“Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away.” Ether 13:8
The Land of Joseph is the United States of America where the Native American Indians, or Hopewell or Nephites and Lamanites lived.
“Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others” -Pres. Russell M. Nelson
Historians and archaeologists all over the world have known for years about the existence and cultures of Native Americans in North America. See the chart below:
The Hopewell Culture describes the common aspects of the Native American culture that began in the Florida panhandle in 600 – 500 BC that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and Midwestern United States from 300 BC to 400 AD, in the Middle Woodland period.
WE KNOW IT!
“Let the Government of the United States also continue to gather together, and to colonize the tribes and remnants of Israel (the Indians), and also to feed, clothe, succor, and protect them, and endeavor to civilize and unite; and also to bring them to the knowledge of their Israelitish origin, and of the fulness of the gospel which was revealed to, and written by, their forefathers on this land;… He has revealed the origin and the Records of the aboriginal tribes of America, and their future destiny. —And we know it. He has revealed the fulness of the gospel, with its gifts, blessings, and ordinances. —And we know it. He has commanded us to bear witness of it, first to the Gentiles and then to the remnants of Israel and the Jews. —And we know it. He has commanded us to gather together his Saints on this Continent, and build up holy cities and sanctuaries. —And we know it.” PROCLAMATION of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. New York April 6, 1845. James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-75), 1:, p.252-266
ANCIENT RECORDS
“Circumstances are daily transpiring which give additional testimony to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. . . . it was [once considered] improbable, nay, almost impossible—notwithstanding the testimony of history to the contrary, that anything like plates could have been used anciently; particularly among this people. The following letter and certificate, will, perhaps have a tendency to convince the skeptical, that such things have been used, and that even the obnoxious Book of Mormon, may be true; and as the people in Columbus’ day were obliged to believe that there was such a place as America; so will the people in this day be obliged to believe, however reluctantly, that there may have been such plates as those from which the Book of Mormon was translated.” John Taylor [Times and Seasons 4 (May 1, 1843), pp. 185-6]
THIS LAND
“The Angel also informed him that America had once been people by a remnant of the seed of Israel of the tribe of Joseph who became two great Nations upon this Land one of those Nations were the present Natives of America or the Indians the other Nation was distroid [sic] about four hundred years after Christ.” Pratt, Parley Parker 1807-1857. An epistle written by an elder of the Church,
“I am asked to occupy the few minutes yet remaining: If the Spirit gives me liberty I will pursue the train of thought that has passed through my mind while Brother Richards has been speaking upon the spirit that has gone abroad upon the remnants of the house of Israel who occupy this land, the American Indians whom we understand to be the descendants of the Nephites, the Lamanites, the Lemuelites and the Ishmaelites who formerly possessed this land, whose fathers we have an account of in the Book of Mormon.” The Indians—The Influence of the Elders Among Them in the Interest of Peace, Etc. Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered at Logan, Sunday Afternoon, February 5th, 1882
THE HISTORY OF HIS FOREFATHERS
Mormon lived in that age of the world, and was a Nephite, and a Prophet of the Lord. He, by the commandment of the Lord, made an abridgment of the sacred records, which contained the history of his forefathers, and the Prophecies and Gospel which had been revealed among them; to which he added a sketch of the history of his own time, and the destruction of his nation. Previous to his death, the abridged records fell into the hands of his son Moroni, who continued them down to A. D. 420; at which time he deposited them carefully in the earth, on a hill which was then called Cumorah, but is situated in Ontario County, township of Manchester, and State of New York, North America. This he did in order to preserve them from the Lamanites, who overran the country, and sought to destroy them and all the records pertaining to the Nephites. This record lay concealed, or sealed up, from A. D. 420 to September 22, 1827, at which time it was found by Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., he being directed thither by an angel of the Lord.” A Voice of Warning, page 96 Parley P. Pratt
CUMORAH/RAMAH
“Moroni told Joseph that he had hidden up the records four centuries after the birth of Jesus, while he was living on the earth. He said that the Nephites, the people to which he belonged, called the hill where they stood Cumorah, and that a still earlier people, the Jaredites, called it Ramah. This was a very important hill in the history of both these peoples.” The Latter-day Prophet. History of Joseph Smith Written for Young People by George Q. Cannon 1900
THE LORD WILLED IT!
Joseph Fielding Smith said the following in the April 1966 General Conference, “America was discovered because the Lord willed it. The gospel was restored in America, rather than in some other land because the Lord willed it. This is the land “shadowing with wings” spoken of by Isaiah that today is sending ambassadors by the sea to a nation scattered and peeled, which at one time was terrible in the beginning (Isaiah 18:1-2). Now that nation is being gathered, and once again they shall be in favor with the Lord.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1966, pp. 12-15).
HERE IN AMERICA
“Moroni’s father was commander of the armies of this ancient people, known as Nephites. His name was Mormon. The war of which we speak took place here in America some four hundred years after Christ. As the fighting neared its end, Mormon gathered the remnant of his forces about a hill which they called Cumorah, located in what is now the western part of the state of New York… When finished with his record, Moroni was to hide it up in that same Hill Cumorah which was their battlefield. It would come forth in modern times as the Book of Mormon, named after Moroni’s father, the historian who compiled it.” (“The Last Words of Moroni,” Conference Reports, October 1978) Mark E. Petersen
CURRENT AS THE MORNING NEWSPAPER
“It’s narrative is a chronicle of nations long since gone. But in its descriptions of the problems of today’s society, it is as current as the morning newspaper and much more definitive, inspired, and inspiring concerning the solutions to those problems… If the Book of Mormon is true, then America is a choice land, but if it is to remain such the inhabitants of the land must worship the God of the land, the Lord Jesus Christ. The histories of two great nations, told with warning in this sacred volume, indicate that while we must have science, while we must have education, while we must have arms, we also must have righteousness if we are to merit the protection of God.” Gordon B. Hinckley The Power of the Book of Mormon Ensign June 1988
A MIGHTY LAND
This has always been a mighty land in God’s plan. It was in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman prior to his death, called the great high priests together and there bestowed upon them his last blessing. The Lord appearing there proclaimed Adam to be Michael, the Prince, the Archangel. (D&C 107:53-54) It is to that same spot that Adam, as the Ancient of Days, shall come to visit his people (D&C 116), where judgement shall be set and the books opened. (Daniel 7:9 ff; Revelation 20:4) It is here on this land that the New Jerusalem shall be built “unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph” — ourselves and those others the literal descendants of Lehi. (Ether 13:5 ff; 1 Nephi 14:1-2, 2 Nephi 10:18) And finally, it is here on this hemisphere that Zion shall be built. (Tenth Article of Faith.) It is this fact and this purpose, the building of Zion on this hemisphere, which is Zion, which seems to be the dominant elements in all of God’s dealings with them who possess this land, for Isaiah, speaking more than twenty-five hundred years ago, declared that “out of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3.) President J. Reuben Clark, Jr The Glorious Purpose page 103
CHOICE ABOVE ALL OTHER LANDS
“Because of his faithfulness and integrity, Joseph received greater blessings than the progenitors of Jacob, and was rewarded with the land of Zion. His brothers, with malicious intent, separated him and cast him out from among them. The Lord, in rewarding him, separated him from his brothers — the other tribes of Israel — and gave him an inheritance in a land that is choice above all other lands, which, we have learned from the Book of Mormon and modern revelation, is America… We are informed in the revelations given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, that the city of Zion and the New Jerusalem is one and the same. In a number of revelations the Lord speaks of the New Jerusalem which is to be built…” Zion and Jerusalem by Joseph Fielding Smith, Improvement Era Vol. 22 JULY 1919
ONLY TWO PROMISED LANDS
3 Nephi 20:22: “And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you.
23 Behold, I am he of whom Moses spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.
24 Verily I say unto you, yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have testified of me.
25 And behold, ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant—
27 And after that ye were blessed then fulfilleth the Father the covenant which he made with Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed—unto the pouring out of the Holy Ghost through me upon the Gentiles, which blessing upon the Gentiles shall make them mighty above all, unto the scattering of my people, O house of Israel.”
28 And they shall be a scourge unto the people of this land. Nevertheless, when they shall have received the fulness of my gospel, then if they shall harden their hearts against me I will return their iniquities upon their own heads, saith the Father.
29 And I will remember the covenant which I have made with my people; and I have covenanted with them that I would gather them together in mine own due time, that I would give unto them again the land of their fathers for their inheritance, which is the land of Jerusalem, which is the promised land unto them forever, saith the Father.” 3 Nephi 20:22-29
AMERICA’S PAST UNCOVERED
“Remarkable discoveries of evidences of America’s prehistoric civilizations in various parts of the country are frequently being reported in public prints…
On Sept. 10, what are believed to be bodies of a royal family of the ancient mound builders were unearthed in a group of mounds near Bainbridge, Ohio. With these remains were found strands of pearls, some of extraordinary size and perfection; also ornaments of silver and copper and some sculptured objects of exquisite workmanship.
This is a highly interesting find. It shows that these mound builders in the Mississippi valley were wealthy and civilized, and that they must have had commercial connections with distant places where pearl oysters were procured.
Scientists know nothing certain about the time when the mound builders lived, whence they came and what became of them.
However, when Zion’s Camp, in the year 1834, was temporarily located on the western bank of the Illinois river, the Prophet Joseph and others ascended a high mound, on the top of which three altars had once stood. On removing some soil, they uncovered a skeleton, between the ribs of which there was an arrowhead. To the Prophet it was later made known that this was the remains of a Lamanite warrior, by the name of Zelph, who served the great Onandagus, a prophet known from the Hill Cumorah to the Rocky Mountains. Zelph was slain during the last struggle between the Lamanites and Nephites. May not this furnish a key to the mystery of the mound builders in the Mississippi valley? Besides this, at various points, from Maine to California, we find evidences of a race, or perhaps more than one race, that, like the Jaredites, who from their point of departure, carried with them “the fish of the waters,” depended largely upon sea food for their sustenance. The evidence of this they have left in numerous shell mounds, which consist almost entirely of oyster shells, some of gigantic size.
Some tell us American archaeology does not corroborate the Book of Mormon. As I see it, American Archaeologists will never unravel the mysteries of this country without the Book of Mormon.” THE JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR, Vol. 60, No. 10 October 1925 Janne M. Sjodahl
INTEREST IN HISTORY AND IN GEOGRAPHY
“We have a great message to tell the world. We have to live it, and then we have to tell it, too. If you’re interest in history and in geography, just think what you can get out of the Book of Mormon! The Book of Mormon is the most tangible evidence that we have the truth, for no man could have written it at the time that it was written—except the story of the Prophet Joseph be a true story. Just imagine what that book has to tell us about America. Go back to the promises of Jacob and Moses and Joseph, who was sold into Egypt and who was promised a new land in the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills. Nobody in this world, outside of this Church, can tell you where that new land is, and yet Moses, in describing that land, used the word precious five times in just four short verses in the bible (see Deuteronomy 33:13–16). He called it a precious land, and we read the history of how Lehi and his people came here and how they were told that it was a land choice above all other lands. This fact is repeated over and over again in the scriptures.
From a historical standpoint, it ought to be worth something to people to know about this land of America or when Columbus discovered it. The knowledge that we get through the Book of Mormon is a knowledge that we can’t get any other way in all this world. It not only tells us of the great destiny of this land of America, but it also gives the promises of the Lord through his prophets that it would be a land choice above all other lands and that it would be the land upon which God would build his New Jerusalem in the latter days. It was hidden away from the eyes of the world that it might not be overrun, and the Spirit of the Lord moved upon a man across the great waters to come here. We understand and know that man was Columbus. You see what a marvelous thing it is to have understanding.”
LeGrande Richards, “You’re Fringe Benefits” 1975 Devotional
