation, provided the most important crossroads in central Israel. The city lay along the northern end of “The Way of the Patriarchs.” This road, also called the “Ridge Route” (because it followed a key mountain ridge stretching 50 miles south), traveled from Shechem through Shiloh, Bethel/Ai, Ramah, Gibeah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron. This route appears continuously in the Biblical text.”
“Amidst the mountains of Shomron (Samaria) is a four-thousand year old city named Shechem. Very few biblical locales have as rich a history as this storied city. In fact, when the first Jew arrived in the Holy Land, Shechem was his first stop. In this city, also known as Nablus, lie the remains of Joseph, viceroy of Egypt. In recent times, modern-day Jewish heroes have struggled to maintain a Jewish presence in Shechem and Joseph’s Tomb.” Chabad.org
Parallels of the Tribe of Joseph and the Tribe of Judah in the Old World
So in Canaan [Old World], Shechem was in the Land North in the Land of Ephraim and Hebron was in the Land South in the land of Judah. These were the kingdoms of Northern Israel, (Ephraim) and the kingdom of Southern Israel, (Judah). Both brothers of Jacob or Israel and yet both moving in their own direction of Apostasy.
In Cainan (Moses6:17), or the Land of Joseph or the United States has the Land North for the Nephites north above the Ohio River, and the Land South for the Lamanites was south below the Ohio River. (See Map Above) Parallels of the Old World and New World.
Way of the Patriarchs and the Plains of the Nephites.
The Road of the Patriarchs or Way of the Patriarchs (Hebrew: דֶּרֶךְ הֲאָבוֹת Derech haʾAvot Lit. Way (of) the Fathers) is an ancient north–south route traversing the land of Israel and the region of Palestine.[1] The modern Highway 60 (Israel-Palestine) follows roughly the route of the Way of the Patriarchs.[2][3]
The name is used by biblical scholars because of mentions in biblical narratives that it was frequently travelled by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.[4]
It is also called the Hill Road or the Ridge Route[2] because it follows the watershed ridge line of the Samarian and Judaean Mountains. It runs from Megiddo and Hazor south to Beersheba by way of Shechem,[5] Bethel, Jerusalem, Ephrath and Hebron. Unlike the Via Maris and the King’s Highway which were international roads crossing the territories of many peoples, the Ridge Route was wholly within the territory of ancient Israel.[citation needed] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_the_Patriarchs
This “Ridge Route” in Samaria or the Way of the Patriarchs, could be equivalent to the “Plains of the Nephites” in Illinois of the New World.
Here we define “Plains” worldwide
“A plain is a broad area of relatively flat land. Plains are one of the major landforms, or types of land, on Earth. They cover more than one-third of the world’s land area. Plains exist on every continent.
Many plains, such as the Great Plains that stretch across much of central North America, are grasslands. A grassland is a region where grass is the main type of vegetation.
In North America, temperate grasslands—those in places with warm summers and cold winters—are often called prairies. In areas with little rain and snow, short grasses grow. In areas that receive more rain and snow, tall grasses can grow 1.5 meters (5 feet) high. However, most tallgrass prairies have been plowed under and are now farmland or pasture.
The Great Plains have supported a wide variety of cultures for thousands of years. The so-called “Plains Indians” are actually more than two dozen tribes. Communities include Blackfoot, native to the Canadian province of Alberta; Arapaho, whose center today is in the U.S. state of Wyoming; and Kickapoo, many of whom live today in the Mexican state of Coahuila.
In Asia and eastern Europe, temperate grasslands are called steppes. Steppes usually do not receive enough rain for tall grasses and trees to grow.
Tropical grasslands are called savannas. Savannas exist in places that are warm throughout the year. They often have scattered trees. Savannas such as the Serengeti plains stretch across much of central Africa. They are also found in Australia, South America, and southern North America.
Not all plains are grasslands. Some, such as Mexico’s Tabasco Plain, are forested. Forested plains have different types of trees, shrubs, and other vegetation.
Deserts can also be plains. Parts of the Sahara, a great desert in North Africa, are plains.
In the Arctic, where the ground is frozen, plains are called tundra. Despite the cold, many plants survive here, including shrubs and moss.” National Geographic
My Conclusion:
In North America and parts of Canada “plains” would be defined as: Grasslands and Prairies. A grassland is a region where grass is the main type of vegetation. In South and Central America “plains” would be defined as: Forested Plains with different trees and shrubs or as Savannahs.
I believe the North American geography with the defined plains, are the best interpretation for the types of land described in the Book of Mormon with reference to “plains.” Perfect land for Buffalo, Horses, domesticated animals and animals who migrate and graze. In Central and South America which are below the equator, are more like Savannah’s and Forested plains with trees and shrubs is more of a jungle type of land for birds and smaller animals, that don’t migrate. In Mesoamerica there are only two animals that migrate, (Turkey and Butterflies). Ether 9:34 which says, “And it came to pass that the people did follow the course of the beasts,and did devour the carcasses of them which fell by the way, until they had devoured them all.” This sounds like buffalo or elk or bear from North America, not small Llamas or Jaguars from Mesoamerica who don’t migrate.
Let’s define more specifically, “Plains” of the United States:
“The Great Plains (French: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply “the Plains”, is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. It is the southern and main part of the Interior Plains, which also include the tallgrass prairie between the Great Lakes and Appalachian Plateau, and the Taiga Plains and Boreal Plains ecozones in Northern Canada. The term Western Plains is used to describe the ecoregion of the Great Plains, or alternatively the western portion of the Great Plains.
The Great Plains lies across both Central United States and Western Canada, encompassing:
The entirety of the U.S. states of Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota; Parts of the U.S. states of Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming;
The southern portions of the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The term “Great Plains” usually refers specifically to the United States portion of the ecozone while the Canadian portion is known as the Canadian Prairies. In Canada it covers southeastern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan and a narrow band of southwestern Manitoba, these three provinces collectively known as the “Prairie Provinces”. The entire region is known for supporting extensive cattle-ranching and dryland farming.
Grasslands are among the least protected biomes with vast areas having been converted for agricultural purposes and pastures…. In general, the Great Plains have a wide range of weather, with very cold and harsh winters and very hot and humid summers. [Heartland not Mesoamerica] Wind speeds are often very high, especially in winter. “Wikipedia
Any plains in Mesoamerica would not have a wide range of weather and very few whirlwinds if any. Whirlwinds are mentioned in the Book of Mormon often which could be tornados as well. See my blog here for more about whirlwinds and tornados vs volcanoes.
USGS Survey WHAT IS THE GREAT PLAINS?
“The United States has been subdivided into physiographic regions that, although they have great diversity within themselves, are distinctly different from each other (fig. 2). From the Rocky Mountains on the west to the Appalachians on the east, the interior of our country is a vast lowland known as the Interior Plains. These plains are bounded on the south by a region of Interior Highlands, consisting of the Ozark Plateaus and the Ouachita province, and by the Coastal Plain. In the Great Lakes region, the Interior Plains laps onto the most ancient part of the continent, the Superior Upland. West of the Great Lakes it extends far to the north into Canada. Certainly the Rocky Mountains are distinctly different from the region to the east, which is the Great Plains. The Great Plains, then, is the western part of the great Interior Plains. The Rocky Mountains form its western margin. But what determines its eastern margin?
Figure 2.—Physical divisions of the United States and maximum extent of the continental ice sheets during the Great Ice Age. (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)
During the Pleistocene Epoch or Great Ice Age [I don’t trust the aging of the earth], huge glaciers formed in Canada and advanced southward into the great, central, low-lying Interior Plains of the United States. (See figure 2.) These glaciers and their deposits modified the surface of the land they covered, mostly between the Missouri and the Ohio Rivers; they smoothed the contours and gave the land a more subdued aspect that it had before they came. This glacially smoothed and modified land is called the Central Lowland. Although the ice sheets lapped onto the northern part, the Great Plains is the largely unglaciated region that extends from the Gulf Coastal Plain in Texas northward into Canada between the Central Lowland and the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Its eastern margin in Texas and Oklahoma is marked by a prominent escarpment, the Caprock escarpment. Its southern margin, where it abuts the Coastal Plain in Texas, is at another abrupt rise or scarp along the Balcones fault zone.” Source
Where is the Ancient Americas?
First let me speak to the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on their opinion about the geography of the Book of Mormon. Below is their Gospel Topic Essay where it shows their position as, “the Church’s only position is that, “the events the Book of Mormon describes took place in the ancient Americas.” This is understood and I am fine with their position. (I also know these Essay’s were written by historians and scholars who have their own bias and opinions about these matters). Yes, these Essay’s were approved by the Brethren to be shared [Not necessarily read by the leading Brethren but by the Historians and Intellects who they have trusted], but the church remains neutral as to where the geography exactly happened. I personally think the Book of Mormon Geography happened beginning in the Heartland of the United States, with Lehi leaving Oman and landing in Florida. If you were to ask each Prophet and Apostle where they personally think the Book of Mormon Geography happened, more than likely they would have many varying opinions.
Hugh B. Brown said, “And while all members should respect, support, and heed the teachings of the authorities of the church, no one should accept a statement and base his or her testimony upon it, no matter who makes it, until he or she has, under mature examination, found it to be true and worthwhile; then one’s logical deductions may be confirmed by the spirit of revelation to his or her spirit, because real conversion must come from within.” – Apostle Hugh B. Brown, “A Final Testimony,” from An Abundant Life, 1999
I Believe Prophets and Leaders about North America Below
I truly believe with all my head and heart that the Book of Mormon events began in the Heartland of the United States. I agree with President Monson who said, “The Lord gave a divine promise to the ancient inhabitants of this favored country (the United States): ‘Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12). Our Heavenly Father inspired the leaders of…the United States of America,that they might together, under His direction, having been raised up by God for the purpose, establish the Constitution of this country and…Bill of Rights, that by the year of our Lord 1805 [there would be] a climate where our Heavenly Father could send into this period of mortality a choice spirit who would be known as Joseph Smith, Jr.” Teachings of Thomas S. Monson by Thomas S. Monson 2011 (Ordained an Apostle, 1963; ordained President of the Church, 2008)
Also Elder McConkie said, “Certain lands were given to Israel for an inheritance in time and in eternity. America is the land of Joseph; it was the home of Nephite Israel, who were of Joseph, for a thousand years, and it is the headquarters of the Church in this final dispensation in which the church and kingdom of God are in the lands of Ephraim.” 1985 – Elder Bruce R. McConkie
Prophets Testify, The Book of Mormon began in North America.
President Benson said, “Nephi then continues his record: And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles [the American colonies] and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance. . . .And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles who had gone forth out of captivity [from Europe] did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them. [1 Nephi 13:15, 16]
This refers, of course, to the American colonists… Consider how very fortunate we are to be living in this land of America. Many great events have transpired in this land of destiny. This was the place where Adam dwelt; this was the place where the Garden of Eden was located.It was here that Adam met with a body of great high priests at Adam-ondi-Ahman shortly before his death and gave them his final blessing, and the place to which he will return to meet with the leaders of his people.
This was the place of three former civilizations: Adam’s, the Jaredite, and the Nephite. This was also the place where our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith inaugurating this great and last dispensation. The Lord has also decreed that this land should be “the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, . . . the holy sanctuary of the Lord” (Ether 13:3). Here is our nation’s destiny! To serve God’s eternal purposes and to prepare this land and people for America’s eventual destiny, he “established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom [he] raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood” (D&C 101:80). The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson pp. 587-588 https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson_gods-hand-nations-history/
I have strong opinions that have been formed as personal revelation to me on important subjects. Not doctrine for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, not absolute truth, as I am only a man of the flesh, but these personal revelations have come as very strong opinions of the spirit that I can’t deny. I only expect you to agree with me, as you feel so personally inspired to do so. I am sharing some things here that are very personal, but I feel many of you may be struggling with some issues or questions yourself that this information may be comforting to you, or allow the spirit to work with you directly about sensitive issues of importance. Some may feel these glimmers of personal revelation are not true to me and not important, but that is only your opinion. I feel this blog is of vital importance to one or many who may read it. I appreciate you listening.
President Nelson said, “I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, for the Lord has promised that “if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.” Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives by President Russell M. Nelson.I trust our Prophet and love him and our Savior.
Book of Mormon Geography Matters
“God intends us to find and use the evidence He has given—reasons, if you will—which affirm the truthfulness of His work….” The Greatness of the Evidence By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland August 16, 2017
More on the “PLAINS of the NEPHITES”
This quote below from the Prophet Joseph Smith, in a letter he sent to his wife Emma in 1834 while he was on Zion’s Camp March, is very true to me.
Wandering over the Plains of the Nephites by Ken Corbett
You can also see the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has used this quote in Gospel Essay’s above in red, in describing an important truth to consider about the correct geography of the Book of Mormon. The explanation below is the Mesoamerican opinion of the geography about the Book of Mormon which is also found in the Gospel Essay.
I ask you, how can the cities of Nephites in North America be hidden in plain sight, as many people have said? Yes in plain sight, just not to me and millions of others.In North America there are many open spaces and plains and prairie locations for cities without clearing land much at all. There are hundreds of thousands of Indian Mounds in North America, (Map left) that I never even knew about, until 53 years of age. Yet, the mounds, and cities and cultures of the Native Americans in North America were hidden, so to speak from the world in open spaces with thousands of artifacts in museums all over the land? Here is what a Historian said about this map left:
“The most common question that is asked about mounds is, “How many exist?” In the 1800’s the Smithsonian sponsored many expeditions to identify mound sites across America. A map (shown below) was produced by Cyrus Thomas in 1894 in a Bureau of Ethnology book. They found approximately 100,000 mound sites, many with complexes containing 2 to 100 mounds. The figure of 100,000 mounds once existing— based on Cyrus Thomas map revealing 100,000 sites—is often cited by others, but that estimate is far, far too low. After visiting several thousand mounds and reviewing the literature, I am fairly certain that over 1,000,000 mounds once existed and that perhaps 100,000 still exist. Oddly, some new mound sites are discovered each year by archaeological surveys in remote areas. But in truth, a large majority of America’s mounds have been completely destroyed by farming, construction, looting, and deliberate total excavations” – Gregory L. Little, Ed.D., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Mounds & Earthworks, Eagle Wing Books, Inc., Memphis, TN [2009]. This map has been hidden in plain site since 1894, WOW!
Whereas, in Mesoamerica with jungles and ancient buildings hidden by the thick forests we were taught about in school and science, I certainly knew about the enormous pyramid structures in Mesoamerica. These ruins however seem to be more hidden in junglesand dense forests than the ancient cities of the Heartland of the USA. Why do we know so much about these hidden in the jungle buildings?
Heartland vs Mesoamerica
These ancient pyramids of Mesoamerica once found in about 1840, made the explorers so happy to find a new culture. Many in the Church wanted to tie these pyramids to the Lamanites as they thought it would validate the Book of Mormon in the eyes of gentiles. However many historians dated these pyramids at 600 AD to 900 AD long after the Nephites were destroyed as they knew nothing of the Book of Mormon.
Many saints like Benjamin Winchester and William Smith promoted these Mesoamerican pyramids as if they were signs of the Lamanites living in Mesoamerica. Most historians, made a point saying that the Native Americans were not as smart nor as important as their culture of white settlers. The Natives were just called savages was promoted by the Whites which was a huge lie as we have discovered.
Now I realize there are many historians and intellectuals who love the Native Americans as I do, and there are many who love the culture of Mesoamerica and the beautiful ruins of South America. I just believe political correctness is such, that many wonderful so-called Christians, atheists and ornery Americans just think too much of themselves. As I say, truth is hidden and hard to find evil is not, in other words it is easy to follow Satan and not to follow the Savior. In a simplistic way I believe the truth of North America as the Promised Land of the Book of Mormon has been hidden by a false narrative, and the incorrectness of the Mesoamerican setting has been in full display as the way the world should see it. I sincerely believe our wonderful Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith who spoke truth about USA vs Mesoamerica for the correct location of the Book of Mormon, who said the following.
“…This modernistic theory of necessity, in order to be consistent, must place the waters of Ripliancum and the Hill Cumorah some place within the restricted territory of Central America, notwithstanding the teachings of the Church to the contrary for upwards of 100 years. Because of this theory some members of the Church have become confused and greatly disturbed in their faith in the Book of Mormon. It is for this reason thatevidence is here presented to show that it is not only possible that these places could be located as the Church has held during the past century, but that in very deed such is the case… It is known that the Hill Cumorah where the Nephites were destroyed is the hill where the Jaredites were also destroyed. This hill was known to the Jaredites as Ramah. It was approximately near to the waters of Ripliancum, which the Book of Ether says, “by interpretation, is large, or to exceed all… It must be conceded that this description fits perfectly the land of Cumorah in New York, as it has been known since the visitation of Moroni to the Prophet Joseph Smith, for the hill is in the proximity of the Great Lakes and also in the land of many rivers and fountains. Moreover, the Prophet Joseph Smith himself is on record, definitely declaring the present hill called Cumorah to be the exact hill spoken of in the Book of Mormon. Further, the fact that all of his associates from the beginning down have spoken of it as the identical hill where Mormon and Moroni hid the records, must carry some weight.It is difficult for a reasonable person to believe that such men as Oliver Cowdery. Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, David Whitmer, and many others, could speak frequently of the Spot where the Prophet Joseph Smith obtained the plates as the Hill Cumorah, and not be corrected by the Prophet, if that were not the fact. That they did speak of this hill in the days of the Prophet in this definite manner is an established record of history.” Doctrines of Salvation Joseph Fielding Smith Chapter 12 Is this man lying? Is he pretending? Is he misquoted? Is this just an opinion or is it his personal revelation? I have read and studied a lot, but not even close to the amount of time Elder Smith did, but I have to come to the same conclusion as he and Elder Perry I repeat who said, “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon” Elder L. Tom Perry Ensign Dec. 2012
Joseph’s letter to Emma June 2, 1834. Background: Wilford Woodruff shows oversized thigh bone of Zelph he carried in his wagon during Zion’s Camp March. Art by Ken Corbett
The Book of Mormon indeed speaks of the land of the United States of America. Not Russia, not Guatemala, not England, not Canada or Mexico, but the choice land of the United States of America where Adam was placed and the same place the New Jerusalem will be built. I cannot and will not doubt the hundreds (list here) of prophets and apostles that have agreed that the Book of Mormon began in the Heartland. I can’t find one quote where Joseph Smith said the Book of Mormon began in Mesoamerica. Not even the quote in the Times and Seasons found in the Gospel Essay’s, (Linked below) is proven to be Joseph’s words. But the quote in the letter from Joseph to his wife Emma on June 2, 1834 when he said, “a proof of its divine authenticity“, also quoted later, says it all.
Below is from Moroni’s America page 318-9
Here’s Wright’s explanation: [Mark Wright is a strong believer of the Mesoamerican theory]
“Likewise, the “plains of the Nephites” are never mentioned in the Book of Mormon. To be sure, there are “plains” mentioned between the cities Bountiful and Mulek in Alma 52:20, and we read of the “plains of Nephihah” in Alma 62:18, but the general term “plains of the Nephites” is absent from the Book of Mormon. Because there are multiple plains attested to in the text, the general phrase “plains of the Nephites” is too vague to be of any use in pinpointing it geographically. Even among the Jaredites we read of the “plains of Heshlon” (Ether 13:28) and the “plains of Agosh” (Ether 14:15), but significantly, never just “the plains of the Jaredites.” Plains in the text of the Book of Mormon are always attached to a specific city. Those in Joseph’s letter to Emma are not.”
Neville says, “Wright overlooks two obvious points. First, Joseph could have been referring to all of the plains mentioned in the Book of Mormon. After all, he had traversed Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois—a distance of over 650 miles, most of it consisting of plains—by the time he wrote the letter to Emma. Why would he feel compelled to cite specific names from the text, especially when one of the plains Wright himself refers to was not named? Second, Joseph’s mother related how Joseph described the Nephites as if he had lived among them. He could have been aware of additional Nephite plains not specifically named in the Book of Mormon. If so, and if he knew he had just crossed them, one would expect him to describe them as plains, plural, just as he did. In this connection, Wright quotes but avoids addressing the balance of Joseph’s letter, in which Joseph wrote that he spent the time “recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as proof of its divine authenticity.”In Wright’s view, Joseph was recounting the history of Mesoamerica, picking up skulls and bones in Ohio as proof of the divine authenticity of a Mesoamerican record.
Despite these problems applying the hinterlands approach to North America, the hinterlands approach has many promising implications and suggests new avenues for additional research—especially if it is applied in the opposite direction. I propose that the text of the Book of Mormon, considered in light of the historical, geographical, archaeological, and geological evidence, points to Mesoamerica as the hinterlands to the Book of Mormon narrative. Under this approach, the bulk of the narrative, from the land of Nephi to Zarahemla to Cumorah, took place in North America.
In Mormon’s Codex,[ii] John Sorenson proposed using filters to assess any proposed setting. It’s an effective approach, so this chapter applies the filters Sorenson formulated, along with three additional filters based on the text of the Book of Mormon itself. It thus sets aside the Times and Seasons articles and other extra-textual statements to focus on the merits of Mesoamerican theories based on the text of the Book of Mormon and other scriptures.” Moroni’s America Page 318-319
[i] Ibid, p. 118. Wright erroneously claims Joseph’s letter “was actually penned by James Mulholland and then signed by Joseph.” His citation to the Joseph Smith Papers explains that the version of the letter is in Mulholland’s handwriting, but it is found in JS Letterbook 2, which is a book containing copies of Joseph’s correspondence—not the actual correspondence. Mulholland was one of seven scribes who copied material into Letterbook 2. Mulholland was not a participant on Zion’s Camp and could not have written the original letter.
[ii] John L. Sorenson, Mormon’s Codex (Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, UT 2013), pp. 20-21.
We have spoken a lot about DNA Haplogroup X found in the Great Lakes of North America among the Algonquian and Iroquois nations which matches the DNA found in Turkey and Israel. For the past 14 years or more Rod Meldrum has discussed this North American DNA at length.
After many years of study and research I was just made aware of this exciting new information on April 17th, 2024 from Betty Red Ant, who had received the link from a heartlander named Thomas Mitchell.
This research was done in 1998 about additional evidence of Haplogroup X among many other Native American Tribes. I asked Rod about this and he said he had already read about it many years ago. I said, “This is HUGE, why haven’t you told me about this before?” He said, “I don’t know” Well I am going to explain how significant this new awareness is.
Rod Meldrum said, “Having a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and knowing it is true, leaves little doubt that the Book of Mormon is an historical record. Its words are a foundational pillar upon which much of the gospel rests. Its truths are fundamental to our belief in the prophet Joseph Smith and the commencement of the restoration of the gospel. It is not possible that the Book of Mormon could be spiritually true and historically false.
Knowing the book to be spiritually true, its historical account must also be true. Since it is an historical record, then naturally there should be evidences that support it. How are such evidences found? There must be a starting point: a method that begins from a solid foundation of truth upon which to build further understanding that will withstand the tempests and storms of challenge. This DNA section is only one of the many areas of exploration and research that is beginning to unfold the strength of the claims of the Book of Mormon as an historical text.” Rod Meldrum Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA (Download his complete 180 page book in PDF here)
President Hinckley 2002 Olympics DNA Question
Rod continues, “In Winter of 2002, prior to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, a German television reporter had a chance to interview LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley. Previous to this interview, as DNA research was in its infancy, it was shown by DNA results that the people of South and Central America had Asian DNA, not Hebrew. Because of this many in the world were pointing fingers at the Church for lack of evidence of DNA that was Hebrew in Mesoamerica.
Well off course, if the Book of Mormon happened in Mesoamerica, then there would not be any DNA evidence for Hebrew DNA. But the events of the Book of Mormon did happen in North America and there is evidence that Hebrew DNA is present in the Great Lakes area, that is consistent with DNA found in Israel, Turkey and other parts of west Eurasia.
I quote from this interview by the German reporter:
“German Reporter: Now, Mr. President, one of…one question which is a little bit complicated for me to understand, but I heard it and one colleague asked me to ask it. What will be your position when DNA analysis will show that in the history never have been an immigration from Israel to the north…to north America? It could be that the scientists will find out…
President Hinckley: Well, it hasn’t happened. That hasn’t been determined yet. All I can say is that’s speculated. No one really knows the answer to that, not at this point.”
Well, in 2002 DNA had not been determined yet, as the Prophet said. But shortly later we found and continue to find remarkable evidence of Hebrew DNA in North America. The Lord is sharing this wonderful news.”
Below is new awareness of information that was first posted in 1998 about many other Natives Americans whose DNA has Haplogroup X markers like the Hebrews of Israel. This is fascinating! See our blog article here for more information.
Navajo, Sioux, Yakima Haplogroup X- Wow!
On April 18, 2024 I gave a presentation at our Firm Foundation Conference called, “Jaredites Land in America from the Pacific-Ether 2 Explained.” I spoke about the Jaredites landing near Seattle, Washington. I believe there is strong evidence about this you can view my 60 slides and a complete podcast HERE
As I study and now read about the Navajo, Yakima and Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Sioux tribes of Northwest North America I get excited. Could the Haplogroup X be found among the Jaredites as well as from the Lehites?
Remember the Brother of Jared most likely came from a descendance of Shem (the Priesthood Lineage after the flood), then came Eber (Hebrew) who had Abraham in the Old World. Abraham of course was Hebrew as was Joseph and Judah through the lineage of Israel. Lehi was a direct descendant of Manasseh through Joseph. This lineage of both the Jaredites and the Lehites would likely be found many places in the Promised Land of North America. The Lehites beginning in Florida, and the Jaredites beginning in Washington State. Both of their civilizations of course ended at the exact same place, called Ramah by the Jaredites and Cumorah by the Nephites.(Ether 15:11)This DNA evidence has huge possibilities which I am just now exploring.
Now I am finding the Lamanites Haplogroup X found in the Great Lakes (and in Israel) can be linked to Haplogroup X also found on the west coast of North America with the Ojibway, Navajo and Yakima, and with Kennewick man from Kennewick Washington. An admixture of all these tribes is intriguing and a totally new focus for me.
As you read the condensed version of the article below, just ponder about this exciting new information that is being shared today as the Lord says, “pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.” D&C 121:33. This is exciting.
mtDNA Haplogroup X: An Ancient Link between Europe/Western Asia and North America?
“Our analysis confirmed that haplogroup X is present in both modern Native American and European populations. For the Native Americans, this haplogroupencompasses ∼25% of the Ojibwa, 15% of the Sioux, 11%–13% of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, 7% of the Navajo, and 5% of the Yakima . Thus, with the exception (see below) of the Na-Dene–speaking Navajo, the distribution of this haplogroup among the Native Americans appears to be restricted to northern Amerindian populations… Since haplogroup X appears to be a pre-Columbian, founding Native American mtDNA lineage, the question remains: Where did this haplogroup originate? Thus far, haplogroup X has not been detected in numerous Asian/Siberian populations…
Its presence in the Navajo but not in other Na-Dene populations suggests that, in a manner similar to that characterizing some nuclear-gene markers (Schell and Blumberg 1988), the Navajo have acquired haplogroup X through admixture with northern Amerindian populations. This could have occurred during or after the recent migration (1,000 years ago) that brought the ancestors of the Navajo from the Athapaskan homeland (Alaska and western Canada) to the southwestern United States (Haskell 1987). An Amerindian origin of the Navajo haplogroup X mtDNAs is also supported by the fact that the Navajo sequences are very similar, if not identical, to those observed in some Ojibwa (fig. 1). Also, the homogeneity of the Navajo sequences (table 1 and fig. 1) suggests that the Navajo acquired haplogroup X very recently…
Then it is possible that this mtDNA was brought to Beringia/America by the eastward migration of an ancestral Caucasian population, of which no trace has so far been found in the mtDNA gene pool of modern Siberian/eastern Asian populations… Haplogroup X is remarkable in that it has not been found in Asians, including Siberians, suggesting that it may have come to the Americas via a Eurasian migration. ..”
[Editors Note: National Geographic also has a very good article about West Eurasians (Israel) with the same Haplogroup X DNA as the Native Americans near the Great Lakes HERE!
Rod Meldrum takes a deep dive into the Nauvoo property purchased by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from the Community of Christ. We are so thankful to our friends in the Community of Christ for all their hard work and dedication in taking care of these historic sites all these years. See the video below:
Nauvoo Video Gallery of Pictures
Lewistown, Illinois. Dickson Mound Artifacts
East Side Red Brick Store
East Lawn of Red Brick Store. Fence is the Joseph Smith Family Cemetery and Nephite Cemetery
Joseph & Emma Home
Joseph & Emma Home in Nauvoo, Illinois April of 1839
Rod at Steps of Red Brick Store Searching with I Dig Nauvoo Team
With Paul Debart from Community of Christ
Community of Christ downstairs of the Red Brick Store piecing together old pottery
Nauvoo Plat Map
Nauvoo Map with Tumuli (Mounds)
Beautiful Nauvoo Temple
Temple View Looking West
Looking North West
Curlee Property Mound
Curlee Mound next to their home in Nauvoo
Illinois Map. There are over 160,000 Mounds in Illinois
The rest of this comprehensive blog shares many things about Nauvoo, the Mounds, and Church History that most of you have never heard.
Sacred Mounds of Nauvoo Quotes
“Mormonism sprang from the mounds,”wrote Roger Kennedy, former director of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
“In the early 1970’s, when they were re-building Joseph’s Red Brick Store, while digging a trench for spot light wiring, they hit some artifacts, which resulted in calling in the archaeologists who then unearthed more artifacts and bones, all carbon dated to the Hopewell civilization of at least 2000 years ago..”Lachlan McKay quoted by Wilson Curlee
“Joseph Smith, his wife Emma, his brother Hyrum and his parents are buried in a Hopewell burial site.” Jonathan Neville
“We learned later that there were ten main mounds that were recognized by the State of Illinois as ancient burials.” Jenny Curlee
“The Mounds, for their part are “steadfast and immovable”, and always greet us with a tender spirit each time we spend time in their presence, which is almost daily from Spring until Fall. To us, and many others, it feels very much like being in the Sacred Grove.”Jenny Curlee
“No other Land fits all the prophecies. And the Book of Mormon happened right here in United States of America. I bear such a powerful testimony of that, and the evidence is all around us.”Jenny Curlee
He [Wayne May] took in everything I told him about the recent information we learned from Lach regarding the burial sites around the Red Brick Store, the tumuli on the old map [Pictured Below] and about us buying some mounds, with enthusiasm. He said, “I’m coming down in a couple of weeks, and we will have some fun!” Jenny Curlee
THREE SPECIFIC MOUNDS FIGURE PROMINENTLY IN LDS HISTORY
Zion’s Camp March May 5th to July 3rd, 1834 Nauvoo Mounds Now Enter Current History
“Mormonism sprang from the mounds,” wrote Roger Kennedy, former director of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Even before the Book of Mormon was published, Mormonism was linked to the Moundbuilder civilizations of North America. One man who claimed to have heard a reading of the lost 116 pages said “It was a description of the mounds about the country and similar to the Book of Mormon. In 1843, Joseph Smith apparently alluded to the 116 pages when he said the Book of Mormon spoke about sacred burial places. Several authors have placed the Book of Mormon among other 19th century books about the origins of the Moundbuilders. At one time, there were over a million ancient earth mounds in North America; approximately 100,000 remain today. Many of these mounds are located in the territory from western New York through western Missouri where early Mormon history took place. Three specific mounds figure prominently in LDS history: Zelph’s mound in Illinois, the Kinderhook mound, also in Illinois, from which the six brass plates were taken, and Enon mound in Ohio. Until the early Saints leveled them to build homes and farms, Indian mounds dominated Nauvoo. Joseph Smith purchased one and resorted to it from time to time. Less well known are the mounds located just north of Nauvoo that have recently been discovered and preserved. The connections between Mormonism and the mounds of North America have yet to be fully explored. …The increasing awareness of the numerous Hopewell mounds in the Nauvoo area may give renewed attention to the connection between Mormons and the mounds. When workers dug a utility trench between the Red Brick Store and the Joseph Smith Homestead, the equipment churned up Hopewell bones and artifacts. This area is adjacent to the Smith Family Cemetery, leading to the possibility that Joseph Smith, his wife Emma, his brother Hyrum and his parents are buried in a Hopewell burial site.”The Mormons and the Mounds – Jonathan Neville Mormon History Association June 2017.
[Read more about Joseph’s burial mound from Jennice Curlee below]
LIVING AMONG THE MOUNDS
Ten Years of Care-taking sacred Nephite/Hopewell Mounds
Life had a way of helping us discover answers to questions we didn’t know we were supposed to ask. Some people call this serendipity, or a fortunate accident. Our plans can get broken midstream by something unexpected, but if we look at it with an open mind and heart, it is really what we were meant to do all along. Sometimes we resist and sometimes we are just half-heated, but then if we allow ourselves to accept the change, we will not want to turn back. Does this mighty change happen in days, months or years? In my case, it happened almost instantly. This change can be spiritual, physical, mental or emotional, or it can be all combined into one. In this case, it was the latter. Our new relationship required a total commitment, as well as rearranging our retirement finances and dedication to long days of physical labor. Whatever could cause such a shift in mere hours to change our lives so totally? We had met the MOUND BUILDER CULTURE of NORTH AMERICA. Specifically a group of mounds outside of Nauvoo, Illinois, and it was love at first sight!
Beginning in 1998, Wilson and I had felt a gravitational pull to Nauvoo from our home in Helena, Montana, and began making yearly trips there, usually in conjunction to see family in other states. Without having a concrete plan, we decided in 2005 to buy a small second home in Navuoo for retirement in a few years, and in the meantime, a place to spend our summers. And so it came to be that in 2009 when we retired and semi-relocated to Nauvoo that we were introduced to Heartland Model of the Book of Mormon geography. We were invited to a small gathering of people to hear a presentation about the possibility of the ancient city of Zarahemla having been located across the Mississippi from Nauvoo, near Montrose, Iowa, with the Mississippi River being the River Sidon. It was as if that night I began wearing a new pair of glasses. My view was broadened, clarified and in focus. I felt the hand of the Lord was in this, much like when I learned about the True Gospel taught by the Missionaries when I was 19 years old in Billings, Montana. At that time it was less than 12 hours later that I gained a testimony that the Gospel had been restored to the earth in these last days.
After hearing the presentation that summer night, I went home with my head spinning. As I was getting ready for bed, I had many thoughts about the years I had spent reading about Mesoamerica supposedly being where the Book of Mormon happened, although I never doubted that there was just one Hill Cumorah. I was sort of muttering to myself and to God at the same time, saying that I didn’t like this feeling of my “head being messed with”. Then very quickly and emphatically a voice came into my mind saying “You were always into archaeology and history, and wanted to go to Central America, but I put you in the MIDDLE of it here!!”. From the bathroom I called out to Wilson, “It’s True”! Once the Spirit answers, the discussion is over. It was the same voice that spoke when I knew the Restored Gospel was true. Was this the main reason we felt pulled to move to Nauvoo after all? Since that night it has been one roller-coaster ride after another. I have been writing significant things down as they happened, and then at the end of each fall I have typed them up to make a ruining log of the year’s events. If I had not actually lived it, I would think I was writing a novel made up out of my own imagination. That eventful summer ended with sharing this new information with like-minded friends and family; buying books and videos on the subject, and looking forward to the next summer when we would once again immerse ourselves in the spirit of Navuoo, and see more of what the Midwest and the Nauvoo area would reveal regarding Book of Mormon evidence.
The next summer, on July 9, 2010, we were walking through the woods outside Nauvoo with our son and his wife. Joseph and Emily Abercrombie and children were visiting us from Idaho. Joe had heard about some mounds located outside of Nauvoo, and wanted us all to see them. Our friend Cal, a long-time resident knew of them and initially took Joe and Wilson up to a bluff where they were, even though it was raining and they could only walk in through the unimproved dirt trail. A few days later when the sun partially dried the trail, Emily and I went back with Wilson and Joe. That is a day and a moment that is frozen in time for me. As we walked into the dense, shaded and still humid woods, tears welled up in my eyes and the first words out of my mouth were “I need to take care of these”. Those words came from somewhere deep inside of me, a spiritual place that even I was not expecting. I knew at that moment, without being to able to explain it, that we were called to be there at that time of life.
These woods and mounds were definitely in very sad shape with overgrown vegetation and downed trees by the hundreds, many laying across the mounds themselves in haphazard fashion, making it difficult to see the mounds themselves. We learned later that there were ten main mounds that were recognized by the State of Illinois as ancient burials. At that time we did not even know who owned the land or if it could be considered for sale, which was a moot point anyway because we did not have enough money for such an undertaking.. Nevertheless, I knew instantly that we were to pursue such a course. On the surface it really sounded insane because we were both 67 years old, on a fixed income, and had our main year-around home still in Montana. But because of the powerful urge to take care of these mounds, we decided to turn our life upside down just as we were retiring, to answer the siren call of a “supposed serendipitous” encounter. I felt it was much deeper, it was God calling us.
Our kids had to leave the next day (Saturday) for Idaho, but they encouraged us in our intentions to pursue this calling. We asked around and were told that an acquaintance owned the property, so I spoke to her at church Sunday and thanked her for allowing up to go up on that property. She told us that there were 70 more acres connected to what we had seen, and all of it was for sale, but the very land we were interested in (about 25 acres) had all been subdivided into building lots many years before, therefore each lot (many with mounds on them) was to be priced separately according to its size. Supposedly a hunter and his family were already interested in one chunk of 70 acres for a lower price, but there was still room for negotiation on the platted lots. The plan was for her to build homes on each of these lots once they were sold (not our intent). We immediately began to make plans for what we thought was within range of our financial possibility. We later learned that she was the partner of the owner who was an investor who lived in Las Vegas. She was actually the builder. A few days later when we finally reached him by phone, we learned the price of the individual lots kept changing and going up each time we thought we had settled on the few lots we might buy. One of the lots was owned by the man who did the original surveying back in the mid 1970’s. After going to the courthouse to find the man, we learned his widow now lived in Texas with married children. We were able to locate her and purchase that first lot in August, 2010. It had two large mounds on it and we named it “The Homestead” appropriately. By late October we were able to arrange financing to buy 3 more lots that were connected to the Homestead, so now we had a total of 4 of the possible 23 lots for sale. As it was, the owner had raised enough money by selling those lots, and the 70 acres across the creek to meet his immediate need to pay off some debts after the housing crash of 2008, and he decided he could now wait until the housing market improved. So it looked like we were at a dead end.
But as you read on, you will see how God’s plans are not necessarily what we see from our vantage point. We could not imagine early in this experience how God would go about fulfilling his will through ordinary people like us, as instruments in His hands as he worked his wondrous ways.
Before we even had the paperwork finished on the first of the lots (1 ¾ acre), I received another of those unexpected, yet powerful directives from the Lord, that we were to “protect the whole hill”. That Heavenly charge laid the foundation for everything else that happened between 2010 to current (2019).
Now something greater than ourselves and of our primary goal was in store. Instead of just being able to clean up a few acres of woods so people could come and enjoy the peace and serenity, a whole new story was being written. Within just a few short months, we went from being jubilant that we could save a few mounds, to being overwhelmed at what God was asking of us. We were willing to obey, “line upon line, precept upon precept”, and I suspect the learning and discovering is still not over.
Little by little, over the course of the next few years, we were able to buy 16 lots or about 20 acres just North of Nauvoo about 2 miles, in order to care-take not just 10 large mounds, but literally dozens of burials that were discovered as the woods were cleaned up, in order to save them from a planned housing development. That simple statement is laced with years of intense planning, reshuffling finances, selling our home, trying to interest others to help us secure the property, misinformation as to who owned what, and what it would take to buy it. Misunderstandings, lots of intrigue as to who was to blame and “who did it”, fighting with loggers, working with country and state officials, getting cemetery status, defeatist thinking that all was lost many times, arranging for loads of dirt and gravel, opening up spaces for parking, taking down dead trees, cutting and stacking firewood walking with a spray canister for hours up hill and down killing noxious weeds, getting Poison Ivy, insect bites, slivers and thorns in spite of long sleeves and gloves, intense heat and long hours between meals with aching backs and feet. And I might add, just the two of us for the most part, with blessed periodic summer help from kids and grand-kids when they could make the trip from the west for a week or two. But it has all been so worth it, and we count ourselves most blessed, although there have been trials.
We have a solid relationship with the Mounds. With all good relationships we stay true to the knowledge we have been given, stay committed and open-minded, and get up and go to work whether we feel like it or not. And like other relationships, the love, devotion, hurts and thrills keep growing, and we know we are in it for the long haul. Our prayers every day, as with all good causes are “God, please help us to make it better” The Mounds, for their part are “steadfast and immovable”, and always greet us with a tender spirit each time we spend time in their presence, which is almost daily from Spring until Fall. To us, and many others, it feels very much like being in the Sacred Grove, and we try hard to keep the area feeling pristine and away from the world so that others can come and feel that same peace. With any relationship, there are so many payoffs. The months and years have gone by like a dream, with many rich friendships of like-minded people, Native American Ceremonies, uplifting church meetings, weekly temple attendance, new archaeology discoveries and for the most part, beautiful weather, and the ever-present spirit of Nauvoo.
As time went on, we were able to break through barriers of all manner. We realized with acuteness that we were particularly suited to this calling and God had been grooming us through the years to answer this very call. I could think of no one else who loved the outdoors and the almost torturous work it required, any more than me, and Wilson is not far behind in that passion. I have been almost driven through the years on many other projects where we invested ourselves in bringing life back to the outside as well as the inside or older homes. I had joked with my family that the reason I was sent to earth (other than to raise our family) was to destroy/pull weeds, and to beautify the earth. I can spot a noxious weed from a distance, and seem to know what is out of place. One day a few years ago I had an epiphany that “weeding” was not a joke. With my love of history, especially of the Church and the Book of Mormon, old things and beautifying the earth, it is no mistake that this was/is my calling.
We finally sold our Nauvoo home in 2013 after three years of trying, and we are in awe at how the timing worked out for us to pay off the 2nd mortgage we took out so we could offer on the rest of the lots we felt we should secure. That timing was far better than what we had planned and were able to buy the modular home on the river that backed up to the mounds hill. What happened and will be written about was a culminating event, but since then even more has been revealed, and I suspect the Lord still has more surprises in store since the directive in 2010 was “protect the whole hill”. As this story unfolds, our hope is that the reader senses the awe and wonder that God is so mindful of all of us, and he is sending his “love letters” to us in these last days, if we ask with faith, nothing wavering and endure to the end. He wants to show us what has been hidden, it is time. This hill and the whole area around it are sacred places for reasons that will be shown in this story. Our part is not over until we have shared it with you, those of us who are searching, know that God will reveal these sacred places to us in His time if we stay humble and teachable, for that is what He is asking of us, to be humble, submissive and open. Those who want to contend with each other will have their hearts closed.
As a sneak preview, I will tell you that in October 2010, we had the enjoyable experience of our first meeting with the Editor and Publisher of “Ancient American Magazine”, who came to Nauvoo to spend a few days with us. During this time we explored the “Hopewell” burials that are on the property owned by the Community of Christ, notably those in the area of the Red Brick Store, and the Smith Cemetery, along with the 20 or more mounds that once existed within the town of Nauvoo, going north along Partridge St., back when the early Saints were here. We also had an adventure exploring across the river near Montrose, Iowa, searching for evidence of the ancient city of Zarahemla. As the discoveries and sacred places are revealed, my goal in writing at this time is to lift all of our testimonies of the Book of Mormon to a higher, holier ground, to show that God really does want us to know where it happened. We are all inspired when we walk where the Prophet Joseph and early members of the Church lived. The Church expends much effort and money to improve these sites for the “Strengthening of the Saints”. We all long to walk where the Savior, Jesus Christ walked and gave His life for us, and so we dream about a trip to the Holy Land. Likewise, it is not necessary to know where the Book of Mormon happened in order to know that it is true, but because of the Love our Heavenly Father has for us, He knows how thrilling it would be for us to walk where the Prophets and Christ walked here in America. Experience through our eyes and my writing, the things that are right before us, waiting the right time to be shared and rejoiced in. This really is the Promised Land, it is the Land of the New Jerusalem, the land of Liberty where the Gospel was restored and where our founding fathers fought and died for us and for this land to be free so the church would be restored and taken to the world. No other Land fits all the prophecies. And the Book of Mormon happened right here in United States of America. I bear such a powerful testimony of that, and the evidence is all around us.
Proposed Book of Mormon Sites by Jenny & Wilson Curlee
Jennice and Wilson Curlee Caretakers of the Sacred Nauvoo Mounds
“The days that Sister Sandie was with us were filled with a variety of activities around Nauvoo, but mostly were centered on the mounds. One afternoon Wilson stayed home with the two dogs while Sandie and I went to the Community of Christ tour of the Joseph Smith home and Mansion House. While we were standing outside of the “Homestead” house next to the fence that enclosed the Smith family cemetery, the guide was saying that this was not the first time that the cemetery had been used as a burial ground; that many years before it was an Indian Burial Ground. Both of us looked at each other signaling what we had just picked up on. Later, having left the tour early, because Sandie said she had something on her mind, she told me that at the moment that the guide said that about it being an ancient burial ground, she heard a soft whisper saying “You’ve got to find us”. This certainly did add another dimension to our searching for answers. Either that afternoon or the next day I took her over to Susan’s house for introductions. As soon as Susan saw Sandie she said she had the vibrations that Sandie was “a Grandmother”, meaning in the Native American sense, as Susan also is one. They felt like kindred spirits. We talked about numerous things, as well as what had just happened at the Smith family cemetery. Sandie showed her the carved rock that she found in a field in North Dakota many years ago, and which she always carries with her. It was undoubtedly an anciently carved rock. We all bonded in a special way. On Saturday the 18th we took her back to St. Louis to the airport to return to Colorado Springs. We hope she can return next summer or fall. It was on one of these afternoons that Emma, my cat was killed by a car by our house, and as hard as it was on me, Sandie, Wilson and Susan’s company helped. It is hard to explain many shared memories, I just skim over it.
On Monday morning, Sept 20, 2010, Wilson [Curlee] took a bike ride around Nauvoo, which he often does before I am even fully awake. This time he rode over to the Community of Christ visitor’s center to ask Lach [*Lachlan McKay. See profile in blue text below], the director, where this one particular guide got her information about it being a burial ground for ancient American Indians. He shared with Wilson how in the early 1970’s, when they were re-building Joseph’s Red Brick Store, while digging a trench for spot light wiring, they hit some artifacts, which resulted in calling in the archaeologists who then unearthed more artifacts and bones, all carbon dated to the Hopewell civilization of at least 2000 years ago.. He also said the 1840’s map of Nauvoo has the legend showing ancient “tumuli” [Map Below] within the city of Nauvoo at that time. When Wilson got home he shared this information with me, and you would know for a certainty that I went right over to talk to Lach myself and to buy a copy of that map!! We talked for about an hour and he brought out two binders that were given to them from the University of Missouri that detailed the dig, sketching out the artifacts. He said most of the artifacts were still with the university, but that they held a real treasure in their vault, which was a Cardinal Platform Pipe, which was dated to middle woodland, or Hopewell era (100 BC to 400AD). He said the bones were sent off to the Archaeology museum in Kampsville, which is a very small village on the Illinois River, not far from Zelph’s mound. I found out by researching it that there are major archaeology digs around that area because of the high density of ancient mounds on the Illinois River, so Kampsville is a summer training place for students and they have a nice little museum there. So the very next day Wilson and I drove to Kampsville, enjoyed the trip and the museum, but they said “no, any bones would have been sent to the Chicago or the Springfield museum”. Now, many months later, we have talked to other archaeologistswho say that those bones have been re-interred in Nauvoo.
*Lachlan Mackay is a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles, for the Community of Christ Church assigned to the Northeast USA Mission Field. He also serves as Historic Sites director and Church History and Sacred Story Ministries Team lead.
A native of Independence, Missouri, Lach received a bachelor of arts in economics and Russian arts studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is active in the John Whitmer Historical Association; the Mormon History Association; and the Nauvoo, Illinois, Chamber of Commerce.
He co-authored A Time of Transition: The Kirtland Temple, 1838–1880. He was the winner of the John Whitmer Historical Association’s Best Article award for 1999. He also has published articles in Mormon Historical Studies, The Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History, The Journal of Mormon History, and Religion in Ohio: Profiles of Faith Communities.
Community of Christ has 250,000 members in more than 60 nations. The church’s mission is to “proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace.” Community of Christ International Headquarters is located in Independence, Missouri.
Jennice Curlee continues, “I shared all of this information with Susan and Sandie and also Joe and Emily. In turn, Joe had filled Alan and Jane in on everything that was going on, so little by little our support network was growing. By now we had talked to Jared and James about it as well, and feel they are with us. Susan felt sure that we should call Wayne May and tell him of the new discoveries and that we had bought some of the mounds on the hill. Wayne is the Editor/Publisher of “Ancient American Magazine”. He had been here in the spring, and that is when Susan had met him, and had been up on the hill to see the mounds himself. He has been doing his own discoveries and seminars for most of his adult life. He is a convert to the church (as a young adult) and lives in Wisconsin. He was on hand to see a mound excavated when 7 years old, and was hooked. He has a gift for discerning the truth about who the Hopewell Indians were, long before he was a member. He says he has somehow always known it and it surprises him that other did not see and understand what he has naturally known. He writes books and compiles information for the rest of us to enjoy. He puts on wonderful lectures. Much of what was presented at Book of Mormon evidence conferences at that early date came from Wayne. When I called him to introduce myself, he was so down to earth and genuine that I was very comfortable talking to him. He [Wayne] took in everything I told him about the recent information we learned from Lach regarding the burial sites around the Red Brick Store, the tumuli on the old map [Pictured Below] and about us buying some mounds, with enthusiasm. He said, “I’m coming down in a couple of weeks, and we will have some fun!”
When I shared all this with Joe by phone, he got on the computer and while we were talking he pulled up a copy of the Nauvoo 1840’s Map and enlarged it to see the “tumuli”[Map Above] He also googled articles on the church and ancient mounds during the early saints time here, and had them forwarded to me in just a few minutes. Wow! Such great information. We live in such times that communication is instant! We then bought a second map for Joe, but had to wait until December to take it to him, as it is big. Wilson counted the “tumuli” on the map and then drew them on a “tourist’s map” of Nauvoo. [Map Below]
That map was made from a copy of the old map, and if looked at closely you could see the mounds drawn in the background of the copy. So he used that to draw them in and counted 20 of them, beginning at the corner of Mulholland and Partridge St., and running north to Carlos Street. They of course, are no longer there, and are covered up by the pavement and even the parking lot of the Church’s Visitor Center! Mystery! When/who took down the mounds? Again Joe did some research and sent us a page from the biography of Parley P. Pratt, which quotes him saying that upon his return from his 3 year mission in England, Nauvoo had changed dramatically, and the “hills had been leveled”. Obviously to make room in the growing city to house more of the Saints moving there.
With the beautiful Month of October upon us, on Oct 6-9th, we took a side trip on our way to Dubuque, Iowa to see Vaughn, Christine and grandkids. We drove up the Illinois side of the Mississippi to see mound sites in Albany (pretty little river town) and in East Dubuque at Gramercy Park. While visiting with V & C, we went to “Mines of Spain” park which was very interesting, and which history I had never known before. There were also mounds there, but they were a mile hike off the road, so we didn’t see them. Then when we left we drove down the Iowa side of the river and went off the main road to see the Toolesboro mound site [Map Below] and there they told about some little known about and not very accessible mounds (56) known as the Malchow mounds. They are outside a very little town just north of Burlington (30 miles from Nauvoo). It was almost dark when we got there, and they were located up a very steep trail. At the top of the bluff was tall grass with no paths, but you could see them along the ridge. We plan to go back there in the summer and spend more time. But it was a lovely and well spent trip all around.
We were able to buy more lots that adjoined our original purchase yet that fall. On October 14, we signed the papers to buy three adjoining lots, one beside and two in back of our first lot, the Homestead, but we had no immediate hope of buying more. In two days we would be learning so much more, with more to rejoice over. I think the Lord knew we needed to pause and regroup to get a new perspective, but the year had already brought us more than we ever dreamed of when we first asked.” Jennice Curlee Nauvoo Mounds Owner
Indian mounds near Nauvoo are believed to be battle burial sites
By Mississippi Valley Publishing Alan Moberly Jun 3, 2019
Native Americans lived in the Nauvoo area for centuries. Illinois resident and American researcher and writer Janice K. Patterchak writes that from 10,000 BC to 8,000 BC, Paleo peoples roamed this area, briefly occupying small camps in coniferous forests and subsisting on large game and wild plants.
From 8,000 BC to 500 BC, archaic period peoples inhabited deciduous forests in small groups, hunted deer and small game, wove baskets, and ground seeds with stones. More recently, from 500 BC to 900 AD, she writes that woodland culture “Indians” developed maize agriculture, built villages and burial mounds, invented the bow and arrow for hunting, and began making pottery.
Some things these woodland culture people left behind are the Hopewell Burial Mounds. These mounds are part of the Hopewell culture which flourished from around 550BC to 400AD.
These mounds were first discovered in Ohio during the early 1800s on land owned by a Mr. Hopewell. The mounds that he found were the first to be excavated publicly by “archeologists” who documented their findings.
Early settlers in our country found mounds all over the East and Midwest, and often took them down for farming purposes.
Today mounds are found between the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Missouri River.
These mounds were built by the Woodland Culture people, who were part of the ancestors of today’s Native Americans.
Just like the ancient pyramids of Egypt or Peru, Hopewell mounds are in existence and visible along the Mississippi River just north of Nauvoo.
In 2005 Wilson and Jenny Curlee came to Nauvoo to purchase property so they could spend their retirement years in Nauvoo. They discovered Hopewell mounds near their property on Sycamore Haven Road.
Jenny Curlee was awed and told her husband Wilson, “I gotta take care of these!”
During the next few years, the Curlees purchased the adjoining property that contained some of the mounds. Since purchasing the land, the Curlees have worked hard to clear out brush and dead trees.
A local Boy Scout chose to help with the effort as his Eagle Scout Project. Many people, as well as representatives of the Standing Bear Council, came to assist.
A state archaeologist came to Nauvoo, identified the mounds as Hopewell Indian burial sites and placed protective archaeological signs around them.
According to Jenny Curlee the State of Illinois had certified the largest mounds back in the 1970s, but since they were on private property they did not have any other contact through the years, and they were not kept up or taken care of until the Curlees purchased the land and called the State ourselves to come and oversee how they were protecting them.
The State of Illinois then gave the Curlees official signs/markers to place throughout the area. They also helped them to apply for “cemetery status” so that the mounds would be further protected and exempt from real estate taxes.
The mounds are like “grave stone markers” that we use today. Hopewell people build mounds over their dead. It was a sacred place for them.
The Curlees continue to treat the mounds that way and hope to preserve this site for the future. Visitors are welcome to walk through the land and see the mounds located about 2 miles north of Nauvoo on Sycamore Haven Drive. Source:
Why Do Nauvoo’s Historic Burial Mounds Matter?
Meridian Magazine By Rosemary G. Palmer · June 9, 2013
On Memorial Day, which we recently observed, we honor those who died while serving in the U.S. military, and we often remember our own family members by visiting cemeteries and placing flowers on their graves. “The place where a man is buried is sacred to me,” the Prophet Joseph Smith said. Each cemetery forms a chapter in the history of our human past. What about burial sites from many years ago which have no visible markers and are hidden from view?
Centuries ago, the Hopewell culture flourished in central and eastern North America. Hopewell people lived and farmed along the Mississippi River, and many chose bluffs along the river to build earthen mounds to bury their dead. A group of these mounds is located along the Mississippi River north of Nauvoo. Some 40 years ago, many of the mounds were attacked by looters seeking artifacts. Later, the area became neglected, and brush, brambles, and dead trees concealed these burial spots.
Wilson Curlee in brush hiding a mound
Then, a few years ago Wilson and Jennice (Jenny) Curlee moved to Nauvoo and discovered the mounds. When they first walked into the area, “it was an overwhelming moment,” Jenny Curlee said. She felt they had stepped on sacred ground. “The first thing out of my mouth besides Wow’ was “I wish I could take care of them.” During the next few years, the Curlees purchased property that contained some of the mounds. “One is struck by the serenity and spirituality this place evokes,” Jenny Curlee said. “It is like being in another time and place.”
Jenny and Wilson felt compelled to preserve this chapter of the Hopewellian past by keeping the area pristine and making it a retreat for visitors who appreciate nature, tranquility, and those who lived and had been forgotten. Since purchasing the land, the Curlees have spent hours clearing out brush and dead trees. The prospect of restoring the mounds seemed overwhelming–until they met Joseph Petersen, a young man from Nauvoo looking for an Eagle Scout service project.
Joseph and the Curlees’ make plans
Eagle Project Proposal
Carrie Petersen, Joseph’s mother, said that Joseph’s journey began last fall when the former owner of the land mentioned to Joseph’s father the possibility of an Eagle Scout project. Joseph’s father suggested this to Joseph who contacted the Curlees and they agreed. “Throughout the years these sacred grounds have been pillaged and vandalized,” Joseph wrote in his project proposal. “To honor the deceased,” Joseph chose to restore several mounds to their original appearance by refilling them with dirt. He noted that the beneficiaries of this project would be Native Americans of the Standing Bear Council as well as the local and surrounding communities when the area becomes a public archaeological park.
Mound to be restored Tom Simpson Photo
Preparation for the Project
Before Joseph could submit his proposal to the Boy Scouts of America, the local Native American Council representatives needed to approve the project. A meeting was organized; and on October 26, 2012, the Curlees, several Native American Grandfathers and Grandmothers, Joseph’s family, and other guests met at the mounds site to join in a healing ceremony to restore harmony and balance to the land and mounds before Joseph began the restoration project.
Preparing for healing ceremony
During the last fall and winter, Native American men tutored Joseph and gave him instructions to complete his project. “In following these instructions, Joseph learned more about an ancient culture and was brought into a fellowship of something he had only heard about,” Jenny Curlee said.
In addition, Joseph needed to receive permission from the State of Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and Dawn Cobb, Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act Coordinator of the same agency. According to Dawn Cobb, “this Act protects from disturbance all graves, grave markers, and grave artifacts that are over 100 years old and not located in a registered cemetery.” Prehistoric burial mounds are both a cemetery and a grave marker, and the mounds on the Curlee’s property met the criteria.
The Day of the Project
At 10:00 a.m. on Easter weekend March 30, 2013, approximately 33 people met on the bluff near the mounds to assist Joseph Petersen with his Eagle project. Carrie Petersen “was in awe to see everyone who came and gave up their holiday Saturday morning to help.”
Tom Simpson Photography
With a cloudy sky and forecast of rain, “many prayers went up for us to accomplish the project before it rained, and that was exactly what happened,” Jenny Curlee said. “Wilson and I were the last ones off the hill when it started to rain.”
Ceremonial Protocol
Observing Native American protocol, the participants gathered in a circle for an opening ceremony and instructions before entering the project site. Susan Stanton of the Turtle Island Council and Monica Thompson of the Hummingbird Council drummed and led the group in the Cherokee morning song, a lyrical prayer which greets the new day with gratitude to the Creator.
Larry Cooper of the Standing Bear Council told of his personal history around Nauvoo and the many years he visited this mound group and hundreds more in the Mississippi River vicinity.
He honored Joseph and offered a prayer. Others in the circle spoke, and Joseph gave instructions. Jenny Curlee told the volunteers “not be surprised at what they might feel or learn, but be aware that they will have an experience meant just for them.”
Sage smudging before entering the site Tom Simpson Photo
Later, Carrie Petersen shared her impressions and said, “This has been no ordinary Eagle Scout project. From the beginning of the customary healing ritual after everyone was smudged with sage to cleanse came a peculiar and powerful spirit that was unexpected. We came to a revived awareness that the desire to restore and preserve Native American history and culture is similar to ours as members of the LDS Church. We feel a connection with those who once lived where we now live.”
Restoration of Two Mounds
Dawn Cobb from Springfield, Illinois, identified many mounds on the Curlee’s property “and nearly all of them were damaged decades ago when someone dug into the tops of them, most likely in search of prehistoric artifacts. Joseph Peterson’s Eagle project began the process of repairing damage to two of the mounds.”
Joseph and Scouts fill buckets Tom Simpson Photo
On the day of the project, the previous owners of the property used their heavy equipment to haul dirt to a location where volunteers could access it with wheelbarrows and buckets and carry it to the mounds. Joseph’s Native American tutors requested that the mounds be filled in by hand as they had originally been built. Joseph honored the tradition. Although he planned to repair several mounds that day, Joseph discovered how long it took to finish the first mound. Time would only permit the restoration of two mounds following these steps:
Rake the mounds of leaves before placing ground fabric on the mounds.
Lay the ground fabric according to state law to separate existing dirt from new dirt on the mounds.
Fill the mounds with dirt using shovels, buckets, and wheelbarrows.
Clear the area of tools and materials.
After the opening ceremony and smudging with sage, the volunteers headed to the project site. “We had to carry our tools, rakes, shovels, buckets, and wheelbarrows along the sides of the road, walking in the leaves because of the muddy ground from the recent snow melt and torn-up road,” Jenny Curlee said. “No one seemed to mind the mud or the chill as they focused on the higher reason they had come together. There was an air of excitement, of oneness of purpose and fellowship.”
Walking on muddy ground to the site Tom Simpson Photo
When the group reached the project site, volunteers first raked leaves off the mounds. Then Dawn Cobb taught them “how to install landscape fabric in the holes before backfilling them with clean fill.” She explained that “landscape fabric covers the old disturbance (the looter’s pit) as a visible separation between the mound and the new fill.”
After the fabric was in place, boys and men filled buckets with dirt and carried them up the sides of the mound to dump the dirt. “The teamwork was awe-inspiring,” Jenny Curlee said. “Dawn Cobb urged them to fill in just a little more here or a little more there.”
Putting dirt on the mound Tom Simpson Photo
At noon the volunteers took a lunch break with homemade chili, cookies, and Indian fry bread. After lunch they finished the first mound and started on the second one. When it was time to leave, the second mound still needed dirt to round the top, and the Curlees offered to finish it during the week. “No doubt all who picked up their shovels and other tools and buckets walked more slowly down the lane than when they came in,” Jenny Curlee said. “Tonight there will be aching backs and knees and probably deep sleep, but peace of mind and a sense of accomplishment.”
In Joseph’s final report he expressed gratitude that “everyone was willing to help. They were dressed properly, brought tools, and worked until the end of the project even though it was a holiday weekend.”
The Project’s Impact
What impact did this Eagle Scout project have on its participants?
Dawn Cobb from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency said, “Joseph Peterson’s Eagle project has a greater depth of meaning because a variety of groups were interested in helping him succeed. Everyone had the same goal – to repair the damage and to right a wrong. His project began the healing process that these mounds and the community needed. I hope that other Scouts look to this project as an example of a community working together towards a positive goal.”
Eagle project volunteers Tom Simpson Photo
Joseph’s mother observed that “Scouts from Troop 110 learned something by the service they gave and hopefully will continue to reverence that place.” She reported that even though Joseph is normally shy, he always has been service-oriented. “This experience will continue to shape the way he views himself and his ability to accomplish something extraordinary.”
Jenny Curlee noticed that “Joseph’s face almost radiated, and he looked and acted like a leader. He seemed to have grown up since we first met him last fall at the onset of the Eagle project.” She added, “As for us, we felt the Spirit radiate through the trees, on the mounds, in the faces of all who came and shared. Many remarked to us how they felt something they had not known they would feel. It was far more than an Eagle Scout project; it was service to each other, to those who built these original mounds, and to God.”
As stewards of the land, the Curlees plan to repair other mounds. One they recently restored is “turnaround mound.” “And for the first time we can walk right up to it, and it is clean and visible,” Jenny said. “Before, it was covered with brambles, honeysuckle, and dead trees. Also the trail by the children’s mound’ is almost cleaned out and looking good.” After a wet Nauvoo spring, visitors to the site were amazed to see beautiful ferns growing prolifically on the tops of mounds and no other place in the area.
Mound with ferns growing on it
Besides restoring mounds on their property, the Curlees hoped to preserve the burial sites in the future. Before Joseph began his Eagle Scout project, Dawn Cobb and a state archaeologist came to Nauvoo, identified mounds, and placed protected archaeological signs by some of them. The Curlees also requested cemetery designation, and a week after the Eagle project, the State of Illinois granted the property cemetery designation.
President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Each of us has a small field to cultivate. While so doing, we must never lose sight of the greater picture . . . Weave beautifully your small thread in the grand tapestry, the pattern for which was laid out for us by the God of Heaven.” (Ensign, Nov. 1989)
Thanks to the Curlees’ and Joseph Petersen’s small threads, Nauvoo’s diverse history is expanding for visitors to learn more about Nauvoo’s historic past. By keeping this area pristine, individuals and families can roam through the trees, appreciate nature, and contemplate the lives and history of those who built the earthen mounds and were forgotten but can be remembered again. Source:
“Rods, Staffs & Sticks”