How could Joseph not know the actual location of the Nephites or its geography, as many Mesoamericanists say? I don’t think that was possible. I love believing Joseph Smith and not listening to many so-called scholars.
Joseph had at least 20 meetings with Moroni alone, you know. I’m confident Moroni showed Joseph the Nephites location. After all Joseph is quoted as saying while in Atlas, Illinois on the Mississippi River, “wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting occasionally the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity…” Joseph Smith Papers Letter to Emma Smith, 4 June 1834 Page 56
John Clark an avid Mesoamericanist said, “One thing all readers share with Joseph is a partial understanding of the book’s complexities. Indeed, many things about the book were simply unknowable in 1830. Over the last sixty years, Hugh Nibley, John Sorenson, and other scholars have shown the Book of Mormon to be “truer” than Joseph Smith or any of his contemporaries could know. Consequently, what Joseph Smith knew and understood about the book ought to be research questions rather than presumptions. Thanks in large part to his critics, it is becoming clear that Joseph Smith did not fully understand the geography, scope, historical scale, literary form, or cultural content of the book.” See Jonathan Neville’s blog here for quote and details. https://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2021/06/the-worlds-of-joseph-smith-updated.html
President John Taylor said, “the principles which [Joseph Smith] had, placed him in communication with the Lord, and not only with the Lord, but with the ancient apostles and prophets; such men, for instance, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Adam, Seth, Enoch, and Jesus and the Father, and the apostles that lived on this continent as well as those who lived on the Asiatic continent. He seemed to be as familiar with these people as we are with one another” (in Journal of Discourses,21:94). Elder Orson Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve added that Joseph Smith “often received visits from Nephi, Moroni, Peter, James, John (the beloved), John (the Baptist), Elijah, Moses, the three Nephites, etc. etc.”1
On at least twenty-two occasions, the former-day prophet Moroni came as a resurrected being to instruct, reprimand, or bless the latter-day prophet Joseph Smith.4
Elder Orson Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve added that Joseph Smith “often received visits from Nephi, Moroni, Peter, James, John (the beloved), John (the Baptist), Elijah, Moses, the three Nephites, etc. etc.”1
The sources History of the Church and Journal of Discourses are abbreviated as HC and JD. The Prophet Joseph communicated with other messengers who previously had lived righteously on earth, but the precise nature of these visits is not known. These personages include Seth, Isaac, Jacob, and the Jewish and Nephite Apostles (see Journal of Discourses,21:94). In addition, Joseph Smith saw other angels in vision, some of whom are identified in recorded revelation (see, for example, D&C 107:53; compare History of the Church, 3:388).
