Book of Mormon Lands Drift!

“This article was summitted to me to be shared as anonymous information from a man who wants this information to be known and prayed about. I have made slight spelling edits, added bold, color and added maps and map descriptions. This information comes from a very studious and spiritual man who has seen, heard, and studied both sides of the Mesoamerica vs Heartland theory’s of the Book of Mormon. He has important and authoritative information from many authorities, leaders, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Rian Nelson

Book of Mormon Lands Drift: One Cumorah or Two?
by Anonymous

“When I joined the Church over 50 years ago, my sacred experience with the Book of Mormon had profoundly shaped my testimony and deep gratitude for the truths of the restoration. When I was baptized I knew nothing of peoples, places, lands, records, wars, travels or prophets in the Book of Mormon. My acceptance of the Book, the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel was driven by the pure and precious doctrines of Christ expressed in the 87 verses I read in my blue soft-backed copy of the scriptures. Those verses, prayed about as counseled in Moroni 10:4-5, were sufficient to bring to me a now life-long witness by the power of the Holy Ghost that the book is true. I also express my gratitude to God for sending His Beloved Son to America numerous times in the glorious process of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I attended BYU for the first time and enrolled in religious education classes in pursuit of training for a possible career in Seminaries and Institutes of Religion. I sensed a growing interest from Church members about Book of Mormon lands in Mesoamerica. In fact, I was fascinated by such books as Ancient America Speaks, He Walked the Americas, and Ancient America and the Book of Mormon, that had been published in the 1950s and ‘60s and were readily available to interested members of the Church. In my Book of Mormon 622 graduate class, “Evidences of the Book of Mormon,” I, along with my others in the class each wrote a paper pertaining to the class objectives. My paper was about Indian Legends. Thus began my own curiosity and study about the so-called Book of Mormon lands.

With my many church callings in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and subsequent assignments in Mexico and visits to other Latin American stakes further fueled my interest in Book of Mormon lands. In many years of service in the various callings, I especially enjoyed sitting literally at the feet of the prophets, seers, and revelators for instruction and teaching in the ways of the Lord, particularly associated with meetings at the General Conference of the Church. Over the years of my participation in these meetings, I noted the frequent reference to “drift.” The Brethren were often advising the members to be alert to “drift” from correct principles, practices, and procedures found in the Church at large when we made our stake and mission and local unit visits. Based upon my own experiences in Latin America and in North America (U.S.A.), I felt drift was highly apparent in Book of Mormon land models.

“Since this original 1917 map of L.E. Hills of the RLDS Church, which was hard for the Meso theorists to say north was really northward, as Mesoamerica had a directional east to west flow, so their map has rotated 45 degrees east. These Meso theorists now use what we call the CES Fantasy Map as you see above. Our Heartland map shows the same directional flow of cities as their fantasy map does. We show Lehi landing in Florida, Nephi going to Tennessee and Mosiah traveling north to meet the Mulekites near Missouri. The last battles begin at Zarahemla, (Montrose, IA) and go east through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and to New York. This is the same pattern of the ancient Hopewell Culture who started in Florida in 550 BC and ended in New York in 400 AD, just like the Nephites of the Book of Mormon. The fantasy map shows a make-believe location where the Nephites travel the same route as we show in the United States of America, which follows a historically accurate route that non-Mormon archaeologists all prove as true. Some of those groups who use the Fantasy Map are: CES, Book of Mormon Central, FAIRMormon, The Interpreter, Meridian Magazine, More Good Foundation, and many other LDS based Apologists.

Most of these organizations say they are neutral like the Church, which means they say they have no specific location for the Book of Mormon, yet the organizations I just named, only consider the events of the Book of Mormon to have begun in Mesoamerica. None of them will allow any information from our Heartland websites to be included on theirs. (That is not Neutral). The Heartland ideas we espouse and share are not neutral. We believe the Book of Mormon events happened initially in the USA and eventually the Lamanites spread to other parts of America, North, Central and South. In Ether 10:20 it says, “they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land”, not where the land divides the sea as it shows in the Panama neck.” Rian Nelson

Anonymous Author continues, I title this paper, “Book of Mormon Lands Drift: One Cumorah or Two?” with a specific subject in mind. In my own journeys in the Church as a convert, a teacher, a priesthood leader, and a participating member, I have come to an awareness of a “drift” from inspiration in the days of Joseph Smith and his associates with respect to Book of Mormon lands associated with the Hill Cumorah, the New Jerusalem, Adam-ondi-Ahman, Zarahemla, Manti, and the land of promise in the United States of America. The drift seems to illustrate an ever growing momentum toward speculation of Mesoamerican models for Book of Mormon lands that must incorporate two Cumorah’s, no New Jerusalem or Adam-ondi-Ahman in proximity to a supposed Zarahemla, and no relationship between ancient American Indian history and their promised land beginnings in eastern North America. The drift recognized in this subject seems to be spurred on by such comments as follows: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no official position on Book of Mormon geography.”[1] And “the specific location of the ancient Book of Mormon civilizations are unknown.”[2]

Further: “Although Church leadership officially and consistently distances itself from issues regarding Book of Mormon geography in order to focus attention on the spiritual message of the book, private speculation and scholarship in this area has been abundant. Based upon these criteria, many scholars currently see northern Central America and  southern Mexico (Mesoamerica) as the most likely location of Book of Mormon lands. However, such views are private and do not represent an official position of the Church.

In early Church history, the most common opinion among members and Church leaders was that the Book of Mormon lands encompassed all of North and South America, (See Hemispheric Model Map Left) although at least one more limited alternative view was also held for a time by some. The official position of the Church is that the events narrated in the Book of Mormon occurred somewhere in the Americas, but that the specific location has not been revealed.”[3]

I will draw upon commonly available resources to illustrate a rough time line of a growing perception of drift from inspiration (statements from latter-day prophets and other Church leaders about Book of Mormon lands) to speculation (statements from scholars and academic researchers) who purport the efficacy and preponderance of ancient stone ruins as the preferred locations of Book of Mormon lands. This paper will utilize latter-day scripture and a variety of commentary from Church leaders which will clearly show a dramatic shift in recent decades to the acceptance of Mesoamerican models in Central America versus North American (U.S.A.) models from early Church history locales.

(Author note) In the Book of Ether, the prophet Moroni certifies once again, as one who helped abridge the multitude of records (even “an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country,” Ether 1:1), and as prophets before him in the Book of Mormon had certified for centuries, that this land where records were buried and the Savior had taught was a “choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord” (Ether 13:2), descriptions always associated with the promised land of America. He testifies that the prophet Ether had seen the “days of Christ” hundreds of years before and “he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land” (Ether 13:4).

There are numerous traditions of Jesus Christ appearing in North, South and Central America, and the isles of the sea. He said to the assembled multitude in the land of Bountiful, “I have other sheep, which are not of this land, neither of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land round about whither I have been to minister… I shall go unto them… I go to show myself unto them” (3 Nephi 16:1, 3). He likely visited numerous lands and great numbers of people in many places. But the Book of Mormon is a sacred and inspired testament of His visit to a particular remnant of the house of Israel, a covenant people, the seed of Joseph, in a land of liberty, even the promised land, a land choice above all other lands. This paper will give support to the divinely appointed land where the book came forth.

Evidence of ancient civilizations found in the Book of Mormon land of promise in America include “ridges and banks of earth,” “walls of stone,” “forts of security,” places of entrance and earthworks demonstrating that they were “casting up dirt round about to shield them” in their cities (Alma 49). Types of construction common to the Nephites, but not as common to those found in Mesoamerica are described. Prophet-Captain Moroni instructed his people to “commence in digging up heaps of earth round about the cities…and upon the top of these ridges of earth he caused that there should be timbers, yea, works of timbers built up to the height of a man, round about the cities.” He further “caused that upon those works of timbers there should be a frame of pickets built upon the timbers round about, and they were strong and high.” And he caused “towers to be erected…and places of security to be built upon those towers.” He did prepare strongholds… “round about every city.” He caused them “to erect fortifications, prepare deep ditches… to secure their armies and their people” (Alma 50:1-6). Earthen mound sites and construction projects are common in ancient eastern United States of America.[4] [See Art Below] Metallic objects of war, huge earthen embankments, curious relics, defensive fortifications and great mound burial places point to a vast civilization in the eastern United States of America at the time illustrated in the Book of Mormon. Remember there was a great destruction in the land at the coming of Christ, enough to eradicate the land of buildings, tents, temples, houses of wood and cement, highways, sanctuaries, synagogues, etc.  Evidently the structures that existed before Christ’s appearance in the land of promise were destroyed to the point that they could no longer be found on the land. The record states the following possibilities: they could have been taken up, buried, sunk, hidden, rent, fallen upon, drowned, crushed, burned or carried away to destroy them from before the face of the risen Savior of the world (3^rd Nephi 8-10).  Early settlers in western New York lived among the “remnants of ruin, ashes, blood and bone and remains of thousands of the human race.”[5]

The following references will portray a rough timeline of inspiration and commentary with regard to proposed Book of Mormon lands from 1830-2012.

1- 1830 – Book of Mormon published in New York State.

2- 1830 – D&C 28:8, “Go unto the Lamanites and preach my gospel unto them.”
D&C 28:15, “Thou shalt take thy journey among the Lamanites.”

3- 1830 – D&C 30, Peter Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery to build up the Church among the Lamanites. 

4- 1830-1831 – D&C 32, Mission into the wilderness among the Lamanites (of the Indian tribes).
D&C 49:24, The Lamanites shall blossom as the rose.
1832 –   D&C 84:1-4, city of New Jerusalem to be built in western Missouri.

5- 1834 –  (Picture Below) Letter to Emma Smith “wandering over the plains of the Nephites.”
June  4, 1834 – “recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon.” “… over the mounds of that beloved people of the Lord.”
June 3, 1834 – Zelph mound, during Zion’s Camp march, west bluffs overlooking the Illinois River, south of Valley City, Illinois. Under the influence of the Spirit, Joseph discovered the skeleton of a white Lamanite warrior named “Zelph,” killed in a battle    between Lamanites and Nephites.[6]

6- Early 1830s – “The Book of Mormon is a record of the forefathers of our western tribes of Indians…, after having been hid up in the earth for the last 1400 years, containing the word of God which was delivered unto them. By it we learn that our western tribes of Indians are descendants from that Joseph who was sold into Egypt, and that the land of America is a promised land unto them, and unto it all the tribes of Israel will come, with as many of the Gentiles as shall comply with the requisitions of the new covenant.”[7]
-“The Book of Mormon has made known who Israel is, upon this continent. And while we behold the government of the United States gathering the Indians and locating them upon lands to be their own, how sweet it is to think that they may one day be gathered by the gospel.” (January 6, 1836)[8]

7- May 1838 – D&C 116:1. Spring Hill is named by the Lord “Adam-ondi-Ahman.”
May 1838 – A Nephite altar at Adam-ondi-Ahman, Spring Hill, Missouri (the remains of an old   Nephite altar or tower that stood there).[9]

8- September 1838 – Ancient city of Manti in Missouri. [10]
From history of travels of Kirtland Camp, “The camp passed through Huntsville, in Randolph County,…, and is the site of the City of Manti,…”[11]
-The same event is recorded in the journal of Samuel D. Taylor as follows: “We passed through Huntsville…this is the ancient site of the City of Manti, which is spoken of in the Book of Mormon…”[12]

9- 1840 – Apostle Orson Pratt wrote a missionary pamphlet in Scotland describing events of the restoration of the gospel and his understanding of lands of the Book of Mormon. He placed the Nephites in South America and the Jaredites in North America of the Western Hemisphere. Thus the Book of Mormon people occupied areas in all of North and South America. Mormon and Moroni hid the records in the New York Hill Cumorah. The final destruction of the Nephites was in North America and the Lamanites continued at war with each other over the whole face of the land. This was a common view among early Latter-day Saints.[13]

10- March 1841, 1842 – D&C 125:3, Nauvoo, Illinois, 1841 – “A city to be built opposite Nauvoo, let the name of Zarahemla be named upon it.” One hundred and sixty references to “Zarahemla” are found in the Book of Mormon account. Unfortunately a serious error has been perpetuated in early Church history documents about the first known reference to Zarahemla. The Joseph Smith Papers, Vol. 1, p. 344, shows that Joseph Smith did not put the name of Zarahemla on the town until the revelation cited above. Post-1841 Church history documents indicate erroneously that Zarahemla was named in 1839.
-(Author note: The Mesoamerica Model adherents have endlessly defended the 1842 Stephens and Catherwood research in Central America and the supposed correlations to Book of Mormon history. It has been many decades since latter-day prophets have referred to this material. These positions will not be cited herein, for as noted above with respect to the naming of Zarahemla by revelation in 1841, speculation is rampant as to who said what and when about Book of Mormon lands in Central America.)
-March 1842 – “I was informed concerning the aboriginal inhabitants of this country.[14]  
-“In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded (The Book of Mormon).”[15]
-“The remnants are the Indians that now inhabit this country.”[16]

11- 1888 – “The Hill Cumorah is a high hill for that country, and had the appearance of a fortification or entrenchment around it.”[17]
-“I have seen these fortifications in many other parts of the United States.”[18]
-“Final battles were fought between Nephites and Lamanites at the Hill Cumorah, the Nephites made their last stand prior to their utter extermination, A.D., 385.”[19]

12- 1920 – Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the Twelve. In the Eastern States Mission during the summer of 1920. “From Buffalo, drove to Palmyra, Joseph Smith farm, Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah. He described last great battle, soils rich in calcium, and phosphate – indicative of decaying bones of armies that perished there – no doubt the wars of the Book of Mormon occurred in this place.” [20]

13- 1923 – President Joseph Fielding Smith. “As I stood on the summit of the Hill Cumorah… I tried to picture the scenes of former days. Here were assembled vast armies filled with bitterness and bent on destruction… Here a people perished because of their extreme wickedness… I thought of the prophets, Ether, Mormon, Moroni, and tried to realize the sadness of their feelings as they witnesses the mad onrushing of their people to annihilation.”[21]

14- 1938 – President Joseph Fielding Smith. “In the face of this evidence coming from the Prophet Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, we cannot say that the Nephites and Lamanites did not possess the territory of the United States and that the Hill Cumorah is in Central America. Neither can we say that the great struggle which resulted in the destruction of the Nephites took place in Central America.”[22]

15- 1938, September – President Joseph Fielding Smith. “This being true, what would be more natural than that Moroni, like his father, Mormon, would deposit the plates in the land where the battles came to an end and the Nephites were destroyed? This Mormon says he did, and from all the evidence in the Book of Mormon, augmented by the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, these final battles took place in the territory known as the United States and in the neighborhood of the Great Lakes and hills of Western New York. And here Moroni found the resting place for the sacred instrument which had been committed to his care.”[23]

16- 1950 – Elder John A. Widstoe. With respect to an “ideal map drawn based upon geographical facts mentioned in the book (Book of Mormon)… the conclusions drawn from them though they may be correct, must at best be held as intelligent conjectures.”
-First, “it is known by revelation that Adam… lived in or near the territory now known as the state of Missouri. This has no bearing on Book of Mormon geography since it deals with a period long before the coming of the Book of Mormon people to America.”
-Second, “the skeleton of Zelph was uncovered near the Illinois River during a journey into northwestern Missouri… is not of much value in Book of Mormon geographical studies, since Zelph probably dated from a later time when Nephites and Lamanites had been somewhat dispersed and had wandered over the country.”
-Third, “the hill (Cumorah) from which the Book of Mormon plates were obtained by Joseph Smith is definitely known.” “This is a fixed point in Book of Mormon later history.” But Elder Widstoe points out that there is a controversy with respect to the name Cumorah being applied to more than one hill and the plates “could be moved from one place to another by divine help.”
-Fourth, “a statement about Lehi’s party landing in Chile… is not found in the history of Joseph.” “Much doubt has been cast upon the reliability of this statement since diligent search has failed to trace it to the prophet.”[24]

17- April 1953 – Elder Mark E. Petersen. “I do not believe that there were two Cumorah’s, one in Central America and the other one up in New York, for the convenience of the Prophet Joseph Smith, so that the poor boy would not have to walk clear to Central America to get the gold plates.”[25]

18- 1956 – President Joseph Fielding Smith. “And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfillment of the prophets – the book to be revealed. Who can read the words of Joseph Smith as recorded in section 128 of the Doctrine and Covenants and not feel that he had reference to the Hill Cumorah in Western New York? While in this statement it is not positively declared that the Hill Cumorah is the place where the plates were obtained, yet the implication that such is the case is overwhelming. Moroni declaring from Cumorah the book to be revealed!”[26]

19- 1956 – President Joseph Fielding Smith. “In the light of the revelation it is absurd for anyone to maintain that the Nephites and Lamanites did not possess this northern land.”[27]

20- 1956 – President Joseph Fielding Smith. “Locale of Cumorah, Ramah, and Repliancum. This modernistic theory (that the Nephites and Lamanites were confined almost entirely within the borders of the territory comprising Central America and the southern part of Mexico) in order to be consistent, must place the waters of Ripliancum and the Hill Cumorah some place within the restricted territory of Central America, notwithstanding the teachings of the Church to the contrary for upwards of 100 years.”[28]

21- April 1961 – Elder Milton R.  Hunter. “The calamities of the Book of Mormon, stayed in the minds of the Lamanites or the American Indian, for 1500 years.” “American Indians had a tradition of convulsions that took place, at the time of Christ’s death.”  “Jesus had visited ancient America and given the ancestors of the American Indians the gospel.”
-“The Lamanites, or the American Indian retained that knowledge.”[29]

22- April 1962 – Elder Mark E. Petersen. “Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians.”[30]

23- 1964 – President Ezra Taft Benson. “How I wish every American and every living soul would read the Book of Mormon. I testify to you that it is true. It tells about the prophetic history and mission of America.”[31]

24- 1969 – President Ezra Taft Benson. “To me the United States is not just another nation. It is not    just one of a family of nations. The United States is a nation with a great mission to perform for the benefit and blessing of liberty-loving people everywhere.”[32]

25- 1977 – President Ezra Taft Benson. “Many great events have transpired in this land of destiny. This was the place where Adam dwelt; this was the place where the Garden of Eden was; it was here that Adam met with a body of high priests at Adam-ondi-Ahman shortly before his death and gave them his final blessing, and the place to which he will return to meet with the leaders of his people (D&C 107:53-57). This was the place of three former civilizations: that of Adam, that of the Jaredites, and that of the Nephites. This was also the place where our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith, inaugurating the last dispensation.
-The Lord has also decreed that this land should be ‘the place of the new Jerusalem which should come down out of heaven and the holy sanctuary of the Lord’ (Ether 13:3). Here is our nation’s destiny!”[33]

26- 1981 – Elder Bruce R. McConkie. “A great nation (the United States of America) shall be set up… by the power of God, so that the gospel may be restored, the Book of Mormon come forth, its message go to the American remnant of Jews, that the eternal covenants of the Lord with his people might be fulfilled.” “The remnant of Jacob, including the Lamanites in the Americas”, will assist in the gathering of Israel to the promised land   New Jerusalem.[34]

27- 1980-81 – Author note: When I joined the Church the copy of the Book of Mormon I read was printed in 1961. That edition did not have references to America in the chapter headings. Neither did it have an introduction page. The brief explanation page following the testimony of Joseph Smith in the forward of the book is also now different and states “The Book of Mormon is a sacred record of people in ancient America.” Beginning in 1980, the introduction page has referred to the “Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.” Since 2007, this statement reads, “the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.” America is mentioned four times in the inspired headings of chapters of the Book of Mormon published after 1980. Post-1980 publications of the Book of Mormon have been guided by latter-day apostles serving on the Scriptures Committee of the Church which was organized in 1976. From a Church magazine article about this work we read that “inspired direction came from the scripture publication committee of the Quorum of the Twelve: Elder Thomas S. Monson, Elder Boyd K. Packer, and Elder Bruce R. McConkie with W. James Mortimer serving as executive secretary.”[35] The references to America and American are a significant message from latter-day apostles that ought to be heeded by the readers of the book.
-The Hill Cumorah anchors the foundational location of the sacred record in the east of the promised land. The future New Jerusalem anchors the holy account in the west of the promised land. There is ample space between the New Jerusalem and the Hill Cumorah in the land northward and in the land southward of this choice land to portray an epic history of the events of the Book of Mormon within America.
-What greater external evidence could there be of the Book of Mormon being prepared in the promised land than the words of prophets and Jesus Christ written on gold plates and buried by the prophet Moroni in the Hill Cumorah of the eastern United States of America. They then were translated by the gift and power of God when delivered to the Prophet Joseph who had them published to the world in western New York State in the promised land.

28- 1981 – David Palmer. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no official position on Book of Mormon geography.”[36]
– “I speculate that Moroni carried the plates by himself up to the Palmyra, New York area and buried them there. One purpose of Mormon’s compiling an abridgement in the first place may have been the need to have a set of records that were lightweight enough to be portable. It is also possible that Moroni placed the Book of Mormon plates in the New York hill hundreds of years later, as a resurrected being – the same physical status as he held when he appeared to Joseph Smith.”[37]
– “A ‘two-Cumorah’ theory is thus most appropriate, since records were hidden in both Mormon’s Cumorah and Moroni’s Cumorah. Therefore, it matters little whether it was Joseph Smith or one of his associates who called the hill in New York “Cumorah.”[38]
– “It is interesting to note that the eminent Book of Mormon scholar, Sidney Sperry, originally thought that Mormon’s Cumorah was in New York. Nevertheless, he challenged generations of students at the Brigham Young University to check out that theory. The late Dr. Sperry eventually concluded, with most of his students, that there were indeed two Cumorah’s (Sperry, 1968).”[39]
– Summary: “There are two hills called Cumorah. The one in the state of New York was where Moroni buried the plates later given to Joseph Smith. The original hill Cumorah is in Mexico. It was the place where Mormon buried the Nephite library and where the Nephites were destroyed.”[40]

29- 1985 – John L. Sorenson. “Cumorah must be part of the northern or western extremity of the Tuxla Mountains, some 90 miles from the narrow pass and near the huge site of Tres Zapotes. The Tuxtla (‘place of the macaws’) region has been described by artist-author Miguel Covarrubias as ‘a land of unprecedented fertility, watered in all directions by streams, water falls, and lakes.’ Mormon called it ’a land of many waters, rivers and fountains’ (Mormon 6:4). A thousand years before, that area had been key in the late Olmec settlement system no doubt for the same reason.
– “The river Sidon matches the Grijalva River, which comes out of the Guatemalan highlands, runs through a major basin of intermediate elevation, then continues to the sea across a substantial coastal plain. The length of the river, 300 miles, fits what is said about the Sidon, and no other major stream is found in this section of southern Mexico; the Book of Mormon mentions only the one river.”[41]
– Author Note:  This river matches, of necessity, the definition of a river mentioned in the post-1980 edition of the Book of Mormon and Triple Combination indexes “most prominent river in Nephite territory, runs north to sea.” The 2013 edition of the indexes will no longer make reference to the Sidon River flowing north to the sea, as will other interpretive references to geography and places named in the Book of Mormon text be eliminated.

30- December 1985 – President Ezra Taft Benson. “I testify that America is a choice land. The Book of Mormon records the resurrected Lord’s appearance on the American continent.”[42]

31- 1986 – President Ezra Taft Benson. “For example, in the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ’s coming to America.”[43] 

32- 1987 – President Ezra Taft Benson. “Third Nephi is a book that should be read and read again. Its testimony of the resurrected Christ in America is given in purity and beauty.”[44]

33- August 1988 – President Ezra Taft Benson. “Two great American Christian civilizations – the Jaredites and the Nephites – were swept off (this American nation) because they did not ‘serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.’”[45]
– “The Book of Mormon chronicles the rise and fall of two mighty civilizations in America that failed to give heed to this decree, and thus met with destruction.”[46]

34- October 1990 – Office of the First Presidency Letter. In a letter to a bishop in an Oklahoma stake, Brother F. Michael Watson, secretary to the Office of the First Presidency responded to a member of the ward inquiring “about the location of the Hill Cumorah mentioned in the Book of Mormon, where the last battle between the Nephites and Lamanites took place.”
– “The Church has long maintained, as attested to by references in the writings of General Authorities, that the Hill Cumorah in western New York State is the same as referenced in the Book of Mormon.”[47] (Elder F. Michael Watson now serves as a General Authority Seventy.)

35- 1992 – Encyclopedia of Mormonism. “Cumorah in the Book of Mormon refers to a hill and surrounding area where the final battles between the (Jaredites and the) Nephites and Lamanites took place, resulting in the annihilation of the (Jaredite and) Nephite people.
– “Because the New York site does not readily fit the Book of Mormon description of Book of Mormon geography, some Latter-day Saints have looked for other possible explanations and locations, including Mesoamerica.”[48]

36- 1997 – President Gordon B. Hinckley. “I marvel at the miracle of America, the land which the God of Heaven long ago declared to be a land choice above all other lands and concerning which He has made a promise and given a warning in these remarkable words. ‘Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free   from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ’ (Ether 2:12). But surely this is a good land, a choice land, a chosen land. To me it is a miracle, a creation of the Almighty.”[49]

37- 2002 – Terryl Givens. “For most Latter-day Saints, the point of departure for all historical investigation of the Book of Mormon is the position expressed by BYU professor of anthropology, John Sorenson.”[50]
– “Nevertheless, there is something startling in the leap this distinguished sociocultural anthropologist makes into plausible specificity. The Nephite lands are likely ‘the territory between Guatemala City and the city of Veracruz, Mexico,’ he writes.”[51]
– “Speculation has continued and is moving toward a consensus among Mormon scholars.”[52]
-“Since the 1960’s Mormon scholars have been zeroing in on the lands of Mesoamerica as the stage on which Book of Mormon history unfolded. Sidney Sperry at BYU, its archeology department, and various Book of Mormon related societies (the Society for Early Archaeology; the Ancient America Foundation; and the Foundation for Research in Ancient America) all operated on that assumption.”[53]
– Author note: Givens deftly weaves the American Indian ancient history into the more encompassing and expanded lands of ancient peoples throughout the Americas in his views of Book of Mormon lands. Though the plates were indeed found in the New   York Hill Cumorah, ancient stone ruins depicting a history of a people are found more specifically in the Mesoamerican model. Thus the question arises: Does the preponderance of stone ruins in Mesoamerica overwhelm the expanding view of archaeology defining the possible location of the Book of Mormon people and lands?
– After all, the findings of Stephens and Catherwood in the 1840s and the “stupendous ruins, the elegant sculpture and the magnificence of the ruins” advanced the 20^th century rush to tours and books and speculations in the land southward in post 1980 much more readily than the revealed Zarahemla, Manti, Cumorah, Adam-ondi-Ahman, and New Jerusalem in the promised land of eastern North America.

38- 2003 – Dennis Largey. “Some modern scholars believe there are two Cumorah’s, one in Central America where the final battle between the Nephites and Lamanites took place and where Mormon hid all the records, and a second hill where the gold plates were deposited by Moroni and where Joseph Smith received them from the angel Moroni.”[54]

39- 2011 – President Thomas S. Monson. “The Lord gave a divine promise to the ancient inhabitants of this favored country (the United States): ‘Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12).[55]
-“Our Heavenly Father inspired the leaders of…the United States of America, that    they might together, under His direction, having been raised up by God for the purpose, establish the Constitution of this country and…Bill of Rights, that by the year of our Lord 1805 [there would be] a climate where our Heavenly Father could send into this period of mortality a choice spirit who would be known as Joseph Smith, Jr.”[56]

40- December 2012—Elder L. Tom Perry. “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon—a place where divine guidance directed inspired men to create the conditions necessary for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the birth of the United States of America that ushered out the Great Apostasy, when the earth was darkened by the absence of prophets and revealed light. It was no coincidence that the lovely morning of the First Vision occurred just a few decades after the establishment of the United States.
– The First Vision precipitated a flood of revealed truth. Knowledge was restored about the nature of the Godhead. A new translated scripture gave a second witness and testament of Jesus Christ.”[57]

41- “The Book of Mormon reveals the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, who was not forgotten when land was distributed to the tribes of Israel. This was promised in the Abrahamic covenant…  Josephs inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. Choice because it was chosen to be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the Book of Mormon would one day come. Choice because it would eventually host the world headquarters of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. And it was choice because it was a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments.” Russell M Nelson President, Quorum of 12 June, 2016 Provo Missionary Training Center

Author note and summary:

The divinely-appointed location of the Hill Cumorah in the land of promise testifies of ancient preparation by prophets of old to serve Joseph Smith, the latter-day prophet of the restoration. The record testifies of cities that were destroyed, of some that were rebuilt, and of most, if not all, being abandoned in the years following Christ’s visit as war raged upon the promised land. The fate of cities and therefore societies and cultures that were destroyed in the promised land of Eastern America is clear in the record. Why would anyone expect to find an ancient Mesoamerica type civilization with huge stone pyramids when the Book of Mormon makes no mention of any buildings made of stone? The Nephite building material of choice was wood, and their largest buildings and temples were made of wood, not stone including wicked King Noah’s palace (see Mosiah 11:8-10; Helaman 3:9-11). That their cities were built of wood is attested to by the fact that so many were destroyed by burning (see 3 Nephi 8:14, 9:9-10, Mormon 5:5, Ether 14:17). The massive stone edifices (not cement) erected to pagan gods in Mesoamerica were obviously not built according to that which was described in the text, nor are they located in this promised land of the United States of America.

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“This painting above, shows Christ descending in a shaft of light to visit multitudes of Nephites who are streaming up a ramped earthen platform mound reminiscent of other earthen monuments made by the civilization now known as the Hopewell Mound Builders. The background is a vast plain with interspersed massive grass-covered mounds, wooden homes with thatched roofs and hardwood forests, while the foreground shows a large wooden temple atop a monumental ramped earth structure.  The scene is one that is true to the Book of Mormon record, without stone pyramids or thick jungle vegetation since nowhere in the text is there any mention of stone buildings, palm trees, monkeys or a tropical climate. 

The Heartland geography research has overwhelmingly demonstrated through Book of Mormon prophesies, Joseph Smith’s writings, DNA, archaeological, linguistic and cultural evidences that the most likely location for the setting of the Book of Mormon was in America’s Heartland. This painting is consistent with Joseph Smith’s known and historically documented statements and actions in such accounts as the those found in D&C 28, 30, and 32, the Wentworth Letter, the American Revivalist account, the Zelph accounts, Joseph’s hand-written letter to his wife while on Zion’s camp, and many additional sources.” Rod Meldrum, Author “Exploring the Book of Mormon in America’s Heartland”

The Book of Mormon account illustrates a continuous ebb and flow of faith and folly among a people in a choice land, the promised land. The keystone cities around which the Book of Mormon story revolves are Zarahemla and the future New Jerusalem which will be built in the land which is choice above all other lands. The Lord has revealed to latter-day prophets that the location of the yet future New Jerusalem will be in America. The Book of Mormon prophets wrote their messages in and about the same places and among the same people where the risen Lord Jesus Christ visited the promised land of America, the chief city being Zarahemla, revealed in D&C 125. The Book of Mormon cites the land of Zarahemla, the city of Zarahemla, people of Zarahemla, and a King Zarahemla 160 times in the record. Even the Book of Moses 6:17 says “the people of God came out of the land of Shulon and dwelt in a land of promise, which he called after his own son, whom he had named Cainan.” And Section 107:53 records, “Three years prior to the death of Adam he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah (all high priests) with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. There he bestowed upon them his last blessing.”

Author Conclusions:

1. As I comprehend the term “drift” from the counsel of the Brethren, it is not in the sense of the worst possible conditions; such as apostasy, or ignorant and aimless studies, or lack of direction, inspiration, and purpose, or lack of testimony and support of the prophets, seers, and revelators. Rather, I speak of “drift” as defined by tendency, inclination, trending, intent and tenor, or being carried along by circumstances.
2. I see no drift in the words of the Latter day Church leaders with respect to the Hill Cumorah being located in the particular part of the vast promised lands which include the United States of America.
3. I do recognize drift in the consensus theories and scholarly views pertaining to dual Cumorah’s as espoused by certain Church sponsored organizations. These views do not constitute an official Church position by default. Neither do I advocate criticism and personal attacks on persons who are faithful Church members and advocate alternative Book of Mormon land models. These attacks represent a pronounced drift from clearly depicted mission statements of these organizations such as “seek to deepen understanding and nurture discipleship among Latter-day Saints while promoting mutual respect and goodwill among people of all faiths.”
4. Some of the grandest experiences of my life have been associated with tours and explorations of Mesoamerican and North American ruins, edifices, mounds, jungles, plains, and cultures. I applaud those who have invested in study, research, writing, and travel to delve into the lands and models of ancient peoples and practices in the Americas. I would hope that additional faith, energy, focus and forums could be devoted to the ancient people, cultures, and histories of North America, particularly the Eastern United States of America and Canada. The one Cumorah model is very deserving of increased attention and scholarly research of Church sponsored organizations. It is time to study and explore potential Book of Mormon lands  models beyond Mesoamerica and thus serve and honor the Lord as He has honored this great and promised land of the United States of America.

Author Further considerations:

I am deeply grateful for many friends and associates in the Church who have counseled with me with respect to the preparation and content of this paper. I marvel at the value of correct principles associated with counseling together.

In Mosiah 18 we learn of Alma preaching the gospel, teaching the people the principles of faith, repentance and baptism, and organizing the Church of Christ around the city and land of Zarahemla. These events were occurring in 147 B.C. in the promised land and continued until approximately A.D. 326. In light of the testimonies of Joseph Smith and the prophets since 1830, shouldn’t consideration be given by our own dedicated and faithful scholars in institutions of higher learning and Church History Departments to expanded efforts and research in the realm of the ancient history of North America? These professionals could explore the development of The Church of Jesus Christ of former days among the ancient inhabitants of North America.

Likewise, our Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (replacing The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), might also be encouraged to focus research and development on the ancient American Indian and the developing and remarkable DNA evidence linking them to ancient Israel.  What about advanced studies for scholarly expertise on the Lamanite history of the Americas from 500 B.C. to A.D. 385? LDS scholars should lead the world in an understanding of the ancient Lamanite/Indian history and culture of the eastern United States of America. The Adena (roughly 1000 B.C. – A.D. 100) and Hopewell (roughly 300 B.C. – A.D. 400) cultures of North America are parallel in time and could be linked to the Book of Mormon, and the ancient Church of Jesus Christ in thousands of historic sites within and not far distance from the Latter-day Church historic sites.

Our own faithful scholars and academics could open the windows of exploration and discovery to truths about ancient peoples and societies in North America that are related to the people of the sacred Book of Mormon. Latter-day prophets have long talked of the “people of the book,” “the people of the covenant,” the “day of the Lamanite,” and the “children of the promise.” Surely it is time for our scholarly resources to demonstrate appropriate attention and research to the ancient North American Indians who must be counted among the people of the book and their real ancient American history be told in these latter days.

Consider the glorious contribution to strengthening faith and testimony among members of the Church by gifted and skillful researchers and writers who amplify the divine purposes of God for designating the Book of Mormon to come forth in the promised land of North America as the special and second witness in the latter-days to bring the people unto Jesus Christ. The numerous visits of the Lord to America certify over and over that the choice land is indeed where His holy work has been centered in the last days.” Anonymous

                                                           Notes

[1] Palmer, David, In Search of Cumorah, p. 19, 1981.

[2] Largey, Dennis, Book of Mormon Reference Companion, 2003, p. 288.

[3] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, 1992, p. 176-179.

[4] History of the Church 2:78-80.

[5] Smith, Joseph Fielding, Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, pp. 235-236.

[6] History of the Church 2:79-80.

[7] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 2002, pp. 13-14.

[8] Ibid. 7,at p.92.

[9] Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 208.

[10] Ibid. 5, at p. 3:239.

[11] Millennial Star, 16:296.

[12] Journal of Samuel D. Taylor, September 25, 1838, filed in Church Historian’s Office.

[13] The Joseph Smith Papers, Histories, Vol. 1, appendix, 1840, pp. 519, 532-537.

[14] Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1965, Wentworth Letter, pp. 217.

[15] Ibid., p. 217.

[16] Ibid., p .218.

[17] Whitney, Orson F., Life of Heber C. Kimball, 1888, pp. 25-26.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Talmage, James E., journal entry, 20 August 1920, pp. 132-33.

[21] Ibid. 5, President Joseph Fielding Smith from a conference of the Eastern States Mission, near Palmyra, New        York, September 21-23, 1923,  at p. 242.

[22] Ibid. pp. 3:239-240 (from Church News, 1938).

[23] Ibid. p. 3:240 (Church News, September 10, 1938, p. 1).

[24] Widstoe, John A., “Is Book of Mormon Geography Known?,” Improvement Era, July 1950 pp. 547 and 596.

[25] Petersen, Mark E., General Conference, April 1953.

[26] Ibid. 5, at pp. 237-238.

[27] Ibid., p. 238.

[28] Ibid., p. 238.

[29] Hunter, Milton R., General Conference, April 1961, p. 60.

[30] Peterson, Mark E., General Conference, April 1962.

[31] Benson, Ezra Taft, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 51.

[32] Ibid., p. 589.

[33] Ibid., pp. 587-88.

[34] McConkie, Bruce R., Mortal Messiah, Book 4, 1981, pp. 348-349, 358.

[35] Harper, Bruce T., “The Church Publishes a New Triple Combination,” Ensign, October 1981.

[36] Palmer, David, In Search of Cumorah, Horizon Publishing, 1981, p. 19.

[37] Ibid., p. 20.

[38] Ibid., p. 21

[39] Ibid., p. 25

[40] Ibid., p. 26.

[41] Sorenson, John L., An Ancient American Setting, 1985, p. 347.

[42] Benson, Ezra Taft, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p 17 (1 Dec. 1985 Devotional).

[43] Ibid., p. 59 (Ensign, November 1986, Conference Report).

[44] Ibid., p. 60 (Ensign, May 1987, Conference Report).

[45] Ibid., p. 621 (parenthesis added).

[46] Ibid., p. 576. (August 1988)

[47] Office of the First Presidency letter, October 1990.

[48] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1992, David A. Palmer citation,  pp. 346-347.  (parenthesis added)

[49] Hinckley, Gordon B., Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 1997, pp. 9-10.

[50] Givens, Terryl, By The Hand of Mormon, 2002.

[51] Ibid.

[52] Ibid.

[53] Ibid.

[54] Largey, Dennis, Book of Mormon Reference Companion,  citing

 David A. Palmer, 2003, p. 222-224.

[55] Monson, Thomas S., Teachings of Thomas S. Monson, 2011, pp. 14-15.

[56] Ibid., pp. 157-158.

[57] Perry, L. Tom. “The Tradition of Light and Testimony.” Ensign, December 2012, pp. 29-30.

How I Understand Chosen vs Choice

“I think there is importance in the Brethren being neutral on Geography, evolution and other difficult issues. They want us to gain our own witness to secondary information. They have given us sound doctrine and that is what we should focus on. I know through the Spirit that the Book of Mormon is true. However, I love to seek for other truth and as Moroni has said “I may know the truth of all things”

I believe the Land of Promise spoken of in the Book of Mormon is the United States of America. The Constitution was created by the Lord, Adam and Eve were placed on this same land and the New Jerusalem will be on this same land. No need for me to check out Mesoamerica anymore as I did for 40 years.

Just like evolution. I don’t believe we came from an ape and I know that matter cannot come from nothing. I don’t have to look into science to figure this out, but by the witness of what the scriptures tell us.

I don’t expect President Nelson to come right out and tell me where the Book of Mormon events happened, or if we came from an ape, I know through sound reasoning the answer that makes most sense to me. Now if the Brethren say otherwise, I would always listen to them first, and then pray about it, but in my opinion the Church is neutral on difficult issues that exist to help each of us individually come to a knowledge of the “truth of all things” as promised in the Book of Mormon. I don’t need to be commanded in all things!

“The Book of Mormon reveals that Joseph, the son of Jacob who was once sold into Egypt, foresaw the Prophet Joseph Smith and his day (see 2 Ne. 3:6-21) and noted that there would be many similarities in their lives. Centuries later, the Prophet Joseph stated, “I feel like Joseph in Egypt.” (The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1984, p. 409; spelling modernized.)

The Book of Mormon reveals that the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, was not forgotten when, as promised in the Abrahamic covenant, land was distributed to the tribes of Israel. Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. (See Ether 13:2, 8.) It was choice not because of beauty or wealth of natural resources, but choice because it was chosen. It was to be the repository of sacred writing on plates of gold from which the Book of Mormon would one day come, choice because it would eventually host world headquarters of the restored church of Jesus Christ in the latter days.” A Treasured Testament Elder Russell M. Nelson Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Ensign: July 1993 here:

I paraphrase what Pres. Nelson mentioned above, where was the repository of sacred writings, and where is the headquarters of the Church?, in other words, what was the Land Chosen by God? The USA. Not Greenland, not Brazil, not, Guatemala, not Quebec, but the land chosen was the heartland and the territory of the United States. See my blog here about being chosen, not necessarily as being the best country or the most beautiful, but the Choice of the Lord.

This is very simple to understand, and those who believe in a different location of the events of the Book of Mormon just don’t understand the quote by Elder Perry who said, “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon—a place where divine guidance directed inspired men to create the conditions necessary for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Elder L. Tom Perry Ensign Dec. 2012″

By Rian Nelson