We know the Garden of Eden was in Missouri and the New Jerusalem will be in the same area. The Land of Adam in Missouri area was the original cradle of civilization, then Mesopotamia was the land of Abraham and Judah, and the now the Land of Joseph in back in America. Today is the gathering of Israel to be reunited (Joseph and Judah) at the New Jerusalem in Missouri once again. The first is the last and the last is first.
This statement above makes sense when we speak of a Nephitish Altar in the Missouri area, as we know the Nephites were a combination of Joseph and Judah, and the Lamanites (Hebrew and Manasseh) are the remnant today. ( See D&C 29:26-27; D&C 19:27; 2 Nephi 30:4)
Old Nephitish Altar at Lyman Wight’s Cabin
Who is Lyman Wight?
Born: 9 May 1796, Fairfield, New York Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 8 April 1841 (age 44) Excommunicated: 3 December 1848 Died: 31 March 1858 (age 63), Dexter, Texas
“You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners into the public square of Far West, and shoot them at 9 o’clock to-morrow morning.”[1] Among the prisoners receiving this illegal sentence on 1 November 1838 was Lyman Wight, known by friend and foe alike as the “Wild Ram of the Mountains.”[2] Lyman was born in Fairfield, New York, during the final year of George Washington’s presidency.[3] He cast his lot with the Church in Kirtland only a few months after its organization. A year later he went as a missionary to Cincinnati, where he baptized nearly one hundred persons, many of whom traveled with him to Jackson County, Missouri. Brother Wight commanded the Saints in their defense against the mobs there, and after the Church was driven from that place, he volunteered to travel five hundred miles to Kirtland to report to Joseph Smith. When Presiding Bishop Edward Partridge asked him if his family’s unsettled condition would allow his going, he replied that “his wife lay by the side of a log in the woods, with a child three days old, and he had three days’ provisions on hand; so he thought he could go very well.”[4] His visit with the Prophet Joseph Smith resulted in the formation of Zion’s Camp, which he helped recruit. As a colonel in the Missouri Militia, Elder Wight was both respected and feared by many persecutors of the Saints…
Let my servant Lyman Wight beware, for Satan desireth to sift him as chaff” (D&C 52:12). In 1845 he led a small group of dissident members to Texas, where they settled in various locations. At a general conference in 1848, the “Wild Ram of the Mountains,” Lyman Wight, was excommunicated-
Tower Hill- Just SE of Adam-Ondi-Ahman
“[Regarding “Tower Hill” north of Far West, Missouri] We pursued our source up the river, mostly through timber, for about eighteen miles, when we arrived at Colonel Lyman Wight’s home. He lives at the foot of Tower Hill (a name I gave the place in consequence of the remains of an old Nephite altar or tower that stood there), where we camped for the Sabbath.
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 oldNephitish Altarand 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 Mormon by Alan C. Miner
“Tower Hill, the was named by the prophet Joseph Smith when he was in the are staying with Lyman Wight. The prophet saw the hill and went to the top of the hill and found a pile of rocks. Joseph Smith said this pile of rocks were once an alter it looked as though it said “in consequence of the remains of an old Nephitish altar and Tower”.
Recordings say “Nephitish Altar or Tower” was on the “highest point of the bluff” “at the point of the hill that formed a curvature” and “on a high mountain”.
When the tower was first located by the Prophet Joseph Smith, it was composed of a loose pile of rocks on and in a mound of mixed dirt and rocks. The mound was about 36 feet in diameter and about 36 inches higher than the surrounding ground level. Some of the rocks appeared reddish as a result of burning and were scattered sometime in piles about two feet deep on top of the mound. The Saints also “supposed there had been an ancient city of the Niphites”.
There are two accounts one by Oliver B. Huntington and one by Orange Wight of Diahman, that specify that the Tower was separate from the “Alter Site“, but other than those two accounts no one else recorded that the Altar of Adam was different than that pile of stones. So, in addition to that pile of rocks being a Niphitish Altar or burial mound it is the site of Adams Altar. It was built after Adam was cast from the Garden of Eden.
B.H. Roberts said this about this altar:
“It was at this altar, according to the testimony of Joseph Smith, that the patriarchs associated with Adam and his company, assembled to worship their God. Here their evening and morning prayer ascended to heaven with the smoke of the burning sacrifice, prophetic and symbolic of the greater sacrifice yet to be, and here angels instructed them in heavenly truths.” https://fheontheroad.com/what-to-know-when-visiting-adam-ondi-ahman-missouri-lds-sites/
Quotes from Alexander Baugh
“While at the base of a large hill near Lyman Wight’s cabin, George W. Robinson recorded that they discovered “the remains of an old Nephitish Alter.” To commemorate the discovery, Joseph Smith called the place Tower Hill…
So what did Robinson mean when he said they discovered the remains of a “Nephitish” 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.)
Alexander Baugh also said, “I think it’s important to realize that the title page of the Book of Mormon says, “written to the Lamanites.” That’s one of the very first things it says. I think Latter-day Saints today think well, the Book of Mormon is written for us. Well it was, written for the entire world, but of course Mormon, Moroni in their understanding of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, they fully realized that this book, this record, would eventually come forth to their descendants to the descendants of Lehi, and his family. And, this is clear to Joseph Smith. There’s no question in my mind that Joseph Smith knows from the very beginning this record needs to be received and given to and accepted by Lamanite descendants. And in 1830, to Joseph Smith and the Church members, a Lamanite meant to them, a North American Indian. There’s just no question.” Alexander L. Baugh BYU Church History Department; transcribed from the documentary “History of the Saints” Mission to the Lamanites Part 1.
Brigham Young University Officials Search for Mormon ‘Roots’ 1979:
Brigham Young University conducted excavation work at the Mormon historical site of Adam-ondi-Ahman near Jameson, MO, during the summer of 1979. University personnel including archeologists, historians and graduate students spent over 8 weeks conducting a historical survey and minor excavations.
“We plan to take an inventory of what remains of historical importance at 18 separate sites across the country,” said Dr. Ray Matheny of BYU’s Department of Anthropology. “In Missouri this includes Adam-ondi-Ahman as well as Far West near Kingston and Haun’s Mill near Breckenridge.
“We will try to correlate archeological work with historical references to determine the physical location of the town that developed at Adam-ondi-Ahman later known as Cravensville.
This log building stood at Adam-ondi-Ahman from 1830-40. The site was the home of the Mormons, and a spot adjacent to the building was said to be Adam’s grave. This photo courtesy of T.C. Barlow, Jameson.
“There were some 200 cabins here in 1838, and we’re using electronic equipment to map cultural features,” Matheny said. “This information will be put in archives and also will be used to plan the financing of major excavations should the work be continued.”
Infrared photography as well as an electrical resistance machine capable of charting anomalies at a depth of 18 feet were also in use.
A cartography who uses microwave and infrared power transmitting equipment to manipulate data through computers, produces results which either can be used for 3-dimensional mapping or color mapping showing only the information desired.
The old town site actually lay to the north of the historical marker identifying the Mormon shrine, and the grounds are at the crest of a bluff overlooking the Grand River. Most of the work was done at the site of the old Lyman Wight cabin, erected in 1837. Historically, Wight bought the land off a man named Black.
This sketch depicts the log cabin of pioneer Lyman Wight once standing at the foot of Tower Hill at Adam-ondi-Ahman near Jameson, MO, in the valley of the Grand River in Daviess County.
Lyman Wight was the only Mormon living here when Joseph Smith Jr. and his followers sought sanctuary from troubles with anti-Mormons at Independence, MO. Wight later moved on with the Mormons after violence erupted between the Mormons and the anti-Mormons, but his cabin was in use for approximately 100 years.
“We’ve come across some fine artifacts even though our excavations have been relatively minor,” said Dr. Methany. “We have square nails and recently uncovered an 1859 penny among other items. Oddly enough, privies are the main places we like to find. The Mormons often rock lined beneath their privies, helping to contain broken dishes and other discarded items.”
The work thus far has turned up three cabin sites and depressions believed to be old wells in the bottom ground northwest of Tower Hill.
While part of the group remains on the site, others scour local records for historical information. Dr. Lamar Berrett of BYU is the overall director of the 10-member university venture.
Dr. Leland Gentry, who holds a doctorate in history and philosophy of religion, is visiting with local historians seeing legitimate information about Adam-ondi-Ahman.
“In talking with various local people during the past weeks, we’ve come to realize that many people have misconceptions about the historical significance of Adam-ondi-Ahman and the role it plays in the Mormon faith,” said Gentry.
“There are only two things about Adam-ondi-Ahman that are significant as it relates to the Mormon faith.First, Mormons believe that three years before Adam’s death, he gathered his posterity, which numbered in the thousands, at the valley of the Grand River in order to give his blessing and, second, Adam will return at a future time and that various keys of authority will be delivered up to Adam to be delivered to Jesus Christ,” Gentry explained.
He notes that the Mormon Church owns 1,415 acres in Daviess County which is all the church wants in order to preserve the historical significance of the area according to their faith.
— written by Darryl Wilkinson, Gallatin, for the Aug. 17, 1979, edition of the St. Joseph Gazette. Also from the Gallatin North Missourian, Aug. 1, 1979
Researchers from Brigham Young University took measurements while surveying the remains of the Lyman Wight log cabin site at Adam-ondi-Ahman near Jameson, MO. University personnel including archeologists, historians and graduate students spent over 8 weeks conducting a historical survey and minor excavations during the summer of 1979.
Firm Foundation supports Mark E. Petersen’s quote here. “I do not believe that the classrooms or the pulpits of our Church are for laboratory purposes in which to experiment with new doctrines and speculative notions. They are exclusively for the use of those who are willing to convert men and women and boys and girls to the truth. . . . I do not believe we should give credence to the highly speculative theories about Book of Mormon geography. I do not believe that there were two Hill Cumorahs, one in Central America and the other one up in New York, for the convenience of the Prophet Joseph Smith, so that the poor boy would not have to walk clear to Central America to get the gold plates. I do not believe we can be good Latter-day Saints and question the integrity of Joseph Smith. I do not believe we can be good Latter-day Saints and question the testimony of the eleven witnesses of the Book of Mormon. I do not believe you have a testimony of the truth if you question the accuracy of the translation of the Book of Mormon.” Mark E. Petersen LDS Conference Reports, Sunday afternoon, April 5, 1953
We support Heartland Research with the same belief as Firm Foundation, that there is a one and only Hill Cumorah in New York, and we also believe Joseph Smith’s revelation in D&C 125, showing the very city of Zarahemla in the Book of Mormon was indeed near Nauvoo in Montrose, Iowa.
In our friends Heartland Research blog below, you will find credible and plausible signs of ancient archaeology in Jerusalem and in Montrose Iowa. Of course all things are done in a desire to discover truths of the Bible and Book of Mormon. Both groups also love and support the many years of research done by Wayne May.
Since few in the world have ever looked specifically for evidence in the Heartland for ancient evidence of the Book of Mormon city of Zarahemla, Heartland Research continues to explore with passion and desire to help others understand physical evidence of the Book of Mormon. The Heartland Research team all have a spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon is true, and they move forward on words from an Apostle, Jeffrey R. Holland who said, ”
“…Truly rock-ribbed faith and uncompromised conviction comes with its most complete power when it engages our head as well as our heart… 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… I believe God intends us to find and use the evidence He has given—reasons, if you will—which affirm the truthfulness of His work… Evidence is still evidence even if it is not immediately observable… “My testimony to you tonight is that the gospel is infallibly true and that a variety of infallible proofs supporting that assertion will continue to come until Jesus descends as the ultimate infallible truth of all. Our testimonies aren’t dependent on evidence—we still need that spiritual confirmation in the heart of which we have spoken—but not to seek for and not to acknowledge intellectual, documentable support for our belief when it is available is to needlessly limit an otherwise incomparably strong theological position and deny us a unique, persuasive vocabulary in the latter-day arena of religious investigation and sectarian debate. Thus armed with so much evidence of the kind we have celebrated here tonight, we ought to be more assertive than we sometimes are in defending our testimony of truth… Farrer [English cleric Austin Farrer] said: “Though argument does not create conviction, lack of it destroys belief. What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish.”… May our Father in Heaven bless us and an ever-larger cadre of young scholars around the Church to do more and more to discover and delineate and declare the reasons for the hope that is in us, that like those converted Lamanites, we may with bold conviction hold up to a world that desperately needs it “the greatness of the evidences which [we have] received,” especially of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, the keystone of our religion. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.” The Greatness of the Evidence By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland August 16, 2017
“Individual members are encouraged to independently strive to receive their own spiritual confirmation of the truthfulness of Church doctrine. Moreover, the Church exhorts all people to approach the gospel not only intellectually but with the intellect and the spirit, a process in which reason and faith work together.” LDS Newsroom http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/approaching-mormon-doctrine
Ash and Soot in Zarahemla.
The Old Testament states that Nebuchadnezzar II, the King of Babylon, burned the Temple of Jerusalem when he conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC. The time of the burning of the First Temple and the destruction of Jerusalem corresponds to the history of the Phoenicia Ship Replica that is now in Zarahemla.
In Jerusalem scientists are searching for destruction layers and burnt materials from 2,600 years ago, when the Babylonians took the Jews into captivity. During this time Prince Mulek escaped from Jerusalem to Zarahemla.
Due to religious and political sensitivities, archaeological excavations of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem are limited to surface surveys. There is, however, an active search for evidence from a dig near the First Temple. This dig has gone down forty feet and in recent years archaeologists have found ash that is 2,600 years old from the Babylonian burning of the First Temple. These reports are on the internet and can be found at the website of The Times of Israel.
Most of what we know about Zarahemla today comes from an ancient record that more than ten million people accept as the Word of God. Our analysis of Alma Chapter 2 confirms that Zarahemla is located in Montrose, Iowa, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Click here and look at this video for our report.
In our search for Zarahemla, we have already spent considerable effort on four expeditions. SENSYS is one of the world’s most experienced and advanced companies for magnetometers and electromagnetic surveys. Three years ago, we scanned 200 acres using the best equipment from SENSYS to identify magnetic signatures of soils and rocks that were altered thousands of years ago by ancient fires. The magnetometer detected hundreds of firepits within a 200-acre area. We concluded from these initial results that Zarahemla’s population 2,000 years ago was greater than today’s population in the same area.
We are now interested in confirming Zarahemla’s location by using a new approach for the discovery of ash and soot from the city’s burning.
We read from 3 Nephi Chapter 9: 2 Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen! 3 Behold, that great city Zarahemla have I burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof.
According to scripture, at the time of Christ’s death ancient America’s largest city was destroyed by fire.
The burning of Zarahemla two thousand years ago caused tons of ash and soot some of which would have floated and collected in pools of water on layers of clay.
After the burning, ash and soot would have gathered in pools in low areas with clay being the holding layer in core samples.
At the time of Christ’s death, Zarahemla burned. During the Nephite evacuation of AD 320, the city likely burned. These burnings of the city produced soot and ash. Surface water from rain and melting snow concentrated the carbon-based materials into pools.
We want to begin a concerted effort to find the locations for these materials in the ground of Zarahemla. We believe that the discovery can be accomplished through an analysis of terrain features and the drilling of cores. We think that we will need to drill down five feet and more. We expect that the layers of ash and soot will be found on top of a layer of clay that would have held the collected ash and soot.
Again Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said,“but not to seek for and not to acknowledge intellectual, documentable support for our belief when it is available is to needlessly limit an otherwise incomparably strong theological position…”
“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.”
The Heartland Research Group with John Lefgren, Mike and Betty LaFontaine and their entire team, are continually studying research from the Old World and the New World as a testimony that Jesus is the Christ.
In essence they are helping the world join the two Sticks of Ezekiel where it says in the introduction of Ezekiel in the LDS King James Version Bible, “Ezekiel is shown the valley of dry bones—Israel will inherit the land in the Resurrection—The stick of Judah (the Bible) and the stick of Joseph (the Book of Mormon) will become one in the Lord’s hand—The children of Israel will be gathered and cleansed—David (the Messiah) will reign over them—They will receive the everlasting gospel covenant.” This research is becoming a very significant archaeological and ground breaking reunion of the House of Israel. A “miracle book” from the earth [Stone Box at Cumorah] is a sure witness that the “Last Days” are at hand. The rejoining of the Lord’s people and histories from Promised Lands of Israel and America, is a witness to the world of Christ’s ultimate love for all of His people on every continent.
The connection of the Old World Phoenicians, likely bringing some of tribe of Judah like Mulek to America is of significance, as we join the two worlds. The ‘Phoenicia’ Voyages of 2009 and 2020 are an ideal test of the veracity of the Book of Mormon account. Former English Navy Captain Philip Beale, shows not only that the materials and technology of 600 BC allowed him to construct an ocean-going vessel representative of both Lehi’s group and the Mulekites voyages, as they may have crossed the Atlantic and landed near Florida in North America Blog Here You can now assist Heartland Research by donating or helping them re-construct that ship in Montrose, Iowa. Donate Here
Every land the Lord has created and every person, are alike unto God. However, God chose a specific place for His people to have the ability to carry out His promises to share the world with His Gospel. The Lord chose two lands, the Holy Land, and land of Adam and his posterity here in America.
As Pres. Hinckley said, “I should like to say a few words about America…No land is without its beauty, no people without their virtues, and I hope that you who come from elsewhere will pardon my saying a few words concerning my own native land, America…surely this is a good land, a choice land, a chosen land. To me it is a miracle, a creation of the Almighty.” Gordon B. Hinckley Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled”, BYU Speeches of the Year, October 29, 1974, pp. 267-68 )
Why did the Lord chose North America? “…in culmination of the grand scheme of schemes, this great nation, the Republic of the United States, might be established upon this land as an asylum for the oppressed; a resting place, it might be said, for the Ark of the covenant, where the temple of our God might be built; where the plan of salvation might be introduced and practiced in freedom, and not a dog would wag his tongue in opposition to the purposes of the Almighty. We believe that this was His object in creating the Republic of the United States; the only land where his work could be commenced or the feet of his people find rest. No other land had such liberal institutions, had adopted so broad a platform upon which all men might stand. We give glory to those patriots for the noble work they did; but we give the first glory to God, our Father and their Father, who inspired them. We take them by the hand as brothers. We believe they did nobly their work, even as we would fain do ours, faithfully and well, that we might not be recreant in the eyes of God, for failing to perform the mission to which He has appointed us.” Bishop Orson F. Whitney, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, April 19, 1885. Reported by John Irvine. Journal Discourses Volume 26 Page 201
Broken Covenants- Children of Ancient Biblical Israel
From the ground comes compelling evidence of broken covenants with the Lord in Palestine from the Northern Tribes of Israel in 722 BC and the Southern Tribes in 586 BC along with the once mighty nations of the Jaredites [Apx 500 BC] and the Nephites [Apx 400 AD] on North American soil. The Lord is gathering Israel in these last days, with the House of Israel being once again joined together as the Tribe of Joseph, and the Tribe of Judah.
Judges CHAPTER 2
The Lord was righteously angry at the original Children of Israel Scripture says, “And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant.” Judges 2:20
“An angel rebukes Israel for not serving the Lord—As a pattern of future events, a new generation arises that forsakes the Lord and serves Baal and Ashtaroth—The Lord is angry with the children of Israel and ceases to preserve them—He raises up judges to guide and lead them—The Canaanites are left in the land to test Israel.” Heading, Judges Chapter2
Broken Covenants- Children of Book of Mormon Israel
Jaredites:
“And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept offwhen the fulness of his wrath should come upon them.” Ether 2:8
Nephites: “Behold, it is expedient that much should be done among this people, because of the hardness of their hearts, and the deafness of their ears, and the blindness of their minds, and the stiffness of their necks; nevertheless, God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet swept them off from the face of the land.” Jarom 1:3
“Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before him, lest he shall come out in justice against you—lest a remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver.” Mormon 5:24
Every American is under Covenant with the Lord, which covenant was made by General George Washington on September 22, 1789 at his inauguration. Earlier Washington said, “Come then, my Brethren, unite with us in an indissoluble Union, let us run together to
the same Goal.—We have taken up Arms in Defence of our Liberty, our Property, our Wives, and our Children, we are determined to preserve them, or die.[Compare Moroni’s Title of Liberty statement.] Washington continues, “We look forward with Pleasure to that Day not far remote (we hope) when the Inhabitants of America shall have one Sentiment, and the full Enjoyment of the Blessings of a free Government.” The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 1, 16 June 1775?–?15
Stay Centered in the Covenant Path
Our dear Prophet has said, “Today, I spoke from my heart to the Saints in what is often referred to as the heartland of the United States. I shared with my brothers and sisters in Oklahoma and Kansas that their geographic location is a metaphor for how, and where, the Lord wants us to live—in the center of His covenant pathand in the center of our temple covenants. He also wants us to understand the central core of His doctrine and message, which is why He has given us the gift of the Book of Mormon.
“On August 2, 216 BC, near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy, there was a battle between the Roman Republic and Carthage during the Second Punic War. Hannibal led the Carthaginians and their allies in encircling and destroying a larger Roman army under Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro. The battle is regarded as one of the worst defeats in military history. For Hannibal’s army, it was an impressive tactical feat. Hannibal’s reputation as one of antiquity’s greatest tacticians was cemented by this victory.
Today, we would be using the Phoenician Alphabet instead of the Roman Alphabet if Hannibal had succeeded in his campaign against the Romans. The Battle of Cannae profoundly impacted Western history. There is a great deal of information about Hannibal in Roman records. The Romans burned the libraries when they destroyed Carthage, so few records from the Phoenician side have survived.
We know the location of the Battle of Cannae, so we expect the horrific battle on August 2, 216 BC, to be documented archaeologically.
There are records of 85 thousand dead bodies in an area of only a few square miles. This great battle should have left bones, swords, and breastplates in the dirt. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the great battle took place. The location of that battle is undeniable. Remember, Hannibal’s army had 37 elephants when it crossed the Alps. We might expect to find a broken piece of an elephant’s toenail in Cannae.
The Roman and Punic armies used metal weapons. An ancient battle of significant proportions was described in ancient records. The field of a few square miles was crammed with over 130,000 warriors, and the first day of the war left at least 60,000 dead, according to conservative estimates. On the Roman side, it was one of the deadliest days in history. What evidence can be found in the archeological record of this battle? As of today, there is no evidence. Cannae has a clean field with nothing to show for one of history’s great battles.
The Hill Cumorah
There are two leading contenders for the location of the final stand of one of America’s great armies. Some say that Cumorah is in Palmyra, New York; others say that Cumorah is some unknown hill in Middle America 2,000 miles south. According to many, the Hill Cumorah in New York has no archaeological evidence of the great battle where General Mormon died.
So here’s the question. Many records provide significant details about the Battle of Cannae. We know where it is. We know what time it was. In the grain fields of Cannae, there are no signs of this great battle today. In Cannae, the fields are archaeologically clean. What evidence is there?
The same is true of the great battle of Mormon’s last stand. In modern times, Cumorah and Cannae’s battlefields are comparable. Significant ancient battles seem unlikely to have occurred in Cumorah or Cannae based on the dirt evidence in New York and Italy. Does that mean these battles didn’t take place? In the modern world, both battles have profoundly influenced history.
In understanding how Cumorah and Cannae played such an essential role in our history, it would be great if there was clear evidence from the ground that great battles were fought in both areas. Today, we only have ancient records and little physical evidence from the ground that would confirm the locations of both battles.” Heartland Research Group
Below, the Heartland Research Group compares a battlefield in Italy, with a battlefield in New York. The analysis is amazingly parallel and convincing, that Hill Cumorah and the surrounding land may indeed have been the final battles of the Nephite’s and Jaredites, without the need to find many remaining artifacts. I however have a blog here, that will show you there were many breastplates, bones, weapons and artifacts found near Cumorah that substantially support that hill indeed, being a place of last battles. Email me at [email protected] for additional evidences.
Cumorah and Cannae Historic Battles Video by John Lefgren
Morally Obligated to Turn this Land Over
We have discussed the Land in Italy and the Land in New York, now let us ask ourselves, “have we protected and preserved these lands the Lord has given to His people?” Do we not only love the Land but do we also show that love, through obedience to God?
“I looked upon the sun, the glorious luminary of the earth, and also the moon, rolling in their majesty through the heavens, and also the stars shining in their courses and the earth also upon which I stood, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven and the fish of the waters, and also man walking forth upon the face of the earth in majesty, and in the strength of beauty whose power and intelligence in governing the things which are so exceedingly great and marvelous. . . . And when I considered upon these things, my heart exclaimed, ‘Well hath the wise man said, it is a fool that saith in his heart there is no God.’ My heart exclaimed, ‘All these bear testimony and bespeak an omnipotent and omnipresent power, a being who maketh laws and decreeth and bindeth all things in their bounds.” Joseph Smith Letterbook 1, p. 2–3, Joseph Smith Papers, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; spelling and punctuation modernized.
“The earth is vulnerable. . . . Excessive consumption sullies God’s seas; wanton waste blackens His air. The creation groans under the weight of recklessness and indulgence that neglects both the poor earth and the earth’s poor.” In Honoring Creation, We Honor the Creator,” Apr. 26, 2018, MormonNewsroom.org
Some live lavishly in the moment without a thought for the future. Others believe that because “the earth will [one day] be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory” that we have free license to be wasteful. Spencer W. Kimball, “God Will Not Be Mocked,” Ensign, Nov. 1974, 4–9
“Stewardship in the Church is a very important matter. The Lord has mentioned it in the revelations. We are stewards over these earthly blessings which the Lord has provided, those of us who have this soil and this water. We have no moral latitude, it seems to me. In fact, we are morally obligated to turn this land over to those who succeed us—not drained of its fertility but improved in quality, in productivity, and in usefulness for future generations.” The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 645
I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God based on personal revelation. I have felt the truth of this book by the Spirit of God many times. With that firm witness I also realize that many secondary things associated with the Book of Mormon are also true.
For example, where was the record buried and what other two items were buried with the plates? What type of material are the plates made of, who buried them, is their evidence of of the land they were written in, was Mormon’s cave nearby, who saw the plates in addition to Joseph, how were the plates translated, how would the (Interpreters), Urim and Thummim be described, where is the “North Country” and of course where is Zarahemla, along with many other secondary questions. As Moroni said, “he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.Moroni 10:4-5
Two Main Topics-
Western Heartland (Zarahemla) Eastern Heartland (North Country)
This blog will first address the location about the “North Country” spoken of several times in the Book of Mormon and how that north country is very much associated with the Jaredites and Nephites both, as the final battles for both happened in this “North Country”, but the beginnings of the Nephites began near Florida and the beginning of the Jaredites near Washington State, with them both joining at different times in the north country.
In addition to the north country as an eastern area of the Heartland of north America, I will show you the significance of Zarahemla in the far west area of the Heartland. These locations are great bookends to describe the entirety of that east-west, 900 or so miles of the space we call the Heartland of North America.
The record of Ether describes and connects very well the West and the East heartland area in scripture. In Ether (Jaredites), along with the Words of Omni (Nephites) in several significant places they describe each other, as Mormon abridged the plates for us to know the significance of the entire map.
You will learn below, how connected the Nephites and Jaredites are to this east-west area of the Heartlands. I also believe is it most likely the Jaredites landed near Seattle, Washington, as the Jaredites then spread all over North and South America, with the posterity of the Brother of Jared moving to the eastern Heartland using the Columbia, Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio Rivers. Other descendants of the Jaredites most likely traveled into Canada, eastern United States and Central and South America. See details here:
Truly there were remnants of the Jaredites all over North and South America when the Nephites landed in Florida. The posterity of the Brother of Jared’s people were destroyed at hill Ramah. “And it came to pass that the army of Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill Ramah; and it was that same hill where my father Mormon did hide up the records unto the Lord, which were sacred.” The remainder of ancient Jaredites (2200 – 600 BC), remained in the Americas, many years before the coming of the Nephites, Olmecs, Mayans, Vikings, Columbus, and the Pilgrims in 1620 AD.
By Small Means
I believe that in the Book of Mormon text itself (a small means), that Moroni told us what land the plates were buried in (The North Country), and his son Mormon told us where the People of Zarahemla located, North of the Land of First Inheritance which was in Florida. This information seems to have been hiding in plain sightall the time. See also my friend Sam’s additional information below titled, Cumorah truth, right in front of our eyes.
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” 1 Corinthians 1:27
“And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.” 1 Nephi 16:29
North Country = Cumorah Area
“And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country. And I take mine account from the twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether.” Ether 1:1-2
Cumorah truth, right in front of our eyes.
As Joseph and Oliver said, “This history was written and deposited, not far from Joseph’s home” near Palmyra, New York. Letter IV
I have a great friend named Sam Dunaway who keeps in touch with me often. He loves the Lord, the Book of Mormon and fully embraces the many truths of the Heartland research. He sent me this quote from Mormon 8.
3 And my father also was killed by them, and I even remainalone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. But behold, they are gone, and I fulfil the commandment of my father. And whether they will slay me, I know not.
4 Therefore I will write and hide up the records in the earth; and whither I go it mattereth not.
5 Behold, my father hath made this record, and he hath written the intent thereof. And behold, I would write it also if I had room upon the plates, but I have not; and ore I have none, for I am alone. My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not.” Mormon 8:3-5
Sam really opened my eyes to what he said about it. After quoting the scripture above Sam explained. “Moroni was specifically speaking of the plates which his father had given him. He did not migrate north to bury the plates or he would have said that he had a place to go He was already there. “I have not friends nor wither to go.”
This also indicates that the many records from which Mormon abridged the plates were left hidden in the Hill Cumorah, where he had moved them because Moroni had no one to help him relocate them…
Ether 1:1-2 says, “And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country. And I take mine account from the twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether.” Ether: 1:1-2
“Primary proof of the location of the Nephites had been right in front of us in the Book of Mormon all along.
“And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life.” Moroni 1:3
Webster Dictionarysays, Wander- “to move about without a fixed course, aim or goal. Moroni did not migrate northward to bury the plates. He was already living in the north area.” Sam Dunaway
Clarifying Sam’s Point
Sam wrote me again in order to clarify his point as I quote him below:
“From Moroni 1:1 to Moroni 10:2, Moroni makes it clear that he completed his abridgement and is finishing his writings, then sealing or hiding up the records which were in his possession.
Mormon 5:12 and Mormon 8:4 tell of the direction to, and hiding up of the records. Moroni knew exactly where the Lord had directed him to bury the plates. Yet he makes no mention of a need to travel to that area or place.
His father spoke of being directed to go to the hill Shim (See map below), where all the records were hidden, and in Mormon 6:6 notes the relocation of those records to Cumorah for safe keeping, except the plates which he gave to Moroni.
Surely, Moroni would have noted any travel to a distant location in conjunction with burying the plates as directed. However, in Moroni 1:3, he states he is wandering for the safety of his own life, not for the purpose of traveling to bury the records in his possession. This indicates he was in the area and being cautious until his writing was completed.
Furthermore, Moroni writes that after burying the plates, it doesn’t matter where he goes. Mormon 8:4
He was prepared. He was already living in the area of the hill, Cumorah, where he was directed to bury the plates.This is the only plausible explanation of those things which he wrote.”
In Moroni 8:2, Sam also mentioned, “Moroni was in a north Country land area.”
Is says, “And now it came to pass that after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed.” Mormon 8:2
Sam Dunaway (Parenthesis, bold and color added)
I believe Sam makes a lot of sense to me. I appreciate his added witness to my own.
Where is the North Country?
See the map below to help determine where the North County is. In my opinion the Land of Bountiful is Northern Indiana and Ohio up to almost the Hill Cumorah.
“And the Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven even into the land of Bountiful; And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.“
Editor note: If Moroni had no ore and was alone, why would he go searching for more ore clear across the over 3,500 miles to or from Mesoamerica? He has already told us that he has stopped writing, so he was not going to find ore and why would he travel thousands of miles (Apx 3,500 Miles NY to Mexico) carrying heavy plates and trying to keep hidden amongst his enemies, that he would have met along that long distance journey. If Moroni stays near where he buried the record, and he was alone, why would he make life more dangerous by trying to hide amongst his enemy as he traveled that great distance? People far from Cumorah probably knew that the battle was ended and all were killed. Wouldn’t it be easier for Moroni to hide right there where the final battle was finished, where no one would have believed he remained alive? That land near the hill Cumorah was called Land Desolation, as no one wanted to be there as it represented death and destruction, not necessarily desolate in reference to there being no trees or animals in that land.
Written and Deposited not Far from That Place by Jonathan Neville
“He [Moroni] then proceeded and gave a general account of the promises made to the fathers, and also gave a history of the aborigenes of this country, and said they were literal descendants of Abraham. He represented them as once being an enlightened and intelligent people, possessing a correct knowledge of the gospel, and the plan of restoration and redemption. He said this history was written and deposited not far from that place,and that it was our brother’s privilege, if obedient to the commandments of the Lord, to obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record.” Excerpt from Letter IV
“There was a time when Church members still believed what Moroni first told Joseph Smith when he “gave a history of the aborigenes of this country” and said “this history was written and deposited” not far from Joseph’s home near Palmyra, New York.
For example, Lucy Mack Smith told people it was a record of the Indians.
From Lucy Mack Smith’s History, 1844-5. [p. [8], bk. 12]
“I will now return to the time when the Elders set out for Missouri the reader will recollect that Hyrum Smith my oldest son was directed to go by the way of Detroit. I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to visit the family of my My Brother Stephen Mack Who had been dead some 4 or 5 years this being 1831 and my brother died in 1826— Hyrum was very anxious to have me accompany him And as my niece was about returning home I this was another inducement for me to undertake the journey I accordingly set off in the month of June our company consisted Hyram Smith Brother Moredock [John Murdock] Lyman Wight Brother Corril [John Corrill] Almira Mack my Niece and myself—
When we went on board the boat we held a consultation to Determine whether it was best to say much concerning the gospel at first it was concluded that we should be entirely still as to religion but finally Hyrum said that Mother might say what she was disposed to and if a difficulty arose the Elders should assist her out of it
We had not been long on board when as I was setting one day at the door of the cabin very much engaged reading the Book of Mormon a lady accosted me thus. What book have you madam you seem very much engaged. The Book of Mormon I replied— The Book of Mormon said she what work is that? I then gave her a brief history of the coming forth of the work. She seemed highly delighted. I said that it was a record of the Indians. Is it possible she exclaimed why My Husband is a Missionary out now among the Indians and I am going to, how I do wish that I could get a book to carry him”
“And the Lord warned Omer in a dream that he should depart out of the land; wherefore Omer departed out of the land with his family, and traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed, and from thence eastward, and came to a place which was called Ablom, by the seashore, and there he pitched his tent, and also his sons and his daughters, and all his household, save it were Jared and his family.” Ether 9:3
It is very likely that Omer traveled to the Atlantic Ocean or maybe just to the east side of Lake Ontario, which lake is large enough to be called a sea and have a seashore.
Notice below the Land Bountiful runs from Buffalo, NY and Irving, NY then south to Kill Buck and Salamanca, NY. In the green below that is the Land Southward which is at the Allegheny River and south in the Land of Lehi-Nephi, as seen in the map above.
The yellow and off-yellow areas below, are the Land Northward or the “Land North” or the “North Country.” notice the amazing possible location of the 1-day for a Nephite and 1-day and a half for a Nephite to cross from the Land Bountiful to the Land Southward or the Land of the original inheritance, which would be south of the Allegheny River.
Where is the “land northward” as spoken in Omni 1:22? Here is more fantastic information even though you may be overloaded by now. I give you as much as I can to aid you in your personal research.
“It also spake a few words concerning his fathers. And his first parents came out from the tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; and the severity of the Lord fell upon them according to his judgments, which are just; and their bones lay scattered in the land northward.” Omni 1:22
So again the writings of a Nephite Prophet (Omni) combine with Mormon’s abridgement to bring together the Jaredite record and a “land northward” near Ramah/Cumorah.
Route of Coriantumr?
My great friend and “professor of the heartland” in my opinion, Wayne May feels it is likely that the Mulekites would have picked up Coriantumr who was injured near Cumorah, on their journey west at the St Lawrence Seaway and through the Great Lakes.
It is possible that Coriantumr could have walked injured or after healing a bit, from Cumorah to Lake Ontario 30 miles north (See Map Below) to meet the Mulekites. The Mulekites could have found Coriantumr on that huge Lake Ontario somewhere I guess. But, this is not that likely in my opinion. The Book of Mormon says nothing about Coriantumr riding in a ship with the Mulekites as he goes with them to Zarahemla. It says, “And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.” Omni 1:21
As you see in the map below, you can read Option One in a Yellow Box and Option 2 in the Green Box and decide on your own. Either way Coriantumr could have healed and traveled either direction for the Mulekites to pick him up. Also don’t forget the record of the Jaredites was originally written by the Prophet Ether and even though we don’t hear in the Book of Mormon about his whereabouts, I believe Ether helped Coriantumr heal and get into a canoe to travel directly down the Genesee River to the Allegheny River which continues as the Ohio River, right to the Land of Zarahemla in Illinois or Indiana, which is the heart of the Heartland.
(I believe Coriantumr once able to physically move after his wounds, would naturally head toward a close river like the Genesee or the Ganargua and get in a canoe to finish healing up, as he traveled toward where the Mulekites were, not to a body of water where the Mulekites could have picked him up.) Ganargua River was later used to assist in the Erie Canal construction. These rivers are near Palmyra and Rochester. From the Genesee River, Coriantumr could have connected to the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers and was picked up somewhere in the Land Zarahemla Ohio or Mississippi River, which would be bordering Indiana and Illinois, where the Mulekites would have lived since the day they landed. As it says the Mulekites, “were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them; and they had dwelt there from that time forth.” Omni 1:16.
It would be easy to spot a man in a boat from a river and not amongst the huge Lake Ontario. As my friend Wayne says, We report, you decide. I would love your feedback either way.
Did Ether Remain with Coriantumr?
I don’t think Ether stayed to help or see if Coriantumr lived or died, based on the scriptures below. In that case for Coriantumr to travel to Lake Ontario (Option One above) and be found or to the Genesee River (Option Two above) to travel to be found, Ether was probably not with him.
Remember the Lord said, “And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.” Omni 1:21 That means Ether was not with Coriantumr and either died or was translated, because we hear in the scriptures that Coriantumr would be the last of the Jaredites. (Just the Brother of Jared descendants were utterly destroyed, as they were the ones who made the covenant with the Lord). I believe many other descendants of the Jaredites still remained in all of North and South America who had not made a covenant with the Lord).
“And the Lord spake unto Ether, and said unto him: Go forth. And he went forth, and beheld that the words of the Lord had all been fulfilled; and he finished his record; (and the hundredth part I have not written) and he hid them in a manner that the people of Limhi did find them.
Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen.” Ether 15:33-34
“And after being many days in the wilderness they arrived in the land of Zarahemla, and joined Mosiah’s people, and became his subjects.
And it came to pass that Mosiah received them with joy; and he also received their records, and also the records which had been found by the people of Limhi.” Mosiah 22:13-14
In conclusion, (finally), you can now see the amazing connection of the Jaredite record and the Large Plates of Nephi. They truly witness of each other as we know that Mormon was so inspired to hide away both records to be translated by Joseph Smith. Remember the other extraordinary connection between the Jaredites, Nephites and Joseph Smith was, that the Lord touched 16 stones for the Brother of Jared, and another two He touched to be sealed with the Gold Plates that Moroni sealed up at hill Cumorah so Joseph could use these two stones and the breastplate to translate. Joseph did not use a stone in a hat to translate. See Ether 3:23-24 and Ether 4:5. Amazing isn’t it? Scriptures that witness to the proper translation here: JSH 1:35,52,62,75*; Mosiah 28:13, 20; Ether 3:22-23; 4:5; Alma 37:21, 24-25. Over 100 pages of detail in the book above.
Receive Personal Revelation
“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. (Brigham Young, Des. News, June 18, 1871, p. 308) (See Revelation 2:17 and D&C 130:11)
I don’t expect a seer stone in this life, but one day perhaps. As the Lord wants us all to find truth with His guidance. I have found many truths about the geography of the Book of Mormon and the proper translation, which the church has not spoken about or may never speak about. That doesn’t mean I can’t know, or I shouldn’t try to find, “all the truth I can.”
“It’s My Truth”
We each believe based on our own bias, study and research. We also learn from personal revelation or until we understand more from God or the Spirit. I will understand certain things as my definition of truth different from you, and it isn’t a matter of who is correct, but who’s personal feelings are correct for them, at the time of their ability to receive and understand. I don’t believe in todays fad saying of, “It’s my own truth.” My own truth could mean its true to me, but not revealed truth from God. Revealed truth from the Lord is true, no matter what anyone thinks is “their truth.”
You can’t push your feelings about truth on others, as it is personal to you. We each must learn revealed truth by the Spirit. I agree truth is only one way, meaning truth is truth and only God and Christ know all truth. We cant change truth, just understand it more and more. We have different ways of receiving and understanding it completely, or in bits and pieces. That’s why we are taught line upon line until more knowledge or possibly perfect knowledge is achieved in a certain thing.
The following story titled below as “The Hole in Cumorah“, is shared as some first hand and second hand information. I am confident I have described things fairly accurate. I have however contacted my video friend who is the one who took the pictures in this article and he thinks this story as I present is accurate to his recollection.
Remember there are two different locations of importance in the Hill Cumorah. Of course there was the place of the “Stone Box” where Joseph Smith received the set of plates from Moroni. In that stone box was contained the Original Gold Plates including the sealed portion, the large breastplate and the Urim and Thummim, The Sword of Laban and Liahona were not in this “Stone Box”. (See picture below)
There was also a “Cave of Records” separate from the stone box, which many brethren including Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Wilford Woodruff, Brigham Young and others spoke of. (See two quotes below).
“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. 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. . . . [Don] 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.” Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 17 June 1877
“The hill Cumorah, with the surrounding vicinity, is distinguished as the great battlefield on which, and near which, two powerful nations were concentrated with all their forces. Men, women and children fought till hundreds of thousands on both sides were hewn down, and left to molder upon the ground. 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)
About 10 years ago a friend of mine who worked in the Church Video department was on assignment at the Hill Cumorah for a project the Church was working on.
The west side of Hill Cumorah was being prepared for setting up the stage for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. A missionary couple had some guests on a tour showing them around this west facing hill Cumorah. After a time one of the families on tour noticed one of their children was missing from the group. A search for this young man began. After searching for a time the missionary couple and their guest family heard a yell for help several times. They came upon the missing young man who had fallen through an opening in the top west side of the Hill Cumorah. [See Approximate location of that hole at the red arrow above]
The hole seemed to be 12-15 feet deep. Someone ran to their car and brought back some jumper cables as a rope, to assist in bringing the young man up out of the hole below, which is my video friends actual picture he took of the hole after the young man was pulled out.
My friend put his camera with its light down the hole and snapped a few pictures. He was very surprised to see the appearance of a cave that was about 15 feet square. The cave was empty (Explained below). On the sides of the walls were stacked stones and there were some stones attached seemingly as shelves coming out from the stacked stones, which would mean the cave would have been man made.
What most people know about the hill Cumorah is that it is classified as a drumlin. “A drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín (“littlest ridge”), first recorded in 1833, and in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine.” Source: Wikipedia.
Drumlins are created by a glacial drift with moving dirt and debris and won’t leave spaces for caves as other hills and mountains would. This is one of the reasons those of the Mesoamerican belief don’t think a cave would exist in a drumlin. But this pictures shows a possibility for a man made cave to be created in a drumlin.
After discovering this cave, the Church had a contractor notified about fixing the hole. They came out to the location and put a large thick piece of steel over the hole, (see photo above) and then covered it with dirt. I have some friends who have since been back with detectors and can easily locate the location of where the piece of steel was buried.
The cave was empty (Explained Here)
Mormon 1:3 “Therefore, when ye are about twenty and four years old I would that ye should remember the things that ye have observed concerning this people; and when ye are of that age go to the land Antum, unto a hill which shall be called Shim; and there have I deposited unto the Lord all the sacred engravings concerning this people.
4 And behold, ye shall take the plates of Nephi unto yourself, and the remainder shall ye leave in the place where they are; and ye shall engrave on the plates of Nephi all the things that ye have observed concerning this people.”
Mormon would return to the hill Shim in about 375 AD. So, all the records of the Nephites were in hill Shim at that time.
As you read in Mormon 4:23, “And now I, Mormon, seeing that the Lamanites were about to overthrow the land, therefore I did go to the hill Shim, and did take up all the records which Ammaron had hid up unto the Lord.” This would mean the plates from Shim were hid up in a place probably close to Hill Cumorah.
In one of Jonathan Neville’s blogs Here he speaks about how the Cave of all the Plates including the Sword of Laban and Liahona were taken from the Cave at Cumorah and probably taken back to the Hill Shim to hide them from people today. David Whitmer also explains that possibility below.
Wagonloads of plates in Cumorah’s cave?
The following was originally printed in the March-April 2010 edition of Mormonism Researched.
“David Whitmer’s testimony is a rare exception because he was one of the men who is said to have actually entered such a cave. His testimony slightly conflicts with Young’s for he stated in an 1878 interview printed in the Deseret Evening News, that Smith’s gold plates were indeed hidden, but not in a cave in the Hill Cumorah. Instead, he said they were hidden, “not far away from that place.”
8. Edward Stevenson, Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet, 1877 In his book Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet, and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon, Edward Stevenson relates an interview with David Whitmer in 1877:
It was likewise stated to me by David Whitmer in the year 1877 that Oliver Cowdery told him that the Prophet Joseph and himself had seen this room and that it was filled with treasure, and on a table therein were the breastplate and the sword of Laban, as well as the portion of gold plates not yet translated, and that these plates were bound by three small gold rings, and would also be translated, as was the first portion in the days of Joseph. When they are translated much useful information will be brought to light. But till that day arrives, no Rochester adventurers shall ever see them or the treasures,
although science.”
9. David Whitmer, Deseret Evening News, 16 August 1878 In an interview with P. Wilhelm Poulson, David Whitmer gave another account of the cave:
[Poulson]: Where are the plates now?
[Whitmer]: In a cave, where the angel has hidden them up till the time arrives when the plates, which are sealed, shall be translated. God will yet raise up a mighty one, who shall do his work till it is finished and Jesus comes again.
[Poulson]: Where is that cave?
[Whitmer]: In the State of New York. [Poulson]: In the Hill of Comorah? [Whitmer]: No, but not far away from that place.
8 and 9 above from JOURNAL OF BOOK OF MORMON STUDIES 7-31-2004 Cumorah’s Cave by Cameron J. Packer Volume 13 Number 1 Article 6 Page 55
Hill Cumorah and Hill Shim
In these two quotes, I feel it very likely the hill Shim was very close to the Hill Cumorah as that would make it feasible to move the plates from one location to the other. Below is my proposed location for hill Shim.
This area locating Shim is speculation, based on a few personal friends that have discovered some interesting artifacts in that location in the past few years. A very large and flat topped rock in that area, that seems to be a possible location of a grave or an entrance. It is on private land as my friends couldn’t get much access. Again I speculate but is seems like a possibility according to the location and how Oliver described the 1-mile valley below:
“At about one mile west rises another ridge of less height, running parallel with the former, leaving a beautiful vale between. The soil is of the first quality for the country, and under a state of cultivation, which gives a prospect at once imposing, when one reflects on the fact, that here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed. By turning to the 529th and 530th pages of the Book of Mormon, you will read Mormon’s account of the last great struggle of his people, as they were encamped round this hill Cumorah. In this valley fell the remaining strength and pride of a once powerful people, the Nephites—once so highly favored of the Lord, but at that time in darkness, doomed to suffer extermination by the hand of their barbarous and uncivilized brethren. From the top of this hill, Mormon, with a few others, after the battle, gazed with horror upon the mangled remains of those who, the day before, were filled with anxiety, hope, or doubt.” Oliver Cowdery’s Letter VII Joseph Smith Papers “Letter VII,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:155–159 .
In the DVD, you will also have the following questions answered.
Where is the Hill Cumorah of the Book of Mormon?
Is there more than one Hill Cumorah?
What have prophets and apostles proclaimed?
What archaeological evidence should we expect?
Has any archaeological evidence been found?
Treaties and Covenants among various nations and tribes of the world have often been agreed upon. Many times however the aggressive people take advantage of the weaker more vulnerable neighbors and break treaties or quickly push the weaker aside, just because they can, and are exploited by the often white aggressor.
More often in times of history the aggressor is the most powerful army or tribe that pushed out the smaller and more humble owners of the land. As it says in the scriptures, “We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” D&C 121:39. I am confidant the Lord in saying “almost all men”, He means the overly vast majority, probably 90-95% . That seems reasonable.
However, there are many times where the Children of the Lord who make special Covenants with the Lord and are the minority, are held to a higher law. For example, with the children of Adam (4,000 BC), eventually all but 8 were destroyed. Yet before that the City of Enoch (3313 BC) who were also the children of God were translated and taken to heaven for their righteousness. The Lord would not allow Enoch to live among the many atrocities of many of Adams seed.
In about 2200 BC the Jaredites were led out of the Old World to America as a covenant to obey God, and they later broke that covenant and were swept from the land.
In about 1,500 BC in the Old World the Children of Israel were held in bondage by Egypt because of their transgressions against God. Moses became their deliverer. In about 722 BC the Northern 10 tribes were conquered by the Assyrians and in 586 BC the Southern Tribes came under the rule of the Babylonians, as the Children of Israel wer disobedient to the covenants they had made with God.
In 600 BC Lehi was led out of the Old World to America as they made new covenants with the Lord, and we know after 1,000 years in America, they eventually fell into apostacy and were removed from the land.
The Hebrew Children of Israel were also under bondage at the time of Christ and Christ tried to remind them to look to Him who had come and they would be blessed. And those Pilgrims and Puritans in 1620 AD coming from Europe to the United States made covenants with God and also were truly tested as they had made a covenant with God.
What lead to the terrible smiting and scattering of the Native Americans was their fathers breaking covenants with the Lord. The Lord allowed the US Govt to become their oppressors, but they could always repent and be saved. It is sad to say the American Colonists and Govt. who abused and drove the Children of God, will be ultimately held accountable for those atrocities, if they haven’t been already.
This seems to be the trial of those who are called as His Children, if they don’t keep those covenants. Those who make covenants with God are always held to a higher standard to be examples to others, but as D&C 121 says, “Almost All” of Gods covenant people do succumb to the weakness of flesh and break covenants, so the Lord HAS to allow the consequences of broken promises to occur to His people.
Briefly I want to speak of the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York. We see that two final battles for two distinct nations happened there. This was a culmination of not obeying the Covenants they had promised to God. Since this land of Cumorah is a key beginning point of this last dispensation of Time under Joseph Smith, this makes the Book of Mormon truly able to speak from the dust, to we as His people today. We are under covenant and we will either obey or be swept off. It is our choice. We who have covenanted with God must obey Him, or the Deep State or Cabal or whatever you want to call Satan, are here to oppress us. We will be victors if we will repent and come unto Him.
“We had proceeded a little over a mile on the road when the driver of the carriage pointed out a hill to us on our left, which he said was “Mormon Hill.” We supposed that by this he meant Cumorah. Though in its general appearance it resembled the descriptions we had had of Cumorah, yet we were somewhat disappointed in its size, as it was not so high a hill as many others which we saw in the neighborhood. In fact, as we rode along, we saw several hills which we thought more like what we imagined Cumorah to be than the one pointed out to us. We rode on for probably two miles farther, conversing but very little and each absorbed in his own reflections, when we saw, immediately in front of us. a hill that rose suddenly, almost precipitously, from the plain. Brother Brigham, Jun., remarked when we saw it: “There is a hill which agrees in appearance with my idea of Cumorah.”
In this opinion the Editor coincided. The driver, hearing our remarks, turned to us and said: “Yes, this is Gold Bible Hill.” We then learned that Cumorah was known through the country by the name of “Gold Bible Hill.” We asked him what he meant by calling the other, which he had pointed out to us, “‘Mormon Hill.” He replied that there was a cave in that hill which the “Mormons” had dug and some of them had lived in it, so the people said; and, therefore, it was known by that name…
This was the hill Ramah of the Jaredites, and it is probable, that, in this vicinity, Coriantumr and Shiz, with the people whom they led, fought their last battle. For this great battle they were four years preparing, gathering the people together from all parts of the land, and arming men and women, and even children. The battle lasted eight days, and the result was the complete extermination of the Jaredite nation, none being left but the prophet Ether — who warned the nation of the fate that awaited it unless the people repented, and who lived to record the fulfilment of his own warnings and predictions — and Coriantumr who succeeded in slaying his mortal enemy, Shiz.
It is probable that the prophet Ether, when he emerged from his hiding-place to view the destruction of his race, which he had been inspired to foretell, had ascended this hill and from its summit had gazed with profound grief upon the thousands of slain which lay scattered unburied upon the surface of the earth around. He and Coriantumr alone of all that mighty race which had flourished for upwards of fifteen hundred years, were loft. Who can imagine the feelings which he must have had on such an occasion?
From the summit of this hill, doubtless, Mormon and his great son Moroni had also witnessed the gathering of the hosts of the Nephites and the dusky and myriad legions of their deadly enemies, the Lamanites. Around this hill they had marshaled their forces — their twenty- three divsions of ten thousand men each, commanded by the most skillful of their generals; all to be swept away, except Mormon and Moroni and twenty-two others, in one day’s battle, by the fierce and relentless foe whom God permitted to execute his threatened judgment I Stealthily perhaps, for fear of exciting the attention of the Lamanites, Mormon and Moroni and their companions may have ascended this hill and gazed on the dreadful scene around them.
What a picture of desolation and woe must have met their sight! How deep must have been their anguish at thus witnessing the destruction of the fair ones of their nation! No wonder they cried out in anguish, and mourned with pathetic lamentations the rebellion against God which had brought this terrible destruction upon them. Mormon’s feelings must have been very peculiar.
At fifteen years of age chosen to be the commander-in-chief of the armies of his nation, he had fought battle after battle until now, at seventy-four years of age, he witnessed the complete blotting out of what had been the most favored people on the earth. His reflections must have been peculiarly painful, because he knew that had they listened to him he could have saved them.
It was here that he hid the abridgment which he made of the records, and which is now known by his name, and it was here, thirty-six years after this tremendous battle, that his son Moroni also hid his abridgment of the Book of Ether and the record which he had made from which we learn the fate of his father Mormon and his other companion?, that sixteen years after the battle of Cumorah Mormon and all the Nephites except Moroni had been killed by the Lamanites. It was to this spot that about fourteen hundred years after these events, Joseph Smith, the prophet, was led by Moroni in person and here the records, engraved on plates, were committed to him for translation.
Who could tread this ground and reflect upon these mighty events, and not be filled with indescribable emotion ? We were literally surrounded by the graves of two of the mightiest nations which had ever flourished on the earth. We stood in the centre of their burial place. They had rebelled against God, they had slain His prophets, disregarded His warnings and arrayed themselves against Him. His promise and covenant concerning this land are: “that whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fullness of His wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of His wrath, cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity; for behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands ; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God, or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God.” VISIT TO THE LAND AND HILL CUORAH GEORCE O. CANNON – – EDITOR. SATURDAY, JULY 5, 1873.https://archive.org/stream/juvenileinstruct814geor/juvenileinstruct814geor_djvu.txt
“The final struggles between Nephites and Lamanites were waged in the vicinity of the Hill Cumorah, in what is now the State of New York, resulting in the destruction of the Nephites as a nation, about 400 A.D. The last Nephite representative was Moroni, who, wandering for safety from place to place, daily expecting death from the victorious Lamanites, wrote the concluding parts of the Book of Mormon, and hid the record in Cumorah. It was the same Moroni who as a resurrected being, gave the records into the hands of Joseph Smith in the present dispensation.” James Talmage Articles of Faith, Ch 14, Pg. 260.
INDIAN TREATIES
The United States continue to buy the land of Joseph, and become nursing fathers unto his children. The Globe in speaking of the treaty of peace with the Indians, states, “That the land acquired by government from the Winnebagoes contains about 4,600,000 acres, and is represented to be of excellent soil, well watered, and abounding in inducements for agriculturists to purchase and cultivate.
Advices have been received of the formation of another treaty with the Sacs and Foxes. By this compact the United States acquire about 600,000,000 acres, of a quality not inferior to any between the same parallels of latitude.It is known to abound in lead, and the Indians say in other ores.
For the tract ceded, the United States agree to pay an annuity of twenty thousand dollars for thirty years, to support a black smith and gun-smith in addition to those now employed, to pay the debts of the tribes, to supply provisions, and, as a reward for the fidelity of Ke-o-kuk and the friendly band, to allow a reservation to be made for them of 400 miles square on the Ioway [Iowa] river, to include Ke-o-kuk’s principal village.
Black Hawk and his two sons, the Prophet, Napope and five others, principal warriors of the hostile bands, are to be retained as hostages, during the pleasure of the President. All the other prisoners have been delivered up to the friendly Sacs and Foxes.”
What a beauty it is to see the prophecies fulfilling so exactly. Nephi says:
Nevertheless, after that they have been nursed by the Gentiles, and the Lord hath lifted up his hand upon the Gentiles, and set them up for a standard, and their children shall be carried in their arms and their daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders: behold these things of which are spoken are temporal:
For thus is the covenants of the Lord with our fathers; and it meaneth us in the days to come, and also all our brethren which are of the house of Israel.
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: yea, even upon the face of this land;[Heartland of America] and by them shall our seed be scattered. [American Colonists]
And after that our seed is scattered, the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles [Book of Mormon], which shall be of great worth unto our seed:
Wherefore, it is likened unto the being nourished by the Gentiles, and being carried in their arms, and upon their shoulders.
And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles, but unto all the house of Israel, unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven, unto Abraham, saying, In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
And I would my brethren that ye should know, that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed, unless he shall make bare his arm in the eyes of the nations.
Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto they which are of the house of Israel.
How Native Americans Struggled to Survive on the Trail of Tears
BY: CHRISTOPHER KLEIN: JULY 10, 2023
Severe exposure, starvation and disease ravaged tribes during their forced migration to present-day Oklahoma.
In the early 1800s, the sovereign Cherokee nation covered a vast region that included northwest Georgia and adjacent land in Tennessee, North Carolina and Alabama. Under the terms of an 1819 treaty, the United States guaranteed that Cherokee land would be off-limits to white settlers forever.
Forever lasted less than 20 years.
Although the treaty mandated the removal of “all white people who have intruded, or may hereafter intrude, on the lands of the Cherokees,” the United States instead forcibly removed more than 15,000 Cherokees in 1838 and 1839. As many as 4,000 died of disease, starvation and exposure during their detention and forced migration through nine states that became known as the “Trail of Tears.”
[Editors note: The Cherokee of the Iroquois Language group in my opinion, are many of the last Nephites from Cumorah who remained after 421 AD. I believe many of the Nephites before the great destruction, may have fled by ship to Europe and many of them were on the land but not destroyed, just as many Lamanites remained. These Lamanites most likely the Algonquians of today, were part of the “Fort Ancient” culture in history and many of those Lamanites mixed with some Mayans in about 900 Ad who had come up to America after seeing their Mesoamerican region in drought or other reason. The mixture are called the “Mississippian Culture” which had a mixture of Lamanite, Nephite, and Mesoamerican.]
Indian Removal Act Forces Tribes From Native Lands
CHRISTOPHER KLEIN continues, “The Indian Removal Act signed by President Andrew Jackson in 1830 authorized the federal government to relocate tribes within state borders to unsettled land west of the Mississippi River. When white settlers encroached on Cherokee land to grow cotton and search for newly discovered gold, the United States ordered the Cherokee to join the Creek, Seminole, Choctaw and Chicksaw tribes in resettling to present-day Oklahoma.
The first Cherokees to relocate—approximately 2,000 men, women and children split into four groups—did so voluntarily in 1837 and early 1838. They traveled westward by boat following the winding paths of the Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers. The journey for these voluntary exiles was as short as 25 days, and deaths numbered less than two dozen.
Conditions proved far worse for the Cherokee evicted from their homes at gunpoint by 7,000 federal troops dispatched by President Martin Van Buren. Beginning on May 26, 1838, soldiers under the command of General Winfield Scott rounded up the majority of the Cherokee along with 1,500 slaves and free blacks, forced them to leave behind most of their possessions and herded them into wooden stockades and internment camps.
Editors note: Many of the Cherokee hid in hills and caves around Tennessee and Alabama and remained even after the removal of their other tribe members. Many of these Cherokee still remain today and are called the Eastern Tribes of the Cherokee.”
“The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi) is a federally recognized Indian Tribe based in Western North Carolina in the United States. They are descended from the small group of 800–1,000 Cherokee who remained in the Eastern United States after the U.S. military, under the Indian Removal Act, moved the other 15,000 Cherokee to west of the Mississippi River in the late 1830s, to Indian Territory. Those Cherokee remaining in the East were to give up tribal Cherokee citizenship and to assimilate. They became U.S. citizens.” Wikipedia
“Men working in the fields were arrested and driven to the stockades,” recalled Private John Burnett, who served as an interpreter. “Women were dragged from their homes by soldiers whose language they could not understand. Children were often separated from their parents and driven into the stockades with the sky for a blanket and the earth for a pillow. And often the old and infirm were prodded with bayonets to hasten them to the stockades.”
Reverend Daniel Butrick, a missionary who had ministered in the Cherokee territory for 20 years, wrote “from their first arrest they were obliged to live very much like brute animals, and during their travels, were obliged at night to lie down on the naked ground, in the open air, exposed to wind and rain, and herd together, men women and children, like droves of hogs, and in this way, many are hastening to a premature grave.”
Due to the poor sanitation of the internment camps, deadly diseases such as whooping cough, measles and dysentery spread among the Cherokee.
For me the amount of archaeology found in North America is simply amazing. We thank the pioneers, Wayne May, Rod Meldrum and others for their dedication for continuing research in North America for secondary evidences of the Book of Mormon. I have the privledge of working with Rod often, searching and reading about the home of my heroes, Nephi and Mormon in the Heartland of the United States.
Adamic Time Period Brain Tissue?
This is a huge find. In 1982 a backhoe operator found a human skull in his hands. Several intact brains have been recovered hidden in “peat.” The results of the testing found the bones of the remains were over 7,000 years old – more than 2,000 years older than the Egyptian pyramids. Of course carbon dating may be inaccurate, but that simply means this person that was found, either lived during the time of Adam or before the flood and during the historic Clovis period.
These burials were preserved because of the remarkable properties of the substance in which they were sub-merged – peat. Made up of layer upon layer of decomposing organic materials (mainly vegetation), peat provided an oxygen- and acid-free environment that allowed bones and artifacts to survive for thousands of years.
What is amazing to me is, archaeologists were able to find DNA from Haplogroup X in soft brain tissue. That is DNA of Native Americans in the Great Lakes region as well as in the area around Israel. Absolutely amazing!
Windover: Prehistoric Past Revealed at Ancient Pond Cemetery
JANUARY 13, 2021 By Lesleyanne Drake, from the Winter 2018 edition of Reflections Magazine
It was a warm, spring day in 1982 when backhoe operator Steve Vanderjagt paused to examine a pale rock he had uncovered while working construction near the edge of a pond at Windover Farms in Brevard County, Florida. Turning the object over in his hands, Vanderjagt saw two eye sockets and realized he was holding a human skull. His first thought was, “Oh shit!”
What Vanderjagt did not know at the time was that he had stumbled across a prehistoric cemetery that would prove to be one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
Developers Jack Eckerd (son of the famous drugstore founder) and his stepson Jim Swann had planned for Windover Farms to become a housing development serving the growing community of Titusville. To help draw people to the area, Swann built a restaurant called the Roost, with a small lunch counter and offices on the second floor. Swann was working at the Roost when Vanderjagt walked in carrying a bucket of bones. Not knowing whom to contact, Swann walked the bones over to a nearby Florida Highway Patrol station.
“According to Swann,” archaeologist Rachel Wentz later wrote in her book Life and Death at Windover, “they were met with a chilly reception. The troopers took one look at the skeletons and said, ‘We only do car wrecks.’ ”
After an examination by the county coroner showed the bones were not the remains of modern humans and, thus, of little value to law enforcement, Swann had to fight for them to be returned to him. When he did get them back, the remains resided in Swann’s garage, then in the tiny trailer on the Windover Farms construction site, where workers repeatedly stubbed their toes on the large containers. But Swann was intrigued by what else might be hidden beneath the layers of pond muck, and that would have remained a mystery if not for Swann’s next decision – to call in archaeologist Glen Doran.
Doran was a young, up-and-coming professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee, and although he was not the first archaeologist to visit Windover, he was the first to recognize the site’s potential and not be daunted by the challenges it presented.
He was immediately fascinated by the age of the bones – heavy wear on the teeth provided evidence of a prehistoric diet – but he didn’t have the funds to have them radiocarbon dated. Swann volunteered the money, and when the results of the testing came back, both men were astounded. The bones were over 7,000 years old – more than 2,000 years older than the Egyptian pyramids.
Archaeologist Dave Dickel “pedestalling” a burial (working the muck away from a bone until it is entirely exposed in place) before it is mapped, photographed, and removed. Photo courtesy of R. Brunck.
These burials were preserved because of the remarkable properties of the substance in which they were sub-merged – peat. Made up of layer upon layer of decomposing organic materials (mainly vegetation), peat provided an oxygen- and acid-free environment that allowed bones and artifacts to survive for thousands of years. However, as soon as the materials are excavated and exposed to the air, they begin decomposing rapidly. This is one of the many factors that make wet-site archaeology especially slow, expensive, and challenging.
Doran recruited an old friend from college, archaeologist Dave Dickel. They designed a demucking system that would remove enough water to excavate, but not too much. It was essential that the peat stay moist to protect the materials buried within. Over the course of three field seasons, in 1984, 1985, and 1986, Doran and Dickel perfected the process. They in-stalled 158 well points around the edge of the pond to capture water from both the top and bottom of the pond and eject it away from the site, creating an excavation area about the size of an Olympic swimming pool.
Digging in peat was not like digging in soil. The peat had a clay-like consistency that had to be sliced using sharpened trowels and shovels. Thin layers were slowly shaved away until the peat changed color, a sign that archaeologists were nearing a burial. Then wooden tools were used to gently scrape the muck away from the bones. Chopsticks that the archaeologists hoarded from nearby Chinese restaurants worked best. However, their most important tool was water. Bones can crack when they dry out too quickly, so archaeologists used spray bottles of water to keep the bones wet and to help remove adhered peat.
Archaeologists adapted their excavation strategy to the unique challenges of digging in dense peat. Photo courtesy of R. Brunck.
BRAINS!
Toward the end of the first field season, Doran and Dickel made an astonishing discovery: a mushy, greasy, tan substance inside one of the skulls. Speculating on what the material might be, Doran joked that maybe it was only “snail poop.” But doctors at the University of Florida’s Shands Medical Center soon confirmed that a sample was actually human brain tissue. By the end of that year, several intact brains had been recovered. Though shrunken to a quarter of their original size, they still retained the shape and surface features of a typical human brain. According to Wentz, an editorial in a local paper ran the headline, “Brains finally discovered in Titusville!”
Though these were not the first ancient skulls found with preserved brain matter, this was the first time such a discovery coincided with advances in technology that would allow researchers to analyze the tissue on a molecular level. To ensure the preservation of the brain matter for future study, it was removed from the skulls in the field, sealed in nitrogen-filled containers at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit and transferred to the lab at the University of Florida, where the containers were frozen at minus 94 degrees. By comparing the DNA in these tissues with the genetic sequences of other populations – particularly mitochondrial DNA (passed down maternally) and Y-chromosome DNA (passed down paternally) – it is possible to trace the history of human migration.
While researchers have determined that DNA did survive in the brain tissue, the samples are still extremely fragile. Instead, an analysis of DNA extracted from the skeletal remains has yielded the most interesting results. Conducted decades after the excavation, the study revealed that the people buried at Windover migrated to North America from Asia but are not related to any living Native American tribes or to any other known prehistoric peoples. This leaves one of two possibilities: either their descendants died out, or their population bottle-necked (was reduced sharply) before the genetic markers we find in modern humans evolved.
WHAT CAN WINDOVER TELL US?
Despite the remarkable discovery of the intact brains, Doran and Dickel were initially disappointed by the results of their excavation. The finds uncovered during the first two field seasons in 1984 and 1985 were either too commingled or too isolated to draw many conclusions. But during the third and final field season in 1986, as the team began digging in the northern part of the pond, they suddenly started finding undisturbed burials with distinct, nearly complete skeletons. This, Wentz writes, is when “the graves began to speak.”
The story they tell begins 9,000 years ago when ancient humans began using Windover as a cemetery. As the indigenous people moved through the area seasonally, they would bury their dead in the pond during late summer and early fall. We do not know where they lived the rest of the year, but we can tell from the level of decomposition that the bodies were interred within 48 hours after death, so they were probably living nearby during the autumn months. The bodies were tucked into a “flexed” position, bundled in fabric along with a variety of grave goods, and submerged beneath the water, typically on their left sides, facing west. Wooden stakes driven through the cloth kept them anchored to the bottom of the pond. Generation after generation returned to the pond to bury their dead in this manner for the next 1,000 years.
Life in prehistoric Florida was not easy. The bones at Windover show signs of numerous ailments, including disease, broken bones, and malnutrition. About half of the individuals died before the age of 18, and many more did not live past their late forties. By that time, the high level of grit in their diet (caused by using stone tools and surfaces to prepare food), combined with the use of their teeth as tools, had worn their teeth down to nubs. Arthritis and abscesses were common. It makes sense, then, that several were found with large quantities of plant seeds known to have pain-relieving properties in their stomach region, potentially representing the first archaeological evidence of the medicinal use of plants.
The people of Windover probably also splinted broken bones, performed amputations, and cared for their sick and elderly. Only one skeleton showed signs of violence: a young man with an antler tine embedded in his hip – and a missing skull.
The artifacts buried with the bodies can tell us just as much as the bones themselves. In addition to a variety of wooden artifacts, archaeologists recovered 119 objects made from animal parts, many of which would have been used as tools to fish, hunt, and butcher meat. Deer antler was used to make projectile points and barbed fishing hooks. Scrapers and other tools were made from the teeth of sharks, opossums, and canids (mammals in the dog family). Containers made of turtle shell, too small for use in cooking food, were possibly used to prepare medicinal plants.
In one burial, archaeologists also found a bottle gourd that may have been used as a container. The oldest-known example of a bottle gourd north of Mexico, this find may support the theory that some of the earliest cultivated plants in the New World were not sources of food, but utilitarian plants that provided light, durable containers, and tools. Though very few stone artifacts were found, the points that were recovered can be traced to quarries in Sumter County, more than 80 miles away.
In addition, awls, perforators, punches, and pins made from animal bones and antler would have been used in the preparation of hides, baskets, cordage, clothing, and other fabrics. Remarkably, 87 fragments of these handwoven, palm-fiber textiles survived. Extremely fragile and nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding peat, the cloth had to be removed with the entire burial in a single, large block and transported back to the laboratory where specialists in preserving ancient fiber worked to carefully extract and conserve them. Although their production and use certainly predate Windover, these woven textiles represent the oldest surviving examples of this type in the New World.
Not all of the grave goods had a utilitarian purpose. Three necklaces adorned the neck of a woman in her early twenties, each made from a different material – fish vertebrae, Sabal palm seeds, and shells. Two more were found draped over a 2-year-old.
An artist’s rendering of a cutaway of Windover pond shows how the burials were originally positioned. Image courtesy of G. Doran.
LEGACY
Garnering international fame, the archaeological finds at Windover were greeted by public demand for information so overwhelming that Doran was forced to hire a full-time communications specialist to respond to media inquiries, organize volunteers, and spearhead educational initiatives such as tours and school programs. The Brevard Artists’ Association even held a contest, challenging artists to produce the best Windover-inspired artwork, with Dickel, much to his dismay, to serve as the judge.
By the end of the third field season, Doran, Dickel, and their team had uncovered a minimum of 168 skeletons, including 91 with preserved brain tissue. It is the largest, most demographically diverse skeletal discovery from this time period in the New World, with ages ranging from newborn to over 65, and both sexes equally present.
Such a broad, well-preserved sample has allowed archaeologists to learn about prehistoric burial practices, lifeways, health, migration, and much more, and the materials will continue to be studied for years to come as new technologies open up fresh avenues for research.
Windover may also be one of the last prehistoric cemeteries ever excavated in the United States because, several years later, federal and state laws were passed that protect indigenous human remains, funerary items, and sacred objects – a response to the long history of stripping Native Americans of their material culture.
Although excavations of wet sites are notoriously challenging, a convergence of timing, technology, funding, and interest made the Windover excavation possible. As Doran wrote in his 2002 anthology about the site, “Our investigations at Windover were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. . . . Never in my wildest dreams would I have been so bold as to envision excavations of a site like this. It was phenomenal. Being in the right place at the right time, and not knowing excavation of such sites was considered to be both unproductive and essentially impossible, has certainly made me one of the luckiest archaeologists of all time.”
There are almost certainly other Windovers in Florida, Doran claims. But whether or not another site will ever offer up so many of its secrets still remains to be seen.
I have always wondered about Shem and Melchizedek as the same person or not? I haven’t decided myself the answer to this question, but it is an interesting discussion about significant leaders of the ancient church. It seems to me it is more likely they are the same person, but I would like some discussion about your opinion. Below is some information to help you decide.
Is it possible that Shem and Melchizedek are the same person? Alma E. Gygi
“This question is frequently asked and is an interesting one. Let us examine first what we know about Shem. Although the Bible names Shem as the eldest son of Noah (Gen. 5:32), modern-day revelation places Japheth as the eldest (Moses 8:12). Both reports, however, are harmonious in naming Shem as the progenitor of Israel and in the fact that the priesthood descended through Shem to all the great patriarchs after Noah. (1 Chr. 1:24–27.) In this patriarchal order of priesthood, Shem stands next to Noah. He held the keys to the priesthood and was the great high priest of his day.1
Living contemporary with Shem was a man known as Melchizedek, who was also known as the great high priest.2The scriptures give us the details of Shem’s birth and ancestry but are silent as to his ministry and later life. Of Melchizedek, however, the opposite is true. Nothing is recorded about his birth or ancestry, even though the Book of Mormon states that he did have a father. (Alma 13:17–18.) Concerning his ministry and life we have several interesting and important facts. (Gen. 14:18–20; Heb. 7:1–4; Alma 13:17–18.)
All of this provokes some questions and calls for answers. Were there two high priests presiding at the same time? Why is the record silent concerning Shem’s ministry? Why is nothing known concerning Melchizedek’s ancestry?
Because of this state of knowledge on our part, many Saints and gospel scholars have wondered if these men were the same person. The truth is, we do not know the answer. But an examination of the scriptures is fascinating, because it seems to indicate that these men may have been one and the same. For example, here is the case for their oneness:
The inheritance given to Shem included the land of Salem. Melchizedek appears in scripture as the king of Salem, who reigns over this area.
Shem, according to later revelation, reigned in righteousness and the priesthood came through him. Melchizedek appears on the scene with a title that means “king of righteousness.”
Shem was the great high priest of his day. Abraham honored the high priest Melchizedek by seeking a blessing at his hands and paying him tithes.
Abraham stands next to Shem in the patriarchal order of the priesthood and would surely have received the priesthood from Shem; but D&C 84:5–17says Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek.
President Joseph F. Smith’s remarkable vision names Shem among the great patriarchs, but no mention is made of Melchizedek.
Times and Seasons (vol. 6, p. 746) speaks of “Shem, who was Melchizedek. …”
On the other hand, there is a case for their being two distinct personalities. Many persons believe D&C 84:14 is proof that there are perhaps several generations between Melchizedek and Noah. The scripture says, “Which Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah.”
If it does turn out that Shem and Melchizedek are the same person, this scripture should prove no stumbling block, because it could be interpreted to mean that priesthood authority commenced with Adam and came through the fathers, even till Noah, and then to Shem.” I Have a Question answered by Alma E. Gygi, Salt Lake City businessman.
Notes
Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine (Deseret Book Co., 1919) p. 474.
When Abraham returned from the war, Shem, or, as he is sometimes called, Melchizedek, the king of righteousness, priest of the Most High God. …” (Ginsberg, Legends of the Jews, p. 233.) “Jewish tradition pronounces Melchizedek to be a survivor of the Deluge, the patriarch Shem.” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary, p. 393.) “And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, the same was Shem. …” (Book of Jasher 16:11.)
The Connection between Melchizedek and Shem by Tim Barker
“…According to Jewish traditions, Melchizedek is Shem, the son of Noah, whom God consecrated to be a priest for ever, and who set up a kingdom on Salem.”(1) Included in his book on the Legends of Old Testament Characters, the Reverend Sabing Baring-Gould includes a quotation from the Targumim, stating, “Melchizedek, who was Shem, son of Noah, king of Jerusalem.” (2) Louis Ginzberg continues this tradition, in his Legends of the Bible (a condensed version of the 7-volume Legends of the Jews), stating that “when Abraham returned from the war, Shem, or, as he is sometimes called, Melchizedek, the king of righteousness, priest of God Most High, and king of Jerusalem, came forth to meet him with bread and wine.” (3) More recently, scholars Raphael Patai and Robert Graves note that, “others again say that Melchizedek (also known as Adoni-Zedek), was Abram’s ancestor Shem, and that he now taught Abram the duties of priesthood…” (4) Numerous other historical Jewish sources confirm this same teaching.
In 1842, Elder John Taylor, then editor of the Times and Seasons, published the following:
From this definite account of driving the “nations apart, when the ancient hills did bow,” all reflecting minds may judge that man was scattered over the whole face of the earth. And with the superior knowledge of men like Noah, Shem (who was Melchizedek) and Abraham, the father of the faithful, three contemporaries, holding the keys of the highest order of the priesthood… (5)
Other Latter-day Apostles have discussed this issue as well. Elder John A. Witdsoe stated:
There is an old Hebrew tradition that Melchizedek was none other than Shem, the son of Noah. As far as the age of Shem is concerned, that is possible. Shem lived five hundred two years after the flood, and Abraham was born two hundred ninety-two years after the flood. Abraham, therefore, must have known Shem. (6)
Additionally, Elder Alvin R. Dyer stated:
Abraham, who was born of the chosen lineage of patriarchs, received the priesthood from Shem, or Melchizedek, who received it from Noah unto whom it had come through the lineage of the fathers from Enoch, unto whom it had come from Adam the first man through his son, Abel. (7)
More recently and readily available, is the CES Institute Manual on the first half of the Old Testament. This manual outlines, amongst other things, 7 points for consideration relating to the identity of Shem and Melchizedek and commonalities between the two. The comments on this issue are based on an Ensign article, by Alma E. Gygi, entitled, “Is it possible that Shem and Melchizedek are the same person?” (8)
Shem’s inheritance included the land of Salem, and Melchizedek was the king of Salem.
Shem “reigned in righteousness” and Melchizedek’s name means “king of righteousness.”
Shem was the great high priest of his day. Abraham honored the high priest Melchizedek by paying him tithes and seeking blessings at his hand.
Abraham stands next to Shem in the patriarchal order of the priesthood and would likely have received the priesthood from him, but according to D&C 84:5-7, Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek.
Substitution of God’s Holy Name
A friend of the Heartland named David Larkins shared and email with Firm Foundation on Nov 18, 2023 that makes a lot of sense that I will share below.
“This morning I was reading the article titled “Shem is Melchizedek?”. There is another piece of circumstantial evidence which could support the idea of Shem and Melchizedek being the same person. It is something I noticed as I was studying one day. It has to do with their names.
The name Shem in Hebrew, means “name”. When speaking about God (YHWH) Jews often use the title Hashem, meaning “the name”. D&C 107 tells us that the Melchizedek priesthood was called “the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God”, until Melchizedek’s day, when the name of this order was changed to Melchizedek.
So in order to protect the sacredness of the name of the Son of God/YHWH (sometimes referred to as Hashem) the name of the priesthood was changed to Melchizedek, the other name or perhaps title of Shem. Assuming they are the same person.
Son of God/YHWH = Hashem
Melchizedek = Shem?
I don’t know if I made this point very clearly, but you are smart and can probably understand what I am trying to say. It isn’t proof, but it is one of the interesting “coincidences” we find in scripture. You may have already thought of this or heard it. But, I found it interesting, and thought I would share.” David Larkins
A good addition to the response from David shared above, is the following.
“Hashem is a Hebrew term for God. Literally, it means “the name.” In the Bible the Hebrew word for God is made up of four letters, and according to tradition it was only pronounced on Yom Kippur by the High Priest. Saying God’s name was considered a very serious and powerful thing, so much so that one of the Ten Commandments prohibits us from saying God’s name in vain. As a result, people have come up with various substitutions.
When reading Torah, we generally substitute the word Adonai for the four letter un-pronounceable name of God. Outside of reading Torah and praying, God is often referred to as Hashem, a creative way of not saying God’s name…
There are many other names for God in Jewish tradition, including Adoshem, Yah, Yahweh, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, El Shaddai, Av Harahamim, and Harahaman.” My Jewish Learning
Even our traditional upbringing as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has taught us all our life about taking God’s name in vain. There are many ways we have used for not blaspheming God or Christs name or even swearing at all. We use slang words such as:
Gosh
Golly
Jiminy Cricket
Gee or Gee whiz
Oh, my heavens,
Oh my heck, Oh my gosh, etc
Oh, whatever as Oh G– is substituted
Holy with whatever after it such as, Holy Crap, or Holy Moly.
Holy Caesars ghost
Here are also substitutes for other swear words:
Shoot, Dang, Darn, Heck, Dang it, Fudge, Suck etc.
Our LDS Heritage is a cultural which has taught us how evil it is to say the Lord’s name in vain by substitution, as I describe above.
Jewish tradition identifies Shem as Melchizedek.
President Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the Redemption of the Dead (D&C 138), names Shem among the great patriarchs, but there is no mention of Melchizedek.
Times and Seasons (official church periodical at this time), indicates that Shem was Melchizedek. (9)
On the contrary, some Latter-day Saints, including Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, believes that the two are definitely separate individuals: There is an unsupported tradition to the effect that Melchizedek was the same person as Shem the son of Noah. That this could hardly have been the case is seen from the revelation which says: “Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah.” (D. & C. 84:14.) In other words, there seem to have been at least two generations between Melchizedek and Shem.(10)
Also for consideration, E. Douglas Clark commented on the matter in his book, The Blessings of Abraham: Becoming a Zion People: Genesis 11:10-11 tells Shem’s life span in the same manner as it tells the life spans of the subsequent patriarchs, implying that Shem died (a passage left unchanged in the Joseph Smith Translation), while the JST Genesis 14 tells that Melchizedek was translated. Second, a latter-day revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 84:14 states that “Abraham received the [Melchizedek] Priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah, and from Noah till Enoch,” which seems to require at least two generations between Melchizedek and Noah. And third, in Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the redemption of the dead, he saw among the host of righteous post-mortal spirits Shem (D&C 138:41), who would not have been there had he been translated. The revelation does not mention seeing Elijah or Enoch or Moses, who, like Melchizedek, had been translated. (11)
It is clear that with the diversity of opinion on the matter, that no definitive revelation has yet been received. As such, the scriptures are sought for further understanding, and where helpful, supplemental sources provide unique insights.
The Catholic Encyclopedia seems to indicate that the connection was developed by the Rabbi’s to suit their own purposes:
The Rabbins [Rabbi’s] identified Melchisedech with Sem, son of Noe, rather for polemic than historic reasons, since they wished to set themselves against what is said of him as a type of Christ “without father, without mother, without genealogy” (He., vii, 3).
In the Epistle to the Hebrews the typical character of Melchisedech and its Messianic import are fully explained. Christ is “a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech” (Heb,. vii, 6; Ps., cix, 4); “a high priest forever”, etc. (Heb., vi, 20), …i.e. order or manner (Gesenius), not after the manner of Aaron. The Apostle develops his teaching in Heb., vii: Melchisedech was a type by reason (a) of his twofold dignity as priest and king, (b) by reason of his name, “king of justice”, (c) by reason of the city over which he ruled, “King of Salem, that is, king of peace” (v.2), and also (d) because he “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but likened unto the Son of God, continueth a priest forever” (v.3). The silence of Scripture about the facts of Melchisedech’s birth and death was a part of the divine plan to make him prefigure more strikingly the mysteries of Christ’s generation, the eternity of His priesthood.” (12)
Interestingly, an early Jewish source, Flavius Josephus is completely silent regarding any connection between Shem and Melchizedek.
James L. Kugel indicates that “some scholars have suggested that this was first done in the context of later Jewish-Christian polemics: if Melchizedek was actually Shem, then he was the ancestor of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the idea of a priesthood extending back through him was less disturbing to Jews than the notion of a “priest of God Most High” who lacked any connection to the Jewish people or the later levitical priesthood.” He goes on to say that:
It seems likely, however, that Melchizedek’s identification with Shem actually came about before any Christian arguments existed (and certainly before the time when Christian arguments seemed to Jews to require refutation). After all, who was Melchizedek to early interpreters? Why was the genealogy of such an important person–the “priest of God Most High,” no less–not mentioned? Identifying him as Shem, whose genealogy was known, provided an answer, and an easily accepted one. (13)
It is interesting to note that Kugel alludes to the idea that Melchizedek, “could be understood as an honorific title given to Shem…” (14)
Whatever the connection is, it remains a mystery. As stated by Alma Gygi, “all of this provokes some questions and calls for answers. Were there two high priests presiding at the same time? Why is the record silent concerning Shem’s ministry? Why is nothing known concerning Melchizedek’s ancestry? Because of this state of knowledge on our part, many Saints and gospel scholars have wondered if these men were the same person. The truth is, we do not know the answer.” (15) When the answer comes, it should satisfy the arguments on either side of the matter.
_______________________________________
1 Rev. S. Baring-Gould, Legends of Old Testament Characters, From the Talmud and Other Sources (New York: MacMillan and Co., 1871), 2:1; see also Rev. S. Baring-Gould, Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, and Other Old Testament Characters From Various Sources (New York: James B. Millar & Co., 1884), 140-141
2 Baring-Gould, Legends of Old Testament Characters, 2:1
3 Louis Ginzberg, Legends of the Bible (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1956), 106
4 Robert Graves and Raphael Patai, Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966), 147
5 John Taylor, “Ancient Ruins,” Times and Seasons 5/23 (Dec 15, 1844):746
6 John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, 3 Vols., ed. G. Homer Durham (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1960), 232
7 Alvin R. Dyer, Who Am I? (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1968), 400; also see Alvin R. Dyer, The Lord Speaketh (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1964), 284-291
8 Alma E. Gygi, “Is it possible that Shem and Melchizedek are the same person?,” Ensign (November 1973), 15-16
9 Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis-2 Samuel (Religion 301), Church Educational System (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2003), 67-68
10 Bruce R. McConkie Mormon Doctrine, 2nd Ed. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), 475
11 E. Douglas Clark, The Blessings of Abraham: Becoming A Zion People (American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2005), 267 fn 36
12 John J. Tierney, “Melchisedech” The Catholic Encyclopedia, 15 Vols., eds. Charles G. Herbermann, et al (New York: The Encyclopedia Press, 1913), 10:157
13 James L. Kugel, Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible as it was at the Start of the Common Era (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 289-290
14 Ibid, 290
15 Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis-2 Samuel, 68
Dear Gramps,
Recently, one of the “Daily Wows” indicated that Shem was in fact the great high priest “Melchizedek.” However, while sharing this information with one of our ward scriptorians he said that Shem couldn’t be Melchizedek because Melchizedek was born after the flood and Shem was born before the flood. I’ve studied it out also and found that in the Pearl of Great Price, Joseph while talking of teaching in the spirit prisons refers to Shem as the Great Priest. Do you have some insight on this subject? Thanks.
Paula
Dear Paula,
There is much conjecture about who Melchizedek was. Shem is not the only person to whom Melchizedek’s identity has been attributed. B.H. Roberts had this to say-
“Much of mystery is connected with the life and character of Melchizedek. ‘The Jews,’ says Kitto, in admitting Melchizedek’s official superiority to Abraham, ’sought to account for it by alleging that the royal priest was no other than Shem, the most pious of Noah’s sons, who according to the shorter chronology might have lived to the time of Abraham.’ (Biblical Literature, Vol. II, Art. Melchizedek). Others have seen in him Canaan the son of Ham; Ham himself, or even Enoch; while others have held that Melchizedek was no other than the son of God himself under human appearance, and still others take him to have been an angel, the latter being among the wild notions of Origen and his school. (Ibid, as above). All this of course is conjecture, although it is not unreasonable that he may have been Shem the son of Noah” (The Seventy’s Course in Theology, Second Year, p.88).
Here, B.H. Roberts admits the possibility that Melchizedek may have been Shem. That possibility is bolstered by the vision of President Joseph F. Smith, who refers to Shem as the great high priest in D&C 138:41. And in D&C 107:1-3, Melchizedek is referred to as a great high priest –
There are, in the church, two priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek and Aaronic, including the Levitical Priesthood.
Why the first is called the Melchizedek Priesthood is because Melchizedek was such a great high priest. Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.
It is true that Shem lived in the time of Abraham. Shem was born in 2448 B.C. and lived for 602 years. He was 100 years old at the time of the great flood. Abraham was born in 1986 B.C., and was 140 years old when Shem died. But that coincidence in living at the same time only makes their identity a possibility, not a reality.
It is also true that Melchizedek was not the only great high priest, and there is evidence reported by Elder Bruce R. McConkie that Melchizedek was not the son of Noah-
“There is an unsupported tradition to the effect that Melchizedek was the same person as Shem, the son of Noah. That this could hardly have been the case is seen from the revelation which says: ‘Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah.’ (D.&C. 84:14.) In other words, there seem to have been at least two generations between Melchizedek and Shem (Mormon Doctrine, p.475). Gramps
The LDS Bible dictionary says, under the heading Shem says, Name. Son of Noah (Gen. 5:29–32; 6:10; 7:13; 8:16; 9:26; Moses 8:12); his descendants (Gen. 10:21–31; 11:10–32; 1 Chr. 1:17; Luke 3:36). Shem was the traditional ancestor of the Shemitic or Semitic races, a group of kindred nations, which includes the Arabs, the Hebrews and Phoenicians, the Arameans or Syrians, the Babylonians and Assyrians. The languages spoken by these various nations were closely related and were known as the Semitic languages. In latter-day revelation Shem is referred to as “the great high priest” (D&C 138:41). See also Melchizedek.
The LDS Bible dictionary says, under the heading Melchizedek says, “King of Righteousness. A notable prophet and leader who lived about 2000 B.C. He is called the king of Salem (Jerusalem), king of peace, and “priest of the most High God.” Unfortunately, information concerning him in the Bible is relatively scarce, being limited to Gen. 14:18–20; Heb. 5:6; 7:1–3. Mention of the priesthood of Melchizedek is given in several other instances, primarily in Psalms and in Hebrews. However, latter-day revelation gives us much more about him and his priesthood (see JST Gen. 14:17 [Gen. 14:18 note d]; JST Gen. 14:25–40; JST Heb. 7:3 [Appendix]; Alma 13:14–19; D&C 84:14; 107:1–4). From these sources we realize something of the greatness of this prophet and the grandeur of his ministry. See also Jebus; Jerusalem; Melchizedek Priesthood.
The Featured picture at the top of the page is called, “Shem, Ham and Japheth” by James Tissot 1904
The Heartland Research Group headed by John Lefgren PhD, and Mike and Betty Lafontaine, have been doing research near Nauvoo and Montrose, Iowa for several years now looking for evidence of the City of Zarahemla. Heartland Research has found evidence for ancient fires pits using magnetometry, and with Lidar imaging have found many mounds and other promising information pertaining to several possible locations, that could be termed as a temple site or mound area in Iowa.
We base our plausible evidence of the real City of Zarahemla of the Book of Mormon in many statements of saints and a revelation from Joseph Smith in D&C 125. There are many quotes and evidences below also detailing with plausibility that the Heartland of the United States was the setting for the Book of Mormon events.
Bill, your Relative who knew Joseph Smith-Faithful Question
Let me ask you a question. If you have a great great… grandfather (Let’s call him Bill), who lived during the time of Joseph Smith, and Bill personally knew and loved Joseph as a true prophet of God, wouldn’t that be exciting to explore the relationship of Bill and Joseph? Maybe some of you already have that relative. As you research and find out about the close relationship that Bill has with Joseph and the other Apostles, and Bill’s testimony of these men, wouldn’t you be so pleased to find out all you could know about their relationship? (I know some of your relatives maybe didn’t like Joseph but we are not talking about those relatives).
What if you found out Bill was present with Wilford Woodruff in Nauvoo when he told Bill, as Wilford pointed out a spot on the opposite side of the Mississippi River about a mile and a half above Montrose, IA, and said “there would be a city and a temple built there and the place would be called Zarahemla.“
Would you believe Bill? Of course you would, as you had studied and found out Bill was a good active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had prayed about it. What if it was Bill’s witness after Joseph had passed away, that he saw the countenance of Brigham Young as “it appeared that Joseph had returned and was speaking to the people?” Bill said, As Brigham Young commences speaking, hundreds in the audience believe “in every possible degree it is Joseph’s voice, and his person, in look, attitude, dress and appearance it is Joseph himself, personified.” You want to and probably would believe Bill after prayer correct? Let’s say you prayed earnestly about that fact, and you received a personal witness that you indeed know that Bill believed Wilford Woodruff and Bill was present at the talk by Brigham Young and Bill knew that Brigham was to be the next Prophet. Is that even possible? Of course it is.
I can hear the non-believers say, “I don’t believe Bill”, or “he was lying”, or “Joseph didn’t mean it was a Book of Mormon city”, or “I still believe Zarahemla was somewhere in Mesoamerica.” What is the difference between you believing Bill and others not believing him? Is it because you are related to Bill and you are biased. Or is it because you have prayed about it and studied it out and you thought it was very important to know, and you believed what Moroni told you and that you could “know the truth of all things?”
Why do many people in the Church today not want to believe Bill, or Edward Phillips, or D&C 125? Why is their heart so hard? Why is it that you believe so strongly in Bill and Joseph and others in the church don’t? It’s probably because you want to believe, and you pray in faith to believe and others may only think of their bias that Zarahemla was in Mexico or some other place. You see, to believe it takes faith, study, and prayer. This is what I believe, that the Zarahemla of the Book of Mormon was indeed across the river near Montrose, Iowa. It is a part of my testimony and I don’t have a relative named Bill, but through faith I really believe this.
Now you know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not spoken on whether the Zarahemla of D&C 125 means it was a city in the Book of Mormon, but some of the General Authorities and many members believe personally that eastern Iowa, Missouri and Illinois, are possible places of the ancient Land of Zarahemla. In other words knowing this is not church doctrine but it is true all the same. Is it that important you know the answer? Maybe. To me it is very important as I look for additional evidences of the Book of Mormon not just my witness of the spirit, but as Elder Holland 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.” In the same talk Elder Holland said, “but not to seek for and not to acknowledge intellectual, documentable support for our belief when it is available is to needlessly limit an otherwise incomparably strong theological position and deny us a unique, persuasive vocabulary in the latter-day arena of religious investigation and sectarian debate.” The Greatness of the Evidence By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland August 16, 2017
Half-Breed Land Iowa
“The Lee County Half-Breed Tract, designated as 120 on the map.
Lee County, Iowa and the “Half Breed Tract” historic detail, from an Iowa 1905 census map. [Left] A Half-Breed Tract was located in Lee County, Iowa. An 1824 treaty between the Sauk people, the Fox tribe, and the United States set aside a reservation for mixed-blood people related to the tribes. Lying between the Mississippi, and Des Moines rivers and below an eastward extension of the Sullivan Line (The old Indian boundary surveyed out by John C. Sullivan in 1816—at approximately 40.60° N.), the Tract occupied an area of approximately 119,000 acres (480 km2). Under the original treaty, the half-breed people had the right to occupy the soil, but individuals could not buy or sell the land.[4]
In 1834 Congress repealed the rule. Immediately afterward, claim jumpers claimed much of the land. The government gave away mixed-blood peoples’ claims to the land, effectively ending the provisions of the Half-Breed Tract by 1841.[5][6]
Mormon leader Joseph Smith, Jr. purchased parts of the Half-Breed Tract, probably in 1837, from a land speculation company. Deeds to most of the land were faulty and could not be held. This left the church with only about 1,000 acres (4.0 km2), including a town called Commerce in Illinois. The Mormons moved to this Illinois site from Far West, Missouri, to escape the Missouri Executive Order 44 issued by Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs.[7]” Wikipedia
I believe the Book of Mormon Zarahemla is near Montrose, Iowa, just as I believe there is only one Hill Cumorah in upstate New York. Mike and Betty LaFontaine believe the land in Montrose is sacred land of their previous Native American ancestor. Thus, Heartland Research Group not only continues exploring the area for the City of Zarahemla, but also seek land in the area that in history was called Half-Breed land.
Letter below from Betty LaFontaine Nov 15, 2023 to HRG and friends.
“Since we (HRG) have been asked about purchasing the 9.4 acres which literally has been gifted to us for our use. I have pondered and asked in Prayer of what we may do. I have been researching the “Half Breed Tract lands” I came upon this explanation and or article!
I believe HRG may have yet another, “Big piece of history once again!” I will continue this research further.
This land we acquired was given to us for a reason, the Spirits of the Natives who walked the land 9.4 acres and much much more in the area where we believe Zarahemla to be is a Sacred land, where we have a 600 BC replica ship Phoenicia!
A ship like it may have brought the ancestors of these people “from the east” to this area of the Heartland.
Here yet another connection!
This particular piece like I said was gifted to us by a great man. Mike and I connected with this man that day we met and had lunch together. We love the work we are doing and love all of your hard work in this project.
Let us continue working together and always strive to be good stewards.
Thank you, We Love you guys 😊Betty aka “Red Ant”& Mike
Read an amazing article below about the Half-Breed Land
Below is a revelation, not a statement, not an idea, not conjecture, a revelation. If the Lord planned the name Zarahemla as just another name and not one in the Book of Mormon, the Lord may have called it in D&C 125 the New Zarahemla, signifying a different location as in the city of the New Jerusalem.
D&C 125:3-4
“Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Nauvoo, Illinois, March 1841, concerning the Saints in the territory of Iowa.” (Heading of D&C 125)
“Let them build up a city unto my name upon the land opposite the city of Nauvoo, and let the name of Zarahemla be named upon it.
And let all those who come from the east, and the west, and the north, and the south, that have desires to dwell therein, take up their inheritance in the same, as well as in the city of Nashville, or in the city of Nauvoo, and in all the stakes which I have appointed, saith the Lord.” D&C 125:3-4
Half-Breed Land in Eastern Iowa
Zarahemla According to Neville
“When Joseph Smith purchased the land for Nauvoo, he actually purchased far more land across the river in Iowa, as this map (left) from the Joseph Smith papers shows. If this area–designated in the 1800s as the “half-breed tract”–was the location of the ancient city of Zarahemla, the location could explain why the people were wealthy and why they had problems with pride, etc. (Of course, every human society has problems of pride, envy, etc.
However, Alma focuses particularly on this when he’s in the city of Zarahemla.) People ask if there is archaeological evidence for a city in this area. There is archaeological evidence of settlements along the river, north and south of this site, that date to Book of Mormon times, but nothing that can be identified as the city of Zarahemla, per se.The city of Zarahemla and its inhabitants were burned (3 Nephi 8:8). Later, the city was built again (4 Nephi 1:8) but the city is not mentioned afterward. It could have been destroyed again, of course. The river could have flooded the city, deposited sand over it, or any number of other possibilities.”
Neville continues, “For now, I note that it’s a location that seems to fit the text nicely. Another consideration is that D&C 125 hints at this site as the location of ancient Zarahemla. Another interesting aspect of Alma 5 is the mention of sheep, shepherds, and wolves. There must have been sheep in the city of Zarahemla. We’ve already stipulated that, because the Nephites “strictly” observed the Law of Moses, but Alma emphasizes the point is repeated here.
v. 37: ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, v. 38: ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd. v. 39: And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? v. 59: For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock? v. 60: if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed.
These metaphors would be ineffective if the people living in Zarahemla did not have sheep. In verse 59, Alma abandons the metaphorical use and speaks directly to actual shepherds. Some species of sheep that are indigenous to North America have survived to the present day, including the Bighorn and Dall. Anciently, their populations were in the millions. Although confined mainly to the western US, Canada, and northern Mexico. Wolves are indigenous to North America and were ubiquitous throughout North America before the Europeans arrived. They were part of Native American Indian legends and mythology. Their devastating impact on domesticated animals led to federal government programs to eradicate wolves from grazing areas. See this article.
Because Alma discussed wolves in this sense, I think it’s possible that whatever domesticated sheep the Nephites had–whether related to the other indigenous North American species or species Lehi brought with him–were killed off after the destruction of the Nephite society. The situation could be similar to that of horses, where recent research has shown the traditional explanation for horses–that the Spanish brought them all–is not consistent with the actual records.” Source: 2016 Gospel Doctrine Resource by Jonathan Neville
The most exciting news in many years, is the 600 BC replica ‘Phoenicia’ is being re-assembled on the banks of the Mississippi River near Montrose, Iowa. Heartland Research purchased the original Philip Beale, ‘Phoenicia’ which sailed over 30,000 nautical miles from the Old world to America in 2009 and another voyage in 2020.
Since Philip Beale was unable to sell the ship whole, he wanted it preserved, so he had it cut up and loaded on two large containers in Florida and sent one back to England, and just a few months later, before Philip sent the 2nd container to England, Heartland Purchased purchased the entire contents of those two large containers from Philip. Quickly they set up the current warehouse in Montrose, Iowa and began re-build that 600 BC replica.
About a year later the 2nd container that was sent to England was sent to Heartland Research in Iowa. The first container has already been restored and the second container of the ship is just beginning to be rebuilt as of Nov 2023. Come join us as volunteers to help restore this wonderful ship. Donate Here
Across the river from Nauvoo, Illinois is where the ‘Phoenicia’ is being re-built today. The Heartland Research Group also owns significant land in Montrose Iowa as you can see below with the red arrow. More to Come
“For my people, the Dine’ oral tradition says that we came to this land from the East direction, at first light as the sun rises we give thanks for all we have in the east direction. Our homes face the east direction, we believe to have come here from the east by The Holy People.
When I first learned of the Phoenicia and its beginning and how it sailed here to North America she fascinated me, especially learning of replication of a 600 BC ship. The timeline of The Book of Mormon and the stories of my people coming to this sacred land America. I believe The Phoenicia is a special ship, I believe she has a Spirit of discovery and a mission. In 2019 she came to the shore of Ft Lauderdale, I boarded her and instantly felt her Spirit, I thought of how it was very possible a ship like her came to North America carrying my Ancestors of The Book of Mormon! She had a rough couple of years and even made it through a bad Tropical storm, and had some damage. Mike and I drove to Ft Lauderdale in December 2021 to see her. As I walked around and touched her worn wood I instantly felt a strong presence, she lives! She has a story to tell, others need to see her, touch her and hear her story.
Her figurehead a horse head on the bow of the ship was damaged but still made her beautiful presence known. She lives and must live on were my thoughts, when we visited her that day in the shipyard in Ft Lauderdale, Florida. She will need love and care to bring her back to where she will continue her story. Philip Beale sailed her to America to tell a story without really knowing our story and the time era of 600 BC and what that means to us. May we continue her story here in America” Red Ant
“The Heartland Research Group is a grassroots, boots-on-the-ground organization that believes that the historical narrative of the Book of Mormon took place in the Heartland of North America. The HRG is active in archaeological research and in the acquisition, restoration and display of ancient American artifacts. The HRG is currently preparing an ancient ship replica called the “Phoenicia” for display. The ships construction design is patterned after a shipwreck dating to 600 BC. The Phoenicia ship made modern voyages, first around Africa and then also from the Middle East to Florida in 2019 – proving that voyages around Africa or from Sidon to North America were feasible anciently.” Heartland Research Group
We invite you to support our efforts financially so we can complete these worthy goals! See their website here: phoenicia.rocks
“I was one of the forty-six preachers that Brother Woodruff speaks of in his “Leaves of My Journal.” The forty-six were baptized except one, that was Phillip Holdt. Brother Woodruff baptized me at Hill Farm where he baptized six hundred. He told me not long ago, that less had apostatized out of that lot than any other of the same number in the church.” Edward Phillips
“I was standing by the temple talking to Brother Woodruff and he pointed out a spot to me on the opposit[e] side of the river about a mile and a half above Montrose, and said there would be a city and a temple built there and the place would be called Zarahemla.” Edward Phillips. More from his autobiography below.
Sheep in ancient North America, Validate a Zarahemla site is possible in Iowa
No Sheep, Goats, Bullocks, Rams, Doves, Wheat, or Barley in Mesoamerica during the time of the Nephites. They couldn’t practice the Law of Moses unless they lived in North America.
Hugh Nibley said, “If my insistent harping on central Asia annoys you, let me remind you again that the book of Ether gives us no choice. It never lets us forget that what the Jaredite kings did was a conscious imitation and unbroken continuation of the ways of “the ancients,” of “them of old” on the other side of the water. This, incidentally, is another indication that we are not to regard the Jaredite migration as taking place immediately after the flood, for the fall of the tower saw the destruction of an ancient and established order. The Jaredites left their homeland driving great herds of cattle before them in the immemorial Asiatic manner, and even if they had never been nomads before, they certainly lived the life of the steppes during those many years before they set sail (Ether 3:3), and when they embarked, they crammed all they could of their beasts into their small boats, “flocks and herds” and other beasts (Ether 6:4), and upon reaching the New World continued to cultivate “all manner of cattle, of oxen, and cows, and of sheep” just as their ancestors had in the old country (Ether 9:18). Now you know, how the Nephites could have had sheep in North America brought to this land by the Jaredites. The Nephites could continue practicing the Law of Moses in the land of The New Jerusalem.” (2 Nephi 25:24 Mosiah 2:3) Hugh Nibley from Lehi in the Desert; The Great Open Spaces
3 Essential Truths about Nephite Observance of the Law of Moses By Amberli Nelson
“First Truth: Not only did the Nephites “strictly” keep the law of Moses (as indicated in 37 verses in the Book of Mormon (see Alma 30:3, Mosiah 13:29-30, Jarom 1:5), but they did so with delight as it was seen by them as both a collection of types of Christ and a means of coming unto Him. Occasionally even the Lamanites were known to “strictly” observe the law (Hel. 13:1). Second: In “observing to keep the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the Law of Moses” (2 Ne. 5:10), the Nephites would have necessarily observed all the feasts or “holy days” given to Moses by Jehovah. These are recorded in Exodus and Leviticus and are known as “holy convocations” or “rehearsals” and they typify the life and mission of Jesus Christ in profoundly beautiful ways. Third: It was absolutely essential for these Jewish Lehites to be brought to a land that would provide an abundance of all the plants and animals required to keep the Law of Moses, with its concomitant Holy Days or festivals. Based on the latest archeological findings, it can now be irrefutably shown that the Heartland of North America is the only location in the Western Hemisphere where all ten of the essential items were found anciently including; lambs, oxen, goats, doves, barley, wheat, grapes, and altars made of stacked, unhewn stones. These aforementioned items have not been found in the archaeological record of the pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica.” Amberli Nelson MBA Hebrew/Jewish Symbology Expert
Mesoamerican Theories of Zarahemla
Mesoamerica “Book of Mormon Lands” tour promoter Dr. John L. Lund, released a historically incorrect and misleading article in a newsletter and paid advertisement eblast (http://ldsliving.com/e/2012/db02_29_2012.html ) published Feb. 29, 2012. Lund’s piece, Joseph Smith Identified Zarahemla as Being in Guatemala, proclaims that an article appearing in the Times and Seasons on October 1, 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois was emphatically “written by Joseph Smith.” Read more here:
“In March 1841, a revelation known as Section 125, gave a name and location of a city. While the Lord had previously named Adam – ondi – Ahman and the New Jerusalem as being in the state of Missouri, perhaps this revelation has named yet another city in ancient America. The Lord said to Joseph: “Let them build up a city unto my name upon the land opposite the city of Nauvoo, and let the name of Zarahemla be named upon it”. We first learned of the name Zarahemla in the Book of Mormon. However, very early in Church History documents, the name Zarahemla was disassociated with the revelation. Writers of the history of this period began to attribute the naming of Zarahemla to other persons who were contemporary with the Prophet Joseph or even to the Prophet himself rather than to the Lord and they made it appear that the word Zarahemla was used pre-1841 when the Lord actually gave the revelation to Joseph. We have learned from historic and current Church History publications the following clarifications about the naming of Zarahemla.”
1. Joseph Smith DID NOT use the word Zarahemla in 1839. (Joseph Smith Papers, Journals, vol. 1, p. 336)
Thus, we have learned, that any use of the name Zarahemla prior to March 1841 is not correct and was inserted in historical accounts after 1841. Surely, further investigation is warranted as to why the Lord used such a name in the revelation.
Again do you remember Bill? Read study and pray and you will know the truth.
Autobiography of Edward Phillips (1813-1896)
This sketch was written by Sylvia Phillips, then a fourteen year old granddaughter of Edward Phillips, as he dictated it to her in the year 1889. Italicized portions are apparently Phillips’ corrections/additions. Typescript in hands of family.
Edward Phillips, son of William and Mary Phillips, born in Oxenhall Parrish [Parish], Glouscestershire [Gloucestershire], England, April 2, 1813. He was christened April 3, 1813.
When [I was] six months old my father moved to Leigh, Worcestershire, Upper Sandlin, and there rented a farm of one hundred acres for three years. From there moved to Black House, Creadley, Herefordshire, and rented a farm of seventy-five acres for four years then returning to Upper Sandlin and rented that farm again for three years. From there he moved to Creadley and rented another farm. While working there he was taken sick and died at Longley Groen [Green], Suckley, Worcestershire, November 29, 1825, at the age of sixty-two. He married Mary Ann Pressdee in Worcestershire, being about ten years her senior. She was the mother of eleven children. From that time I employed myself farming and learning blacksmithing. I joined the society called the “United Brethern” whose president and leader was Thomas Kington. Everything worked well with us until within a year of the time Brother Wilford Woodruff arrived in our neighborhood. It seemed to me that we had come to a precipice and could not go any farther until Brother Wilford Woodruff placed a bridge over that precipice and we went on with glad hearts rejoicing. I went to hear him preach at Ridgeway Crossing on or about March 15, 1840. A day or two following I went to Hill’s Farm to hear him speak. When I started my good old mother said, “Edward, I should think you will not come back without being baptized.” I obeyed this council. I was the only male member of my father’s family who received the gospel. My sister Susan followed suite.I was one of the forty-six preachers that Brother Woodruff speaks of in his “Leaves of My Journal.” The forty-six were baptized except one, that was Phillip Holdt.Brother Woodruff baptized me at Hill Farm where he baptized six hundred. He told me not long ago, that less had apostatized out of that lot than any other of the same number in the church.
I[n] a few days after I was baptized, I was ordained a priest and put in charge of two branches, Ashfield and Crocutt, with George Brooks as my addistant [assistant]. This was near Sherrage, Leigh, Worcestershire. In the fall of that year, I was ordained an elder at the conference, under the hands of Brother Woodruff, and was sent to preach the gospel with Elder John Gaily to the Forest of Deane and Glouscestershire [Gloucestershire]. There I had the privilege of visiting my father’s family. We traveled and preached nearly a year and many were brout [brought] into the church under our administration. My mother embraced the gospel about this time under the hands of Brother Woodruff at a place called Moorings Cross, Maythen Parrish [Parish], Herfordshire [Herefordshire], 1841.
I left my home to emigrate to America. I went to Gloucester and in company with one hundred saints went to Bristol and boarded the “Carolina” for America. We set sail for Quebec, August 8th, 1841. We had a tedious voyage of eight weeks and three days, but landed safely. Thomas Richardson was our President. We set sail for Quebec, from Quebec we went to Montreal by steamer, and from Montreal through the lock to Kinston and then we sailed along Lake Ontario to Lewiston. We had a fine view of the city of Toronto. From Lewiston we boarded the train (which was drawn by mules) from Niagara Falls.
The next day we boarded the train for Buffalo and arrived at that place after dark. We put up at the Farmer’s Exchange for a week because of sickness. We then boarded the Chespeake [Chesapeake] for where now stands the great city of Chicago. We hired a man there to take us to Nauvoo with a team which contract he filled. We arrives [arrived] at Nauvoo in the latter part of October, 1841, on Saturday. On Sunday, I was anxious to see the Prophet. I attended meeting there and saw him for the first time. I did not need an introduction for I knew him the moment I saw him. He preached the gospel of salvation to us that morning which caused my heart to rejoice. Next day, Monday, I went to work in quarrying rock for the temple, (that was my first days work in America) near the upper Stone House on the Mississippi River. I continued to work on the temple and the Nauvoo House, most of the winter. I boarded with an old friend by the name of Jenkins, a shoemaker. There I fell in love with my present wife, who had preceeded [preceded] me a few weeks to America. On the 2nd of August of the next year, being one year from the time I left home, we were married by Heber C. Kimball near Camp Creek in Hancock County. She bore me fifteen children, nine of whom are still living, three of whom were born in Illinois, and the two first, a boy and a girl, died there. We were driven from their graves at the point of a bayonet, which was very grievous to us. I had some land and made me a nice home near where they were buried. I was working in the field near the house when the news came that the Prophet and his brother were killed at Carthage Jail.This made me shed bitter tears for I felt they were two good friends and I knew Joseph was a true prophet of God. He had said that he would go and die for the people. I was under arms in Nauvoo when he gave himself up to die for the people. He discharged us and told us to go home and he would go and die for us. We would gladly have gone and stood between him and death, but he would not let us. I was ready and willing to go. We were quartered at the tithing yard and slept in the Nauvoo Exposition Building. We went one day for foliage for our horses, and met Gen. Joseph Smith with his staff in the street. He cheered us and said, “Well done, boys.” We had been out inspecting the ground where we expected to meet our enemies. Word came to our Captain one night that the pickett guard was driven in and we were ordered out in the dead of night to go and meet the mob. I was determined to go and assist, so I borrowed a horse from a boy who did not like to go himself. Nevertheless this proved to be a false alarm and I went back disappointed. The prophet said he would go and die for us. He did and was butchered in cold blood. I was not there when he was killed, but I went later and took my wife with me to show her the well, curb, and the window where he jumped out when he was shot.
I have a Patriarchal blessing hanging in a frame in my room, which was pronounced upon my head by the prophet and patriarch, Hyrum Smith, in the fall of 1844[1843?], which is worth more than gold to me – Gold is no name for it. The predictions are being literally fulfilled every day. I know if I prove faithful it will all come to pass. I knew then and also know now that Joseph was a true prophet of God, and that the mantle of Joseph fell on Brigham Young who was his legal successor.
I was present at the meeting when this took place (Read about that meeting below with the *) and heard with my own ears and saw with my own eyes. We all thought Joseph had come back to us although we knew he was in his grave. I was standing by the temple talking to Brother Woodruff and he pointed out a spot to me on the opposit[e] side of the river about a mile and a half above Montrose, and said there would be a city and a temple built there and the place would be called Zarahemla. I was at Nauvoo when the temple was finished and dedicated. I went up into the tower and wrote my name there. As I understand, the wicked have burned that temple to the ground and it is all destroyed like the Jerusalem temple. But I expect to see that temple re-erected and the one built on the opposite side of the river to match. Source Here and Here
2018 Scanned Sites in Montrose, Iowa Area – More than 220 Acres.
*Is there evidence for the transfiguration of Brigham Young?
James F. Stoddard IV and Aaron R. Halsell
“The day is Thursday, August 8, 1844. Six weeks to the day have passed since the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith on June 27, 1844. The majority of the Twelve Apostles have recently returned from missions1 and some are still stunned and disheartened by the loss of their Prophet. Upon their arrival they find “Sidney Rigdon busy among the Saints, trying to establish his claim to the presidency of the Church.”2 According to a report issued by the Times and Seasons:
[A] special meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, convened at the stand in the city of Nauvoo, President Brigham Young, called the audience to order, and arranged the several quorums according to their standing, and the rules of the church. The meeting had been previously called, as stated, to choose a guardian, or trustee for said church.3
Sidney Rigdon
Opinions differ,4 either Sidney Rigdon, former First Counselor in the First Presidency,5 or the Quorum of the Twelve with Brigham Young at their head. The audience is divided as the polished and eloquent Sidney Rigdon commences his message. The old gentleman is charismatic and the arguments are compelling to some of the flock.6
Brigham Young, a man fiercely loyal to the Prophet Joseph Smith, current President of the Twelve and later to become known as the “Lion of the Lord”, takes the stand. Suddenly, the people arise “en-masse to their feet astonished.”7 One eyewitness later remembered, “it appeared that Joseph had returned and was speaking to the people.”8 As Brigham Young commences speaking, hundreds in the audience believe “in every possible degree it [is] Joseph’s voice, and his person, in look, attitude, dress and appearance [it is] Joseph himself, personified”.9 William Hyde later remembers:
[Brigham Young] then called upon the saints to know if they would receive the Twelve and let them stand in their place as the First Presidency of the Church in the absense of Joseph. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative. On this day it was plainly manifest that the mantle of Joseph had rested upon President Young.10James F. Stoddard IV and Aaron R. Halsell
Here are other evidences to pray about as you decide where the Book of Mormon Events happened. I believe the events happened right here in the USA.
Zelph of Zarahemla
Zelph a Man of God by Ken Corbett
“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..
Zelph in vision by Ken Corbett
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.
Letter to Emma by Ken Corbett
“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
“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
Book of Mormon City Manti
“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…” Millennial Star, vol. 16, p. 296 “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.” Journal of Samuel D. Tyler, filed in Church Historian’s Office. Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 3: 239 History of Joseph Smith page 296
“We came through Huntsville, the county seat of Randolph county . . . A mile and a half west of Huntsville we crossed the east branch of Chariton (River), and one and a half miles west of the river we found Ira Ames and some other brethren near the place where the city of Manti is to be built, and encamped for the night on Dark creek, six miles from Huntsville. Traveled this day seventeen miles. Distance from Kirtland, seven hundred and fifty-five miles.” Joseph Smith Documentary History of the Church, 3:10:144:1
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
Indians that now Inhabit this Country
“In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement by a colony that came from the Tower of Babel at the confusion of languages to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era. We are informed by these records that America in ancient times has been inhabited by two distinct races of people. The first were called Jaredites and came directly from the Tower of Babel. The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites of the descendants of Joseph. The Jaredites were destroyed about the time that the Israelites came from Jerusalem, who succeeded them in the inheritance of the country. The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country…” Wentworth Letter reprinted in Ensign July 2002
Joseph said that “the Book of Mormon is a record of the forefathers of our western tribes of Indians . . . By it we learn that our western tribes of Indians are descendants from that Joseph that was sold into Egypt, and that the land of America is a promised land unto them.” Joseph Smith’s Letter to The American Revivalist Feb 2, 1833 (Quoted in Dean C. Jessee, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1984), p. 273)
“He told me of a sacred record which was written on plates of gold, I saw in the vision the place where they were deposited, he said the Indians were the literal descendants of Abraham…” Joseph Smith Journal, November 9, 1835; The Joseph Smith Papers: Journals Volume 1:1832-1839 (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2008), 88-89.
“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;” BofM Title Page
“You shall go unto the Lamanites and preach my gospel unto them;… and no man knoweth where the city Zion shall be built, but it shall be given hereafter. Behold, I say unto you that it shall be on the borders by the Lamanites. D&C 28:8-9
The Lamanites that were first taught the gospel, as Parley Pratt says were the Native American Indians of the United States. There were two tribes of the Iroquois, Wyandot, and Cattaraugus, and two from the Algonquian, the Delaware or Leni Lape, and the Shawnee.
“Once the red men were many; they occupied the country from sea to sea — from the rising to the setting sun; the whole land . . . Thousands of moons ago, when the red men’s forefathers dwelt in peace and possessed this whole land the Great Spirit talked with them, and revealed His law and His will and much knowledge to their wise men and prophets. This they wrote in a Book . . . written on plates of gold and handed down from father to son for many ages and generations. It was then that the people prospered and were strong and mighty; they cultivated the earth, built buildings and cities and abounded in all good things, as the pale faces now do . . . 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 . . . Thus ended our first Indian mission, in which we had preached the Gospel in its fullness and distributed the record of their forefathers among three viz.: the Cattaraugus Indians, near Buffalo, N.Y., the Wyandots, of Ohio and the Delawares, west of Missouri.”Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, pp. 56-6; Documentary History of the Church Vol 1: Footnotes 183:2-18
“Thus ended our first Indian mission, in which we had preached the Gospel in its fullness and distributed the record of their forefathers among three tribes… west of Missouri.” Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, p 56-61
“Now, to my story again. Besides the Delawares, Shawnees, Kickapoos, Wyandots, Pottowattomies, Senecas, Osages, Choctaws, Cherokees, Kaskaskias, Kansas, &c. &c. which our nation and the missionaries are domesticating as they are gathered, upon the southern limits of the land of Israel, the Pawnees, the Sioux, the Rickarees, the Mandans, the Nespersees, the Blackfeet, the Sacs, the Foxes, and many other tribes, rove and hunt from prairie to prairie, from river to river, from hill to hill, and from mountain to mountain, and live, and are blessed before the face of heaven daily as well as their contemporary whites; and, perhaps I may add, are as justifiable before God, as any people on the globe, called heathens. No church bell from its elevated steeple, rings “Go to meeting; it is Sunday,” while a dozen lesser ones, for stages and Steam boats, peal a ding dong “for parties of pleasure, as a holiday,” among these rude sons of the west.—And it is a difficult matter to make one soul of them believe the Great Spirit ever said, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” while they know, that the majority of the white nation, use it for a holiday. No politicians boast of freedom and equal rights, while thousands are imprisoned for debt, or are in bondage: No; when the tribes are at peace, the Indian is free; his land is free; his game is free; his time is free, and all is free.” LETTER NO. II. From WW Phelps to Oliver Cowdery Liberty, Mo. Nov. 6, 1834
“I accordingly went down, and met Keokuk, Kis-Ku-Kosh, Appenoose, and about one hundred chiefs and braves of those tribes (Sac, Fox), with their families.” … and instructed them in many things which the Lord had revealed unto me concerning their fathers, and the promises that were made concerning them in the Book of Mormon.” Joseph Smith Papers; History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 Addenda page 10-11
Joseph Knew where the Book of Mormon took Place
“From this time forth, Joseph continued to receive instructions from the Lord, and we continued to get the children together every evening, for the purpose of listening while he gave us a relation of the same. I presume our family presented an aspect as singular as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth–all seated in a circle, father, mother, sons, and daughters, and giving the most profound attention to a boy, eighteen years of age, who had never read the Bible through in his life: he seemed much less inclined to the perusal of books than any of the rest of our children, but far more given to meditation and deep study… During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode, their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them.” Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845 Book 4 Joseph Smith Papers
The United States is the Land of the Book of Mormon
“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 promised Ensign Dec. 2012
“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. Monson2011 (Ordained an Apostle, 1963; ordained President of the Church, 2008)
President Monson believes the United States is the Promised Land of the Book of Mormon. Why do Mesoamericanists believe the entire continent of the Americas is the Promised land? You mean Greenland, Guatemala, and the Northwest Territories are the Promised Lands? I love all of God’s children in the entire world and God loves us all the same, but seriously? If a person from Greenland comes to the United States legally as a citizen that person can also live in the Promised Land, correct? I’m sure Greenland has much beauty on its own, but it is not the Promised Land, is it? I am not belittling other lands. I’m just making a factual statement. Why is the United States and Israel the two Promised Lands? Because Christ said so. See 3 Nephi 20:22,29 Rian Nelson
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. 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.” Josephsmithacademy.org
Joseph Smith’s Historically Verifiable Written Statements
“Nearly all those familiar with the early statements by the Prophet touching on potential Book of Mormon lands know that he clearly indicated them to be in North America. This is evident in the historically verified accounts wherein he declared revelation such as in the Wentworth Letter, the American Revivalist Account, the Zelph Accounts and Joseph’s handwritten letter to Emma while on Zion’s camp. In addition, the prophet revealed a Nephite altar at Adam-ondi-Ahman, mentioned the land of Manti was near Huntsville, Missouri, and revealed that this land was “the borders of the Lamanites” (see D&C 54:8). Furthermore he received revelation from the Lord for the location of Zarahemla (see D&C 125:3) and New Jerusalem (see D&C 84:1-6) which Christ Himself declared to be on Book of Mormon lands (3 Nephi 20:22), both of which are absolutely located in North America. These accounts and their indications are not speculation based, but historically documented.” By Rod Meldrum
Joseph Smith and the Angel Moroni
by Tom Holdman (Stained glass)
Hill Cumorah Visitors Center, Palmyra, New York
(Photo courtesy of J. Stephen Conn, June 28, 2009
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstephenconn/3699664012)
On the late evening of September 22, 1827 (1 Tishrei, 5588),
Joseph Smith Jr. obtained the golden plates
as Moroni gives him a charge to protect them.
We don’t have to be afraid to dissent about many secondary evidences of the Book of Mormon, as long as we are informed. In other words, when we explore and research and prayerfully decide about where the geography of the Book of Mormon began, or if there was one or two Hill Cumorah’s, as we are informed and feel a spirit of personal revelation, we should dissent against those who may disagree. Not argue or disparage others, but simply dissent based on our personal revelation. In fact, a testimony comes with the confirmation of the spirit after reading and praying about the truth of the Book of Mormon, which is all you need at the beginning, and then you must continue to read and pray all the days of your life to keep that strong testimony.
We should as Harold B. Lee said, “Be Unafraid to Dissent – If we are Informed.” I love learning and being informed, and with my quest for truth, I explore truth with fervor and confirm it with the Spirit of Christ.” I am not speaking about doctrine or about revelation of prophets, but only about secondary evidence or personal revelation.
As Elder Holland said, “Truly rock-ribbed faith and uncompromised conviction comes with its most complete power when it engages our head as well as our heart… 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… but not to seek for and not to acknowledge intellectual, documentable support for our belief when it is available is to needlessly limit an otherwise incomparably strong theological position and deny us a unique, persuasive vocabulary in the latter-day arena of religious investigation and sectarian debate.” The Greatness of the Evidence By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland August 16, 2017
Personal Revelation
Our Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson said, “You don’t have to wonder about what is true. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.
President Russell M. Nelson
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 agree with the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr., along with our current Prophet, Russell M. Nelson. I love them both and I know this Church is true and the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I realize that when the Prophet gives a revelation, it becomes doctrine, and I will always follow it as led by the Spirit. When the Leaders of the Church urge us or recommend something, they are doing their duty of warning, preaching, and trying to help us in this difficult world. Individual answers are all around each of us, and the Lord will guide us based on our faith, research, and study to know what is right. Personal revelation is most important as it comes from God. However, we must be hesitant to share personal revelation as if we are speaking for the Church or any other individual or Church leader. We are all accountable to Christ individually, not collectively.
Many quotes below feel true to me by personal revelation. Some of you may feel these are good quotes, but they are just opinions of good men. Some may feel there is no way these quotes could be true and especially not revelation. We are each free to choose what we believe of course. Please read, ponder, and pray about these quotes, whether they be true to you or not. As Moroni said, “we may know the truth of all things.”
Secondary Evidences
Knowing truth about secondary evidences of the Book of Mormon, such as it’s geography, the method of translation, the location of the final battles, or any other truth about this book, you can know the truth by personal revelation. Our Prophet and Apostles and other leaders may share with us personal information about secondary evidences, that we must validate by our own personal revelation. The Church is officially neutral on the location of Book of Mormon as I quote, “the Church’s only position is that the events the Book of Mormon describes took place in the ancient Americas. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/book-of-mormon-geography?lang=eng#p5
I love this quote by Harold B. Lee: “I admire men and women who have developed the questing spirit, who are unafraid of new ideas as stepping stones to progress. We should, of course, respect the opinions of others, but we should also be unafraid to dissent – if we are informed. Thoughts and expressions compete in the marketplace of thought, and in that competition truth emerges triumphant. Only error fears freedom of expression.”
“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 will summarize in brevity the two main theories of the Book of Mormon. There are many other theories as well. You can know truth about non-doctrinal issues and difficult questions through diligence and confirmation of the Spirit. My faith is in the Lord and I know Pres Nelson is a prophet of God as was Joseph Smith, and I have found many secondary truths about the Book of Mormon through hard work and diligence and prayer. About 45 years ago I felt the Mesoamerican theory was correct, but in the past 14 years, I firmly believe in the Heartland Model for Book of Mormon Geography. It came from personal witnesses and experiences.
Does it matter where the Book of Mormon events happened? Yes in my opinion, as it has strengthened my testimony and added great impact to it. I don’t mind what others believe about geography, as this is my personal witness.
Two Theories Researched
1) Five Mesoamerican Theory Keys
1.The Hill in Ontario, New York by Palmyra, is the Hill the gold plates were found by Joseph Smith, but not necessarily “The hill Cumorah” . Similarly in the Church publication, “Saints” the name Cumorah is never used, but just referred to as, “hill”. 2. Buried with the Gold Plates in New York was the Urim and Thummim, Breastplate, Liahona, and Sword of Laban. Five Items. There was not a separate cave at the hill in New York, but probably was a dream Joseph had, of a repository of many plates somewhere in Mexico.
Video from the Church History Museum in Salt Lake. Did Moroni hide the Liahona and Sword with the Gold Plates? NO!
3. The final battles between the Nephites and Lamanites was fought on some hill in Mexico yet to be named.
4. Zarahemla is located in several possible Mesoamerican locations as shown on the map below.
5. The Narrow Neck of Land is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Central America, where the land divides the sea. It is about 140 miles wide.
1.The Hill in Ontario, New York by Palmyra, is the only Hill Cumorah. 2.Buried with the Gold Plates in New York was the Urim and Thummim, and Breastplate Three Items. The Liahona and Sword were found in a separate repository in the Hill Cumorah called the Cave at Cumorah. Orson Pratt said, “The hill Cumorah, with the surrounding vicinity, is distinguished as the great battlefield on which, and near which, two powerful nations were concentrated with all their forces. Men, women and children fought till hundreds of thousands on both sides were hewn down, and left to molder upon the ground. . . .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)
3. The final battles between the Nephites and Lamanites was fought on the same hill Cumorah in New York where Joseph found the Gold Plates, Urim and Thummim, and Breastplate.
4. City of Zarahemla is located at Montrose, Iowa as a revelation from Joseph Smith said, “Let them build up a city unto my name upon the land opposite the city of Nauvoo, and let the name of Zarahemla be named upon it.” D&C 125:3
5. The Narrow Neck of Land is the Niagara Peninsula between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, where the Seas divide the Land. It is between 3-24 miles wide from the north shore of Erie to the south shore of Ontario.
Basic Narrow Neck of Land 3 Miles wide from the Onondaga Formation to the south shore of ancient Lake Wainfleet. 24 miles wide from the north shore of Erie to the south shore of Lake Ontario.
Both the Mesoamerican Map and the Heartland Map are compared side by side below.
Compare side by side the United States map with what we call the Fantasy map of the Mesoamerican Theory. They both contain the same beginning points (South) to the ending points (North). However the Fantasy map of Mesoamerica has to be turned 90 degrees in order to have the North to South directions fit the text.
John Sorensen/Mesoamericanist
John Leon Sorenson (April 8, 1924 – December 8, 2021) was an American anthropologist, scholar and author. He was a professor of anthropology at Brigham Young University, and the author of An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, as well as many other books and articles on the Book of Mormon and archaeology.
John Sorenson, seasoned Mormon scholar and early proponent of the Tehuantepec limited geography theory, has publicly bemoaned the overwhelming unlikeliness of locating Book of Mormon animals in the ancient New World without substantial reinterpretations of the text:
“What kind of animals did the Nephites have? The terms cattle, horses, sheep and so on are mentioned at several points in the Book of Mormon, in the Nephite record. And it is dismaying to some, some who wish to be dismayed, I believe, (and a few others who wish an answer could be provided) why there are not cows like we mean cows, horses like we mean horses, sheep like we mean sheep. The fact is, however, is that all the ancient studies say those animals simply were not present in the New World. Period. They were not here…
Well, 99.9% period. There is some little possibility of some horses as we know horses. The likelihood, however, is that we must go back to the text again, we see the internal having to articulate constantly with the external. We get some ideas from the internal, look outside, try to get enlightening, illuminating information, and then we may have to back into the text, and re-read it, and understand: “Let’s see now, when Mormon said this, what did really mean? Did he mean what I think he means? Or shall we read it the way he wrote it an meant it in his mind? We do not know that when he said ‘horse,’ he meant our kind of horse.” Sorenson, John L. “The Book of Mormon in Ancient America.” Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies Lecture Series. Provo. 1992.
Another Mesoamerican Theorist
“I would say in evaluating the Book of Mormon, it had no place in the New World whatsoever. And we’d have to look for the place of the Book of Mormon events to have taken place in the Old World. It just doesn’t seem to fit anything that he [John Carlson] has been taught in his discipline, nor I in my discipline in anthropology, history; there seems to be no place for it. It seems misplaced. It seems like these are anachronisms. It seems like the items are out of time and place, and trying to put them into the New World. And I think there’s a great difficulty here for we Mormons in understanding what this book is all about.” Matheny, Raymond T. “Book of Mormon Archaeology: What Does the Evidence Really show?” Sunstone Symposium. 25 Aug. 1984.Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 1993
Leaders Quotes about the Heartland Model
Letter VII
“At about one mile west rises another ridge of less height, running parallel with the former, leaving a beautiful vale between. The soil is of the first quality for the country, and under a state of cultivation, which gives a prospect at once imposing, when one reflects on the fact, that here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed…
…Here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed. By turning to the 529th and 530th pages of the Book of Mormon, you will read Mormon’s account of the last great struggle of his people, as they were encamped round this hill Cumorah. In this valley fell the remaining strength and pride of a once powerful people, the Nephites—once so highly favored of the Lord, but at that time in darkness, doomed to suffer extermination by the hand of their barbarous and uncivilized brethren. From the top of this hill, Mormon, with a few others, after the battle, gazed with horror upon the mangled remains of those who, the day before, were filled with anxiety, hope, or doubt.” Oliver Cowdery’s Letter VIIJoseph Smith Papers “Letter VII,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:155–159
“…Here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed. By turning to the 529th and 530th pages of the Book of Mormon, you will read Mormon’s account of the last great struggle of his people, as they were encamped round this hill Cumorah. In this valley fell the remaining strength and pride of a once powerful people, the Nephites—once so highly favored of the Lord, but at that time in darkness, doomed to suffer extermination by the hand of their barbarous and uncivilized brethren. From the top of this hill, Mormon, with a few others, after the battle, gazed with horror upon the mangled remains of those who, the day before, were filled with anxiety, hope, or doubt.” Oliver Cowdery’s Letter VII Joseph Smith Papers “Letter VII,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:155–159 .
I believe this quote above, written by Oliver Cowdrey who at the time was the Assistant President of the Church with Joseph Smith. It is clear as Oliver states, “when one reflects on the fact”, that this is a declaration of truth from Oliver. If you think this was just Oliver’s opinion, read below what Joseph Fielding Smith says about these 8 Letters that Oliver Cowdery wrote to W.W. Phelps.
I also believe that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim and Breastplate to translate and he never used a single stone in a hat to translate. As in “Letter I” there is a canonized quote from the scriptures saying, “Oliver Cowdery describes these events thus: “These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! 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.’” JSH 1:75*
VOICE FROM CUMORAH
“PROPHET APPROVES OLIVER COWDERY’S VIEWS. The quibbler might say that this statement from Oliver Cowdery is merely the opinion of Oliver Cowdery and not the expression of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It should be remembered that these letters in which these statements are made were written at the Prophet’s request and under his personal supervision. Surely, under these circumstances, he would not have permitted an error of this kind to creep into the record without correction.
At the commencement of these historical letters is found the following: “That our narrative may be correct, and particularly the introduction, it is proper to inform our patrons, that our Brother J. Smith Jr., has offered to assist us. Indeed, there are many items connected with the fore part of this subject that render his labor indispensable. With his labor and with authentic documents now in our possession, we hope to render this a pleasing and agreeable narrative, well worth the examination and perusal of the saints. “236. 24
Later, during the Nauvoo period of the Church, and again under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith, these same letters by Oliver Cowdery, were published in the Times and Seasons, without any thought of correction had this description of the Hill Cumorah been an error.” 236. 25 Joseph Fielding Smith Doctrines of Salvation Volume 3 Chapter 12 A VOICE FROM CUMORAH
Below are quotes about some theories [Mainly Mesoamerican and Heartland] of where the Book of Mormon events began. In my opinion I agree with Elder Perry and Pres Monson as stated below and in other quotes as well, who I think leaned towards a Heartland theory.
L. Tom Perry
“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
Thomas S. Monson
“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. Monson2011 (Ordained an Apostle, 1963; ordained President of the Church, 2008)
Editors Opinion
It is my strong opinion that President Monson believes the United States is the Promised Land of the Book of Mormon. Why do Mesoamericanists believe the entire continent of the Americas is the Promised land? To fit their narrative I guess. You mean Greenland, Guatemala, and the Northwest Territories are the Promised Land spoken of in the book of Mormon? I love all of God’s children in the entire world and God loves us all the same, but seriously? If a person from Greenland comes to the United States legally as a citizen that person can also live in the Promised Land, correct? I’m sure Greenland has much beauty on its own, but it is not the Promised Land, is it? I am not belittling other lands. I’m just making a legitimate statement. Why is the United States and Israel the two Promised Lands? Because Christ said so. See 3 Nephi 20:22,29
Gordon B. Hinckley
“I should like to say a few words about America…No land is without its beauty, no people without their virtues, and I hope that you who come from elsewhere will pardon my saying a few words concerning my own native land, America…surely this is a good land, a choice land, a chosen land. To me it is a miracle, a creation of the Almighty.” Gordon B. Hinckley Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled”, BYU Speeches of the Year, October 29, 1974, pp. 267-68
Joseph Smith Jr./ Emma’s Letter and Wentworth Letter
“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
The witness of Joseph Smith in his letter to Emma [above] on June 4, 1834 along with the following quote from the Wentworth Letter are two of the most convincing witnesses of the Book of Mormon events beginning in North America.
“In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement by a colony that came from the Tower of Babel at the confusion of languages to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era. We are informed by these records that America in ancient times has been inhabited by two distinct races of people. The first were called Jaredites and came directly from the Tower of Babel. The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites of the descendants of Joseph. The Jaredites were destroyed about the time that the Israelites came from Jerusalem, who succeeded them in the inheritance of the country. The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country...” Wentworth Letter reprinted in Ensign July 2002
Mark E. Petersen
“I do not believe that the classrooms or the pulpits of our Church are for laboratory purposes in which to experiment with new doctrines and speculative notions. They are exclusively for the use of those who are willing to convert men and women and boys and girls to the truth. . . . I do not believe we should give credence to the highly speculative theories about Book of Mormon geography. I do not believe that there were two Hill Cumorahs, one in Central America and the other one up in New York, for the convenience of the Prophet Joseph Smith, so that the poor boy would not have to walk clear to Central America to get the gold plates. I do not believe we can be good Latter-day Saints and question the integrity of Joseph Smith. I do not believe we can be good Latter-day Saints and question the testimony of the eleven witnesses of the Book of Mormon. I do not believe you have a testimony of the truth if you question the accuracy of the translation of the Book of Mormon.” Mark E. Petersen LDS Conference Reports, Sunday afternoon, April 5, 1953
Joseph Fielding Smith
“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 that evidence 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
James E. Talmage
“The final struggles between Nephites and Lamanites were waged in the vicinity of the Hill Cumorah, in what is now the State of New York, resulting in the destruction of the Nephites as a nation, about 400 A.D. The last Nephite representative was Moroni, who, wandering for safety from place to place, daily expecting death from the victorious Lamanites, wrote the concluding parts of the Book of Mormon, and hid the record in Cumorah. It was this same Moroni who, as a resurrected being, gave the records into the hands of Joseph Smith in the present dispensation.” James Talmage Articles of Faith
Ezra Taft Benson
“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. [1]. It was here where He organized His modern Church, where He, Himself, made a modern personal appearance [2]; [3]. 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 [4]. He has also promised protection to the righteous even, if necessary, to send fire from heaven to destroy their enemies [5]. No, God’s base of operations will not be destroyed.”
Heartland Theorists
“After reading a paper by a Latter-day Saint author who had “come to the conclusion that there was nothing to be found in the Central American setting that convinced him that the Book of Mormon belonged there,” Duane Aston asked himself, “what if the Book of Mormon did not belong in Central America? [and] if Book of Mormon lands were not located in Central America, then where might they belong?” Aston then describes what followed: “The only reasonable possible solution that came to my mind was New York. 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]
“The Book of Mormon records that due to the wickedness of the Nephite civilization they were destroyed by their brothers the Lamanites. The final battles of this unholy war took place near a hill that was called Cumorah. At Cumorah, hundreds of thousands of Nephites were slain, and the prophet/historian Moroni buried the history of his people in that hill (Mormon 6:2-15; 8:1-5). Hundreds of years later, that same history was unearthed in upstate New York, by the boy prophet Joseph Smith and translated to become the Book of Mormon (Joseph Smith–History 1:51-52).
Non-Mormon Theorists
“When Joseph Smith made his “fantastic” claims and published the Book of Mormon as an ancient history of the American Indians, some scoffed at the idea that a major battle had anciently taken place in the local vicinity. However, evidence was soon produced that documented that this region of the country did indeed once possess a heavy Indian population, and that a terrible battle had taken place in that locality.
Writing in 1851, E. G. Squier says that in the region: “Human bones of men, women, and children of both sexes were thrown together promiscuously by the thousands.” He notes large quantities of pottery, pipes, flint arrow-heads, stone hatchets and other implements were also found there. He further states that the ancient relics unearthed in the vicinity (which he estimates to be several hundred years old) showed considerable evidence of Hebrew origin.” (See E. G. Squier, Antiquities of New York, 1851, pp. 137-138.)
In New York State Bulletin #2 it is documented that several miles south of “Mormon Hill,” as it was then called, a site was found where flint arrowheads and spear points and many unfinished weapons were found in great abundance. All of the above sources are cited in Brenton G. Yorgason, Little Known Evidences of the Book of Mormon, 1989, p. 10.
Heber J. Grant
“While listening to the remarks of Brother Ivins, referring to a book that was written by one of our enemies, in which the statement is made that there is not a particle of evidence to show that there is any trace of the Hebrew among the people who anciently inhabited this country, and that there is no evidence that would go to prove that the Book of Mormon is true. I was reminded of a little item of evidence that came under my observation while I was in the City of London. A gentleman there, to whom a very dear friend of mine, Col. Alex. G. Hawes, had given me a letter, kindly invited a number of newspaper men to his home to meet me. I am very sorry that the newspaper men declined the honor; but I had the privilege of meeting with this man and his family, and a few friends, and conversing with them. One of his friends had been a member of the British legation at Constantinople, and had spent a considerable portion of his life there. He had traveled all over the holy land, and was familiar with the people and their customs. Among other things, he said: “Mr. Grant, I was astonished beyond measure, when I visited Canada, to find there oriental patterns woven in beads, by the American Indians. They were the same patterns that were woven in rugs, in the oriental countries. I have traveled extensively, and I had never seen those oriental patterns in any part of the world except in the holy land, until I found them among the North American Indians. Those patterns have been handed down for hundreds of years, from generation to generation ; they are kept in families, and can be found nowhere else; and how under the heavens those Indians, who have no connection with the people of the holy land, should have the same patterns is a mystery to me.” “Well, mv friend,” I said, “if I were to inform you that the forefathers of these American Indians came from the city of Jerusalem, that would explain it, wouldn’t it?” He replied, “Well, of course, it would.” I asked him if he had ever read the Book of Mormon. He said, “No.” “Well, it will be my pleasure to send you a copy, and from it you will learn that the forefathers of the American Indians came from Jerusalem.” “Well,” he said, “that explains the mystery; I am much obliged for the book.” Now, the one thing for us to do, as Latter-day Saints, is to be loyal, to be true, to be patriotic, to be honest with God; then we need have no fear of what the world may say about us. We have the truth, and we know it, thank God; we know it, though the world may not know it. Let us follow the admonition of the Savior, and let our light so shine that other men seeing our good deeds shall glorify God.”
LETTER NO. 12
“…Cumorah, the artificial hill of north America, is well calculated to stand in this generation, as a monument of marvelous works and wonders. Around that mount died millions of the Jaredites; yea, there ended one of the greatest nations of this earth. In that day, her inhabitants spread from sea to sea, and enjoyed national greatness and glory, nearly fifteen hundred years. — That people forsook the Lord and died in wickedness. There, too, fell the Nephites, after they had forgotten the Lord that bought them. There slept the records of age after age, for hundreds of years, even until the time of the Lord: —
“An angel came down from the regions of glory
“And told that a record was hid in Cumorah,
“Containing the fulness of Jesus’s gospel,
“And also the cov’nant to gather his people.”
“There began the church of Christ in 1830; yea, there the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, as foretold by Daniel, commenced rolling to fill the earth, and may it continue, in a moral sense, in dreadful splendor, till it fills the whole, and wickedness is ended. So much for the Hill Cumorah…”
As ever,
W.W. PHELPS.
To Oliver Cowdery. LATTER DAY SAINTS’ MESSENGER AND ADVOCATE Vol. 1 No. 1 KIRTLAND, OHIO, 1834 Page 221
N. Eldon Tanner
“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
Evening and Morning Star
In the forepart of the last month, about three hundred and sixty Indian, of the Kickapoos and Pattowattamies, pitched their tents on the east before this town, and tarried one night. They were on their way to the place assigned them for the land of their inheritance, being gathered by the government of the United States… They have a prophet, in whom they place great confidence, and he instructs them that the day is nigh, when the Great Father will send his Son on the earth; then (as he says) white man and red man be one. Their idea of what is to come to pass in the last days, the resurrection of the righteous, and their living on earth with the Lord while wickedness ceases to trouble the saints, seem to be correct as far as we could ascertain. They are very devout apparently and pray night and morning; even children and all. They have two flat sticks about one foot long, tied together, on which are several characters, which, they say, the Great Father gave to their prophet, and mean as much as a large book. They say one of these sticks, is for the old book that white man has, (the Bible) the other for the new book, (Book of Mormon) white man has it written on paper, Great Father writes it in red man’s heart. They seem to Pray from these sticks– and worship on the Sabbath with great solemnity, commencing with a salutation from the greatest or oldest to the least that can walk, and ending with the same token of friendship. Should we have time to make them a visit, we may be more particular hereafter. *From Arkansas to the Missouri, the remnants are gathering together in rapid succession, and all, as far as we have been able to ascertain, have an idea that the Great Spirit is about to do something great and good for the red man. Evening and Morning Star (Kirtland 1835-1836 page 201 ISRAEL WILL BE GATHERED.
“The Book of Mormon reveals the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, who was not forgotten when land was distributed to the tribes of Israel. This was promised in the Abrahamic covenant… Josephs inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. Choice because it was chosen to be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the Book of Mormon would one day come. Choice because it would eventually host the world headquarters of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. And it was choice because it was a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments.” Russell M Nelson President, Quorum of 12 June, 2016 Provo Missionary Training Center
So as Harold B. Lee said, “Be Unafraid to Dissent – If we are Informed.” I love learning and being informed, and with my quest for truth, I explore truth with fervor and confirm it with the Spirit of Christ.” I am not speaking about doctrine or about revelation of prophets, but only about secondary evidence or personal revelation.
How you feel about geography or other non doctrinal issues is totally up to you, after much prayer and research. May the Lord bless us all.
“There has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation. It has been like splitting hemlock knots with a corn-dodger for a wedge” Joseph Smith
Yes, but we must live and follow the Lords commandments and allow His Atonement into our lives. We must STRIVE daily and perfection is possible, but we must not have hard heads and seek after comfortable gods.
Hard Heads
“There has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation. It has been like splitting hemlock knots with a corn-dodger for a wedge and a pumpkin for a beetle. Even the Saints are slow to understand. I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions” Joseph Smith, Jr. (January 21, 1844, History of the Church, 6:184-85
Comfortable gods
“Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds.
Talk about man creating God in his own image! Sometimes—and this seems the greatest irony of all—these folks invoke the name of Jesus as one who was this kind of “comfortable” God. Really? He who said not only should we not break commandments, but we should not even think about breaking them. And if we do think about breaking them, we have already broken them in our heart. Does that sound like “comfortable” doctrine, easy on the ear and popular down at the village love-in?” The Cost—and Blessings—of Discipleship By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland 2014
Secondary Evidence
I think there is importance when the Prophet and Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Brethren are being neutral on geography, evolution and other difficult issues. They want us to gain our own witness to secondary information. They have given us sound doctrine and that is what we should focus on. I know through the Spirit that the Book of Mormon is true. However, I love to seek for other truth like secondary evidence, as Moroni has said “I may know the truth of all things.” Are you willing to seek diligently for difficult answers, or continue to simply listen to prophets and other leaders, and wait to be told what to believe? What about personal revelation?
I believe the Land of Promise spoken of in the Book of Mormon is the United States of America as Elder 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.
The Constitution was created by the Lord, Adam and Eve were placed on this same land and the New Jerusalem will be on this same land of the United States of America. No need for me to check out Mesoamerica anymore as I did for 40 years.
What do the scriptures tell us about this Constitution [D&C 101:79] and this land of Promise? “For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof; And that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord. Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land.” Ether 13:2-4 [What Land? The United States of America near Independence Missouri according to scripture]
Just like evolution. I don’t believe we came from an ape and I know that matter cannot come from nothing. I don’t have to look into science to figure this out, but by the witness of what the scriptures tell us.
I don’t expect President Nelson to come right out and tell me where the Book of Mormon events happened, or if we came from an ape, I know through sound reasoning the answer that makes most sense to me. Now if the Brethren say otherwise, I would always listen to them first, and then seek personal revelation about it, but in my opinion the Church is neutral on secondary evidence that exists, to help each of us individually come to a knowledge of the “truth of all things” by personal revelation, as promised in the Book of Mormon. I don’t need to be commanded in all things!
Be Ye Therefore Perfect
I am perfect in my belief that Joseph Smith received the gold plates from the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York, and the final battles took place near that same hill. This is a great part of my testimony with the spirit of personal revelation assisting my beliefs.
Of course we have heard, the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. When will be become righteous enough to become a ressurrected being living with the Savior again? As recorded in “Life Everlasting by Duane Crowther it says, “I was told that the Prophet Joseph Smith has his body, as also his brother Hyrum, and that as soon as I could do more with my body than I could do without it, my body would be resurrected.” (Peter E. Johnson, The Relief Society Magazine, op. cit., Vol. VII, pp. 451-452.) page 244 .
Just when will we learn to do more with our body than we could do without? That is a long and steady progression speaking for most of us today. As it says in the Bible, “Everlearning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:7
Yet, can we become perfect in this life? “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” Ephesians 4:13, and in Matthew 5:48 it says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Is it then possible to become perfect?
With diligence, patience, and divine aid, we can obey the Lord’s command to be perfect.
“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect.” [Genesis 17:1.]
Lorenzo Snow said, “We ought to feel in our hearts that God is our Father, and that while we make mistakes and are weak yet if we live as nearly perfect as we can all will be well with us.”
“We may think that we cannot live up to the perfect law, that the work of perfecting ourselves is too difficult. This may be true in part, but the fact still remains that it is a command of the Almighty to us and we cannot ignore it. When we experience trying moments, then is the time for us to avail ourselves of that great privilege of calling upon the Lord for strength and understanding, intelligence and grace by which we can overcome the weakness of the flesh against which we have to make a continual warfare…
When the Latter-day Saints received the gospel in the nations afar, and when the voice of the Almighty to them was, to leave the lands of their fathers, to leave their kindred as Abraham did, so far as they complied with this requirement, so far they were walking in obedience to this law, and they were as perfect as men could be under the circumstances and in the sphere in which they were acting, not that they were perfect in knowledge or power, etc.; but in their feelings, in their integrity, motives and determination. And while they were crossing the great deep, providing they did not murmur nor complain, but obeyed the counsels which were given them and in every way comported themselves in a becoming manner, they were as perfect as God required them to be…
The Lord designs to bring us up into the celestial kingdom. He has made known through direct revelation that we are His offspring, begotten in the eternal worlds, that we have come to this earth for the special purpose of preparing ourselves to receive a fulness of our Father’s glory when we shall return into His presence. Therefore, we must seek the ability to keep this law to sanctify our motives, desires, feelings and affections that they may be pure and holy and our will in all things be subservient to the will of God, and have no will of our own except to do the will of our Father. Such a man in his sphere is perfect, and commands the blessing of God in all that he does and wherever he goes.
But we are subject to folly, to the weakness of the flesh and we are more or less ignorant, thereby liable to err. Yes, but that is no reason why we should not feel desirous to comply with this command of God, especially seeing that he has placed within our reach the means of accomplishing this work. This I understand is the meaning of the word perfection, as expressed by our Savior and by the Lord to Abraham.
A person may be perfect in regard to some things and not others. A person who obeys the word of wisdom faithfully is perfect as far as that law is concerned. When we repented of our sins and were baptized for the remission of them, we were perfect as far as that matter was concerned…
One of the chief difficulties that many suffer from is, that we are too apt to forget the great object of life, the motive of our Heavenly Father in sending us here to put on mortality, as well as the holy calling with which we have been called; and hence, instead of rising above the little transitory things of time, we too often allow ourselves to come down to the level of the world without availing ourselves of the divine help which God has instituted, which alone can enable us to overcome them. We are no better than the rest of the world if we do not cultivate the feeling to be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect.” Lorenzo Snow Study Manual, Becoming Perfect before the Lord: “A Little Better Day by Day” Lesson 6
Can You?
…be a perfect tithe payer?
…never cheat on your spouse?
…never lie?
…pray regularly?
…obey your temple covenants?
…brush your teeth daily?
…never speak ill of your spouse?
…read the book of Mormon daily?
…always partake of the sacrament worthily?
…repent daily?
You are on your way to perfection!
Hugh Nibley said, “Who is righteous? Anyone who is repenting. No matter how bad he has been, if he is repenting, he is a righteous man. There is hope for him. And no matter how good he has been all his life, if he is not repenting, he is a wicked man. The difference is which way you are facing. The man on the top of the stair’s facing down is much worse off than the man on the bottom step who is facing up. The direction we are facing, that is repentance; and this is what determines whether we are good or bad.” Hugh Nibley Approaching Zion, pg. 301-302
John Lefgren has done a fantastic work. His logic makes sense as you really study it out. If you don’t don’t quite understand the Book of Mormon as the Promised Land in North America, you just might not understand Alma, and how John has explained it. Further if you don’t understand that the River Sidon is the Mississippi, you wont understand this amazing battle scene in Alma 2 as the header to that chapter says, “Amlici seeks to be king and is rejected by the voice of the people—His followers make him king—The Amlicites make war on the Nephites and are defeated—The Lamanites and Amlicites join forces and are defeated—Alma slays Amlici. About 87 B.C.
Don’t judge Johns video explanation without first understanding if the similarity between the Hopewell Culture and Nephites Civilization beginning in Florida is true or not. Both cultures began in about 600 BC in Florida and ended in about 400 AD in New York. I believe the similarity is awesome.
Here is another battle scene from Alma 43 you will enjoy.
John Lefgren also shares with you a recent visit by the Heartland Reseach Group to Indian Artifact Museum in Iowa. The Hopewell Culture has an amazing resemblance to our Nephites of the Book of Mormon. If you visit Nauvoo, be sure to see the absolutely amazing Phoenicia replica 600 BC ship, being re-built across the Mississippi river at Montrose, Iowa. Their website is here: phoenicia.rocks.
View pictures below of the extensive collection of Indian artifacts including an impressive display of arrowheads! The artifacts are displayed in intricately designed inlaid wood showcases, with each piece being hand cut and sanded by owner, Tony Sanders. Location: Indian Artifact Museum 21929 Des Moines St. Bentonsport, IA 52565 Website here:
For about 60 years, Tony Sanders has combed Southeast Iowa, Northwest Missouri, and Northeast Illinois for arrowheads and other artifacts. Scouring the countryside along stream beds after heavy rains and in newly tilled farm fields, Tony may find up to 13 or 14 arrowheads at a time. He has in his collection more than 4,000 points and 100s of ancient tools.
“Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians.” Peterson, Mark E., General Conference, April 1962.
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 Amrierica at 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
Many of us today are descendants from the tribe of Manasseh or Ephraim and we have been called as a “Peculiar People” in these latter days to a “Holy Calling” as a “Chosen Generation”. Our ultimate calling is to preach the gospel, redeem the dead, and perfect the Saints (D&C 110:11-16). To accomplish this mission and to fulfill our calling, it is essential we understand our lineage and live up to this calling in the service of others.
On page 167 of the index of our LDS triple combination it says: Ishmael—an Ephraimite from Jerusalem [c. 600 B.C.] What is an Ephraimite and what is expected of this lineage?
In The Articles of Faith, James E. Talmage cites the prophet Joseph as teaching the doctrine that Ishmael was from Ephraim:
“Ishmael an Ephraimite – ‘The Prophet Joseph Smith informed us that the record of Lehi was contained on the one hundred sixteen pages that were first translated and subsequently stolen, and of which an abridgment 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 [verse 16] 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 earth.’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 found by Mosiah — thus making a combination, an inter-mixture 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. And such have grown up upon the American continent.’ The Articles of Faith, James E. Talmage
Levi & Joseph- No Land inheritance in Canaan
Notice, no land inheritance was give to Joseph, but to his sons Ephraim and Manasseh.
Like the tribe of Joseph, the tribe of Levi did not receive a land inheritance either. The Scripture says,
“23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.”
25 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
26 Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenthpart of the tithe. Numbers 18:23-26
Who were given the land inheritance to replace that land not given to Levi and Joseph? Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh were each give a portion in Canaan.
The Land of Joseph is the United States of America
“So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.” Joshua 16:4. The House of Ephraim and the House of Manasseh each received a land inheritance in the Old World, but Joseph their father did not receive a land inheritance in the Old World.Because of Joseph’s righteousness his land would be in the New World, even the United States of America which is called the “Land of Joseph”.
“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
“Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others” –Pres. Russell M. Nelson
See D&C 125 for the City of Zarahemla. The Land of Zarahemla was in Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois
“Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; [North America] and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city[New Jerusalem] unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away.” Ether 13:8 Color and Parentheses added.
Land of Joseph (America)
“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
“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 and noted that there would be many similarities in their lives. Centuries later, the Prophet Joseph stated, “I feel like Joseph in Egypt.” The Book of Mormon reveals that the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, was not forgotten when land was distributed to the tribes of Israel, as promised in the Abrahamic covenant. Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others.It was choice not because of beauty or wealth of natural resources, but choice because it was chosento be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the Book of Mormon would one day come. It was choice because it would eventually host the world headquarters of the restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. And it was choice because it is a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments.” President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, addresses new Mission Presidents June 22 through June 26, 2016 (Emphasis added)
This quote above to me clearly shows that the Land chosen for Joseph of Egypt was indeed CHOICE above all others including any land in Canaan and indeed it was to be the United States of America, the place of Joseph Smith, the gold plates, Salt Lake City and this choice land of liberty.
A Chosen Land
As President Hinckley said, “I should like to say a few words about America…No land is without its beauty, no people without their virtues, and I hope that you who come from elsewhere will pardon my saying a few words concerning my own native land, America…surely this is a good land, a choice land, a chosen land. To me it is a miracle, a creation of the Almighty.” Gordon B. Hinckley Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled”, BYU Speeches of the Year, October 29, 1974, pp. 267-68 )
He also said, “I would that all men could believe in the destiny of America as did the early pioneers: that it is the land of Zion; that the founders of this nation were men of inspired vision; that the Constitution as written by the inspiration of heaven must be preserved at all costs. “I make a further plea that the citizens of this favored land live righteously that they might enjoy the fruits of their righteousness in this land of promise.” Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled Gordon B. Hinckley of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Oct. 29, 1974
“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.
This article below from Erastus Snow will help each of us better understand our lineage, responsibility, and blessing to be of the House of Israel through Joseph who was sold into Egypt. Joseph was given two portions through his sons Ephraim and Manasseh in Canaan (differently spelled than Cainan) yet Joseph’s own portion was Cainan, the original Land of Promise where Adam was placed in Missouri. Moses 6:17
God’s Peculiar People
“I will call the attention of the congregation to the words of the Lord through Moses, spoken to the children of Israel, contained in the 5th and 6th verses of the 19th chapter of Exodus:
“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
“And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”
In connection with this passage I will read the words of the Apostle Peter, as recorded in the 5th verse, peculiar people, 2nd chap. of 1st Peter:
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
Also the 9th verse of the same chapter:
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Elder Penrose referred this morning to the fact of so large a portion of the Latter-day Saints being called and ordained to bear some portion of the Priesthood, remarking that at times he had queried in his mind as to why this was so appointed unto us. This reminded me of the Scriptures I have just read in your hearing. The consideration of the subject involves the whole mission of the Latter-day Saints. The promise of God to ancient Israel contained in the first text sets forth the purposes of Jehovah in choosing the seed of Abraham especially and separating them from other peoples and nations, and taking them under His especial care and guidance, and leading them as he did out of Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and planting them in Canaan in fulfillment of the promises made to their father Abraham, and to Isaac and Jacob. And when God called Abraham to leave his father’s house and go to a land which he should show him and which he afterwards promised to him and his seed for an inheritance, he had this in view, to make of him and his seed a peculiar people; to make of them instruments in his hands of accomplishing good for the benefit of the world.
He promised Abraham on another occasion that in him and his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. And although this had reference chiefly to the coming of the Son of God through his lineage, who was to be the Chief Apostle and High Priest of our profession, the Redeemer of the world, it implied the fact also that through his seed the Gospel should be carried to all the world, and the oracles of God delivered to men; that prophets and righteous men should be raised up who should act as the mouthpiece of God to the people among whom they should live, and they should have Abraham for their father. Among his descendants also, his Temple as well as the Tabernacle should be established, and the ordinances were to be revealed through them and the Priesthood conferred upon them, and the word of God preserved among them and handed down to future generations, thus maintaining the true character and knowledge of God, and perpetuating the same upon the earth. This was a great work that the Lord purposed concerning the seed of Abraham, and it was for this reason and purpose that he promised to establish his covenant with them forever.
Now the Priesthood referred to in Scripture had not reference alone to that lower or lesser order known as the Levitical Priesthood which was confirmed by covenant upon Aaron and his seed and upon the house of his fathers, the tribe of Levi, which Priesthood officiated in offering sacrifices and all the lesser duties pertaining to the law; but it comprehended something more than this, the Priesthood as a whole, including the Melchizedek or that holy order of Priesthood after the order of the Son of God. And when Moses was made the mouthpiece of the Lord to Israel in this precious promise we find them hearkening to him and keeping his covenants, they being a peculiar people unto him, above all the earth, a chosen generation, a royal Priesthood; and he referred to them as a whole people and not to the Levites alone, and to the Priesthood, as I before remarked, as a whole including, of course, the Melchizedek Priesthood, hence the words of Peter: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal Priesthood, an holy nation.”
Kirtland Temple interior, Melchizedek Priesthood pulpits, August 1907,George Edward Anderson Collection. Courtesy of Church Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Now the Priesthood referred to in Scripture had not reference alone to that lower or lesser order known as the Levitical Priesthood which was confirmed by covenant upon Aaron and his seed and upon the house of his fathers, the tribe of Levi, which Priesthood officiated in offering sacrifices and all the lesser duties pertaining to the law; but it comprehended something more than this, the Priesthood as a whole, including the Melchizedek or that holy order of Priesthood after the order of the Son of God. And when Moses was made the mouthpiece of the Lord to Israel in this precious promise we find them hearkening to him and keeping his covenants, they being a peculiar people unto him, above all the earth, a chosen generation, a royal Priesthood; and he referred to them as a whole people and not to the Levites alone, and to the Priesthood, as I before remarked, as a whole including, of course, the Melchizedek Priesthood, hence the words of Peter: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal Priesthood, an holy nation.”
The same great purpose and object prevail at the present time. The calling and mission of the Latter-day Saints are to fulfill what is here promised in these Scriptures—to bring about the restoration of scattered Israel, the establishment of Zion, the preparing a people for the coming of Christ; a people who are to be Saviors upon Mount Zion, and thus fulfilling one of the prophecies of one of the Jewish prophets concerning the Zion of the latter days, that Saviors should come up upon Mount Zion to save the house of Esau, but the kingdom should be the Lord’s. No matter how many might be employed in this work of salvation, as Saviors upon Mount Zion, all should labor as helpers and co-laborers with Christ in the salvation of men.
The Keys of the Presidency of this Apostleship Represent the Highest Authority Conferred upon Man in the Flesh
God has promised in the revelations given to the Latter-day Saints to make known unto them the fullness of all former dispensations, and he has confirmed upon his servants in this dispensation of the fullness of times the keys of all former dispensations and revealed all the ordinances made known to the ancients; and, therefore, it is our calling to complete the work that was inaugurated in former dispensations of God to man. At first Joseph Smith received the gift of seeing visions and the gift of translating dead languages by the Urim and Thummim, and when he had exercised himself in these gifts for a season, he received the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, together with his Brother Oliver, under the hands of John the Baptist, who was a resurrected being, and who was the last of the Jewish High Priests under the dispensation of the law, the only son of Zacharias the High Priest, and a child of promise, who was beheaded by order of Herod, having first performed his mission in preparing the way of the Lord, and having preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, testifying of Jesus that was to come, and baptizing those who received him, including the Savior himself. John having finished his mission, seals his testimony with his blood, rose again from the dead and continued to hold those keys of the Priesthood which he inherited from his fathers and which were confirmed upon him by the angel of the Lord when he was eight days old.
And he was a fit and proper person to send to confer those keys of Priesthood upon Joseph and Oliver. In due course of time, as we read in the history which he has left, Peter, James and John appeared to him—it was at a period when they were being pursued by their enemies and they had to travel all night, and in the dawn of the coming day when they were weary and worn who should appear to them but Peter, James and John, for the purpose of conferring upon them the Apostleship, the keys of which they themselves had held while upon the earth, which had been bestowed upon them by the Savior. This Priesthood conferred upon them by those three messengers embraces within it all offices of the Priesthood from the highest to the lowest. As has been often taught us that the keys of the presidency of this Apostleship represent the highest authority conferred upon man in the flesh. And by virtue of these keys of Priesthood the Prophet Joseph from time to time proceeded to ordain and set in order the Priesthood in its various quorums as we see it today in the Church. And if the question be asked why, and for what purpose, the answer would be the idea conveyed in the language I have quoted: In accordance with the design of the Lord to raise up a peculiar people to himself, a holy nation, a royal Priesthood—a kingdom of Priests, that shall be saviors upon Mount Zion, not only to preach the Gospel to the scattered remnants of Israel, but to save to the uttermost the nations of the Gentiles, inasmuch as they will listen and can be saved by the plan which God has provided.
The first important labor of this ministry is to go abroad and preach the Gospel to the nations. The Gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all people and nations and tongues before the end can come; and by the preaching of the word and the administering of the ordinances of the Gospel, is Israel sought out from among the nations among which they are scattered, especially the seed of Ephraim unto whom the first promises appertain, the promise of the keys of the Priesthood. For it must be remembered that of all the seed of Abraham whom the Lord chose to bear the keys pertaining to this holy order of Priesthood, the seed of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, were the first and chief. While the tribe of Levi, unto which Moses and Aaron belonged, was especially charged with the administration of affairs of the lesser Priesthood under the law, yet Ephraim, the peculiar and chosen son of Joseph, was the one whom the Lord had named by his own mouth and through the Prophets, to inherit the keys of presidency of this High Priesthood after the order of the Son of God. In this also we see the fulfillment of the covenants and promises of God; not that Joseph by birthright inherited this blessing, for Reuben was the firstborn among the twelve sons of Jacob; but we are told in Chronicles, the 5th chapter, that Reuben forfeited this birthright by his adultery, and that God took it from him and conferred it upon the sons of Joseph; and of the sons of Joseph he chose Ephraim as the chief; and while the Patriarch Jacob, as we read in the 49th chapter of Genesis, adopted into his own family two of the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, yet he placed Ephraim the younger foremost, and blessed him with the chief blessing, saying, that Manasseh shall be great, but Ephraim shall be greater than he; he shall become a multitude in the midst of the earth. Another Scripture also says concerning scattered Israel, that Ephraim has mixed himself among the people; and speaking of the gathering of Israel in the latter-day dispensation, the Prophet Jeremiah has said that God would gather Israel and lead them as a shepherd does his flock, and says he, I am Father to Israel, but Ephraim is my firstborn.
Now, if Ephraim has been scattered and has mixed himself with the people until their identity is lost among the nations, how are they going to be recognized and receive the promised blessings—how is it that Ephraim shall be the firstborn of the Lord in the great gathering of the latter days? If we turn back to the blessing which Moses gave to the twelve tribes of Israel as found in Deuteronomy, we shall there see that in blessing the tribe of Joseph, he especially charged them with the duty of gathering the people from the ends of the earth. Said he, Joseph’s horns are like the horns of unicorns, which shall push the people together from the ends of the earth, and they are the thousands of Manasseh and ten thousands of Ephraim; showing that it shall be the ten thousands of Ephraim and thousands of Manasseh who shall be in the foremost ranks of bearing the Gospel message to the ends of the earth, and gathering Israel from the four quarters of the world in the last days. 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. And such have grown up on the American continent. But we are not informed that the Prophet Joseph and the first Elders of this Church who were called and chosen of God to bear the Priesthood and lay the foundation of this work, were descended from any portion of those remnants that peopled America anciently, and whose history is given us in the Book of Mormon. Yet we find in the Doctrine and Covenants the declaration concerning the first Elders of this Church, that they were of the house of Ephraim; and another passage referring to the wicked and rebellious says, they shall be cut off from among the people, for the rebellious are not of the seed of Ephraim. And there is a passage in the Book of Mormon which is a part of the prophecy of Joseph written on the plates of brass and quoted by Lehi, concerning the Prophet Joseph Smith, who, it says, was to be raised up in the latter days to translate the records of the Nephites, and whose name should be Joseph, and who should be a descendant of that Joseph that was sold into Egypt, and also that that should be the name of his father.
Joseph Smith was a Chosen Vessel out of the Loins of Joseph
Jacob Blesses Manasseh and Ephraim
Now if the Prophet Joseph Smith was that chosen vessel out of the loins of Joseph, it may be asked by some, what evidence have we of this lineage? I answer, the testimony of God, the best of all testimony, for no record kept by mortal man can be equal to it; and that, too, by reason of that quaint but sensible old maxim, “it takes a wise man to know who his father was, but a fool may find out who his mother was.” And even if we had the lineage of the fathers, it would not be as sure and certain to us as the word of the Lord. For he has had his eye upon the chosen spirits that have come upon the earth in the various ages from the beginning of the world up to this time; and as he said to Abraham, speaking of the multitudes of spirits that were shown unto him in heavenly vision, you see that some are more noble than others? Yes. Then you may know there were some others still more noble than they; and he speaks in the same manner of the multitude of the heavenly bodies; and said he to Abraham, thou art one of those noble ones whom I have chosen to be my rulers. The Lord has sent those noble spirits into the world to perform a special work, and appointed their times; and they have always fulfilled the mission given them, and their future glory and exaltation is secured unto them; and that is what I understand by the doctrine of election spoken of by the Apostle Paul and other sacred writers: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Such were called and chosen and elected of God to perform a certain work at a certain time of the world’s history and in due time he fitted them for that work. It will be remembered when Jeremiah was called of God in his youth that he, in order to excuse himself, complained of his youth and of his being slow of speech, that the Lord said unto him that he would be mouth for him and matter to his heart, for, he said, he knew him and called him from his mother’s womb to be a prophet unto the nations. And so he called John the Baptist by sending his angel Gabriel to his father Zacharias, and giving him a promise that his wife Elizabeth, though old and barren, should yet conceive and bear a son, and that his name should be John, who should be a forerunner to the Savior to prepare the way before his face. And so he elected the seed of Ephraim to be that peculiar people I have referred to, that holy nation, a kingdom of Priests, a people to receive the covenants and oracles, and to be witnesses to certain nations of the God of Israel. And how strict were his commands that they should have no other Gods but him, that they might be a standing rebuke to the idol worshippers, and to all who believe not in the true and living God.”
Joseph of Egypt Prophesies of Joseph Smith
Editors note: Why was it so important that Joseph of Israel was that prophet related to the Prophet Joseph Smith?
It should not be surprising, either, that Joseph of Egypt, whose posterity was foreordained to take the gospel to all nations, would prophesy of his namesake who would become the great Prophet of the Restoration: (JST, Gen. 50:27, 30–31, 33.)
Because many “plain and precious things” were lost from the Bible, it is probable that Ezekiel’s prophecy of the two “sticks” (see Ezek. 37:16–17) is but an echo of the patriarch Joseph’s earlier prophecy (see JST, Gen. 50:31)…
“Doctrine and Covenants 113 identifies the “Stem of Jesse” as the Lord Jesus Christ (D&C 113:1–2) and the “rod” as “a servant in the hands of Christ, who is partly a descendant of Jesse as well as of Ephraim, or of the house of Joseph, on whom there is laid much power” (D&C 113:3–4). The “root of Jesse,” verses 5 and 6 tell us, is “a descendant of Jesse, as well as of Joseph, unto whom rightly belongs the priesthood, and the keys of the kingdom, for an ensign, and for the gathering of my people in the last days.” [D&C 113:5–6]
Erastus Snowcontinues, “Now the same spirit of revelation that sought out the Prophet Joseph from the loins of Joseph who was sold into Egypt, and that raised him up in this dispensation to receive the keys of the Priesthood and to lay the foundation of this great work in the earth, has also called the children of Abraham from among the kingdoms and countries of the earth to first hear and then embrace the everlasting Gospel; and the remnants of the seed of Ephraim who were scattered from Palestine and who colonized the shores of the Caspian Sea and thence made their way into the north of Europe, western Scandinavia and northern Germany, penetrating Scotland and England, and conquering those nations and reigning as monarchs of Great Britain, and mingling their seed with the Anglo-Saxon race, and spreading over the waters a fruitful vine, as predicted by Jacob, whose branches should run over the wall. Their blood has permeated European society, and it coursed in the veins of the early colonists of America.
And when the books shall be opened and the lineage of all men is known, it will be found that they have been first and foremost in everything noble among men in the various nations in breaking off the shackles of kingcraft and priest craft and oppression of every kind, and the foremost among men in upholding and maintaining the principles of liberty and freedom upon this continent and establishing a representative government, and thus preparing the way for the coming forth of the fullness of the everlasting Gospel. And it is the foremost of those spirits whom the Lord has prepared to receive the Gospel when it was presented to them, and who did not wait for the Elders to hunt them from the hills and corners of the earth, but they were hunting for the Elders, impelled by a spirit which then they could not understand; and for this reason were they among the first Elders of the Church; they and the fathers having been watched over from the days that God promised those blessings upon Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Ephraim.
And these are they that will be found in the front ranks of all that is noble and good in their day and time, and who will be found among those whose efforts are directed in establishing upon the earth those heaven-born principles which tend directly to blessing and salvation, to ameliorating the condition of their fellow men, and elevating them in the scale of their being; and among those also who receive the fullness of the Everlasting Gospel, and the keys of Priesthood in the last days, through whom God determined to gather up again unto himself a peculiar people, a holy nation, a pure seed that shall stand upon Mount Zion as saviors, not only to the house of Israel but also to the house of Esau.
Joseph’s brothers did not recognize the man that they were bowing down to was their brother whom they had sold for a slave. Joseph knew it was them,
Now the work of carrying the Gospel to the nations and gathering the people, mighty as it is, is not the chief, it is but laying the foundation for the still greater work of the redemption of the myriads of the dead of the seed of Israel that have perished without the fullness of the Gospel, who too are heirs to the promised blessings; but the time had not come when they passed away for the fulfillment of all that God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concerning their seed: Ezekiel in the 37th chapter of his book beautifully illustrates this doctrine in his vision of the valley of dry bones. I respectfully refer you to it. The substance of the vision is this: The Lord showed Ezekiel a valley full of dry human bones; and he asks him if those bones can live. Ezekiel answered, “O Lord God, thou knowest.”
The Lord then tells him to prophesy to the bones: Oh ye dry bones. Hear the word of the Lord; and as he did so there was a shaking, and behold the bones came together, bone to its bone; and according to the word of the Lord through him, flesh and skin and sinews came upon them, and the breath of life came into them, and lo, and behold, they stood upon their feet an exceedingly great army. The Lord then tells the Prophet that these are the whole house of Israel; and that they complain of the non-fulfillment of the promises upon their head, saying, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: all are cut off for our parts.” But he further tells him to prophesy unto them, saying, “Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel,” etc. And by whom shall this great and marvelous work be accomplished? I answer, by the thousands of Manasseh and the ten thousands of Ephraim;by this same people who shall search out and gather together the house of Israel, and who will come up as saviors upon Mount Zion.”
— From “Discourse by Apostle Erastus Snow,” at Logan, Utah, May 6, 1882, see Journal of Discourses, vol. 23, pp. 184, 185.” (James E. Talmage, A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.504-5)
The oldest known bone projectile point in the Americas. (Center for the Study of the First Americans, Texas A&M University)
It is rare to find archaeological evidence as far back as the Clovis or Adamic time periods of North America. No one knows the exact dates of anything archaeological, so be cautioned. It seems very likely the Manis Site may fit the Clovis timeline. Remember Adam was placed near Missouri before the Atlantic ocean split the Continents, and Missouri is also where the New Jerusalem will be built. Thus, the original oldest world is North America and that which historians call the Old World today (Israel area) is actually newer in time frame than the Missouri area of the globe. A fascinating subject to learn about.
The historical people of the Clovis Culture most closely fit the timeline of Adam and Eve’s posterity, what we sometimes call Adamites. No, there were no Pre-Adamites in Church Doctrine and no cave men. Adam was the first Man placed on this earth and it was about 4,000 BC that this happened. The material of the earth of course is billions of years old, in fact it was never created but organized, just as all mater has existed forever. To fully understand archaeological and intelligent dating, one should be familiar with the word of God that says, “Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. D&C 93:29
I personally (Rian Nelson) believe that anything dated by historians or scientists today, that dates according to to them to be 20,000 or 13,000 or even 8,000 BC is most likely to be incorrect. I believe this could indicate a timing period close to the beginning of man or beast on the earth which in my opinion is 4,000 BC or later. If someone says a dinosaur is 1 million or 30 million years old I absolutely believe it to be false.
Yes our earth is organized with materials and matter that have existed for ever as it says in D&C above. That doesn’t mean this particular earth is that old, just the materials used to organize it have always existed. Man is eternal and has existed as an intelligence for ever as well, but as pertaining to this earth, man and woman’s intelligence were clothed with spirit and body and placed in Missouri area in about 4,000 BC. It says in D&C 93:33, “For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;… Additionally in D&C 93:37-38 it says, The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. Light and truth forsake that evil one”.
Oldest Bone Projectile Point in the Americas Found Stuck in a Mastodon’s Rib!
“Analysis of a 13,900-year-old bone projectile point has led to two major discoveries. First and most importantly, it is the oldest known artifact of its kind in the Americas! This archaeological treasure was uncovered at the Manis Mastodon site in Washington, USA during an excavation in the late 1970s, and it has now been put under the scanner, quite literally.
The bone fragments from the tip of the weapon reveals that it was crafted from the bone of a mastodon, a prehistoric relative of the elephant. The Manis bone projectile point, as it has been termed, was found lodged inside a mastodon rib. This relates to the second significant discovery about the artifact – this bone projectile point is not only the oldest artifact of its kind in the Americas, but it also provides the oldest direct evidence of mastodon hunting in the Americas.
The Manis mastodon rib with embedded bone projectile point. (A) Three views of the rib fragment with embedded point. (B) Close-up views of the embedded point. Note root staining on the bone and embedded bone point. (Waters et al. 2023 / Science Advances )
Rib Tickling: A Weapon Stuck in an Uncomfortable Place
“We isolated the bone fragments, printed them out, and assembled them,” says Michael Waters, director of the university’s Center for the Study of First Americans and professor of anthropology at Texas A&M University. “This clearly showed this was the tip of a bone projectile point. This is the oldest bone projectile point in the Americas and represents the oldest direct evidence of mastodon hunting in the Americas,” he added.
His team had employed a CT scan and 3D software, isolating all the bone fragments in the process, enlarging the image of each bone fragment by 6 times. They were then pieced together to show what the specimen would have looked like before entering the rib. Their study has been published in the newest edition of the journal Sciences Advances , and is available as open access.
“What is important about Manis is that it’s the first and only bone tool that dates older than Clovis. At the other pre-Clovis site, only stone tools are found,” Waters explained. “This shows that the First Americans made and used bone weapons and likely other types of bone tools.”
Reconstruction of the distal end of the Manis projectile point. (Waters et al. 2023 / Science Advances )
The preservation of the Manis specimen was an accident – the hunter missed, leading to the projectile getting stuck in a mastodon’s rib. It was crafted from the leg bone of another mastodon, shaped deliberately into a projectile point. The spear was thrown at the mastodon, penetrated the hide and tissue, eventually coming into contact with the rib.
The hunter clearly wanted to hit the spear between the ribs and bust the lungs, but missed and hit the rib instead. The rib and its dating had been part of a 2011 study by Waters and his colleagues that was published in Science.
At 13,900 years old (Remember the dating can be inaccurate), the Manis point is at least 900 years older than the Clovis projectile points, stone tools which had also been studied by Waters. The Clovis spear points have been found in Texas and other parts of the country, dating from 13,050 to 12,750 years ago, according to a press release by Texas A&M University.
The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican culture, from roughly 11,500 to 10,800 years BP. It is characterized by the manufacture of “Clovis points” and distinctive bone and ivory tools. The theory known as “Clovis First” had been the predominant hypothesis among archaeologists in the second half of the 20th century.
Clovis points in the Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist collection. (Billwhittaker/ CC BY-SA 3.0 )
According to that theory, the people associated with the Clovis culture were the first inhabitants of the Americas, who’d crossed over from the Bering Strait (Wrong, man came by ship as believers in the Book of Mormon learn), from Siberia to Alaska during the last Ice Age. The primary support for this claim was that no solid evidence of pre-Clovis human habitation had been found…yet. The theory has been challenged and disproved several times in the last couple of decades, with the emergence of new and exciting evidence . The archaeologists behind the new study have provided another example, writing:
“The Manis point, made of mastodon bone, shows that people hunted megafauna with osseous weaponry in the Pacific Northwest some 900 years before the emergence of Clovis technology. The use of osseous weaponry like the Manis point and the different stone projectile points of this age found at sites across the rest of North America may signal that the earliest people to enter and explore the Americas (Jaredites) brought with them a diversity of technologies and tools that they adapted to the local environments they found and inhabited.”
So how they did those early inhabitants of the lands that would become known as the Americas arrive? Waters, who has extensively studied this time period and culture, postulates that it was probably by boat, perhaps a coastal route along the North Pacific, before moving south, reports Arkeo News. (This is what the Book of Mormon supports)
These people would eventually get past the ice sheets covering Canada and touch base in the Pacific Northwest, evidenced by the cluster of sites found there – Idaho has the 16,000-years-old Cooper’s Ferry site, Oregon has the 14,100-year-old site of Paisley Caves, and to add to this, the 13,900-year-old Manis site.
All of these cultures and sites predate Clovis, suggesting that the first people to arrive in the Americas were the ones responsible for the culture in the northwestern USA between 16,000 and 14,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age. (Most likely Jaredites in about 2200 BC).”
Our friend and long time archaeology expert Wayne May, feels strongly the Jaredites landed at the St Lawrence River which is absolutely possible.
However the articles above support a theory that the Jaredite barges very likely landed from the Pacific Ocean near Washington State in about 2200 BC. (Opinion of Rian Nelson, not Firm Foundation as a whole). Also supporting the Jaredite landing theory is Kennewick Man, whos skeleton was found in Kennewick Washington and is known as the oldest Native American skeleton found in the Americas. There are also over 35,000 ancient mound sites found in the State of Washington. Obviously it is your decision to decide the Jaredite landing for yourself, as there is no Church Doctrine on the subject. For more information, See blog here:
BP refers to “Before Present” “BP is a system commonly used by geologists and archaeologists for the purposes of carbon dating. Because carbon dating become popular in the 1950s, BP essentially means “before 1950.” To estimate, I just think of it as “years ago.” So if you have 15,000 BP, it would be about 15,000 years ago. If you wanted to be more exact, it would be BP + (current year – 1950), or 15,067. In the grand scheme of things, 67 years is generally not a big deal, so I find it’s easier to say “years ago.” Kat Sanders Founder and Blogger at Pawsitive Research (2015–present)
Without a doubt the Book of Mormon is the word of God. If read and studied carefully, you may know more truths not taught as doctrine in our wonderful Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
By Ken Corbett
President Nelson said, “You don’t have to wonder about what is true. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.
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 attended sessions of meetings for the institute teachers, held in the assembly room on the fourth floor of the Church Office Building. I cannot say that I was very greatly edified. Too much philosophy of a worldly nature does not seem to mix well with the fundamentals of the gospel. In my opinion many of our teachers employed in the church school system have absorbed too much of the paganism of the world, and have accepted too readily the views of uninspired educators without regard for the revealed word of the Lord.
What to do about it I do not know. It is a problem for the Presidency to consider. It is a very apparent fact that we have traveled far and wide in the past 20 years [since his father’s death]. What the future will bring I do not know. But if we drift as far afield from fundamental things in the next 20 years, what will be left of the foundation laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith? It is easy for one who observes to see how the apostasy came about in the Primitive Church of Jesus Christ. Are we not traveling the same road? The more I see of educated men—I mean those who are trained in the doctrines and philosophies now taught in the world, the less regard I have for them. Modern theories which are so popular today just do not harmonize with the gospel as revealed to the prophets, and it would be amusing if it were not a tragedy to see how some of our educated brethren attempt to harmonize the theories of men with the revealed word of the Lord. Thank the Lord, there is still some faith left and some members who still cherish the word of the Lord and accept the prophets. Surely the world is ripening rapidly for the destruction, and Satan has power and dominion over his own. If any are saved surely the Lord must soon come and have power over his Saints and reign in their midst, and execute ‘judgment upon Idumea, or the world.'”
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., and John J. Stewart, The Life of Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1972], 210 – 211. Bold and color added)
Joseph Fielding Smith was correct 68 years ago, just as he is today.
“Satan has control now. No matter where you look, he is in control, even in our own land. He is guiding the governments as far as the Lord will permit him. That is why there is so much strife, turmoil, and confusion all over the earth. One master mind is governing the nations. It is not the president of the United States; it is not Hitler; it is not Mussolini; it is not the king or government of England or any other land; it is Satan himself.” ― Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation Vol I 1954
The world today is mostly controlled by a Deep State, led by evil. They are the same dark force today called Satan. This is a war between Good and Evil. We know the Lord will win, so the question is, who are we following?
Knowing truth about anything related to the Gospel of Jesus Christ will assist us in our faith. Yes, even knowing what the proper instrument for translation was, and knowing where the Book of Mormon events occurred, can assist us in knowing more truth. The more truth you know, the less swayed you are when the evil winds of lies beseech you.
The Lord said, “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.” D&C 93:36 He also said, “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.” D&C 130:18 And Moroni said, “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” Moroni 10:5
That sums it up for me. In addition to the absolute spiritual witness I have, that the Book of Mormon is true, I have received as a special part of my testimony, the realization of the proper instruments used for translation and the place where the Lehites began their journey in America.
I Believe Joseph Fielding Smith, Not Intellectuals
I believe Joseph Fielding Smith is one of the brightest, most spiritual, knowledgeable and loving church leaders in the entire Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Why do many of the scholars and intellectuals in the church today, not believe the words of this great man, and give more accord to their own group think? I believe it is because he was so conservative, and principled and didn’t care what the world thought, but only what the Lord knew and thought.
What specifically do I mean? Read just two amazing quotes of Joseph Fielding Smith which should assist these intellectuals in believing truth from his very soul. Quote one, about the proper instruments used for translation of the gold plates, and Quote two, about the geography of the Book of Mormon!
1- “I don’t not believe the stone was used for this purpose [Translation].”
Why do so many members of the Church believe an occultic or strange method of translation [Stone in a hat], was more feasible than following the scriptures?
Below are all the scriptures that say the breastplate and spectacles were used for translation. You will not find even one scripture to speak about the stone in a hat. JSH 1:35,52,62,75*; Mosiah 28:13, 20; Ether 3:22-23; 4:5; Alma 37:21, 24-25
[JFS Full Quote Here] “While the statement has been made by some writers that the Prophet Joseph Smith used a seer stone part of the time in his translating of the record, and information points to the fact that he did have in his possession such a stone, yet there is no authentic statement in the history of the Church which states that the use of such a stone was made in that translation.The information is all hearsay, and personally, I do not believe that this stone was used for this purpose. The reason I give for this conclusion is found in the statement of the Lord to the Brother of Jared as recorded in Ether 3:22–24. These stones, the Urim and Thummim which were given to the Brother of Jared, were preserved for this very purpose of translating the record, both of the Jaredites and the Nephites. Then again the Prophet was impressed by Moroni with the fact that these stones were given for that very purpose. It hardly seems reasonable to suppose that the Prophet would substitute something evidently inferior under these circumstances. It may have been so, but it is so easy for a story of this kind to be circulated due to the fact that the Prophet did possess a seer stone, which he may have used for some other purposes” (Joseph Fielding Smith, “Doctrines of Salvation,” Vol. 3, 225-26).
The Book of Mormon was translated using the spectacles and breastplate that was found by Joseph in the stone box at Cumorah in NY.
2- “Because of this theory [Mesoamerica] some members of the Church have become confused and greatly disturbed in their faith in the Book of Mormon.”
How is your faith in the Book of Mormon? Joseph Fielding Smith was concerned about the faith of those who believed in Mesoamerica as the beginning place of the Book of Mormon.
Why don’t we believe Joseph Smith who said to Emma, “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
[JFS Full Quote Here] “…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 that evidence 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
In the heart of the Navajo Nation, nestled amidst the crimson mesas and golden deserts, lived a woman named Desbah. She was known throughout her community for her deep connection with nature and her remarkable ability to play the Native American flute.
Desbah’s days were spent wandering the sacred lands, her feet moving in rhythm with the whispers of the wind. She had learned the art of flute- playing from her grandfather, who had passed down the knowledge of their ancestors. His words echoed in her mind as she played. The flute is a gift from the spirits. Let it carry your hearts song.
One sweltering summer afternoon, Desbah ventured farther into the desert than she had ever gone before. The relentless sun blazed overhead, and the land seemed to shimmer in the heat. Lost in the tranquility of the moment, she played her flute, the notes dancing with the gentle sway of the desert grass.
Desbah, Betty ‘Red Ants’ Mother
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the desert transformed. Desbah’s peaceful serenade attracted a curious, slithering presence. A rattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike, crept closer to the haunting melodies of her flute.
Desbah’s senses tingled with danger as she continued to play. In a heartbeat, the snake lunged toward her, its venomous fangs bared. Desbah instinctively raised her flute, using it as a barrier between her and the serpent. The snakes fangs sank into the wooden instrument, and its deadly venom flowed harmlessly into the flute.
Desperation filled the snakes eyes as it recoiled, realizing it had bitten an inanimate object. Desbah, trembling but unharmed, knew that the flute had saved her life. She gently set it down and watched as the snake slithered away into the night.
The flute, now marked with the snake’s venom, became even more sacred to Desbah. She returned to her community and shared her miraculous story. Her flutes haunting melodies took on a deeper resonance, carrying with them the power to protect and heal.
Years passed, and Desbah’s fame as a flute player spread far and wide. People from different tribes came to hear her play, to witness the magic that surrounded her. She became a guardian of the desert, using her flute to soothe troubled spirits and heal the sick.
Desbah’s flute had saved her life that fateful day, but it had also become a beacon of hope and resilience, a testament to the enduring connection between the Navajo people and the land that had sustained them for generations. And as long as her flute sang, Desbah’s spirit remained intertwined with the ancient rhythms of the desert, carrying the heart’s song of her people for all to hear.
Betty ‘Red Ant’ LaFontaine
2023 September
Email [email protected]
Betty and her husband Mike along with John Lefgren have a sacred project of rebuilding a replica 600 BC Phoenician Ship here.
https://www.phoenicia.rocks/
See her many videos at our subscription streaming site at:
bookofmormonevidence.org/streaming
My good friend Jeff Downs just shared his very well written and important message about what we need to be aware of and learn in this quick-paced and innovative world we live in, and how following the Sprit of the Lord is critical and a huge part of our growth. Thanks Jeff for your article. Jeff’s amazing son Mike, wrote a blog for us previously, you can find it here:
Please don’t take AI lightly. It is at times a valuable invention but also a dangerous weapon of Satan just as in the past we could say about Radio, Television, the Internet, and Smart Phones. Satan takes truth and good things, and deceives us with false notions.
Elon Musk warns AI could cause ‘civilization destruction’
New York CNN
“Elon Musk warned in a new interview that artificial intelligence could lead to “civilization destruction,” even as he remains deeply involved in the growth of AI through his many companies, including a rumored new venture.
“AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production, in the sense that it is, it has the potential — however small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivial — it has the potential of civilization destruction,” Musk said in his interview with Tucker Carlson…” CNN.com Source
ARTIFICIAL Intelligence and the Very REAL Book of Mormon
By Jeff Downs
“Karl Marx, in the mid-19th century, wrote that religion is “the opiate of the masses.” He was convinced that faith in God disconnected people–especially the disadvantaged–from the present and distracted them from engaging in progressive politics. It would now seem that artificial intelligence has become the new “opiate of the masses” that a progressive society has developed to disconnect people–anyone with a computer or smartphone–from the past and distract us from genuine engagement with our Heavenly Father.
As a teacher of thirty years, I am deeply concerned about what the rise in artificial technology is doing–and has the potential of doing–to my students and society in general. Unfortunately, there is not a lot I can do on that front. But, as a father and grandfather, I want, at the very least, to do all I can to warn my children about the dangers artificial technology poses to their faith and testimony.
Yes. That’s right. To their faith and testimony. And, I am hoping, you want to do the same!
My son, Mike, is a college student studying computer programming. A friend of his was recently asked to give a talk in church. This friend, also studying computer programming, seemed quite pleased with himself that he had found a quick and easy way to accomplish this task. Using an artificial intelligence (AI) generator (easily accessed and free to use online), he simply asked his smartphone to write for him a talk on the given subject, including some scripture, as well as a few quotes from several General Authorities from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In mere seconds, the talk was written. It even included a “testimony” at the end, if you can believe it!
My son had a copy of his friend’s talk which I was allowed to read. It had the structure one would expect in a Church talk, with quotations from current General Authorities that aligned very well with the subject, along with assorted scriptures from the standard works seamlessly woven throughout. It was impressive for something constructed in mere seconds by a computer using nothing but sophisticated algorithms as its source.
But the more I read, the more I realized something was clearly lacking: sincerity. There was simply no connection made between the subject matter and the person giving the talk. The words were correct, but the heart or Spirit of the message just wasn’t coming through. How could it? After all, the Spirit had nothing whatsoever to do with it!
Perhaps I would’ve dismissed this completely as a peculiar, computer-generated curiosity one might expect from a programming college student . . . had it not been for the computer-generated “testimony” at the conclusion. That was the part that spooked me. The “testimony” rang hollow. Empty. And then I realized that this same college student had actually given the talk–presented it as his own! He stood in front of a congregation and read the words but, in reality, didn’t produce a single one of them. And, worse than that, concluded by bearing a “testimony” that hadn’t come from his heart, but had been algorithmically generated from his smartphone!
Disturbing? Alarming? I hope you feel that way.
Please don’t get me wrong. I love my GPS when it comes to travel. At no time have I ever craved a return to folded maps and all of the stresses related to missed turn-offs or the delays produced from the miscalculation of distance and/or unforeseen traffic. And, when it comes to researching information, I in no way want to return to the card catalogs of yesteryear. I enjoy my microwave oven, automatic sprinkler system, garage door opener, and Bluetooth earbuds. These technological advances have helped with everyday, mundane tasks or have simply made living more comfortable. However, having a computer or smartphone produce a talk for me–including a testimony–gives me pause. Just how much should we hand off to a machine?
I shared some of my misgivings with my son the moment I had finished reading the talk. But then I sat back and took a moment to collect my thoughts. What would be an appropriate response to any younger person who questioned the use of the latest technology to complete what they might see as a “mundane” task?
I immediately remembered a thought from President Russell M. Nelson. Sister Joy D. Jones of the General Primary Presidency gave a talk in which she shared a very short video clip in which children–and I emphasize here, children–were able to ask the prophet questions. If you Google (in this case, using technology for something good) “The Lord Loves Effort General Conference April 2020” you will find it (or you could use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7OhT6jsvZQ). In this very short video (just over a minute and a half), the prophet makes clear that EVERYTHING that has to do with becoming more like the Savior is difficult. He then states clearly (so that even a child–and hopefully a college student–can understand!), “The Lord loves effort. Because,” Nelson continues, “effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.” President Nelson then notes how if one wants to become good at playing the piano, time and practice must be sacrificed; there are no shortcuts! I can find a song on my smartphone and play it, but that will not magically allow me to play the piece myself. I will never know the joy and satisfaction that comes from mastering that particular piece of music–learning it within my heart as well as the ends of my fingertips–through hours of practice and dedicated determination. President Nelson then concludes by stating that we cannot progress any other way! In fact, he points out how we should always be progressing and will continue to do so in the life to come. So, again, when it comes to our earthly progress as well as our eternal, there are no shortcuts! We learn by doing and by doing we learn. It’s a bummer, and difficult for some to hear, but an essential fact of life!
As the days went by, my heart ached for this programming student who thought he’d genuinely found a shortcut when it came to writing his talk and then, whether he realized it or not, having his smartphone go beyond even that to the manufacturing of his very “testimony.” A testimony that, again, came from a lifeless algorithm (this fact can’t be expressed enough).
Many of us can relate to how difficult it is to construct a talk from the ground up (I’m experiencing that right now!). It takes time, research, pondering, thought, and–hopefully–prayer. The very act of doing so intentionally puts us into an introspective mindset that opens us up to personal inspiration/revelation that, hopefully/ideally, allows us to spiritually connect to what He would have us learn and then thoughtfully/meaningfully share with others. Through this process we, hopefully/ideally sense what we not only need to learn ourselves but what needs to be shared with those with whom our message will be given. Unfortunately, for this programming student, all of this opportunity for learning and growth for himself and for others was lost–traded in for the tapping of a few keys on his smartphone.
He took the shortcut.
Where spiritual muscle could have been strengthened through the hours it would have taken to develop a talk in the way I just mentioned, spiritual atrophy is the only other inevitable alternative. And as spiritual muscles atrophy, we eventually find ourselves becoming spiritually weaker until, eventually, our genuine testimony “withers away” (Alma 32:38). And, before we know it, we have let go of the iron rod and find ourselves lost in the mists of darkness Nephi warned us about in 1 Nephi 11. That AI-generated talk then becomes very similar to the great and spacious building Nephi mentions as well in that same chapter–appealing and enjoyed by many, but lacking any solid foundation on which we can genuinely trust. In fact, it’s worse than this since Nephi makes clear that there is actually no foundation at all (with the building AND an algorithmically-generated testimony)!
In the April 2021 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Your mountains may be loneliness, doubt, illness, or other personal problems. Your mountains will vary, and yet the answer to each of your challenges is to increase your faith. That takes work. Lazy learners and lax disciples will always struggle to muster even a particle of faith. To do anything well requires effort. Becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ is no exception. Increasing your faith and trust in Him takes effort.”
Can a learner get any lazier than having their smartphone generate a talk in mere seconds using an app? I’ll let you reach your own verdict on that one.
Perhaps the effort that would have been required to assemble that talk was exactly what was needed to address the “loneliness, doubt, illness, or other personal problems” this student undoubtedly faces daily. We ALL face these obstacles. But, regrettably, the opportunity to tap into the remedy for such struggles was traded away for the shortcut. Hopefully, for this student’s sake, this doesn’t become a habit.
But how does any of this artificial intelligence material relate to the Book of Mormon, you might ask?
Recently, some Church historians, scholars, and professors (not all, but many) have been encouraging us to take on a similar mysterious-AI-approach when it comes to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon (I avoided the word “translation” because we are being told by some that word doesn’t mean what we think it means). They encourage us to believe that the part Joseph Smith played was minor–nearly as minor as my son’s programmer friend generating his talk using a smartphone. For many of these intellectuals, Joseph didn’t play a very active role but simply read the words that appeared in a stone he placed in the bottom of a hat.
Think about that. Is this proposed idea really all that different from letting our smartphone do the heavy lifting when it comes to generating a talk?
They tell us the very translation itself “appeared” (generated magically) and Joseph simply read the words and gave us what we have today. In fact, they assure us that the plates weren’t even needed in the translation process and merely sat under a cloth while Joseph’s smartphone–I mean stone–did all of the work. And, when pressed, the very idea that the Book of Mormon is a record of a real people in actual history is brought into doubt by some of our very own scholars and historians today, who assure us that just having uplifting and motivating stories, just as we have in our nonhistorical Bible, should be enough to give the Book of Mormon value and meaning in our lives.
The book By Means of the Urim & Thummim by James W. Lucas and Jonathan E. Neville does an amazing job at explaining how the translation process was, in fact, a very real and tangible experience. I highly recommend this book for your own library and the libraries of your children and grandchildren. It beautifully teaches how we should trust Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery when they tell us that the plates were used and translated using the Urim and Thummim (a device specifically prepared for this purpose), and not a stone, by the gift and power of God. If anyone knows someone struggling to wrap their head around this topic, this book will shepherd the reader through a well-sourced, logical, and sympathetic exploration that I haven’t the room or expertise to do justice in this article. The book Seer Stone V. Urim and Thummim by L. Hannah Stoddard and James F. Stoddard III, is another wonderful resource (they are out there, folks, if you know where to look!).
I challenge anyone to read Section 10 of the Doctrine and Covenants and underline every instance of the word “translate”, “translated”, and “translates”. You will be surprised by how many of these words you find! These words were used for a reason! A translator does far more than read words off a stone. A translator must deal with poetry, symbolism, metaphors, slang, neologisms, colloquialisms, the social context of the audience receiving the text being translated, how much needs to be elaborated or expanded to make the translated text meaningful to a modern audience, make variations inspired by the Holy Ghost and choose a style and tone that their audience will respond to if they are to even begin to accept the offered material and not reject it outright (which explains all of the King James language!). Put in this light, Joseph had a Herculean task few give him credit for. Why so much work for Joseph? Yes, we needed–and the Lord needed–the Book of Mormon to come forth, but Joseph needed to grow and develop as well! No growth would have been made had he simply read words off of a smartphone–sorry–stone.
We and our youth need to understand this! Joseph took NO shortcuts and neither should we! He too needed to grow and progress, and his sacrifice, dedication, and struggle to produce the book we have today should be recognized and, in turn, appreciated–not disparaged as so many “experts” are doing today.
Another dangerous trend in current scholarship is to dismiss the historicity of the Book of Mormon itself (along with the Bible, for that matter). Since we have no definitive location for where the Book of Mormon took place, some scholars, religion professors, and Church historians encourage us to focus on the spiritual messages/confirmation only. President Gordon B. Hinckley thoughtfully taught: “I can hold [the Book of Mormon] in my hand. It is real. It has weight and substance that can be physically measured. I can open its pages and read, and it has language both beautiful and uplifting. The ancient record from which it was translated came out of the earth as a voice speaking from the dust. . . . The evidence for its truth, for its validity in a world that is prone to demand evidence, lies not in archaeology or anthropology, though these may be helpful to some. It lies not in word research or historical analysis, though these may be confirmatory. The evidence for its truth and validity lies within the covers of the book itself. The test of its truth lies in reading it. It is a book of God. Reasonable individuals may sincerely question its origin, but those who read it prayerfully may come to know by a power beyond their natural senses that it is true, that it contains the word of God, that it outlines saving truths of the everlasting gospel, that it came forth by the gift and power of God.”
The spiritual confirmation of the reality of the Book of Mormon is essential! And, when it comes right down to it, that is the strongest confirmation we will ever receive in this life. No matter how much evidence we acquire, faith is required! As President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “Every man eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand.”
But Neal A. Maxwell also taught: “It is [my] opinion that all the scriptures, including the Book of Mormon, will remain in the realm of faith. Science will not be able to prove or disprove holy writ. However, enough plausible evidence will come forth to prevent scoffers from having a field day, but not enough to remove the requirement of faith.”
And David Whitmer, one of the three published witnesses to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon said, “When we were first told to publish our statement, we felt sure the people would not believe it, for the Book told of a people who were refined and dwelt in large cities; but the Lord told us that He would make it known to the people, and people should discover the ruins of the lost cities and abundant evidence of the truth of what is written in the Book.”
And this is where Wayne May, Rod Meldrum, Jonathan Neville, Rian Nelson, David Hocking, L. Hannah Stoddard, and a growing host of others have done so much to shine a much-needed light on the “abundant evidence of the truth of what is written.” This blog and the conferences the aforementioned take part in share information that speaks to the heart and can do much to bolster your own testimony as well as the testimonies of your children and grandchildren. But it must be shared!
It is vital, in my opinion, that we acknowledge the truth that each of us is born with spiritual gifts. Gifts of the Spirit are cited in many places in scripture (1 Corinthians 12:3-11, Romans 12:6-13, Moroni 10:9-18, and Doctrine and Covenants 46:8-29). Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “In the fullest sense, [spiritual gifts] are infinite in number and endless in their manifestations.” And Elder Gene R. Cook taught: “One of the great processes you go through in life is to discover yourself, to find those gifts and capacities God has given you. He has given you great talents, the smallest part of which you have just begun to utilize. Trust the Lord to assist you in unlocking the door to those gifts. Some of us have created imaginary limits in our minds. There is literally a genius locked up inside each of us. Don’t ever let anyone convince you otherwise.”
Now, keep these words in mind as you read Doctrine and Covenants 46:13-14: “To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. To others it is given to believe in their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful.”
For me, these verses are referring to the gift of testimony. For some, simply reading the Book of Mormon will spark in them the ability to simply believe it is true. That is truly a gift for which they should be eternally grateful. For others, though, it will take time to, as Elder Cook suggested, “unlock” this gift. But, if we are sincere, and righteously striving to find the truth, Moroni assures us that it can be done (Moroni 10:4) and that the gift of testimony regarding the Book of Mormon (or any other truth) can be ours!
But I submit to you that helping others see that the Book of Mormon is in fact a genuine history of a genuine people may in fact be needed to help “unlock” this testimonial gift or at least put a person in the proper mindset to at least consider the idea that the Book of Mormon is in fact a very REAL history. That is precisely, again, what this blog, and the above-mentioned people, are trying to do.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: “I believe God intends us to find and use the evidence He has given—reasons if you will—which affirm the truthfulness of His work… Evidence is still evidence even if it is not immediately observable… Our testimonies aren’t dependent on evidence—we still need that spiritual confirmation in the heart of which we have spoken—but not to seek for and not to acknowledge intellectual, documentable support for our belief when it is available is to needlessly limit an otherwise incomparably strong theological position and deny us a unique, persuasive vocabulary in the latter-day arena of religious investigation and sectarian debate.”
My friends, now is the time to share what we learn with others. There is tangible evidence sitting right under our very noses if we take the time to open our eyes and hearts to the information being offered on this site and at the conferences Rod Meldrum, Rian Nelson, and others put together. The plates were REAL. The lives chronicled and detailed in the Book of Mormon were REAL. And the message it is trying to convey and warn us about is also REAL. But to obtain an essential spiritual witness of this will require effort! A testimony of its genuine historicity is also obtainable, but your smartphone–and no algorithm–can do it for you. There is nothing ARTIFICIAL when it comes to the Book of Mormon, and my hope as a father and a grandfather is that my posterity will take the time to obtain a REAL testimony from a very REAL book that is here to show us the way to genuine joy and happiness: the covenant path that leads back to our loving Heavenly Father and cherished exaltation.” Jeff Downs
Please share this information as there are many of us who need this information on the good and evil of todays new technologies.
There exists many differences of opinion about the landing site of Lehi. There has been general agreement that Lehi probably began his exodus to the Promised Land near Khor Karfot, Oman before sailing to the New World. Both the Mesoamerican Theory and the Heartland Theory are in agreement here. Those who believe in the Mesoamerican theory (M2C) think they sailed east towards India. Those of the Heartland Model (HM) feel Lehi sailed west toward the tip of Africa.
You will see more about the discussion below. Those of M2C think Lehi landed somewhere on the west coast of South/Central America and the HM think they landed near the Pan Handle of Florida. Those of M2C feel Lehi landed amongst a large population of Mayans. They also believe the Mayan civilization absorbed the Lehites and that is why today you find only Asian DNA amongst those people of South America. Those of us in the HM feel that Lehi landed amongst a few native hunter gathers in North America. We also believe there has been found Hebrew DNA in the Natives near the Great Lakes. National Geographic
As the scripture says, “this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance.”2 Nephi 1:8. This is why the Vikings and others were not allowed to remain upon the land. We would expect a smaller group that Lehi would greet. I can’t imagine how Nephi could be a King amongst just a few of Lehi’s people, if there was a large contingency of natives on the land previously.
Page 30 Annotated Book of Mormon Click to Enlarge
“The Book of Mormon explains that Lehi’s sailing party left a coastline they named “Bountiful” in the Old World. Nephi’s descriptions lead us to believe they left the Arabian peninsula, probably in modern-day Oman or Yemen. They crossed the “many waters” and landed at the promised land: “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship, that we sailed again towards the promised land. 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.” (1 Nephi 18: 22-23) This description is so vague that it leaves readers with many possibilities for the landing site. We know from Moroni’s statements to Joseph Smith that the Book of Mormon is a record of the ancient inhabitants of “this country” meaning the United States, and of “this continent,” meaning the American continent, but that says nothing about where Lehi’s group originally landed.
Page 35 Annotated Book of Mormon Click to Enlarge
As the scripture says, “this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance.”2 Nephi 1:8. This is why the Vikings and others were not allowed to remain upon the land. We would expect a smaller group that Lehi would greet. I can’t imagine how Nephi could be a King amongst just a few of Lehi’s people, if there was a large contingency of natives on the land previously.
Nephi does tell us the approximate season of the year when they left the Old World, and knowing when they left tells us something about which direction they would have sailed. He states: “After we had prepared all things, much fruits and meat from the wilderness, and honey in abundance, and provisions according to that which the Lord had commanded us, we did go down into the ship, with all our loading and our seeds, an whatsoever thing we had brought with us, every one according to his age; wherefore, we did all go down into the ship, with our wives and our children.” (1 Nephi 18:6). In the Oman area (see map on p. 30 above), there are two honey harvests each year, (spring and fall) but most fruit is harvested in the fall. That they gathered much fruit just prior to leaving suggests a fall departure. Nephi’s account continues, “…we did put forth into the sea and were driven before the wind…” (1 Nephi 18:8), which suggests that the ship was not traveling contrary to, but in concert with the Northeast monsoon winds that prevail at this season of the year and would have driven the ship southwest, along the eastern coast of Africa (see map on p. 35 above). This route would have rounded the cape into the Atlantic Ocean and followed the currents and winds across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Once there, the route picks up the currents that Columbus utilized when he left Spain and sailed to the Canary Islands off the western coast of Africa having the ship proceeding westward.” Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 30, 35, 535
*The Amazing Replica Phoenicia 600 BC Ship, has been Purchased by some special people from the Heartland Group. See below.
Lehi’s VoyagePhoenicia 2020 Expedition
I want to acknowledge that our friend Wayne May feels strongly that the Mulekites entered the St Lawrence seaway, traveled west on the Great Lakes, and ended up in today’s Montrose, Iowa. I believe the Mulekites traveled a similar route above as Philip Beal traveled in the Phoenicia, as the Mulekites likely traveled up the Mississippi River to the Des Moines Rapids near Montrose, Iowa and stayed there in Zarahemla until Mosiah found them in about 200 to 300 BC. Either choice is fine as none of us knows for sure. As Wayne always says, “I report, you decide”
16 FACTORS- APALACHICOLA, FLORIDA AS THE SITE OF LEHI’S LANDING!
Navigational Proof: Phoenicia 2009 Expedition (See map above) Blog Here
Navigational Proof: Phoenicia 2020 Expedition (See map above) Blog Here
Length of voyage: 4-6 months vs. 14-18 months around the Pacific route.
Time of Year: Leave in Sept or Oct. Full Harvest. Land in March or April?
Archaeology: 500-700 BC Mounds and Relics. Pierce Mounds, Florida.
Bees and Honey: Only place in the world for Tupelo Honey. Apalachicola, FL.
Similar Latitude: Seeds would grow. 30° 26′ 17″ N (Tallahassee, FL) 30° 04’42” N (Cairo, Egypt) 31° 46′ 48″ N (Jerusalem) 19° 43’ 26” N (Mexico City) 15° 30′ 0″ N (Guatemala)
Wind Currents: Leaving Oman in Sept (honey & fruit ripe), wind currents flow toward horn of Africa.
Promised Land: Book of Mormon speaks of a Land of Liberty. (36 others) USA, not Mesoamerica
Abundance of Food: Oman and Florida both called “A” Land Bountiful
Same Land as Jaredites: [Cumorah and Ramah]
Food prehistoric people needed: Deer, small mammals, Turtles. Bison, Mammoths, Bear, Elk further north.
Signs of Hebrew writing or relics: Bat Creek Stone, Holy Stones, Hebrew Earthworks, etc.
Access to Rivers: Chattahoochee only river source brings ice into the gulf.
Cumoros is off the south-east coast of Africa, to the north-west of Madagascar, where Lehi would have been. It’s capital city is MORONI. I doubt it is a coincidence.
The Phoenicia 2009 ship captain Philip Beale said, the ship was moving backwards but the compass said they were going forward at a few points near the tip of Africa where the currents change. 1 Nephi 18:23
Pierce Mounds in Apalachicola, FL- Most Likely Land of Lehi’s Inheritance
The mounds were named for Alton Pierce, an early owner of the site. Much of the site is now on private property and inaccessible to the public. I personally visited these 13- Pierce mounds with Mike and Betty LaFontaine and a few of their friends on Oct 2017 with George Mahr the owner of the property. We saw and walked and dug around the surface of these mounds which also included a sizeable temple mound and a shell midden more than a mile long, shared with a bustling village the area around what is now Magnolia Cemetery. Daniel Seinfeld of Apalachicola times wrote the following: “The people who lived there were prosperous and powerful, influencing trade traffic to the north along Apalachicola River and to the east and west along the Gulf Coast. They were spared the hard work of farming by an abundance of seafood and game as well as wild fruit and nuts. There is evidence they imported cornmeal to broaden their diet. Skilled potters who produced both fanciful and utilitarian objects, they buried their dead with precious objects including silver, copper and pearls. The settlement was founded around 500 BC. Around the same time, the Scandinavian Iron Age began, the Chinese developed the handheld trigger crossbow, and burnt brick and donkey-powered grain mills were used for the first time in Greece.
World population had reached 100 million, 15 million of whom lived in the Western Hemisphere. “The (Pierce Mounds people) hauled soil in baskets or sacks or dragged it on hides or cloths to pile it up and build mounds,” White wrote. “They made both beautiful and plain pots, paints, points, pipes, musical instruments, and other artifacts, and used many in special ceremonies that also involved burnt offerings to accompany burial of their dead. “Wolves, panthers, other cats, but maybe even grub worms too were among the animals they considered important for more than just food. They hunted, fished, gathered nuts, chopped down and burned trees, made canoes, played chunkey and other games,” she wrote.
Editor’s Note: This sounds just like a people called the Nephites in my opinion.
Daniel continues, “At the time these first mounds were built, Greek engineers invented the catapult and the Acropolis was planned. Socrates lived and was executed for corrupting the youth of Athens. London was a collection of thatched huts boasting a wooden pier and surrounded by a mud wall. [Nancy] White writes that the settlement at Turtle Harbor persisted until shortly before “the European invasion of Florida” in the 16th century. Why the Pierce Mound people left is unclear. Complete Archeological report from Nancy White here! Treasures taken from the site are in museum collections as far away as London, along with unpublished records and drawings from early excavations. Much of White’s research on Apalachicola’s prehistory took place in libraries. “This shows the value of the immensely difficult and complex labor of digging into unpublished field notes and maps, museum accession data, courthouse records, and other original sources,” she wrote. ” Today many think research is something done online. But there is a wealth of unpublished, dusty old paper out there with information that can greatly change or help interpretation.” Artifacts at the British Museum were probably purchased, a common practice during the 19th century. The museum’s collection includes a clay pipe and four stone artifacts, obtained in 1869, from a dig at “Turtle Harbor near Apalachicola” and stone and shell tools and pottery, acquired in 1875, are “from mounds near Apalachicola.” Pottery from Pierce Mounds is showcased at the Smithsonian.
An Ancient Tourist Attraction
Just as ancient cities today hold a charm and fascination, White believes that over time, the attraction of the Pierce Mounds grew. Certainly, it was a center of commerce and drew visitors from far away but it may also have been a place for religious pilgrimages, an ancient tourist attraction. “The earlier mounds may have become sacred places for later people to come to pray, worship ancestors known or thought to have been (buried) there, or just feel a sense of the spiritual beyond everyday life, or a sense of territory and patriotism,” White wrote. European settlers in Apalachicola collected many artifacts, a practice that continued well into the 20th century. Indeed, on the east end of the cemetery, it appears the remains of a mound or midden is currently being bulldozed for fill, she wrote.
In 1888, H. L. Grady of Apalachicola collected artifacts that his heirs apparently donated to what would become the Florida Museum of Natural History. C.B Moore, a well-heeled and colorful archaeologist, carried out the first organized excavation at Pierce Mounds. He published a spectacular account of the dig in 1902. Moore excavated many Native American sites in the Southeast, around the turn of the 19th century, often traveling to them in his steamboat the “Gopher” accompanied by a lifelong male companion who was his personal physician. By the time Moore visited the site around 1898, the temple mound had been mined for fill. He described 99 burials from Mound A, including skeletons, weapons, jewelry and pottery In the 1940s, Gordon Willey, whose work laid the foundation for New World archaeology, visited the Pierce Mounds and performed additional excavations. By the 1990s, Willey was retired but continued to write. Among his works was a mystery novel, “Selena,” a story in which an elderly archaeologist becomes embroiled in sexual antics and murder in a fictitious Panhandle town. White said the Pierce Mounds are featured in the story as the “Bull Mounds.” William Sears, another archaeologist, excavated here in the 1950s, followed by Dan Penton who visited in 1972 and again in 1996. White said Penton told her the Muscogee Indian nation still considers the Pierce site sacred and tobacco offerings are made there. In 1975, architect Willoughby Marshall hired Robert S. Carr to examine historic sites for “Apalachicola: Economic Development through Historic Preservation.” Carr quotes from a manuscript by local memoirist, Dwight Marshall, who said the railroad construction cut through “some of the Indian mounds near the cemetery. They dug up skeletons of Indians that were a foot taller than the average man of today and also other items of pottery. The Smithsonian Institute sent some men here on the Steamer Gopher…” In reality, Moore was sponsored by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia so it’s unclear how much of Marshall’s account is accurate.
Cool Springs Mound is missing
In 1994, the US Department of State tried and failed to buy part of the Pierce site, both for historical preservation and to conserve surrounding wetlands. Shortly afterwards, a team from the Florida Department of Historical Resources’ Bureau of Archaeological Research visited the Pierce site. White and her students inspected the artifacts DHR recovered and her work on the mounds began. She has located the sites of all but one of the 13 mounds, named Cool Springs Mound, a 7.5-foot high and 90 feet in diameter mound located as of 1902 on the western outskirts of Apalachicola. Now, it is probably in the neighborhood just east of Magnolia Cemetery. What will happen to the Pierce Mounds is unclear. In 1974, Pierce Mounds was added to the National Register of Historic Places but the designation provides no protection.
“The beauty and monumental nature of the Pierce mounds complex remains impressive today, even with the damage to so much of the site,” White wrote. “It is crucial that Pierce be preserved as much as possible, for so many reasons, from heritage conservation to ecological issues to scientific research potential.” Apalachicola resident George Mahr, who owns the undeveloped remains of the Pierce site, invited White to work there and supported much of her research. He hopes either to develop the land preserving the archaeological site or to sell the land for conservation purposes. He has fenced the site in an effort to preserve it but said the problem of trespassers in the area is a constant challenge. White asked to remind everyone these mounds are a burial site and it is illegal to disturb, possess or sell human remains in Florida. If the remains are from someone who has been dead for more than 75 years, activities at the site of a suspected grave may not resume until the state archaeologist has been notified of the unmarked burial. To notify the state archaeologist, call Daniel Seinfeld at 850-245-6301 850-245-6301 or email him at [email protected]
Truncated pyramids are associated with all the large Mississippian towns in the Mississippi River Basin . . . hence their anthropological name. The earliest “Mississippian” town in traditional Creek territory, Ocmulgee National Monument, began construction of a rectangular, pyramidal mound (Mound A ~ the Great Temple Mound) around 900 AD. However, at least four pyramidal mounds in Georgia predate the one at Ocmulgee by around 1200 to 800 years. They are at (1) Kolomoki Mounds [300-700 AD] in SW Georgia, (2) the Mandeville [800 BC-600 AD] in SW Georgia, (3) 9FU14 sites on the Chattahoochee River in SW Metro Atlanta and at (3) the Leake Site [300 Bc – 650 AD] on the Etowah River in NW Metro Atlanta. The Kenimer Mound [550-700 AD] also probably predated Ocmulgee’s Mound A [800-900 AD] by about 300 years. However, it is a pentagonal pyramid.
Seeds grow in similar Latitude. 30° 26′ 17″ N (Tallahassee, FL) 31° 46′ 48″ N (Jerusalem)
“The Nephites could not possibly have lived among the Mayans” by Jonathan Neville
A comparison of LiDAR data showing the ancient Maya site of El Zotz covered in trees (left), and with the trees digitally removed. Credit: Ithaca College
Moroni’s America position- If you believe in the New York Cumorah, you will likely view this LiDAR discovery as additional evidence that the Nephites could not possibly have lived among the Mayans.
I think the text shows Lehi’s colony landing in the promised land, planting their own seeds, finding animals and ore in the wilderness, all while completely unimpeded by any existing civilization. (1 Ne. 18:23-5). I think Lehi’s observation that “this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations” was accurate; i.e., that there were no “other nations” in the promised land where they landed, “for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance” (2 Nephi 1:8). I do think think there were some indigenous people who went with Nephi when he fled (2 Nephi 5:6), but I infer they were unorganized hunter/gatherers that did not qualify as any sort of “nation” and were impressed by the Jewish immigrants’ technology, language, etc.
In my view, it is difficult enough to believe that Lehi’s family, a relative handful of immigrants from a distant culture speaking a different language, could have arrived and started planting crops on unclaimed land in Mesoamerica, encountering no resistance, but it is even more difficult to believe Lehi’s descendants could have managed to rule as kings and chief judges over even a part of a Mayan civilization, and that in the midst of this Mayan civilization, King Mosiah could have escaped with the Nephites into the wilderness and found a much larger group of illiterate people (the people of Zarahemla) who possessed exactly one engraven stone.
Now that we are learning from LiDAR that the Mayan civilization was even larger, more densely populated, and more sophisticated than we previously realized, the Book of Mormon seems even less plausible in that setting. IOW, the grander the Mayan civilization, the less likely it is that Lehi landed anywhere near that civilization.
This view is based on the text and has nothing directly to do with the New York Cumorah, but it does confirm my bias in favor of the New York Cumorah. _____
M2C position. If you believe the M2C position that Cumorah is not in New York and that the entire Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica, you will likely view this LiDAR discovery as additional evidence that the Nephites must have lived among the Mayans.
The basic M2C concept is described in the Meridian Magazine article. It is the idea that the Nephites were absorbed into Mayan culture. That’s why there is no Israelite DNA in Central America, no traces of Nephite languages or the law of Moses or Christian beliefs and practices, etc. M2C proponents believe there were bottlenecks (both DNA-related and cultural) that screened out Nephite cultural influence.” Jonathan Neville blog here
Annotated Book of Mormon
“Within recent years there has arisen among certain students of the Book of Mormon a theory to the effect that within the period covered by the Book of Mormon, the Nephites and Lamanites were confined almost entirely within the borders of the territory comprising Central America and the southern portion of Mexico—the isthmus of Tehuantepec probably being the “narrow neck” of land spoken of in the Book of Mormon rather than the Isthmus of Panama (See Alma 50:34; 52:9; 63:5; Mormon 2:29; 3:5). This theory is founded upon the assumption that it was impossible for the colony of Lehi’s to multiply and fill the hemisphere within the limits of 1,000 years, or from the coming of Lehi from Jerusalem to the time of the destruction of the Nephites at the Hill Cumorah. Moreover, they claim that the story in the Book of Mormon of the migrations, building of cities, and the wars and contentions, preclude the possibility of the people spreading over great distances such as we find within the borders of North and South America. “If we are willing to accept the Bible record, which is confirmed by the Doctrine and Covenants, the entire civilization of the earth was destroyed in the flood except Noah and his family (See Gen 6; 7; 8; Moses 7:36–43). Moreover, this destruction took place less than 5,000 years ago, and today the population of the earth, notwithstanding wars and destructions, is estimated [in 1954] at over 2,000,000,000 souls [2018 population estimated at 7,600,000,000, has nearly quadrupled in just 64 years]. The population of Europe, based upon the best records available, is vastly increased over that at the time of the discovery of America; yet upon this hemisphere are to be found hundreds of millions of people, descendants of European and Asiatic ancestors who knew nothing of this land before the discovery by Columbus. The rapid increase of posterity is known to every genealogist who has traced the record of the early settlers in this western country. “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 that evidence 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’ – Ether 15:8. Mormon adds: ‘And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites,’ (Mormon 6:4)” –
Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Edited by Bruce R. McConkie, Vol. 3 [1999] 232–243.As stated on page 441 SPECULATION ABOUT BOOK OF MORMON GEOGRAPHY
Moroni’s America
“In an effort to explain the discrepancy between the enumerated (small) population and the large population implied by having wars and building a temple, proponents of a Mesoamerican setting suggest that–
“When the Book of Mormon peoples entered the not-empty New World, they entered a land that was not only populated, but which already boasted highly developed civilizations. The Book of Mormon does not explain Mesoamerican peoples—but Mesoamerican peoples help explain the Book of Mormon… With such a small Lehite population entering an established region with a significantly larger population, the most logical direction of cultural borrowing would have been from the established indigenous population to the small population that had originated in Jerusalem.[i]
This suggestion contradicts the text, in my opinion. I agree with the likelihood that the Nephites encountered indigenous people, but far from “cultural borrowing” from any “established indigenous population,” Nephi keeps the law of Moses and is soon teaching his people how to build a temple, make weapons, etc., as we’ll see in the next section.
Father Lehi’s statement about “other nations” directly contradicts the idea that the Nephites landed among “highly developed civilizations” that existed in Mesoamerica. On the other hand, Lehi’s statement is compatible with the various hunter/gatherer groups identified in the archaeological evidence in the southeastern United States at the time. Such groups would naturally be attracted to new arrivals who brought with them productive seeds for food, advanced technology for weapons and buildings, a written language and other benefits.
Another possibility for the relatively large population during Nephi’s lifetime is that Lehi brought servants along with him. I consider this likely.
Erastus Snow noted that, “The Prophet Joseph informed us 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…these descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim grew together upon this American continent.”[ii]
In his analysis of Lehi’s group, John Sorenson noted that “Nothing is said about Zoram’s ancestry, but it seems statistically likely, given his bureaucratic/military role in Jerusalem, that he was a Jew, while both Lehi and Ishmael counted descent from Joseph.”[iii] This would make all of Lehi’s group “Israelites, principally the descendants of Joseph,” which is how Orson Pratt described them in his 1840 pamphlet.[iv] However, Joseph Smith made a correction to this language when he wrote the Wentworth Letter. Joseph wrote, “They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph.”[v] 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.
Here are John Sorenson’s comments on that topic.
Were there servants? No mention is made of male or female servants, yet it is possible that there were some. At first glance, 1 Nephi 2:4 would seem to rule that out, since reference is made only to Lehi’s taking “his family.” Yet Near Eastern usage would not rule out including servants under that heading without specifically distinguishing them. Lehi’s “great wealth” would seem to have called for at least female servants in the household. Nephi’s hesitancy about even adding Zoram to their party would not apply in the case of family retainers, who would have known no other life than service to Lehi and Sariah and had no alternative place in society in the land of Jerusalem even if they dreamed of defecting. I do not consider it likely that there were such people along, but the door should not be shut on the possibility, for they might account for some genetic variety in the colony as well as providing additional hands for the construction of the ship when they reached Bountiful.
Finally, I note that Lynn M. Hilton has proposed in an unpublished paper that Laman and Lemuel took dark-skinned South Arabian women as second wives during the sojourn in Bountiful, thus accounting for the skin color attributed to the Lamanites in the promised land in America. That the party had social interaction with local inhabitants in Bountiful on the south Arabian coast does seem likely, even inevitable. Among other things, Nephi claims “neither did I build the ship after the manner of men” (1 Nephi 18:2), implying that he had knowledge of other ships which almost certainly would have existed on that coast. However, Jacob 3:5, which credits the Lamanites with a tradition of strict monogamy, goes against the Hilton suggestion, but Lehi could have picked up families, or single people who married Lehi’s servants. We simply don’t know.
I think it is likely Lehi brought servants. The journey from Jerusalem through the wilderness would have been arduous for any small group, but also dangerous. Lehi was a wealthy man, and likely accustomed to desert travel; in the context of the times, he would have had servants to assist him in his work, as well as to assist the household. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that Lehi would have sent all of his sons back to Jerusalem, leaving Lehi and Sariah and their daughters alone in the wilderness, if he did not have servants. Perhaps he also sent servants to accompany his sons on their trips to Jerusalem.
Joseph Smith said the group was “principally Israelites,” so some of them were not. Apart from Zoram, the record gives no specifics on the identity of these non-Israelites. Had Zoram been the only exception, would Joseph have used the term “principally?” The term refers to rank or importance, not merely numbers, so even a significant number of non-Israelite servants would leave the group “principally Israelites.”
Mesoamerican advocates have considered but rejected the notion that Lehi’s party included servants or people from Arabia,[vi] but I think that approach reflects a desire to show that Lehi landed among a sophisticated Mesoamerican population. In my view, that idea contradicts the text.
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.” Moroni’s America pages 84-85
[i] Brant Gardner, Traditions of the Fathers, pp. 153-4.
[ii] Erastus Snow, “God’s Peculiar People,” Journal of Discourses, 23:184, available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni38.
[iii] John Sorenson, “The Composition of Lehi’s Family,” in By Study and Also by Faith, (Neal A. Maxwell Institute), available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni39.
[iv] Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, p. 15, available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni40.
[v] The Wentworth letter was published in the 1 March 1842 Times and Seasons. The Historical Introduction in the Joseph Smith Papers explains that the letter echoes some wording from Pratt’s pamphlet. The letter is available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni41.
[vi] E.g., Brant Gardner, Traditions of the Fathers, p. 156.
*Heartland Research Agreed to Purchase the Phoenicia for Display on the West Bank of the River Sidon at the Zarahemla Temple Site in Montrose, Iowa.
December 13, 2021, inspired and special members of Heartland Research, John Lefgren and Mike and Betty LaFontaine, negotiated with the shipowner Philip Beale, the terms for purchasing the Phoenicia, a faithful replica of a ship which made two voyages in 2009 and in 2020 of over 30,000 nautical miles.
It was demonstrated in this replica 600 BC Phoenician style Ship which Captain Beale built and sailed, validating the possible sea route of bringing Mulek, the Prince of Judah, from Jerusalem to Zarahemla in the 6th Century before Christ. (Tunisia to Florida in 2020), along with the voyage of the same Phoenicia in 2009 making a voyage possible of bringing Lehi and his family from Oman, to Florida, as Captain Beale demonstrated in his voyage to circumnavigate a trade-route around Africa similar to Herodotus in 500 BC. (The 2009 Phoenicia traveled from Oman to near Florida and finally to Lebanon). These friends of the Heartland Group have done the world a service.
There are current Sept 2023 updates at the heartland Research website phoenicia.rocks
To read and download a special 26-page book called “Sidon to Sidon” See below
Conference Sponsors and Supporters: LDS-Traditional Value Groups Firm Foundation- Rodney and Tonya Meldrum Joseph Smith Foundation- Hannah, Leah Stoddard and Family and Kimberly Smith The Universal Model- Dean and Danette Sessions Truth Seekers- Russ and Heidi Barlow
The Spear Fund- Tim Ballard and Ken Krogue
LDS Archaeology/Ancient American Magazine- Wayne May Heartland Research Group- Mike and Betty LaFontaine and John Lefgren Moroni’s America- Jonathan and Beverly Neville David W. Allan- It’s About Time Digital Legend Press- Boyd Tuttle Lighthouse Books- David Hocking Lost Civilizations of North America- Steven Smoot Promises of the Constitution- Pamela and Bob Openshaw Prophetic Appointments- Farrell & Rhonda Pickering Plus Many More…..
A special thanks to our key-note speakers, Ken Krogue, Greg Matsen, Kate Dalley, Eric Moutsos, Don Bradley, Cindy Biggs, Charles Castleberry, and Michael Bedard
I sincerely believe the Lord today is“pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints… there are many called, but few are chosen.” D&C 121:33.
The title of this blog, Latter-day Saint Traditional Value Groups, (LDSTVG) includes the many groups who are at the forefront of bringing this new, lost, or forgotten knowledge of the Lord’s Truth, to the world. In other words, on “the heads of the Latter-day Saints”, truth and knowledge is being poured out to the LDSVG, as they to share with other Latter-day Saints and thus to the world to many important truths. These Traditional Value Groups, (LDSTVG) are on the cutting edge of reliable, traditional, and truth based research about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“33 How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints. 34 Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? 35 Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world” D&C 121:33-35
My Email to the Universal Model, and LDSTVG
I recently sent the following email to the many Universal Model collaborators.
“I am an 11 year UM-er and love Dean and Danette and Russ and Heidi Barlow who own truthseekers.com. I also sent this Heartland Research information to Hannah Stoddard proprietor of Joseph Smith Foundation. I work with Rod Meldrum at Firm Foundation as Rod was a 7-year leading scientific research specialist with Dean Sessions.
Robert Mehl 2019
My wife Stacy’s dad and my Father-in-law, Robert Mehl has been a Geologist for over 60 years, and he is 92 years old and has been to all our our past 7 Firm Foundation Conference’s. He drives himself from Colorado to Utah and is in great health.
I sent this current article from Heartland Reseach titled, “Stone Analysis” (9/19/2023) to Mr. Mehl, and I share with each of you his phone number, as he has read the Universal Model Volume I, 8 times and Universal Model II, 5 times and can’t get enough of it. He has been called on stage many times by Dean Sessions to share his abundant confirmation of the UM and clearly states that Kansas University has taught him many lies as many Universities have. He is a wonderful expert witness and I would encourage you to call him and keep him in your loop.
To my readers and friends, please use this information to contact me about using Bob Mehl in any correspondence you would like. He is best on the phone, not by text or email.” Thanks, Rian Nelson
FIRM Foundation
Phone: 801-931-9031
The following blog is from our friends at the Heartland Research Group, where Mike and Betty LaFontaine, and John Lefgren are the owners of this Group
Heartland Research are at the forefront of new research about the Heartland of the United States. As John Lefgren says, “The Truth will come out of the Ground” and as Mike and Betty are proving, “the truth is also on the ground of the Nephites”
Dr. Himanshu Jain and Dr. Masashi Watanabe, in a conference room at Lehigh Microcopy School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Monday, September 18th, met for one and a half hours with John Lefgren, Boyd Tuttle, and Blaise Colasante to discuss the focus of research for engraved stones that come from the Mississippi River Valley. The scientists are recognized as among the foremost experts in the field of microscopy. Over the last fifty years, Lehigh University has had 7,000 graduates from its research programs. No other school has had such an impact on the ability of modern science to see all kinds of materials under ultra-high magnification. Professors and students from Lehigh have seen more materials under high magnification than any other group of people. With power as high as twenty million times, they view objects at the atomic level.
We gave a slide presentation showing our efforts to restore the world’s oldest ship replica that sailed 33,000 miles around Africa and from Tunisia to Florida.
Connection of Ancient Ship to Engraved Stones.
The first question was how a 2,600-year-old ship replica connects to the stones from the middle of America. We told the scientists that we believed that Phoenician technology made it possible for ancient seamen to come to America 2,000 years before Columbus. We also explained that the Phoenicians came to America with their language and culture. After all, they invented a system of writing that is the origin of our alphabet. We said that the evidence of their presence in America is in these stones.
Dr. Watanabe was quick and direct in his thinking. He asked why we needed the electron microscope to determine the methods and tools for engraving the stones. Dr. Watanabe reminded us that the field of view decreases as we increase the power of magnification. He suggested that our research should start with optical magnification. He said that he has little experience looking at rocks and that we should bring a geologist who knows the crystal structure of the stones into the project. Viruses, molecules, and atoms are beyond the capabilities of compound microscopes and can be viewed only with an electron microscope. But with the power of 2000x, we can see what we seek. At that level of magnification, we will know the fracture mechanics of the engraved portions of the stones. At that level of investigation, we can determine the tools and methods of cutting the stones.
Framework for Moving Forward.
Having received directions from these leading scientists, we suggested a framework for analyzing the engraved stones. We will make a comparative analysis of three objects. The first object is the original stone. The second is a similar stone cut by a jeweler with modern tools. Blaise Colasante would engrave the third stone with tools available in ancient times.
Fortunately, Blaise has twenty-five years of experience working with a large group interested in ancient tools. Blaise explained how he and his colleagues could use a burin of handheld lithic flake with a chisel-like edge to engrave the characters and drawings found in the original stone. Blaise offered to carve the stone with this ancient method of cutting.
On a large screen, we looked at a close-up picture of characters found on Stone 32 from the John White Collection. Blaise identified the fracture mechanics of the stone from the attached photo. He also noted that the cutting of the “O” shows the manufacture of the cut has straight lines from the hand working of the burin. See the photo for details.
In the field of lithic reduction, a burin /ˈbjuːrɪn/ (from the French burin, meaning “cold chisel” or modern engraving burin) is a type of handheld lithic flake with a chisel-like edge which prehistoric humans used for engraving or for carving wood or bone.
In archaeology, burin use is often associated with “burin spalls”, which are a form of debitage created when toolmakers strike a small flake obliquely from the edge of the burin flake in order to form the graving edge.
On a large screen, we looked at a close-up picture of characters found on Stone 32 from the John White Collection. Blaise Colasate identified the fracture mechanics of the stone from the attached photo. He also noted that the cutting of the “O” shows the manufacture of the cut has straight lines from the hand working of the burin.
Date Line: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, September 20, 2023
In honor of the 200th year since the appearance of Moroni to Joseph Smith, we thought it would be appropriate for us to try to replicate the ancient inscriptions cut in stones from the Mississippi River Valley.
Cutting these inscriptions would not have been possible without the twenty-five years of stone tool manufacturing that Blaise Colasante brought to the project.
Burins exhibit a feature called a burin spall—a sharp, angled point formed when a small flake is struck obliquely from the edge of a larger stone flake. These tools could have been used with or without a wooden handle.
Primarily an engraving tool, this was the tool that could have been used to produce the beautiful works of art carved on Mammoth tusk ivory, antler and some of the softer carveable stone types.
Limestone is a relatively soft stone, rated between a 3 and 4 on the Mohs scale of harness. Flint (hardness 7 on the Mohs scale) typically has a glassy lustre and can be flaked with limited effort.
First srcatches made with flint burin into limestone. We are only at the first grade level and we are still leaning.
First character cut in limestone with flint burin tool.
Ancient tools for making flint burin. Note that we used a hard round stone, copper tipped stick, and the base of a moose antler.