Allen C. Christensen. Before Zion: An Account of the Seventh Handcart Company. Springville, Utah: Council Press, 2004. x, 356 pp.

The mention of the Mormon handcart trek west inevitably brings associations of the ill-fated Willie and Martin handcart companies. Theirs was a tragic tale, filled with suffering, starvation, and death as they sought to make their way to Utah. These two companies, however, were only two of ten who came to Utah between 1856 and 1860.

Allen Christensen has written the history of the seventh handcart company, which traveled farther and faced its own challenges to reach Zion.

This company has been largely unknown, not only overshadowed by the great tragedy of the Martin and Willie companies but also because it was made up primarily of Scandinavians. Hence, their story was less accessible to English speakers. Christensen, a great-grandson of company member Niels Christensen, preserves both the story and the legacy of this company
through the use of company member journals, letters to family members, and histories written about the church and Scandinavia.

Christensen’s purpose is to portray these pioneers’ emigration as “an eloquent testament to their acceptance of the divinity of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ” (136).

In the first part, “Scandinavian Beginnings,” Christensen sets the stage for the departure of the Seventh Company by describing missionary efforts in Scandinavia during the early 1850s. While the work was slow at first, given the power of the Lutheran clergy, the missionaries began baptizing converts, who in turn began planning on going to Zion. Saints from Norway and Sweden sailed to Copenhagen, where they joined with Danish converts in sailing to Liverpool on April 17, 1857, during the first leg of their long voyage. They landed in Liverpool on April 22 and left for America three days later, landing in Philadelphia on May 30 and traveling by train to Iowa City.

The second part of the book, “Handcarts West,” covers their departure from Clear Creek, Iowa, on June 12 under the direction of Captain Christian Christiansen. Their travel coincided at times with the march of the Utah Expedition before the tired pioneers pushed hard to get ahead of Johnston’s Army. They reached the Salt Lake Valley on Sunday, September 13, grateful for their safe arrival. After the company’s arrival, the members began settling in different areas throughout Utah Territory, spanning present-day Davis and Box Elder counties all the way to Sanpete County.

While every member of the Seventh Company is listed on the ship roster in the first appendix, Christensen focuses specifically on several individuals and their challenges during the trek. Anna Marie Sorensen, halfway through the trek, gave birth one night and continued walking the next day. Margrette Ohlsen Englestead Hansen was widowed for the second time during the trek west. Lars and Ane Pedersen and Anders and Ingerline Jensen each buried a baby at sea while sailing across the Atlantic.

In addition to the hardships endured by different members of the company, Christensen also writes about what they did afterwards. Many members of the Seventh Company were farmers, a trade that was much needed at that time in Utah. In addition, several of the company’s men were skilled craftsmen who put their talents to good use, including helping to build the Manti Temple.

The influence of the Seventh Company continues even today. In the book’s epilogue, Christensen outlines what happened to the descendants of members of the company. His own great-grandfather, Niels Christensen, has many descendants active in the LDS faith, with some serving as stake presidents, bishops, mission presidents, and in many other callings. Other members of the company also have faithful families, undoubtedly inspired by what these Scandinavian pioneers went through to reach Zion.

The following account comes from pages 231-232 of the above book.

“Accounts tell that one morning after the 7^th Company had been without meat for several weeks, they passed a large, fat ox which had been left behind by the army. A loaded wagon had crushed its foot. The army gave them the ox for meat. Niels Christensen remembered the army gave them the ox with the understanding that the pioneers would butcher and dress it for half of the carcass, and that the soldiers would pick up their half the next evening. During the night heavy rain fell; the ground was so muddy that the supply wagons could move only slowly. The saints pulled their light handcarts out onto the grass alongside the trail. That day some Indians carried the women and children  across the stream on the backs of their ponies. That night, however, under the cover of darkness, the Indians drove off the horse which pulled the U.S. Army’s supply wagons. By the next evening the pioneers were so far ahead of the army, the 7^th Company did not see them again. The hungry Scandinavian saints ate the hole carcass.

Descendants of Jacob Bastian remembered that Jacob and another company member had been sent to get the lame ox. Jacob was beginning to understand English at a level where he could understand the gist of what was going on said; he even spoke a little English by this point in the journey. Gertrude had learned English in school. She interpreted for him and must have been his English tutor. While he and the other man were there, a rider came galloping in from the west carrying a wild tale of some alleged Mormon atrocity. Jacob’s companion spoke no English. Jacob has the distinct impression that he should remain silent and act as though he did not understand. The conversation became agitated and nasty. There were those who wanted to kill Jacob and the other fellow on the spot, and then destroy all of those “wretched Mormons!” Among those solders was a Sergeant Anderson, a Swedish American. He challenged his comrade in arms saying: “What is the matter with you men? You are beginning to behave like bloodthirsty savages. These people could not have anything to do with that. They are immigrants. They don’t speak English. They are even ignorant of their present danger. You know they have traveled peacefully ahead of us for miles. I will kill the first man who molests them.” So persuasively confronted, their passions cooled. The Scandinavians were given the lame ox and the pioneers went west.”  
Before Zion: An Account of the 7^th Handcart Company. Taken from pages 231-232 Allen C Christensen Author and copyright holder Permission is given Rian Nelson to quote the foregoing in his blog.

Before Zion: An Account of the Seventh Handcart Company by Allen C. Christensen

Though young in the Church, the Scandinavian Saints of the seventh handcart company left their farms and shops to follow the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. They taught His gospel throughout Denmark, Norway, and Sweden where they were beaten by mobs, jailed, and survived on diets of bread and water; they, like Peter and John, were grateful to be counted worthy to suffer in Jesus’ name.

But the trek west would stretch this group of farmers and artisans further still, as they placed their all on the altar of sacrifice in their quest for Zion.

The members of the 7th Company were ordinary people who by virtue of their faith in the gospel became remarkable people who accomplished extraordinary things. This is their story. Purchase Here: or Here

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Mormon Pioneer Emigration Facts
Christine T. Cox, Manager of Visitor and Reference Services 6 March 2018

Joseph’s Remnant: Lamanties in Today’s America

Here is another fantastic book by Allen C. Christensen.

Allen Christensen’s new book (2019) titled, Joseph’s Remnant: Lamanties in Today’s America, involves biographical sketches of a number of Native American Latter-day Saints. Their lives and their struggles to achieve are many and varied. Aspects of their several tribal cultures are also considered as well as their long overlooked contributions as America’s first citizens. He includes real stories about Elder Larry Echo Hawk, Franklin Keel, Betty “Red Ant” LaFontaine, Delores Kahkonen and many others. 240 pages

Joseph’s Remnant: An Introduction by Allen C. Christensen Buy Here

-Home Teaching vs Ministering-
-Duty vs Love-

“The Savior’s ministry exemplifies the two great commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37, 39). In that spirit, Jesus also taught, “Ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people” (3 Nephi 13:25)… The separate programs of home teaching and visiting teaching are now a coordinated effort referred to as “ministering,” overseen by the elders quorum and Relief Society presidencies under the direction of the bishop. Ministering is Christlike caring for others and helping meet their spiritual and temporal needs.” The First Presidency April 2, 2018. Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, Henry B. Eyring.

“Brothers and sisters, as the work of quorums and auxiliaries matures institutionally, it follows that we should mature personally as well—individually rising above any mechanical, function-without-feeling routine to the heartfelt discipleship articulated by the Savior at the conclusion of His earthly ministry. As He prepared to leave His still-innocent and somewhat-confused little band of followers, He did not list a dozen administrative steps they had to take or hand them a fistful of reports to be filled out in triplicate. No, He summarized their task in one fundamental commandment: “Love one another; as I have loved you. … By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another… The primary purpose in this ministering idea will be, as was said of the people in Alma’s day, to “watch over their people, and … nourish them with things pertaining to righteousness… I should stress that this expansive new view does not include the sorry statement I recently saw on an automobile bumper sticker. It read, “If I honk, you’ve been home taught.” Please, please, brethren (the sisters would never be guilty of that—I speak to the brethren of the Church), with these adjustments we want more care and concern, not less.” Jeffrey R. Holland April 2018

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How are we living? Are we striving to live the Higher Law?
Higher Law vs. Lower Law
Consecration vs Tithing
Celestial Marriage vs. Temporal Marriage
Spirit of the Law vs Letter of the Law
Ministering vs Home Teaching
Law of the Gospel vs Law of Moses
Love vs Duty

Priesthood Ministering- TEND TO, CARE FOR, TAKE CARE OF, LOOK AFTER, NURSE, TREAT, ATTEND TO, SEE TO, ADMINISTER TO, HELP, ASSIST AND MORE

The Savior Jesus Christ came to earth to minister to others, spending His days in their service and giving His life for their salvation. Matthew 20:27-28 “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

What would the Savior do if He was in your Ward? (Minister)

3 Nephi 19:2, 7-8 “And it was noised abroad among the people immediately, before it was yet dark, that the multitude had seen Jesus, and that he had ministered unto them, and that he would also show himself on the morrow unto the multitude. And the disciples did pray unto the Father also in the name of Jesus. And it came to pass that they arose and ministered unto the people. And when they had ministered those same words which Jesus had spoken—nothing varying from the words which Jesus had spoken—behold, they knelt again and prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus.”

Moroni 7:22 “For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing.”

I believe ministering requires a passion. What was the Savior’s passion? (Moses 1:39) We are blessed with the Priesthood and the Gospel, but do we have a PASSION for MINISTERING? Is it Duty or Love? What is your passion? School, cars, dolls, computers, vacations, service, writing? Why are these your passions and how can you make MINISTERING your passion? With the Spirit of the Lord in our hearts, WE WILL BECOME PASSIONATE especially about MINISTERING. They go hand in hand.

My passion is Lamanites, The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith! I want to minister to them, for them and about them.  I am trying to develop this same passion into being a better person.

My parents both served missions in 1951 to the Lamanites, Hopi, Navajo, Apache, and Isleta tribes of Arizona and New Mexico. I served a mission in Fiji among the Polynesian Lamanites. My son served the Lamanites in Alaska. I have a great love for the Lamanites and feel it is my Duty, I mean Love, to share the Gospel with them. Again this Passion requires love, not duty.

How many of you know about Zelph? Or Onandagus? Did you know Onandagus was a Book of Mormon Prophet? I only recognized this story about 7 years ago, and it has added to my testimony of service to the Lamanites. I know Zelph lived and was a great warrior serving the Nephites against all evil. I know Onandagus was a book of Mormon Prophet as Wilford Woodruff described below:

“During our travels we visited many mounds thrown up by the ancient inhabitants, the Nephites and Lamanites. This morning, June 3rd, we went on to a high mound near the river. From the summit we could overlook the tops of the trees as far as we could see. The scenery was truly beautiful. On the summit of {41}the mound were stones which presented the appearance of three altars, they having been erected, one above the other, according to the ancient order of things. Human bones were seen upon the ground. Brother Joseph requested us to dig into the mound; we did so; and in about one foot we came to the skeleton of a man, almost entire, with an arrow sticking in his backbone. Elder Milton Holmes picked it out, and brought it into the Camp, with one of the leg bones, which had been broken. I brought the thigh bone to Missouri. I desired to bury it in the Temple Block in Jackson County; but not having this privilege, I buried it in Clay County, Missouri, near the house owned by Col. Arthur and occupied by Lyman Wight.”

“The arrowhead referred to is now in the possession of President Joseph F. Smith, Salt Lake City, Utah. “Brother Joseph,” continues Wilford, “feeling anxious to learn something of this man, asked the Lord, and received an open vision. The man’s name was Zelph. He was a white Lamanite, the curse having been removed because of his righteousness. He was a great warrior, and fought for the Nephites under the direction of the Prophet Onandagus. The latter had charge of the Nephite armies from the Eastern sea to the Rocky Mountains. Although the Book of Mormon does not mention Onandagus, he was a great warrior, leader, general, and prophet. Zelph had his thigh bone broken by a stone thrown from a sling, but was killed by the arrow found sticking in his backbone. There was a great slaughter at that time. The bodies were heaped upon the earth, and buried in the mound, which is nearly three hundred feet in height.” Wilford Woodruff History of his Life and Labors as Recorded in his Daily Journals by Matthias F. Cowley Release Date December 19, 2014 [EBook #47703]

This knowledge of Zelph and Onandagus has inspired me with a new passion of love to share with others this amazing yet seldom told story. You can read more about it in the Joseph Smith Papers Here.

Thomas Mayhew Patriarch to the Indians 1593-1682

I am a direct descendant of Governor Thomas Mayhew, the Elder (March 31, 1593 – March 25, 1682) through my father’s mother. Mayhew established the first English settlement of Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and adjacent islands in 1642. He is one of the editors of the Bay Psalm Book, the first book published in British North America. His assistant Peter Foulger was the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin.

The Mayhews had great success in regard to Indian policy. Because of the fair treatment of the Indians there, the colony was protected from the bloodshed that occurred elsewhere, in King Philip’s War. In 1646, the General Court of Massachusetts directed the religious leaders of the colony to select two among them to serve as missionaries to the natives. Three prominent names appear. They are: John Eliot (known as the Apostle to the Indians); Thomas Mayhew (Patriarch to the Indians); and Eleazar Wheelock, who established “Doctor Wheelock’s Academy for the promotion of Christianity and civility among the savage Indians of this continent” (now known as Dartmouth College).

There is a stained glass window in the baptismal font in the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. depicting Rev. Thomas Mayhew Jr. baptizing an Indian named Hiacoomes. Experience Mayhew (1673-1758) was a New England missionary to the Wampanoag Indians on Martha’s Vineyard and adjacent islands. He is the author of Massachusett Psalter (a rare book like Bay Psalm Book and Eliot Indian Bible). He married Thankful, daughter of Thomas Hinckley, Governor of Plymouth Colony. This heritage has rubbed off on me and instilled a Passion, not a Duty to Love the Indians and serve them and teach them. Wow what a passion I have for these wonderful ancestors. I am sure each of you can find a deep passion of love to overtake that feeling of duty we ofttimes feel.

SIGNERS OF THE BOOK OF THE LORD’S COMMANDMENTS

Joseph Smith needed someone to step up and testify of his revelations. Eleven men had testified earlier to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. All 11 had seen the plates. Three had seen an angel, handled the plates and heard the voice of God. But in November of 1831 there was a new need for boldness. Who would put their names and reputations on the line? Who would stand up and let the world know that they knew that a collection of Joseph’s revelations, the Book of Commandments, was true? For 178 years the names of these testifiers were unknown. Their names were erased from memory. Now, with the publication of the latest volume of the Joseph Smith Papers: “Revelations and Translations: Manuscript Revelation Books,” their names are made known to the world. I am thankfully related directly to one of those signers, Peter Dustin through by mother’s mother.  Because of this, my LOVE not Duty give me the passion to represent Peter Dustin as he bore his witness of Joseph’s divine revelations.

In my opinion the desire and faith necessary to testify about Joseph’s Revelations was possibly more difficult than seeing an angel and the plates. The signers of the Book of Commandments had to have a solid faith in the Lord to feel the Spirit and absolutely know these Revelations were not of Joseph, but of the Lord himself. They based their witness of things they could not see. That is similar for us today. We haven’t seen the plates, but we have felt the Spirit and that Spirit has borne witness to us of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Even some of the Apostles thought they could write Revelations on their own in similar words that the Savior used. they failed miserably. See D&C 67:4-9

Below is the testimony that was signed by these faithful brethren.

“The testimony of the witnesses to the Book of the Lord’s Commandments, which he gave to his church through Joseph Smith, Jr., who was appointed by the voice of the church for this purpose.

We, the undersigners, feel willing to bear testimony to all the world of mankind, to every creature upon the face of all the Earth and upon the islands of the sea, that God hath borne record to our souls, through the Holy Ghost shed forth upon us, that these commandments are given by inspiration of God and are profitable for all men and are verily true. We give this testimony unto the world, the Lord being our helper; And it is through the grace of God, the Father, and his son, Jesus Christ, that we are permitted to have this privilege of bearing this testimony unto the world, in the which we rejoice exceedingly, praying the Lord always, that the children of men may be profited thereby. Amen.”

Signers and Witnesses of the Book of Commandments below:
Sidney Rigdon
Orson Hyde
Wm. E. McLellin
Luke Johnson
Lyman Johnson
Reynolds Cahoon
John Corrill
Parley Pratt
Harvey Whitlock
Lyman Wight
John Murdock
Calvin Beebe
Zebedee Coltrin
Joshua Fairchild
Peter Dustin My 2nd Cousin 2 times removed.
Newel Knight
Levi Hancock; never to be erased
Thomas B. Marsh
Deseret News Article Here

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This article below was shared with me by a good friend named Ron Mann. Four of the five books written by William George Jordan were quoted in the Improvement Era at the request of the Prophet Joseph F. Smith. He had been introduced to them when he was in New York City. In fact he borrowed the Kingship of Self-Control from the person he was visiting and read it seven times that night. It was after that he had the four books printed in the Improvement Era. This article gives amazing insight to the Duty, vs Love idea. It all comes down to our own Self-Control, and what spirit is guiding us.

Heber J. Grant, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints said it best in a letter to WGJ about one of his books, the Power of Truth, when he wrote: “I know of no book of the same size that has made a more profound impression upon my mind, and whose teachings I consider of greater value.” Article here

About Ron Mann Here: Now, I want you to think about this. Ron worked directly for the leadership of both Houses of Congress. He worked directly for the President of the United States. He worked directly for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He worked directly for the President of the one of the largest corporations in America. And he worked directly for the President of the LDS Church. I bet no one in this room can think of another person who can claim what I’ve just described about Ron Mann.

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THE KINGSHIP OF SELF-CONTROL

By William George Jordan as printed in the The Improvement Era, Volume 11, page 751 January 1, 1908 Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association

Duty is the most over-lauded word in the whole vocabulary of life. Duty is the cold, bare anatomy of righteousness. Duty looks at life as a debt to be paid; love sees life as a debt to be collected. Duty is ever paying assessments; love is constantly counting its premiums.

Duty is forced, like a pump; love is spontaneous, like a fountain. Duty is prescribed and formal; it is part of the red tape of life. It means running on moral rails. It is good enough as a beginning; it is poor as a finality.

The boy who “stood on the burning deck,” and who committed suicide on a technical point of obedience, has been held up to the school children of this century as a model of faithfulness to duty. The boy was the victim of the blind adherence to the red tape of duty. He was placing the whole responsibility for his acts on some one outside himself. He was helplessly waiting for instruction in- the hour of emergency when he should have acted for himself. His act was an empty sacrifice. It was a useless throwing away of a human life. It did no good to the father, to the boy, to the ship or to the nation.

The captain who goes down with his sinking vessel, when he has done everything in his power to save others, and when he can save his own life without dishonor, is the victim of a false sense of duty. He is cruelly forgetful of the loved ones on shore that he is sacrificing. His death means a spectacular exit from life, the cowardly fear of an investigating committee, or a brave man’s loyal, yet misguided, sense of duty. A human life, with its wondrous possibilities, is two sacred an individual trust to be thus lightly thrown into eternity.

They tell us of the “sublime nobleness” of the Roman soldier of Pompeii, whose skeleton was found centuries afterward, imbedded in the once molten lava which swept down upon the doomed city. He was still standing at one of the gates at his post of duty still grasping a sword in his crumbling fingers. His was a morbid faithfulness to discipline from which a great convulsion of Nature released him. An automaton would have stood there just as long, just as boldly, just as uselessly.

The man who gives one hour of his life to loving, consecrated service to humanity is doing higher, better, truer work in the world than an army of Roman sentinels paying useless tribute to the red tape of duty. There is in this interpretation of duty no sympathy with the man who deserts his post when needed; it is but a protest against losing the essence, the realness of true duty in worshiping the mere form.

Analyze, if you will, any of the great historic instances of loyalty to duty, and whenever they ring true you will find the presence of the real element that made the act almost divine. It was duty,—plus love. It was no mere sense of duty that made Grace Darling risk her life in the awful storm of sixty years ago, when she set out in the darkness of night, on a raging sea, to rescue the survivors of the wreck of The Forfarshire. It was the sense of duty, warmed and vivified by a love of humanity, it was heroic courage of a heart filled with divine pity and sympathy.

Duty is a hard, mechanical process for making men do things that love would make easy. It is a poor understudy to love. It is not a high enough motive with which to inspire humanity. Duty is the body to which love is the soul. Love, in the divine alchemy of life, transmutes all duties into privileges all responsibilities into joys.

The workman who drops his tools at the stroke of twelve, as suddenly as if he had been struck by lightning, may be doing his duty,—but he is doing nothing more. No man has made a great success of his life or a fit preparation for immortality by doing merely his duty. He must do that—and more. If he puts love into his work, the “more” will beeasy.

The nurse may watch faithfully at the bedside of a sick child as a duty. But to the mother’s heart the care of the little one, in the battle against death, is never a duty; the golden mantle of love thrown over every act makes the word “duty” have a jarring sound, as if it were the voice of desecration.

When a child turns out badly in later years, the parent may say, “Well, I always did my duty by him.” Then it is no wonder the boy turned out wrong. “Doing his duty by his son,” too often implies merely food, lodging, clothes and education supplied by the father. Why a public institution would give that! What the boy needed most was deep draughts of love; he needed to live in an atmosphere of sweet sympathy, counsel and trust. The parent should ever be an unfailing refuge, a constant resource and inspiration, not a mere larder or hotel, or wardrobe or school that furnishes these necessities free. The empty boast of mere parental duty is one of the dangers of modern society.

Christianity stands forth as the one religion based on love, not duty. Christianity sweeps all duties into one word,—love. Love is the one great duty enjoined by the Christian religion. What duty creeps to laboriously, love reaches in a moment on the wings of a dove. Duty is not lost, condemned or destroyed in Christianity; it is dignified, purified and exalted, and all its rough ways are made smooth by love.

The supreme instance of generosity in the world’s history is not the giving of millions by some one of great name; it is the giving of a mite by a widow whose name does not appear. Behind the widow’s mite was no sense of duty; it was the full, free and perfect gift of a heart filled with love. In the Bible “duty” is mentioned but five times; “love” hundreds.

In the conquest of any weakness in our mental or moral makeup; in the attainment of any strength; in our highest and truest relation to ourselves and to the world, let us ever make “love” our watchword; not mere “duty.”

If we desire to live a life of truth and honesty, to make our word as true as our bond, let us not expect to keep ourselves along the narrow line of truth under the constant lash of the whip of duty. Let us begin to love the truth, to fill our mind and life with the strong white light of sincerity and sterling honesty. Let us love the truth so strongly that there will develop within us, without our conscious effort, an ever-present horror of a lie.

If we desire to do good in the world, let us begin to love humanity, to realize more truly the great dominant note that sounds in every mortal, despite all the discords of life, the great natural bond of unity that makes all men brothers. Then jealousy, malice, envy, unkind words and cruel misjudging will be eclipsed and lost in the sunshine of love. The greatest triumph of the nineteenth century, is not its marvelous progress in invention; its strides in education; its conquests of the dark regions of the world: the spread of a higher mental tone throughout the earth; the wondrous increase in material comfort and wealth,-—the greatest triumph of the century is not any nor all of these; it is the sweet atmosphere of Peace that is covering the nations; it is the growing closer and closer of the peoples of the earth. Peace is but the breath, the perfume, the life of love. Love is the wondrous angel of life that rolls away all the stones of sorrow and suffering from the pathway.” Read more from William George Jordan here. 

William George Jordan 1864-1928 was an editor for The Ladies Home Journal, after which he edited The Saturday Evening Post (1888–89). From 1899 to 1905 he was the editor and vice-president of Continental Publishing Company. He was the editor of the publication Search-Light between 1905 and 1906.

The Lord speaking of a Bishop who has a duty to serve but more importantly, “he shall be set apart unto this ministry” D&C 107:74. Again Love as a minister is more important than duty.

As a full time missionary I was set apart as a minister of the Gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After accepting my call I now had a duty to serve. However, my love and passion to serve is far more important than duty only.

Is it our Duty to Love, or Love that encourages Duty?
Living the Higher Law of the Lord requires Love and not Duty.

This is part 1 on a six part series of information from a man called Maggid ben Yoseif , who posts many articles of Jewish, Native American, and Christian information. The post is called Jerusalem Torah Voice in Exile. I will be adding my opinion of these articles in the next few months as I feel they are a good source of information. Although Maggid is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his parallels and interpretation of Joseph Smith among the New York Indians is noteworthy. He says the Book of Mormon is fiction, but it is interesting how much value and credence he at times gives it. I feel we need to listen to others opinions to solidify our own feelings of truth.

My notes in orange below:

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Bio: Maggid ben Yoseif 

ELDERSGATE-BRIGHTSTAR Hebrew Native American Council; Gileadite School of Theological Research; House of Joseph Beit Din. Currently constructing Eldersgate Hebrew-Native American Council promoting restoration of Native American spiritual sovereignty on about 25 acres in rural Brightstar, Arkansas. However, we continue our intercession for the LAND wherever Creator takes us.

We also help ministries and pastors align w/ the “Spirit of Reconciliation” and with the “other flocks” in the Kingdom, especially Native American flocks influenced by the migration of 38 Athap(b)ascan Language Group nations. Traced to ancient pre-Jewish “Gilead” and widely assimilated across Turtle Island (the Americas) this Hebrew priesthood has “evolved” into an End-Times voice of Elijah THE Gileadite to help protect our LIVING Earth Mother, reconcile the factions of the House of Joseph and restore Native American spiritual sovereignty.

Research below links these nations with the migration of DAN, (the “Na Dene”) JOSEPH EAST M’NASHE and priests and Levites of GILEAD. Exiled from their home east of the Jordan River 17-23 years before the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel, unlike the 10 Tribes they were never severed from Covenant. Thus the Sundance and other Native ceremonial chants permute the Divine Name, YHW and H. Restoration of Native spiritual sovereignty is found in Scripture pertaining to purification lodges (sweats) in Hosea 2:18ff, a covenant with the four legged, winged and creatures who crawl to end “sword, bow and violence (FRACKING) in the Earth.” “Goring with the horn of a re’eim” (buffalo) found in Deut 33:15ff describes the buffalo horn used in the lodge by the “n’zir” (East M’nashe). Isaiah 49:6 refers to the RESTORATION — NOT SALVATION — of the “n’zirei Yisrael” as a major part of the assignment of the servant-messiah.

We are eager to share these and many other truths communicated by Elijah over the past 33 years, to lodge with elders and sundancers and perform ceremony that ministers to Mother Earth

A’Ho mitakuye oyasin
“All My Relations” – is a greeting from the Lakota (Sioux) people reflecting their worldview of oneness, interconnectedness, and harmony with all living things: people, animals, plants, even wind, rocks, and rivers. To most people, a “relation” means a family member – a blood relative.

Names:  ben Yoseif (son of Joseph) .  Although ben Yoseif is a “junior”, who shares the given name of his late father, neither are named “Joseph.”  Rather the name ben Yoseif was given by a bat Kol (voice from Heaven) in 1994, confirmed in Torah code of ben Yoseif’s father’s and his given name in 1998 and has been validated by a number of rabbis in Jerusalem since 2000. ben Yose’ (south of the border); Tohokwahu (used primarily between he and a few Hopi friends, this is ben Yoseif’s given name — Griffin or Lioneagle — in Hopi).

ben Yoseif holds a B.A. degree in journalism, an M.B.A. degree in business administration and the equivalent of a Ph.D in theology and advanced Pentateuch (Torah) including three years of study at the ORU Graduate School of Theology, where he pursued Hebrew and Aramaic.  More bio information here:

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Joseph Smith knew the Iroquois

There is a belief that the Iroquois Nation played an important role in the life of Joseph Smith. He lived in an area with many Iroquois chiefs and may have even met many of these great men. Ganargua Creek (Mud Creek) was a primary stopover point for the Iroquois on their trade routes.  Joseph Smith also had an interest in the creek after hearing a speech from Seneca Indian Chief Red Jacket at Palmyra in 1822.

Many historians believe that Iroquoian ideas of federalism, and balance of power directly influenced the US system of government. Benjamin Franklin admired native American government structures. In 1744, Canassatego advocated in Washington the federal union of the American colonies. See Here

The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, and to the English as the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, they accepted the Tuscarora people from the Southeast into their confederacy and became known as the Six Nations.

Names and Tribes of the Iroquois

“The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee. (“People of the Longhouse”) are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy in North America. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, and to the English as the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, they accepted the Tuscarora people from the Southeast into their confederacy, as they were also Iroquoian-speaking, and became known as the Six Nations.

The Iroquois have absorbed many other individuals from various peoples into their tribes as a result of warfare, adoption of captives, and by offering shelter to displaced peoples. Culturally, all are considered members of the clans and tribes into which they are adopted by families.

The historic St. Lawrence Iroquoians, Wyandot (Huron), Erie, and Susquehannock, all independent peoples, also spoke Iroquoian languages. In the larger sense of linguistic families, they are often considered Iroquoian peoples because of their similar languages and cultures, all descended from the Proto-Iroquoian people and language; politically, however, they were traditional enemies of the Iroquois League.[2] In addition, Cherokee is an Iroquoian language: the Cherokee people are believed to have migrated south from the Great Lakes in ancient times, settling in the backcountry of the Southeast United States, including what is now Tennessee” Wikipedia

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Part III: Haudenosaunee Corn Clan Mother first to propose ‘moneyless society’ Six Nations ties to Smith family examined

by Maggid ben Yoseif / © 2010 Jerusalem Torah Voice

“If the European settlers, including followers of Joseph Smith had listened to the Yagowaneh of the Haudenosaunee, there may not be an economic recession at this writing, no Federal Reserve System even a currency other than money running this nation.

Elements of the Book of Mormon and Smith’s later doctrine of the Law of Consecration agree with the “moneyless society” taught by the Yagowaneh (YAH-GO-WAN’-EH), the Corn Clan Mother.  This was also the lifestyle among the Haudenosaunee (HO-D’NO-SAW-NEE) also known as the Iroquois or Six Nations for centuries before the Europeans arrived.   The Europeans’ failure to adopt the moneyless society and other tenets of the Great Law has resulted in the present usury-driven capitalism regulated by the suppliers of money.  Consequently, we have a system that takes advantage of the impoverished and the wage-earner, which was never the America envisioned by Native Americans or our Peacemaker.

At the time Joseph Smith wrote that he first made contact with the angel, Moroni, he was living in West Central Upstate New York, in the heart of the Seneca, one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). The Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 was interpreted for the Haudenosaunee by four men, including a “Joseph Smith,” who is believed by geneaologists to be Joseph Smith, Sr. (before Joe Jr. was born).  The same Smith, interpreted three such treaties for the Haudenosaunee.  Such an intimate link to the Haudenosaunee by the Smith family means that Joseph Smith Jr., would surely have been told the story of Daganawida, (the Peacemaker born of a virgin, andhis Jikohnsaseh.  The proximity of the Smith home to Ganondagan  (GAN-NON’-DAY-GON), the Haudenosaunee House of Peace from which the Jikohnsaseh ruled, assures that the entire Smith family was probably familiar with this story and its tie to a moneyless society.  This would apply as well to Oliver Cowdery and the Harrises, Whitmers and Pages who lived nearby and comprised the 11 witnesses who stated they saw and held all of the plates that Smith had translated at that time (presumably the autographs of the 116 pages Smith translated, which was later stolen).   *However, none were witness to the plates when the text of the Book of Mormon was received by Smith while gazing inside of a deep hat at his “seer stone.”  And no one — not even the 11 witnesses listed in the front of the Book of Mormon whose witness was “in the form of visions” actually saw physical writings on physical plates “for fear of death.” Maggid

*Editors note: Of course we don’t agree with Maggid about the stone in the hat, but know Joseph Smith used the Urim and Thummim to translate the gold plates. Also see The Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 at the bottom of this blog signed by “A” Joseph Smith. We know Joseph Smith Sr. (July 12, 1771 – September 14, 1840) was the father of Joseph Smith Jr.

Maggid continues,

“Do plates validate Kingdom established by Daganawida?

Looking beyond the Six Nations across the Americas, many stories emerge of the *Great White Brother and his message of Peace, including the Hopi prophecy of the return of Pahana in the American Southwest.  Christian missionaries have told us this is “the God, Jesus.”  But Native Americans know the one who has walked across the Americas by many names, as others have documented.  And he has appeared to many Native American prophets and seers and grandmothers — many, not as Grandfather our Creator but as our “Big Brother.”  Within the circles of the Sundance lodge of the Membreno Apache is such a prophet, who has had several conversations with his “Bro.”  Daganawida is believed to be only one of the many names of this Great White Brother whose message is always Peace.” Maggida

*Editors note: As you read in the Book of Mormon from Alma Chapter 18 that King Lamoni supposes that Ammon is the Great Spirit. As we read in verse 24 to 29 the King does not know the name “God”, but when Ammon said that is the same as the Great Spirit, the King now believed. We each may know the name of God differently in various cultures. Also in Alma Chapter 22, Aaron teaches Lamoni’s father about the Creation, the Fall of Adam, and the plan of redemption through Christ, and in verse 9-12, Aaron calls the Great Spirit by the name “God” which is strange to King Lamoni’s father. Again when he ties the name God as the same as the Great Spirit, he is converted. This is very similar to what the Six Nations Tribes may call the Great White Brother or Big Brother or the God, Jesus. We know Jesus has hundreds of names just in the Book of Mormon. See page 115 in Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum.

Maggida continues, “Confident that Smith knew the story of Daganawida and his Jikohnsaseh, these questions follow:

1)  Do the plates record a history leading up to the “second coming” of Daganawida?  (Assuming the Book of  Mormon accurately reflects the writing on the plates — even though as explained above, it cannot technically be called a translation* — the book already refers to Jesus‘ earlier appearance in Jerusalem. Anything but Peace resulted in the interim, according to the outcome of the book).  This means the plates could validate — as a glimpse of Kingdom Rule — the precedent established at his later appearance as Daganawida.  That precedent gave the Native Americans the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee, the propriety of matriarchal rule and the command to leave the decision of going to war only in the hands of clan mothers and grandmothers as instruments of making and protecting the peace.  The Great Law would naturally flow out of the dismal failure of the partriarchal rule of the sons of Lehi. Mary Jemison, for instance, was a captive of the Haudenosaunee, but refused to leave as she had more rights as an adopted Iroquois under matriarchal rule, than she had as a free American white woman.

*Editors note: See how others in the Church and non-members will get a mixed message if the intellectuals say Joseph didn’t use the plates and he didn’t translate, where I say Joseph did use the plates and DID translate with the Urim and Thummim by the gift and power of God. Mixed messages don’t teach correctly.

Story of ‘messiah figure’ living among Native Americans 15 miles from Smith’s front door

2) Is the Book of Mormon an attempt to retell the story of Daganawida? A story that possibly told of Jesus living among the Native Americans and setting up his kingdom less than 15 miles from Smith’s front door would certainly have impressed any young, impressionable and inquiring mind.  Young Smith was all of that when the plates were first revealed to him.  All a Peacemaker would need would be wars to resolve and people to reunite.  This presupposes that the plates were never correctly translated and were used as a “backdrop” or “platform” for Smith’s *imagination and/or his inspired writings and doctrine.” Maggid

*Editor’s note. Why do people have to say the Book of Mormon is fiction? As I was a missionary in 1975 in Fiji, one of our flip chart pages said “Ask yourself this question, could any man have written this book?” As our investigators would sit and ponder that question for a few minutes, and then answer, no!

Maggid continues,

3) Whether or not the translation is genuine, is Grandfather using this book in the Latter Days among the Saints to point to the story of Daganawida at a time when war drums are again beating on a global scale?

Any of these three possibilities mandate that the plates be brought forth so they may be translated by skilled Native American translators.  Joseph Smith Jr. was initially told to bring the Book of Mormon (some say the plates themselves) to the Native population.  It is hard to imagine that the Iroquois in the area, when presented with the Book, would not demand to have the plates since they were on Iroquois land.   If the Great Law is a miniature of Kingdom Rule, presented by the Anointed One, any writings found in proximity of the Haudenosaunee where he appeared may be of global importance.  Show me the plates!” Maggid

Maggid reverts to ask the question that Laman and Lemuel would ask. “Prove it to me.” I say, “oh ye of little faith?” This information about similarities between the Book of Mormon teachings and the Law of Peace are intriguing. I believe the ancient Native Americans were the Lamanites of the Book of Mormon and they did have the true gospel at some point in the Book of Mormon. We know the Lamanites kept no records so this oral tradition of the Great Peacemaker Daganawida seems a good fit as an oral tradition haned down.

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The Canandaigua Treaty of 1794

November 11, 1794

The President of the United States having determined to hold a conference with the Six Nations of Indians, for the purpose of removing from their minds all causes of complaint, and establishing a firm and permanent friendship with them; and Timothy Pickering being appointed sole agent for that purpose; and the agent having met and conferred with the Sachems, Chiefs and Warriors of the Six Nations, in a general council: Now in order to accomplish the good design of this conference, the parties have agreed on the following articles, which, when ratified by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, shall be binding on them and the Six Nations.

Article I. Peace and friendship are hereby firmly established, and shall be perpetual, between the United States and the Six Nations.

Article II. The United States acknowledge the lands reserved to the Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga Nations, in their respective treaties with the state of New York, and called their reservations, to be their property; and the United States will never claim the same, nor disturb them or either of the Six Nations, nor their Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof: but the said reservations shall remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United States who have right to purchase.

Article III. The land of the Seneca nation is bounded as follows: Beginning on Lake Ontario, at the north-west corner of the land they sold to Oliver Phelps, the line run westerly along the lake, as far as O-yong-wong-yeh Creek at Johnson’s Landing-place, about four miles eastward from the fort of Niagara; then southerly up that creek to its main fork, then straight to the main fork of Stedman’s Creek, which empties into the river Niagara, above Fort Schlosser, and then onward, from that fork, continuing the same straight course, to that river; (this line, from the mouth of O-yong-wong-yeh Creek to the river Niagara, above Fort Schlosser, being the eastern boundary of a strip of land, extending from the same line to Niagara River, which the Seneca Nation ceded to the King of Great Britain, at a treaty held about thirty years ago, with Sir William Johnson;) then the line runs along the river Niagara to Lake Erie; then along Lake Erie to the north-east corner of a triangular piece of land which the United States conveyed to the state of Pennsylvania, as by the President’s patent, dated the third day of March, 1792; then due south to the northern boundary of that state; then due east to the south-west corner of the land sold by the Seneca nation to Oliver Phelps; and then north and northerly, along Phelps’ line, to the place beginning on Lake Ontario. Now, the United States acknowledge all the land within the aforementioned boundaries, to be the property of the Seneca nation; and the United States will never claim the same, nor disturb that Seneca nation, nor any of the Six Nations, or their Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof: but it shall remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United States, who have the right to purchase.

Article IV. The United States having thus described and acknowledged what lands belong to the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, and engaged never to claim the same, nor to disturb them, or any of the Six Nations, or their Indian friends residing thereon and united with them, in the free use and enjoyment thereof: Now the Six Nations, and each of them, hereby engage that they will never claim any other lands within the boundaries of the United States; nor ever disturb the people of the United States in the free use and enjoyment thereof.

Article V. The Seneca Nation, all others of the Six Nations concurring, cede to the United States the right of making a wagon road from Fort Schlosser to Lake Erie, as far south as Buffalo Creek; and the people of the United States shall have the free and undisturbed use of this road, for the purposes of traveling and transportation. And the Six Nations, and each of them, will forever allow to the people of the United States, a free passage through their lands, and the free use of their harbors and rivers adjoining and within their respective tracts of land, for the passing and securing of vessels and boats, and liberty to land their cargoes when necessary for their safety.

Article VI. In consideration of the peace and friendship hereby established, and of the engagements entered into by the Six Nations; and because the United States desire, with humanity and kindness, to contribute to their comfortable support; and to render the peace and friendship hereby established strong and perpetual; the United States now deliver to the Six Nations, and the Indians of the other nations residing among and united with them, a quantity of goods of the value of ten thousand dollars. And for the same considerations, and with a view to promote the future welfare of the Six Nations, and of their Indian friends aforesaid, the United States will add the sum of three thousand dollars to the one thousand five hundred dollars, heretofore allowed them by an article ratified by the President, on the twenty-third day of April 1792; making in the whole, four thousand five hundred dollars; which shall be expended yearly forever, in purchasing clothing, domestic animals, implements of husbandry and other utensils suited to their circumstances, and in compensating useful artificers, who shall reside with them or near them, and be employed for their benefit. The immediate application of the whole annual allowance now stipulated, to be made by the superintendent appointed by the President for the affairs of the Six Nations, and their Indian friends aforesaid.

Article VII. Lest the firm peace and friendship now established should be interrupted by the misconduct of individuals, the United States and Six Nations agree, that for injuries done by individuals on either side, no private revenge or retaliation shall take place; but, instead thereof, complaint shall be made by the party injured, to the other: By the Six Nations or any of them, to the President of the United States, or the Superintendent by him appointed: and by the Superintendent, or other person appointed by the President, to the principal chiefs of the Six Nations, or of the nation to which the offender belongs: and such prudent measures shall then be pursued as shall be necessary to preserve our peace and friendship unbroken; until the legislature (or great council) of the United States shall make the equitable provision for the purpose.

Note: It is clearly understood by the parties to this treaty, that the annuity stipulated in the sixth article, is to be applied to the benefit of such of the Six Nations and of their Indian friends united with them as aforesaid, as do or shall reside within the boundaries of the United States: for the United States do not interfere with nations, tribes or families, of Indians elsewhere resident.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the said Timothy Pickering, and the sachems and war chiefs of the said Six Nations, have hereunto set their hands and seals.

Done at Canandaigua, in the State of New York, in the eleventh day of November, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four.

Timothy Pickering

Witnesses:
Israel Chapin
William Shepard, Jr.
James Smedley
John Wickham
Augustus Porter
James H. Garnsey
William Ewing
Israel Chapin, Jr.
Interpreters:
Horatio Jones
Joseph Smith (Joseph Smith Sr that we know, lived 1771- 1840. Could this be him?)
Jasper Parrish
Henry Abeele

Signed by fifty-nine Sachems and War Chiefs of the Six Nations
Canandaigua, New York — November 11, 1794
O-no-ye-ah-nee
Kon-ne-at-or-tee-ooh (Handsome Lake)
To-kenh-you-hau (Capt. Key)
O-nes-hau-ee
Hendrich Aupaumut
David Neessoonhuk
Kanatsoyh (Nicholas Kusik)
Soh-hon-te-o-quent
Oo-duht-sa-it
Ko-nooh-qung
Tos-song-gau-lo-luss
John Sken-en-do-a
O-ne-at-or-lee-ooh (Handsome Lake)
Kus-sau-wa-tau
E-yoo-ten-yoo-tau-ook
Kohn-ye-au-gong (Jake Stroud)
Sha~qui-ea-sa
Teer-oos (Capt. Printup)
Soos-ha-oo-wau
Henry Young Brant
Sonh-yoo-wau-na (Big Sky)
O-na-ah-hah
Hot-osh-a-henh
Kau-kon-da-nai-ya
Non-di-yau-ka
Kos-sish-to-wau
To-he-ong-go
Oo-jau-gent-a (Fish Carrier)
Oot-a-guas-so
Joo-non-dau-wa-onch
Ki-yau-ha-onh
Oo-tau-je-au-genh (Broken Axe)
Tau-ho-on-dos (Open the Way)
Twau-ke-wash-a
Se-quid-ong-guee (Little Beard)
Ko-djeoto (Half Town)
Ken-jau-au-gus (Stinking Fish)
Soo-noh-qua-kau
Twen-ni-ya-na
Jish-kaa-ga (Green Grasshopper, Little Billy)
Tug-geh-shot-ta
Teh-ong-ya-gau-na
Teh-ong-yoo-wush
Kon-ne-yoo-we-sot
Ti-oo-quot-ta-kau-na (Woods on Fire)
Ta-oun-dau-deesh
Ho-na-ya-wus (Farmer’s Brother)
Sog-goo-ya-waut-hau (Red Jacket)
Kon-yoo-tai-yoo
Sauh-ta-ka-ong-yees (Two Skies of Length)
Oun-na-shatta-kau
Ka-ung-ya-neh-quee
Soo-a-yoo-wau
Kau-je-a-ga-onh (Heap of Dogs)
Soo~nooh-shoo-wau
Tha-og-wau-ni-as
Soo-nong-joo-wau
Ki-ant-whau-ka (Corn Planter)
Kau-neh-shong-goo

See my blog about the large contribution of the Iroquois Confederacy toward becoming a big part of our Constitution and more about Joseph Smith and the Onondaga Indians here.

Also a blog about the 85 Native Americans who were baptized for the dead in 1877 at the St George Temple here. IT IS AWESOME!

When I type in a google search for, Where is the Garden of Eden? This is the first option:

Mesopotamia

The Garden of Eden is considered to be mythological by most scholars. [Wow this is how some of the same scholars feel about the Book of Mormon]. Among those who consider it to have been real, there have been various suggestions for its location: at the head of the Persian Gulf, in southern Mesopotamia (now Iraq) where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run into the sea; and in Armenia.

Most Bible commentaries state that the site of the Garden of Eden was in the Middle East, situated somewhere near where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are today. This is based on the description given in Genesis 2:8–14:The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. . . . Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon . . . . The name of the second river is Gihon. . . . The name of the third river is Hiddekel [Tigris].  ;. . . The fourth river is the Euphrates.

Give these four rivers some thought:
The Maps below seems logical.

Eden, Garden of; LDS Bible Dictionary

The home of our first parents, Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:8–3:24; 4:16; Isa. 51:3; 2 Ne. 2:19–25; Moses 3–4; Abr. 5), designated as a garden, eastward in Eden. Latter-day revelation confirms the biblical account of the Garden of Eden and adds the important information that it was located on what is now the North American continent. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/eden-garden-of?lang=eng

Missouri is Eden & New Jerusalem

”We must remember that the whole earth was paradisaical before the Fall. The Garden of Eden was a center place. After the Fall, there was no Garden of Eden or paradisaical status on earth. Yet relative to the locale of the site of the Garden of Eden, the Prophet Joseph Smith learned through revelation (D&C 57) that Jackson County was the location of a Zion to be and the New Jerusalem to come. The Prophet first visited Jackson County, Missouri, in the summer of 1831. The Prophet visited Jackson County again in April and May 1832. On one of the occasions, or perhaps both, the Prophet Joseph apparently instructed his close associates, and perhaps even a general Church gathering, that the ancient Garden of Eden was also located in Jackson County.” Bruce A. Van Orden, associate professor of Church history, Brigham Young University.

When Lehi landed in the Promised land, it seems he found bounties of all kind, just as Adam and Eve had found in the garden of Eden. It makes sense that Lehi was upon the same land as Adam began his life.

Rediscovery of America

“While the Reformation and the surge for freedom were gaining momentum in Europe and England, events were transpiring that led to the rediscovery of the land of America, for God touched the heart of a mariner by the name of Christopher Columbus, who eventually pioneered a passageway to the promised land in 1492. But neither Columbus, the Nephites, nor the Jaredites were its original discoverers, nor did they establish the purpose of America’s destiny. This had already been established in the infancy of earth’s habitation. In these migrations they were but directed to the land of man’s beginning upon the earth…. In the course of time from the creation, in the days of Peleg (Gen. 10:16 (JST)), or about the year 2200 B.C., Just prior to the confusion of the languages, the single continent of land that had continued from creation was divided to produce the hemispheres as we now know them. But notwithstanding this, the geographic location of the Garden of Eden was made known to the Prophet Joseph Smith by revelation as here in the land of America, in Jackson County, Missouri, with Independence as the center place.” The Destiny of America by President Alvin R. Dyer October 1968

Where do the scriptures say the first promised land was?

1 NEPHI 18:25 And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper.

Adam & Noah Contemporaries in Missouri

Brigham Young, also a close associate of the Prophet, testified similarly In the beginning, after this earth was prepared for man, the Lord commenced his work upon what is now called the American continent, where the Garden of Eden was made. In the days of Noah, in the days of the Boating of the ark, he took the people to another part of the earth. (Discourses, p. 102) https://archive.org/stream/DiscoursesOfBrighamYoung/discourses_of_brigham_young_djvu.txt

In conversation with Orson Hyde, on March 15, 1857, President Young said: You have been both to Jerusalem and Zion, and seen both. I have not seen either, for I have never been in Jackson County. Now it is a pleasant thing to think of and to know where the Garden of Eden was. Did you ever think of it? I do not think many do, for in Jackson County was the Garden of Eden. Joseph has declared this, and I am as much bound to believe that as to believe that Joseph was a prophet of God. (Journal History, March 15, 1857

That is the position of the Latter-day Saints today, with respect to the much-discussed location of the Garden of Eden. Adam, after his expulsion from the Garden of Eden, lived in the vicinity of the great Missouri and Mississippi rivers. As his descendants multiplied they would naturally settle along the fertile and climatically acceptable river valleys. When the flood came in the days of Noah, the Mississippi drainage must have increased to a tremendous volume, quite in harmony with the Biblical account. Noah’s ark would be floated on the mighty, rushing waters, towards the Gulf of Mexico. With favorable winds, it would cross the Atlantic to the Eastern continents. There the human race, in its second start on earth, began to multiply and fill the earth.

The location of the Garden of Eden in America, and at Independence, Missouri, clears up many a problem which the Bible account of Eden and its garden has left in the minds of students.

What do we know about the location of the Garden of Eden?

“Brigham Young stated, “Joseph the Prophet told me that the garden of Eden was in Jackson [County] Missouri.” (Journal of Wilford Woodruff, vol. 5, 15 Mar. 1857, Archives Division, Church Historical Dept., Salt Lake City.) Heber C. Kimball said: “From the Lord, Joseph learned that Adam had dwelt on the land of America, and that the Garden of Eden was located where Jackson County now is.” (Andrew Jenson, Historical Record, 9 vols., Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson, 1888, 7:439; see also Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1967, p. 219.) Other early leaders have given the same information….

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “In accord with the revelations given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, we teach that the Garden of Eden was on the American continent located where the City of Zion, or the New Jerusalem, will be built. When Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden, they eventually dwelt at a place called Adam-ondi-Ahman, situated in what is now Daviess County, Missouri. … We are committed to the fact that Adam dwelt on [the] American continent.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., comp. Bruce R. McConkie, Salt Lake City:Bookcraft, 1956, 3:74. Compare Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols., Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957–75, 2:93–95, 4:19–24; and Alvin R. Dyer, in Conference Report, Oct. 1968, pp. 108–9.)”

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1994/01/i-have-a-question/what-do-we-know-about-the-location-of-the-garden-of-eden?lang=eng

“The land of Joseph or the Indians, as they are called…embraces three fine climates: First, like that of New-York; second, like Missouri, neither northern nor southern; and third, like the Carolinas. This place may be called the centre [center] of America; it being about an equal distance from Maine, to Nootka sound; and from the gulf of St. Lawrence to the gulf of California; yea, and about the middle of the continent from cape Horn, south, to the head land at Baffin’s Bay, north. The world will never value the land of Desolation, as it is called in the Book of Mormon, for any thing more than hunting ground, for want of timber and mill-seats: The Lord to the contrary notwithstanding, declares it to be the land of Zion which is the land of Joseph, blessed by him, for the precious things of heaven.” Evening and Morning Star Vol. 1 No. 5 October 1832 Page 71

“With the exception of the skirts of timber upon the streams of water, this region of country is one continued field, or prairie, (as the French have it, meaning meadows,) and there is something ancient as well as grand about it, too; for while the eye takes in a large scope of clear field, or extensive plains, decorated with here and there a patch of timber, like the orchards which beautify the farms in the east, the mind goes back to the day, when the Jaredites were in their glory upon this choice land above all others, and comes on till they, and even the Nephites, were destroyed for their wickedness.”Evening and Morning Star Vol. 1 No. 5 October 1832 Page 71

Thanks to Jaci McKinnon for first making me aware of this interesting and little-known aspect of Coffee County’s history. In his History of Coffee County (1930), Warren P. Ward notes that Mormon missionaries came to the area in 1898, led first by Elder Nephi Henderson and an Elder Brewer. Elder Ben E. Rich established the church in Coffee County. He was succeeded by Elder Charles A. Callis. Early families who converted to the Mormon faith were those of Calvin W. Williams, Dan P. Lott, and Joseph J. Adams.   “Many citizens of the county were excited over the appearance of the Elders. Some regarded them as messengers from Heaven, gave them shelter and lodging…Others regarded them as emissaries of the devil, wrecking homes and carrying away women…Coffee County has been a fruitful field for the Mormon Church, it having grown to a membership of over seven hundred. There are two churches in the territory-Cumorrah Church in Coffee County and the Utah Church in Atkinson County, formerly Coffee.” I’m not sure what happened to the congregation but will continue to research it and will photograph the nearby Mormon Cemetery the next time I’m in the area. (Thanks are also due to Andrew P. Wood for pointing me to Ward’s history of the Mormons in Coffee County) For articles and comments and more history about this Cumorah church visit the website here: https://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2013/11/06/cumorah-church-1907-coffee-county/

On July 21, 1879, as Joseph Standing and missionary companion Rudger Clawson traveled from Whitfield County toward a church conference in Chattooga County, they encountered an armed mob of twelve men in Varnell, Georgia .  Before murdering Joseph the mob said, “There is no law in Georgia for the Mormons.”  None of the mob were ever convicted. President McKay dedicated the site in Georgia and named an MTC building in Provo after him.

Historic Rural Churches
THERE IS NO LAW IN GEORGIA FOR MORMONS
A R T I C L E A N D P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y R A N D A L L D A V I S

On July 21, 1879, twenty-four-year-old missionary Joseph Standing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and companion Rudger Clawson were traveling from Whitfield County to a church conference in Floyd County, in northwest Georgia. A confrontation with a mob of twelve near Varnell resulted in Standing’s murder. In the years that followed, there would be more incidents of assault, bombing, arson and kidnapping perpetrated against Mormons across the state. The Mormon church’s origin and doctrine, and events that occurred prior to Standing’s death, shed light on the outbreaks of violence against members of the faith—and sometimes acts perpetrated by them. A comprehensive history of the Mormon faith isn’t possible in an article of this length, but several events in Georgia and elsewhere, and the stories of two churches in South Georgia, are illustrative of the church’s growth and how sometimes it was perceived as a threat to the established social and ecclesiastical order.

Lawrence Wright’s 2002 article “Lives of the Saints” in The New Yorker magazine provided background information about the Mormon faith and is quoted generously for background purposes, along with the writings of Sally Denton, Wallace Stengner and Gilbert Smith. The Mormon faith originated in 1820 in Manchester, New York, when, “a fourteen-year-old named Joseph Smith had a visitation.” Wright explained that “[it] was a fertile and turbulent time in American religious history. Old beliefs were losing their influence, and new ones were arising that were more responsive to America’s revivalist spirit. The upstate region where Smith was living was known as the ‘burnt-over district,’ because of the religious fevers that continually swept through it. One morning, Smith, who was trying to sort out the claims of truth that each denomination put forward, went into the woods to pray for guidance. He had no sooner knelt than he
sensed the presence of a higher power and felt himself surrounded by darkness. ‘Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness ot he Sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me,’ Smith wrote in a brief memoir. The two ‘personages’ hovering in the air took form and Smith took them to be God and Jesus.

Smith found the composure to ask which sect was right.” Wright recounted the message the angels gave Smith about other denominations: “I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the personage who addressed me said that ‘all their creeds were an abomination in his sight.’” In a moment everything returned to normal and
later Smith told his mother, “‘I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.’”

“Three years later (1823),” Wright continued, “Smith had another visitation, this one from an angel named Moroni, who revealed to him that an ancient book written on golden plates was buried nearby on a hill called Cumorah.” In 1827 Smith “returned to Cumorah and again encountered Moroni. This
time, the angel entrusted the golden plates to him, along with a pair of ‘seeing stones,’ called the Urim and Thummim, which permitted him to translate the strange language inscribed on the plates (identified by Smith as ‘reformed Egyptian’).” Three years later, Smith published the Book of Mormon. “It was prefaced by the statements of eleven witnesses who claimed to have seen the golden plates and, in eight cases, to have actually
‘hefted’ them. The plates themselves, however, were no longer available for examination. With the ‘translation’ finished, Moroni had reclaimed them and taken them back to Heaven.”

The Mormon faith originated in a conflict set in the New World. According to Wright, “The Book of Mormon purports to be the history of two tribes of Israel—the fair-skinned, virtuous Nephites and the dark-skinned, conniving Lamanites, The Nephites and the Lamanites battled for centuries, eventually carrying their feud into North America. In the midst of their warfare, the resurrected Jesus suddenly appears in the New World, demanding repentance… The two tribes are temporarily reconciled. But, four hundred years later, the Nephite leader Mormon is slain, with hundreds of thousands of his people, in the final triumph of the Lamanites. Mormon’s son, Moroni, survives to record this last event on the golden plates, which are then buried on [a hill named] Cumorah.”

Joseph Smith was a down-to-earth, unrefined farmer with no formal education but possessed of an engaging, charismatic personality. In 19th century rural America, religious fervor was high, and many tended to reject the ritual of older, more established denominations in favor of newer and more evangelical ones, like the Baptists and Methodists. In this environment, the idea of a new, homegrown faith that posited the divinity of the individual, allowed direct communication with God, and recognized
the authority of the Bible, took hold. The Book of Mormon and its visionary young prophet attracted a surprising number of converts and followers.
Along with this success came criticism. Wright wrote that, “By the time he was in his mid-twenties Smith had become one of the most controversial men in America. …From the beginning, it was a missionary creed, and Smith sent emissaries throughout America and abroad. Thousands of followers were drawn to his ministry, including Brigham Young, a young carpenter in upstate New York, who became one of the greatest colonizers of the West. The Mormons, at first derided as cranks, were soon objects of fear and hatred, not just because of their heretical beliefs but also because of their communal economy, their monolithic politics, and, eventually, their practice of polygamy.”

The unusual doctrine and practices by leaders and members of the church drew the scrutiny and ire of those committed to more traditional beliefs. In the nine years that remained in Smith’s brief life, his disciples “were driven from one settlement after another, in what was an unparalleled assault of religious persecution in America.”

The persecution endured by Smith’s followers was extensive.The Mormons were driven from towns in New York to Kirtland, Ohio, and then to Independence, Missouri, where yet again their presence angered residents. Vigilantes burned homes, and Smith was beaten, tarred and feathered, and an attempt was made to force him to drink poison. The governor of Missouri ordered the state militia to subdue the Mormon population and to arrest Smith and other leaders.

Meanwhile Brigham Young fled the area, with a core of believers, to Quincy, Illinois. When Smith and his associates escaped captivity, he bought land on the Mississippi River, where he established the town of Nauvoo, Illinois. It was there that the idea of a “plurality of wives” developed, triggering even more antagonism. Facing accusations of philandering, he received a revelation that allowed any man to take as many consenting wives as he deemed necessary. Eventually, he would take a reported 40, most in the last
years of his life, including a 14-year-old girl and the wives of other members of the church. With a warrant out for his arrest, Smith surrendered to authorities at the non-Mormon town of Carthage.

While in custody, he and his brother Hyrum were shot to death by a mob in 1844. Smith uttered his last words—”Oh, Lord, my God”—and fell from a second-story window to the street. There he was propped against a well and shot again by a four-man firing squad. Wallace Stegner, a widely published novelist and historian who admired the LDS, once described early Mormons in Utah as “a sociological island of fanatic believers dedicated to a creed that the rest of America thought either vicious or mad.” In his study of diaries and letters of Mormons in the West, Stegner came to respect their “suffering, endurance, discipline, faith, brotherly and sisterly charity.” Balancing these, he also noted their “human cussedness, vengefulness, masochism, backbiting, violence, ignorance, selfishness and gullibility.”

Pushed further and further west, the Mormons arrived in Utah in 1847. Ten years later, they became embroiled in conflict with the United States government. Federal troops received orders to “unseat Brigham Young,” the territory’s governor. “Young declared martial law and prepared his followers to burn down their homes and retreat to the mountains for
guerrilla warfare.”

Under constant persecution, Mormons became a selfreliant and fiercely independent people. Their expulsion by the State of Missouri, during which prominent Mormon apostle David W. Patten was killed in battle, the murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and the unceasing antagonism from those outside the faith undoubtedly encouraged Mormons to view
most who didn’t share their faith with suspicion and sometimes outright hostility.

Suspicion turned into hostility in 1857, when a wagon train of thirty well-to-do non-Mormon families, most from Arkansas, entered Utah en route to California. “The Mormons viewed the newcomers with hostility,” Wright noted, “partly because of the recent news that one of the Church’s apostles,
Parley Pratt, had been murdered in Arkansas.” When the wagon train reached Mountain Meadows in southwestern Utah it was attacked by armed Mormons, resulting in the death of 120, including many women and infants. The Mormon Church quickly blamed a few renegade church members for the massacre and said that Paiute Indians had killed the women and children. But in 1999, bones uncovered at the site showed signs that the women and children had been shot at close range.

Mark Twain accused Brigham Young of ordering the Mountain Meadow killings. The jailhouse confession of John D. Lee, an adopted son of Young’s who was executed by the government for his part in the massacre, told one version of what happened. Lee claimed that a band of Paiutes numbering
300 to 400 led the attack that continued for four days. Lee claimed that he, under a flag of truce, approached the wagon train to present terms of surrender. The battle-weary emigrants, with seven dead and sixteen wounded, put down their weapons in exchange for a promise of safe passage. Then, at a pre-arranged signal, the Mormon militia shot them all, leaving the women and children to fall under the clubs, knives and
hatchets of the Paiutes. Seventeen of the youngest children were spared.

“Twain believed that the ‘Indians’ involved were actually Mormons wearing war paint, which conforms to accounts given by surviving children,” Wright wrote. Lee, the only person involved in the incident who was convicted, was executed by firing squad at Mountain Meadows.
As Wright explained, “News of the massacre prompted members of Congress to call for the elimination of the Church.” Brigham Young forestalled a federal investigation into the massacre by stepping down as the territorial governor.

At a memorial ceremony on September 11, 2007, the sesquicentennial of the Mountain Meadows massacre, LDS Apostle Henry B. Eyring read the church’s official statement to gatherers: “We express profound regret for the massacre carried out in this valley 150 years ago today, and for the undue and untold suffering experienced by the victims then and by their
relatives to the present time. A separate expression of regret is owed the Paiute people who have unjustly borne for too long the principal blame for what occurred during the massacre. Although the extent of their involvement is disputed, it is believed they would not have participated without the direction and stimulus provided by local church leaders and members.”

The Mountain Meadows Massacre deepened dislike of the Mormon Church, perceived as a lawless and rebellious sect with heretical beliefs. This helped set the stage for incidents to come. Wright observed that, “In addition to this troubled legacy the practice of polygamy proved to be a bigger burden,
which kept alive the hostility of Victorian America toward the sect.” Plural marriage, as it came to be called, was contrary to the Book of Mormon. Indeed, monogamy was the official doctrine of the Church throughout Smith’s life.

After Smith’s death, the doctrine of plural marriage became settled. Wright is quoted again: “In 1866, Brigham Young declared, ‘The only men who become gods, even the sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy.’ He set an example by marrying perhaps fifty-five women. Throughout the 19th
century, it was popularly assumed that Mormon women were little more than sex slaves, even though they sometimes pointed out that they had chosen polygamous unions.” Young also encouraged women to take up the professions of law and medicine, and, as governor, allowed them to vote, long before women elsewhere in the United States enjoyed such privileges.
In 1862, Congress passed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, but President Abraham Lincoln elected not to enforce the law. Instead, he gave Brigham Young tacit permission to ignore it. In return, Young kept the Utah Territory from becoming involved in the Civil War.

Persecution and prosecution of Mormons continued, as attested by the arrest of more than a thousand on polygamy related offenses. To avoid oppression many Mormons fled to Canada and Mexico. Wright noted that, “In 1890, the United States Supreme Court sanctioned the nationwide confiscation of virtually all Mormon property, essentially authorizing that the movement be crushed.”

That same year, LDS president Wilford Woodruff received a revelation that inspired him to declare, in what is called the 1890 Manifesto, that plural marriage was no longer officially allowed.” But this did little to erase hostility towards the Mormon faith. The disapproval non-believers felt for the faith was apparent in an April 25, 1901, article in the Vienna [Ga.] Progress: “The Mormon doctrine sprang from one Joseph Smith who evidently had an awful dream from an overload of supper. The elders, while here, were treated kindly, and no eggs were given them, except at the hotel.”

A 1906 newspaper article reported that the number of converts to the Mormon Church over the prior decade exceeded by several thousand the number of converts to the Methodist, Baptist and Congregational churches combined. When those numbers were translated into votes, politicians nationwide took notice. Vitriol-filled anti-Mormon newspaper articles
appeared, often quoting statements from the non-Mormon pulpit. For instance, Dr. John White of Atlanta’s Second Baptist Church proclaimed that Mormon propaganda was “false, evil and dangerous and should be shunned like a viper.” Political and religious opposition to LDS doctrine and practices continued and helped shape and perpetrate anti-Mormon
sentiment.

In 1878 the headquarters of the newly established LDS Southern States Mission moved from Nashville, Tennessee, to Rome, Georgia. The church enjoyed notable success in northwest Georgia, especially in Chattooga County’s Haywood Valley. But local newspaper editors, ministers, and the Ku Klux Klan, all of whom decried Mormon practices of polygamy and conversion by baptism, opposed the movement. It was the next year that a mob murdered missionary Joseph Standing in Whitfield County. Standing’s traveling companion, Rudger Clawson, witnessed the incident and reported that Standing had pulled a gun on the mob in self defense.
The mob responded by riddling him with more than 20 bullets. Of those brought to trial, all were acquitted. Standing became a martyr and was laid to rest in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Latter-day Saints erected a monument bearing the words: “There is no law in Georgia for the Mormons.” Today a small park in Varnell includes a marker with a bronze plaque to mark the spot where Standing was gunned down.

Standing’s murder seemed to spur opposition to Mormon missionaries throughout north Georgia. Missionaries were beaten, pulled from their beds, kidnapped, wounded, and denied the right to preach (or were egged when they did). In a retreat to Tennessee, Mission headquarters was moved from Rome to Chattanooga. Limited for several years, missionary work in the region finally resumed in earnest in the 1890s. Gradually, the Mormon faith spread into other parts of Georgia. By the early 20th century, there was a congregation in Douglas (Coffee County), Montreal (DeKalb County) and Buchanan (Haralson County). As in the past, some of these faced hostility. For instance, somebody used 50 pounds of dynamite to destroy the rented building occupied by the Mormon Church in Montreal in 1908. According to the Atlanta Constitution, the explosion was heard ten to fifteen miles away. The building’s owner, who wasn’t a Mormon, said that he “was thoroughly aroused as to the seriousness of the situation” and feared future attacks might destroy his home or take his life.

Four years later, fire destroyed the Mormon Church in Buchanan while the congregation attended a nearby religious debate. The building, only a year old, was believed to have been destroyed by “an incendiary device,” but no arrests were made. A new stone church was completed after a pitched battle with opponents.

A Thomasville newspaper article in July 1899 related the story of three Mormon missionaries preaching their doctrine near Covington. While seated on the porch of “the Cunnard house,” a mob of masked attackers brandishing guns showed up. Cunnard went inside and retrieved his shotgun, presumably for defense of family and self. The light illuminating the porch was extinguished and pistol shots rang out followed by
a shotgun blast. The mob withdrew, taking the missionaries with them. When light was restored it was discovered that Mrs. Cunnard lay dead from a shotgun blast to the face. There was speculation that the missionaries were lynched but a later article stated they had escaped.

Only two rural LDS churches were established in South Georgia, both in Coffee County. Mormon missionaries there met with some resistance while other non-Mormons demonstrated a tolerance that developed into theological union. In recruiting for new members, the missionaries sometimes set up shop at a public place, such as the local post office, where
members of the public were sure to come.

This diary excerpt from Mormon missionary Adam Brewer relates an example of how these missionaries were treated: The day was spent in Pearson (Atkinson County today, bu part of Coffee County at the time) at the post office. We met some who were very bitter to the cause of truth and my companions talked to them at some length explaining the scriptures to them. In the evening we held a meeting but very few came out to hear us. We found in the teacher’s desk at the school house the following invitation.
‘Pearson a a , 8 23 1899 To Mormon Elders, If yew want to get out of this town with hole skin and bones and no tears on your physiagmany, don’t let the next sun set on you here.’

We don’t know what the significance of the two a’s following the town name of Pearson, perhaps it was meant to be g a (for Georgia) and are uncertain if the word tears was correctly read, but the intent is clear. Little Utah was one of two churches established by Mormons in Coffee County. A granite monument where the church once stood bears this inscription: “In the spring of 1899 the first Mormon missionaries came to Coffee County.

In 1905, two acres were deeded to the LDS Church for the building of a church and cemetery. A small church made of rough lumber was built and was used for church services and school until 1917. In 1918 a new church was built on the site and was known as Axson Ward LDS Chapel, Satilla Branch. Local non-members called it, derisively, ‘Little Utah’ because
missionaries from Utah baptized the first converts there. The members eventually embraced the name.”

Little Utah became inactive, possibly around 1975. The church building was sold and moved. Today the graveyard is still maintained. John Adams wrote a history of Cumorah Chapel, also in Little Utah church in 1953 (LEFT) and today (RIGHT) in a different location. Coffee County, in 1934. He recalled that in June 1899 his father, Joseph Adams, was visiting a brother-in-law when two Elders of the LDS Church arrived and began to preach the “restored gospel.” The next day the missionaries were to preach
at a Baptist church known as Old Mt. Zion, but upon arrival they were met by members bearing knives and guns who would not allow them to preach in the church. One member brought out benches from the church, placed them in the shade of some oak trees, and the missionaries were allowed to preach. The sermon must have been moving; thereafter, the missionaries canvassed the countryside. They received a fair share of rotten eggs but also began to find some “very staunch friends.”

Excessive rain in 1900 caused a catastrophic failure of crops in Coffee County. Many residents had to sell their farms; among them Joseph Adams and Uncle Dan Lott, who, along with their families, were LDS members. They both bought adjoining farms near Douglas and moved to their new homes in 1900 and 1901. While recovering from the catastrophic crop loss, LDS elders continued to work among the converts using the two farms as their base. The congregation increased over the next few years and a chapel was erected in 1907 on land given by Joseph Adams. Elder Tate named the new church building Cumorah. The first sermon was preached there in
August 1907. Use of the church building ceased around 1975. Despite decades of controversy and persecution in Georgia, the Latter-day Saints eventually came to thrive here. In 1916, the Southern States Mission moved to Atlanta. By 1936, there were more than 1,800 Mormons in the state. Today there are 84,500 members in 155 congregations. A temple, the most sacred of Mormon buildings, was dedicated in Sandy Springs in
1983, its spire topped by the golden figure of the angel Moroni. Randall Davis is a freelance writer and photographer in Statesboro.

https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Acf94cf60-6eea-4627-8597-dcb19b2e8c1d

See Additional blog with persecutions in Tennessee here: https://www.bofm.blog/tennessee-massacre/

A good friend just asked me, “Am I creating situations in my own home that allow my family to feel the spirit?” “Do I feel and recognize the spirit even though I am unable to meet with others in church each Sunday?”

Just over a year ago President Nelson prophetically shifted the focus of the church to home based worship and study. We were all encouraged to study and teach in our own homes, allowing our testimony to grow because of spiritual experiences had at home. Little did any of us know that just 1 year after these changes were made, church would be cancelled all together.

I invite all of us to seek spiritual moments in our homes. I hope we can all recognize and treasure some sacred moments of spiritual growth even without the ability to meet together each week. I promise that as we seek the spirit in our home, we will find peace of mind and a deep sense of appreciation for everything we have. I testify that the President Nelson is a prophet, seer, and revelator who holds and properly exercises all the priesthood keys. And because he does this, we can all benefit from the blessings and guidance of the Holy Ghost in our personal lives at home. Personal revelation is very possible.

“No one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.”

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

The Truth of All Things

Moroni 10:5 “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”

Head and Heart

“But it should be noted that 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…

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…”

Jeffrey R. Holland Greatness of the Evidences Brigham Young University August 16, 2017

Ye Cannot Deny Them

“And now, . . . ye know these things and cannot deny them [because of the] many evidences which ye have received; yea, even ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true.” Heleman 8:24

“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 4 MAY 2007

This Country vs Americas

The Americas.” It is pure revisionist history in Saints Vol 1

“This country” vs. “the Americas” by Jonathan Neville

When Moroni first visited Joseph Smith at the Smith farm outside of Palmyra, NY, he “gave a general account of the promises made to the fathers, and also gave a history of the aborigines of this country, and said they were literal descendants of Abraham.” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/68 You might think that looks fairly straightforward. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defined “country” to mean the region in which one resides, the territory situated in the vicinity of a city, or the whole territory of a kingdom or state. Joseph Smith lived near Palmyra in western New York in the United States. You can choose among the Webster’s definitions (which remain valid today) to decide which “aborigenes” Moroni was referring to.

Our friends who promote M2C nevertheless claim that “this country” refers to Mesoamerica because, according to them, the Nephites never left the “limited geography” of Mesoamerica. They landed there and the entire Book of Mormon took place there, culminating in the final battle at Cumorah in southern Mexico.

They’ve written articles full of clever rhetoric and sophistry to justify their position. But it’s a patently ridiculous argument, so they’ve persuaded our Church historians to replace “this country” with the term “the Americas.”

For example, in Saints, Volume 1, we read this: “Moroni spoke of gold plates buried in a nearby hill. On the plates was etched the record of an ancient people who once lived in the Americas.”

Moroni never said that. No original documents use the term “the Americas.” It is pure revisionist history, designed solely to accommodate the current intellectual fixation on Mesoamerica and M2C.

For a fun exercise, go to the Joseph Smith Papers and search for “the Americas.” You’ll get 17 results. Every one of them is in the commentary and notes. You’ll read things such as “For early believers, the book was not only a religious history of ancient inhabitants of the Americas…” “The idea that God would establish the New Jerusalem, or the city of Zion somewhere in the Americas stemmed from the Book of Mormon.” “The Book of Mormon also prophesied that the New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, referring to the Americas.” “Jaredites: a term used in the Book of Mormon to refer to descendants and followers of Jared who departed for a “land of promise” which JS later identified as the Americas.”

The last one is especially fun because Joseph never used the term “the Americas.” This is putting words in Joseph’s mouth for a specific modern agenda–M2C. It is not history. 

You can also search “this country” on the Joseph Smith Papers website and see how Joseph and his contemporaries used the term. It always referred to a specific nation (the United States or England, depending on where the author was at the time) or a local region. Here are some examples. Lucy Mack Smith reported that soon after she received word that the translation was complete, three men came to ask her to show them the gold bible. She wrote, “No gentlemen said I we have <​got​> <​no​> gold bible but we have a translation of some gold plates which was sent to the world to bring the plainess of the Gospel to the children of men and to give a history of the people that used to inhabit this country.” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/111 On October 22, 1829, Joseph Smith wrote a letter to Oliver Cowdery. This is the earliest letter written by Joseph Smith that we have today. He wrote from Harmony, Pennsylvania. Oliver Cowdery was in Palmyra, NY, at the time, supervising the publication of the Book of Mormon. Among other things, Joseph wrote “there begins to be a great call for our books in this country.” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-oliver-cowdery-22-october-1829/1 In March 1831, Joseph wrote a letter from Kirtland, Ohio, to his brother Hyrum, who was in Harpursville, NY. He wrote “I think <​you​> had better Come into this Country immediately for the Lord has Commanded us that we Should Call the Elders of the this Chursh together unto this plase as soon as possable.”

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-hyrum-smith-3-4-march-1831/2 In 1832, Joseph Smith wrote a letter from Hiram Township, Ohio, to W.W. Phelps, who was then in Independence, Missouri. Joseph wrote about “our toils in travling from this country to Zion amidst a crooked & preverse generation.” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-william-w-phelps-31-july-1832/2 On August 16, 1834, Joseph Smith wrote a letter from Kirtland to Lyman Wight and others who were in Liberty, Missouri. He wrote ” let there be every signer obtained that can be in the State of Missouri and while they are on their Journey to this country that paradventure we may learn whithe [whether] we have friends or not in these United States.” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-lyman-wight-and-others-16-august-1834/2 In February 1835, when Oliver Cowdery delivered the apostolic charge to Parley P. Pratt, he said, “It is required, not merely to travel a few miles in this country, but in distant countries.” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/minutes-and-blessings-21-february-1835/3

You can find more examples, but let’s end with this important one. In 1842, Joseph wrote an article titled “Church History,” better known today as the Wentworth letter. In it, he reaffirmed the account of Moroni’s visit that opened this blog post. He wrote, “I was also informed concerning the aboriginal inhabitants of this country, and shown who they were, and from whence they came.” A few paragraphs later, when describing the Nephites, he wrote, “The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country.” In that same letter, he wrote about the “frontier country” and described how, when the Saints were in Missouri, “an organized banditti ranged through the country robbed us of our cattle, sheep horses…” Despite the historical evidence, our M2C scholars, their followers, and Church historians claim that when Joseph Smith used the term “country” he really meant “the American continent,” which they shorten to “the Americas.” That’s how they rationalize changing Church history to accommodate their modern ideas about geography. In an amazing irony, the Saints books themselves take their title from a paragraph in the Wentworth letter that explicitly distinguishes between “continent” and “country.” This is the paragraph that immediately precedes the Articles of Faith. Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, the East Indies, and other places, the standard of truth has been erected: no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done. _____ When you read all of this, it’s easy to see why the M2C proponents and the Church historians who collaborate with them are changing Church history right before our eyes.

Joseph, Oliver, and all their contemporaries knew that the Book of Mormon was the history of the ancient people who lived in the country where Joseph received the plates. Moroni even told him the record was “written and deposited” not far from Joseph’s home near Palmyra, NY.

Every time you read or hear the words “the Americas” in connection with Church history, think “this country.” Whether you interpret it to mean the area right around Palmyra, or western New York, or even the United States as it existed in 1823 through 1842, at least you’re on the same page with Joseph Smith.

Note: there are some examples of Joseph writing about “this continent,” such as in Joseph’s appeal to the “Green Mountain Boys” when he wrote “the Book of Mormon as the history of the aborigines of this continent,” and in the Wentworth letter: “The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country. This book also tells us that our Savior made his appearance upon this continent after his ressurrection, that he planted the gospel here in all its fulness, and richness, and power, and blessing.” There is also Joseph Smith–History 1:34 (compiled by Joseph’s scribes). “He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants.” Our M2C friends and historians claim these references to “this continent” mean “the Americas” and that “this country” therefore is either an error or should be interpreted to mean “the Americas.” Of course, the other alternative is to use the connotation of “continent” that is consistent with “this country,” such as the way Webster defined it as “a connected tract of land of great extent.” Webster’s 1828 dictionary commented also that “In Spenser, continent is use [sic] for ground in general.” The term can be used for “a mainland contrasted with islands.” Some definitions distinguish between North and South America as separate continents while others combined them into one continent. There is a long history of the etymology of the term and its applications that can be debated. In my view, Joseph’s use of “continent” in these references does not contradict his use of “country” as a more specific and narrower territory.  _____ Here’s another fun exercise. Since Moroni wrote some of the Book of Mormon (and presumably read what his father had written), maybe Moroni’s own use of the term “country” should be considered when we seek to understand what he meant when he told Joseph Smith that the Book of Mormon was the history of the aborigines of “this country.”

Search for “country” in the Book of Mormon itself. You’ll find phrases such as “defend their country,” “the freedom of his country,” “defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion,” “the cause of their country,” “ye are also traitors to your country,” “those parts of our country which he hath retained,” “the safety of their country,” “defend their north country,” “the laws of their country,” “even unto his own country,” “the country which lay before us,” “escaped into the country southward,” “the face of this north country,” and “the country was divided.”

Source: About Central America Jonathan Neville | May 5, 2020 at 7:15 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: https://wp.me/p741A5-SR

THIS LAND!

Does the geography of the Book of Mormon matter? By Rod Meldrum

“Does the geography of the Book of Mormon matter? The book is true no matter where it happened. Right? This is a response I have heard many others say and one I have said myself many times. But reading in 3 Nephi this morning made me change my mind. I think the Book of Mormon geography does matter.

When Christ appeared to the Nephites as the resurrected Savior, He blessed them, He taught them He prayed with them and for them. He also quoted to them the words of Isaiah. He reminded them that they had been given THIS LAND for their inheritance and were warned that they would not be allowed to remain on THIS LAND if they did not remain faithful. This emphasis shows the significance of the LAND to the Book of Mormon people, and the people who would be brought by the hand of God to THIS LAND and now occupy THIS LAND. Christ himself said, “great are the words of Isaiah” and He commanded the Nephites and all who read the Book of Mormon to search his words. If the words of Isaiah are great and we are commanded to read them and study them and ultimately understand them, then I believe we most certainly should understand where THIS LAND is and we should understand who the Lord is taking to when he talks about the inhabitants of THIS LAND. Because he is in fact talking directly to those who are on THIS LAND and if you don’t know where that is you can’t fully understand the message. Does the geography of the Book of Mormon matter? With over 1400 references to “this land” in the Book of Mormon I’m not sure how the Book of Mormon prophets could have made it clearer. THIS LAND matters. Geography matters. Those of us on THIS LAND the “promised land,” the Land of Liberty, the Land of the New Jerusalem need to know who we are. America is THIS LAND. America is a covenant land. I live on THIS LAND. Even the chapter heading of 3 Nephi also confirms this truth. Israel will be gathered when the Book of Mormon comes forth–The Gentiles will be established as a free people in America–They will be saved if they believe and obey; otherwise, they will be cut off and destroyed–Israel will build the New Jerusalem, and the lost tribes will return. I am learning more each day about what the prophecies say about me, my fellow Gentiles and my House of Israel sisters and brothers on THIS LAND. I desire to understand my covenant that I have made with the Lord and the Book of Mormon is the “voice crying from the dust” helping me understand it. The geography of the Book of Mormon matters to me.” Rod Meldrum FIRM Foundation President

Saints Volume 1 and 2 Here!

In the “Saints” Vol. 1 the index has the word America. The problem is when you visit page 22, the volume says Americas (plural). The same thing happens on page 108. we know when most people hear the word America we are referring to the United States of America. When most people hear the word Americas, we think of North and South America. There is also a tendency when you hear American continent you think of both North and South America. (Index) America 22 ancient people who once lived in the Americas. 93 Lord had visited the people of ancient America 98 edge of the United States to preach the restored gospel to American Indians…the New Jerusalem on the American continent 108 who created a righteous society after the Savior’s visit to the Americas Again in Saints, Volume 1, we read this: “Moroni spoke of gold plates buried in a nearby hill. On the plates was etched the record of an ancient people who once lived in the Americas.”

Moroni never said that. No original documents use the term “the Americas.” It is pure revisionist history, designed solely to accommodate the current intellectual fixation on Mesoamerica and M2C.

On July 7, 1866, The Latter-Day Saints’ Millennial Star ran a front-page article by Orson Pratt titled “The Hill Cumorah: Or the Sacred Depository of Wisdom and Understanding.” This is in volume 28, No. 27. At the time, the Millennial Star was “Edited, Printed and Published by Brigham Young, Jun.” in Liverpool.

You can see it in the original format on google books here. My good friend Jonathan Neville did a similar article about this as well.

The article was republished in The Contributor in September, 1882, Vol. III, No. 12. online here. The Contributor was an independent Mormon magazine intended for the Young Men’s and Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Associations.

Most Latter-day Saints have never seen this article. To me it sums up everything good and great about the Hill Cumorah.

Orson Pratt knew Cumorah was in New York, he probably speculated about the rest of the Book of Mormon geography. This may be evident in his 1879 footnotes to the Book of Mormon, in which he stated unequivocally that Cumorah was in New York but referred to other locations as possibilities; Orson was not Joseph or Oliver; he didn’t experience the repository directly, so he may not have all the details correct, but there’s a lot of great material here for those who have eyes to see. Along with Joseph Fielding Smith’s Doctrines of Salvation Volume 3 Chapter 12 A VOICE FROM CUMORAH, and Letter VII written by Oliver Cowdery with Joseph Smith’s input, this article by Orson Pratt is a close third in importance to the true message about the one and only Hill Cumorah in upstate New York. If you are a connoisseur of Book of Mormon geography you HAVE TO read these three articles!

We have also prepared a fantastic packet of information that every BYU Instructor or any teacher should have on the important dates, documents and time frames of Book of Mormon Geography here: Geography Packet

THE HILL CUMORAH; OR THE SACRED DEPOSITORY
OF WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING.

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“The Hill Cumorah is situated in western New York, between the villages of Palmyra and Canandaigua, about four miles from the former. It is celebrated as the ancient depository of the sacred gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.

Cumorah was the name by which the hill was designated in the days of the Prophet Moroni, who deposited the plates about four hundred and twenty years after the birth of Christ. The Prophet Mormon, the father of Moroni, had been entrusted with all the sacred records of his forefathers, engraved on metal plates.

New plates were made by Mormon on which he wrote, from the more ancient book an abridged history of the nation, incorporating therewith many revelations, prophecies, the Gospel, &c. 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 sacred 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, AD. 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 its contents under the charge of holy angels, until the day should come for them to be transferred to the sacred temple of Zion. The hill Cumorah, with the surrounding vicinity, is distinguished as the great battle-field on which, and near which, two powerful nations were concentrated with all their forces, men, women, and children, and fought till hundreds of thousands on both sides were hewn down, and left to molder upon the ground.

Both armies were Israelites; both had become awfully corrupt having apostatized from God: the Nephites, as a nation, became extinct: the Lamanites alone were left. This happened, according to their faithful records, near the close of the fourth century of the Christian era. The American Indians are the remnants of the once powerful nation of Lamanites.

The hill Cumorah is remarkable also as being the hill on which, and around which, a still more ancient nation perished, called Jaredites: this unparalleled destruction is recorded in the Book of Ether; and happened about six centuries before Christ. The Jaredites colonised America from the Tower of Babel. After about sixteen centuries, during which they became exceedingly numerous, they, through their terrible wars, destroyed themselves.

The hill Cumorah, by them, was called Ramah. Millions fought against millions, until the hill Ramah, and the land round about, was soaked with blood, and their carcases left in countless numbers unburied, to molder back to mother earth.

There is no spot on this wide world of ours, which is calculated to excite more vivid reflections, than the wonderful hill of Cumorah. There the history of one-half of our globe, reposed, for fourteen centuries, in profound unbroken silence: there, “the everlasting Gospel,” engraved, not on tablets of stone, but on plates of gold, awaited the voice of the heavenly angel to reveal the priceless treasure: there, buried in the holy archives of Cumorah’s sacred hill, are plates of brass, plates of gold, undimmed by time ; sacredly guarded as the temple of heaven : there shines the Urim and Thummim, the stones of light, the gems of immortality: there, reposes in words of light, the hidden knowledge of ages past, the prophetic history of ages to come: there wisdom has selected her palace, and understanding here dwelling place, until ” the spirit is poured out from on high,” and “the skies pour down righteousness;” then, “the earth opens and brings forth salvation.”

Well did the inspired Patriarch, Job, inquire, “Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?” (28: 12.) “The place” cannot be sought out by man; neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.” If neither the depths of the sea, nor the generations of the living, know the holy hidden place, where shall it be sought? Is it in some sequestered wild? In some uninhabited desert or wilderness, where roams the beasts of prey? Is it on the surface of the earth, exposed to the vultures gaze, or to the keen eye of the lofty eagle?

It is in “a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen: the lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.” “It is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.” If neither man, nor beast, nor fowl hath seen it; if it has been withheld from mortal gaze; where shall we turn to renew our researches? The Patriarch exclaims, “Destruction and death say, we have heard the fame thereof with our ears.”

How truthful is this saying! The countless millions, whose dust and ashes enrich the soil of Cumorah’s hill, “have heard the fame thereof.” Let the nations of the dead speak from their lonely sepulchres, and “whisper from the dust,” the doings of bye gone ages! Let the faithful records of the ancient dead, declare the holy dwelling place of wisdom, the sacred depository of understanding! Though hidden from the gaze of covetous man, and protected from the pointed touch of unholy beings, yet, “God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of thunder; then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.” From days of old, he ordained it; on the land that is afar off,

He selected for it a habitation; “on the sides of the north,” in a land of fountains, rivers, and lakes, he constructed for wisdom a house, and said unto knowledge, here shalt thou dwell, until the heavens shall reveal thy hiding place, and thy presence is sought again among the sons; of men; then shalt thou teach mortals in “the fear of the Lord,” and light the candle of understanding in their hearts; then shalt thou dwell in Zion, and light tip the habitations thereof with thy glory.

These holy treasures, these sacred archives are too precious to be bought with the riches of this world. Hence, Job says, “It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.”

All the wealth of ages is valueless, compared with the records of eternal wisdom, the inexhaustible fountain of understanding, hidden in the secret recesses of the wonderful— the beautiful—the lovely hill Cumorah! O, Cumorah! the hill of ancient Seers and Prophets! the hill of God! Sanctified by holy angels’ feet! From thy bowels is heard a voice, low, sweet, mild, of heavenly tones! yet it thrills through every fibre of the heart! It speaks of man—of God—of earth—of heaven—of hell! It speaks of the past—of the future—of the destiny of nations—the reign of Messiah — the resurrection—the final judgment! O holy, lovely mount! the sacred resting place of Zion’s law! In thy chambers dwell eternal riches! In thy lovely bosom are fountains that never dry I Speak! O speak again! Let Zion. hear thy voice! for thy voice is not the voice of feeble helpless man! but the voice of the Eternal One, speaking from the ground. Let Zion sing for joy! let the heavens be full of praise; for thou, O Lord, makest the earth to disclose its wonders; thou bringest forth truth from the bowels thereof! thou openest the gates of wisdom, and showest thy word unto the sons of men! Hidden things are brought to light—things most precious to the soul! let the hills and mountains break forth into singing! let the earth itself utter songs of everlasting joy! let glory, honor, and everlasting power, be unto Him who sitteth upon the throne, who holdeth the keys of Creation and Redemption forever more.” The Latter-day Saints Millennial Star Vol. 28; publisher Liverpool: July 7, 1866 Orson Pratt (Italics added)

Cave at Cumorah

To read more about the TWO Repositories at the Hill Cumorah read my blog here:

There really was a “Cave of Records” in the Hill Cumorah in up state New York. Joseph Smith and many others visited it. It has been spoken of all throughout Church History. It was not somewhere in Mesoamerica, it was in the Hill Cumorah in Ontario County, New York. Below are quotes offering strong indication that the Hill where the Jaredites and the Nephites were destroyed is also the hill where Joseph found the plates and where a great depository of records of both races were held.

“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

What is a Liberal? From Oxford Dictionary, “open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values.” Open to new opinions is good isn’t it? Of course it is. But what if the new opinion is to change a proven or traditional law that God has given us? What if we get a majority of opinion that agree with us and disagree with what a so called God says? Does everyone have a right to their own opinion? Of course. This is the tricky part. Not all people have faith in God and don’t even believe in God. Shouldn’t we respect their opinion? Of course, but we don’t have to agree with their opinion do we? No! There is a God! This is 100% for me, by FAITH and study and prayer.

What is a conservative? Oxford says, “holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion.” It seems to me that a Conservative is one who treats values coming from God as traditional. I think a conservative has a strong faith in God and chooses to follow Him, and I believe a liberal can have faith in God but tends to believe in man more than God. Both a liberal and a conservative, sin and make mistakes, but conservatives seem to be more forgiving than a liberal. Conservatives seen to judge others more harshly especially if the other one doesn’t seem to love God. I believe Liberals are more inclusive to anyone regardless of race or religion. These things are very simplified but I find them basically true in the world today.

The point? As you listen to President Lee below, you will see that he believes basically what I do. I’m sure he loves all people as I do, but there is a profound difference between a conservative and a liberal. They both have good qualities, but I believe that having faith in the Son of God is far more important than believing in the arm of flesh. I am not saying a Conservative is better than a Liberal as I will not judge, but I know I am a Conservative and I believe it is the best way for anyone to live.

“The self-called liberal [in the Church] is usually one who has broken with the fundamental principles or guiding philosophy of the group to which he belongs.” John A. Widstoe

There are those in the Church who speak of themselves as liberals who, as one of our former presidents has said, “read by the lamp of their own conceit.” Joseph F. Smith

Thank you Kevin Price again for sharing a profound article with me.

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The Iron Rod

by Harold B. Lee Address delivered at general conference Sunday afternoon, April 4, 1971

I sincerely pray for the spirit of this great conference during the few moments that I shall stand here.

Sometime ago there appeared in the Wall Street Journal a thought-provoking article, written by an eminent theologian at the Columbia University, under the subject heading “An Antidote for Aimlessness,” which you recognize as a condition that is prevalent in the world today. I quote from this article by Rabbi Arthur Herlzterg:

“What people come to religion for, is an ultimate metaphysical hunger, and when that hunger is not satisfied, religion declines … the moment that clerics become more worldly, the world goes to hades the faster.

“… Religion represents the accumulation of man’s insight over thousands of years into such questions as the nature of man, the meaning of life, the individual’s place in the universe. That is, precisely, the question at the root of man’s restlessness.

“Man seeks something to end his state of confusion and emptiness … in the latest parlance, an antidote for aimlessness. We do not know if the truths of religious tradition can be interpreted to satisfy this need, but we are sure that here, not in political activism, is religion’s path to relevance.”

As an answer to those who may be wandering aimlessly, searching for something to satisfy their need and to end their state of confusion and emptiness, I would like to introduce a few thoughts by relating a remarkable vision which came to an ancient prophet by the name of Lehi—600 years before Christ. To the faithful members of the Church this will be an oft-related incident recorded in the Book of Mormon. To those not of our faith this may, if they will ponder seriously, be very significant in the light of many trends in our modern society.

In this dream, or better called a vision, the prophet Lehi was led by a heavenly messenger through a dark and dreary waste to a tree laden with delicious fruit which proved to be very satisfying to his soul. He beheld a river of water nearby along which was a straight and narrow path leading to the tree laden with delicious fruit. Between the river bank and the path was a rod of iron, presumably to safeguard the travelers from falling off the narrow path into the river.

As he looked, he saw large groups of people crowding forward to gain access to the spacious field where the tree with fruit was located. As they pressed forward along the path, a great mist of darkness arose, so dense that many who started lost their way and wandered off and were drowned in the murky water or were lost from view as they wandered into strange paths. There were others, however, likewise in danger of being lost because of the blinding mist, who caught hold of the iron rod and, by so doing, held their course so that they too could partake of the delicacies which had beckoned them to come, despite the hazardous journey. Across, on the opposite side of the river, were multitudes of people pointing fingers of scorn at those who made the journey safely.

As with many other ancient prophets in biblical history, dreams or visions of this nature were effective means by which the Lord communicated with his people through prophet-leaders. Just so, this dream had great significance, as the Lord revealed to the prophet Lehi. The tree laden with fruit was a representation of the love of God which he sheds forth among all the children of men. The Master himself, later in his earthly ministry, explained to Nicodemus how that great love was manifested. Said he: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”; and then the Master added: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16–17.)

The rod of iron as seen in the vision interpreted was the word of God, or the gospel of Jesus Christ, which led to the tree of life that the Master explained to the woman at the well in Samaria was as “a well of [living] water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14.)

Those, as seen in the vision, who were across the river pointing fingers of scorn represented the multitudes of the earth which are gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb of God. The scorners, so the Lord revealed, represented the so-called wisdom of the world, and the building itself in which they were gathered was the “pride of the world.” (See 1 Ne. 11–12.)

If there is any one thing most needed in this time of tumult and frustration, when men and women and youth and young adults are desperately seeking for answers to the problems which afflict mankind, it is an “iron rod” as a safe guide along the straight path on the way to eternal life, amidst the strange and devious roadways that would eventually lead to destruction and to the ruin of all that is “virtuous, lovely, or of good report.”

These conditions as they would be found in the earth when these scriptures, now called the Book of Mormon, were to be brought forth were foreseen by the prophets. As I read some of these predictions, I would have you think of conditions with which we are surrounded today:

“And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts; unto … envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities … because of the pride of your hearts.

“… behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.” (Morm. 8:36–37.)

The apostle Paul also spoke of a time of peril when “men [would] be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

“Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those things that are good,

“Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. …” (2 Tim. 3:2–5.)

There are many who profess to be religious and speak of themselves as Christians, and, according to one such, “as accepting the scriptures only as sources of inspiration and moral truth,” and then ask in their smugness: “Do the revelations of God give us a handrail to the kingdom of God, as the Lord’s messenger told Lehi, or merely a compass?”

Unfortunately, some are among us who claim to be Church members but are somewhat like the scoffers in Lehi’s vision—standing aloof and seemingly inclined to hold in derision the faithful who choose to accept Church authorities as God’s special witnesses of the gospel and his agents in directing the affairs of the Church.

There are those in the Church who speak of themselves as liberals who, as one of our former presidents has said, “read by the lamp of their own conceit.” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine [Deseret Book Co., 1939], p. 373.) One time I asked one of our Church educational leaders how he would define a liberal in the Church. He answered in one sentence: “A liberal in the Church is merely one who does not have a testimony.”

Dr. John A. Widtsoe, former member of the Quorum of the Twelve and an eminent educator, made a statement relative to this word liberal as it applied to those in the Church. This is what he said:

“The self-called liberal [in the Church] is usually one who has broken with the fundamental principles or guiding philosophy of the group to which he belongs. … He claims membership in an organization but does not believe in its basic concepts; and sets out to reform it by changing its foundations. … “It is folly to speak of a liberal religion, if that religion claims that it rests upon unchanging truth.”

And then Dr. Widtsoe concludes his statement with this: “It is well to beware of people who go about proclaiming that they are or their churches are liberal. The probabilities are that the structure of their faith is built on sand and will not withstand the storms of truth.” (“Evidences and Reconciliations,” Improvement Era, vol. 44 [1941], p. 609.)

Here again, to use the figure of speech in Lehi’s vision, they are those who are blinded by the mists of darkness and as yet have not a firm grasp on the “iron rod.”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, when there are questions which are unanswered because the Lord hasn’t seen fit to reveal the answers as yet, all such could say, as Abraham Lincoln is alleged to have said, “I accept all I read in the Bible that I can understand, and accept the rest on faith.”

How comforting it would be to those who are the restless in the intellectual world, when such questions arise as to how the earth was formed and how man came to be, if they could answer as did an eminent scientist and devoted Church member. A sister had asked: “Why didn’t the Lord tell us plainly about these things?” The scientist answered: “It is likely we would not understand if he did. It might be like trying to explain the theory of atomic energy to an eight-year-old child.”

Wouldn’t it be a great thing if all who are well schooled in secular learning could hold fast to the “iron rod,” or the word of God, which could lead them, through faith, to an understanding, rather than to have them stray away into strange paths of man-made theories and be plunged into the murky waters of disbelief and apostasy?

I heard one of our own eminent scientists say something to the effect that he believed more professors have taken themselves out of the Church by their trying to philosophize or intellectualize the fall of Adam and the subsequent atonement of the Savior. This was because they would rather accept the philosophies of men than what the Lord has revealed until they, and we, are able to understand the “mysteries of godliness” as explained to the prophets of the Lord and more fully revealed in sacred places.

There were evidently similar questions and controversies in the Master’s time. In one terse answer, he gave the essential ingredients to safety amidst the maze of uncertainty:

To settle an apparent controversy among his disciples as to who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God, he said: “… except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of [God].” (Matt. 18:3.)

To become converted, according to the scriptures, meant having a change of heart and the moral character of a person turned from the controlled power of sin into a righteous life. It meant to “wait patiently on the Lord” until one’s prayers can be answered and until his heart, as Cyprian, a defender of the faith in the Apostolic Period, testified, and I quote, “Into my heart, purified of all sin, there entered a light which came from on high, and then suddenly and in a marvelous manner, I saw certainty succeed doubt.”

Conversion must mean more than just being a “card carrying” member of the Church with a tithing receipt, a membership card, a temple recommend, etc. It means to overcome the tendencies to criticize and to strive continually to improve inward weaknesses and not merely the outward appearances.

The Lord issued a warning to those who would seek to destroy the faith of an individual or lead him away from the word of God or cause him to lose his grasp on the “iron rod,” wherein was safety by faith in a Divine Redeemer and his purposes concerning this earth and its peoples.

The Master warned: “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better … that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matt. 18:6.)

The Master was impressing the fact that rather than ruin the soul of a true believer, it were better for a person to suffer an earthly death than to incur the penalty of jeopardizing his own eternal destiny.

The apostle Paul impressed also the danger of false teachings by bad example. Said he: “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. …

“And through thy knowledge shall the weak … perish, for whom Christ died?

“But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.” (1 Cor. 8:9, 11–12.)

Speaking to the learned and highly sophisticated generation in his time, the prophet Jacob said something which seems to be so often needed to be repeated today: “… When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. …

“But to be learned is good if they hearken to the counsels of God.” (2 Ne. 9:28–29.)

We fervently thank the Lord for the faithfulness and devotion of many in and out of the Church who are in high places in business, in governmental circles, in the legal profession, doctors, trained social workers, nurses, and those in the fields of the sciences and the arts. Particularly are we grateful for those who accept positions of leadership in the Church, who serve as home teachers or class leaders in the priesthood or in the auxiliaries, who make themselves available for volunteer service in helping to care for the unfortunate in all lands and among minorities within and without the Church, and in giving particular attention to the needs of the widows and the orphans.

I say to all such, as did Jesus to Zacchaeus: “This day is salvation come to [their] house.” (Luke 19:9.) These are they who are holding fast to the “iron rod” which can lead us all, in safety, to the tree of life.

I read recently from a column in the Washington Post, by George Moore, who styled himself as the “hermit of Mount Vernon.” (Mount Vernon, of course, was the ancestral home of George Washington.) In this article he said, “I have spent the last twenty years of my life at Mount Vernon reducing my ignorance.” He claimed that a person never learns anything until he realizes how little he knows. In this article he makes this most illuminating observation about George Washington:

“Washington never went to school. That’s why he was an educated man, he never quit learning.”

What George Moore said of himself I suppose could be said of many of you and of myself: “I have spent more than three score years of my life reducing my ignorance.”

Therein, it is my conviction, is the challenge to all who achieve distinction in any field. Some quit learning when they graduate from a school; some quit learning about the gospel when they have completed a mission for the Church; some quit learning when they become an executive or have a prominent position in or out of the Church.

Remember, as George Moore said of Washington, “We can become educated persons, regardless of our stations in life, if we never quit learning.”

The late President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote this: “Any man who does his work well, who is justifiably self-confident and not unduly disturbed by the jeers of the cynics and the shirkers, any man who stays true to decent motives and is considerate of others is, in essence, a leader. Whether or not he is ever singled out for prominence, he is bound to achieve great inner satisfaction in turning out superior work.

“And that, by the way, is what the good Lord put us on this earth for.” (“What Is Leadership?” Reader’s Digest, June 1965, p. 54.)

With the restoration of the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Church in the dispensation of the fulness of times, we were given instructions by revelation, the magnitude of which, as the late President Brigham H. Roberts explained, was “not merely as to whether baptism should be by immersion or for the forgiveness of sins, but the rubbish of accumulated ages was swept aside, the rocks made bare, and the foundations of the Kingdom of God were relaid.”

It may seem preposterous to many to declare that within the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may be found a bulwark to safeguard against the pitfalls, the frustrations, and the wickedness in the world. The plan of salvation formed in the heavens points clearly to the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life, even though there are many who refuse to follow that way.

In a great revelation, the Lord gave instruction by commandment to the leaders of the Church of that early day that they should be seekers after truth in many fields.

First, of course, he commanded that they should “teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom … in all things that pertain [to] the kingdom of God. …” (D&C 88:77–78.)

Then he counsels as to the wide sweep of learning about which we should seek. His church was not to be an ignorant ministry in various fields of secular learning.

And then the Lord addressed his revelation to all others who may not have faith: “… seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” (D&C 88:118.)

One might well ask: How does one get “learning by faith”? One prophet explains the process: First, one must arouse his faculties and experiment on the words of the Lord and desire to believe. Let this desire work in you until ye believe in a manner that you can give place even to a portion of the word of the Lord; then, like a planted seed, it must be cultivated and not resist the Spirit of the Lord, which is that which lighteneth everyone born into the world; you can then begin to feel within yourselves that it must be good, for it enlarges your soul and enlightens your understanding and, like the fruit of the tree in Lehi’s vision, it becomes delicious to the taste. (See Alma 32.)

It was an English novelist who was quoted as saying: “He who seeks God has already found him.”

Let no one think that “learning by faith” contemplates an easy or lazy way to gain knowledge and ripen it into wisdom.

From heavenly instructions and added to which are the experiences of almost anyone who has sought diligently for heavenly guidance, one may readily understand that learning by faith requires the bending of the whole soul through worthy living to become attuned to the Holy Spirit of the Lord, the calling up from the depths of one’s own mental searching, and the linking of our own efforts to receive the true witness of the Spirit.

The mission of this church is to bear witness of the truths of the gospel and put to flight the false teachings on every side that are causing the restlessness and the aimlessness that threaten all who have not found the straight path and that which could be an anchor to their souls.

My fervent prayer is that I may hold up that true Light of Christ to all the world. I would that all may know with assurance, as I, from study, prayer, and faith, know for a certainty, as the Master declared to Martha, who was mourning the death of Lazarus, that the Lord and Master is indeed “the resurrection, and the life; [and] he that believeth in [him], though he were dead, yet shall he live:

“And whosoever liveth and believeth in [him] shall never die. …” (John 11:25–26.)

I thank the Lord that I can answer, as did Martha and as did Peter of old: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16.)

“Yea, Lord: I believe … thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” (John 11:27.)

To this I do bear my solemn witness, in the sacred name of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, even so. Amen.

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See my blog here https://www.bofm.blog/revelation-traditionalists-vs-progressives/

“Many an academic giant is at once a spiritual pygmy and, if so, he is usually a moral weakling as well. Such a man may easily become a self-appointed member of a wrecking crew determined to destroy the works of God.

“Beware of the testimony of one who is intemperate, or irreverent, or immoral, who tears down and has nothing to put in its place.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1974, p. 138; or Ensign, May 1974, p. 95.)

Unbiased Definitions

Progressives tend to think of the world as a sort of blank slate that is meaningless in itself. On that view man becomes the creator of values, society becomes a system set up to bring about whatever goals people want it to serve, and it seems most sensible to design the system to help people attain whatever purposes they have, without playing favorites or interfering more than necessary with what they want to do…

Traditionalists view society and morality as natural rather than constructed. Since man is naturally social, society and morality are necessary to the world he inhabits and needed to make him what he truly is. That world is considered good in itself as well as productive of good, and to act socially and morally is to realize one’s own nature by participating in it. So the loyalty and authority that create a social world and make us part of it are natural to man and necessary for a good life.” Source