Ether – Moroni – D&C 84 Link Confirms North American Location of Cumorah
By Samuel Dunaway – September 27, 2022
Sam’s Testimony
I take personal responsibility for the contents of this article, knowing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes no position on any proposed Book of Mormon sites.
The reason I have written this article is to present grounds for agreement among church members. This subject has no bearing on the basis of a personal testimony, which is given by the Holy Ghost. However, it does give credence to the Lord’s admonition “I say unto you, be one” See D&C 38:27, 1 Cor 1:10, Moses 7:18.
For too long there has been confusion on the subject of the hill Cumorah and location of the sacred records while the Nephites possessed them, as well as the location of the Nephite and Lamanite inhabitants. Such confusion is neither warranted nor appreciated especially when the Book of Mormon is clear. I testify that the Book of Mormon contains the word of God, as made known to me by the Holy Ghost. Although locations and evidences being temporal are secondary and will never prove the divinity of the Book of Mormon, they are an important part of our heritage. Were it not so, the Church would not have acquired historic sites.
Far too many have been negatively impacted by our lack of oneness. At the very least, we are required to cease contending amongst ourselves and to stop confusing our converts and our youth. We owe them a basis of strength which is supportive, keeping them from being blown about by every wind of doctrine against us by our enemies.
Reminder… ‘too often, due to the “natural man” and woman in us, you and I are sometimes that enemy.’ (Elder Holland, Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually)
*For the purpose of this article, North American Continent includes the contiguous United States and Canada. Central American Continent would include areas from Mexico to Panama.
by Tom Holdman (Stained glass)
Hill Cumorah Visitors Center, Palmyra, New York
1. Everyone who studies the Book of Mormon must agree that at least one Nephite, Moroni, and numerous Lamanites, who hunted him (Mormon 8:7), existed on the North American continent at the time he hid the few plates that his father Mormon gave him in the earth. See Mormon 6:6, 8:4, 8:14, Moroni 20:2. They remained hidden in a prominent hill in New York until Moroni directed Joseph Smith concerning the plates. See JSH 1:51.
2a. The Nephites were very careful to document who had possession of the records, and where the records were located when not in the personal possession of the record keeper. See Mormon 1:3-4, 2:17, 6:6, Ether 15:33. This careful practice was performed the entire time that the Nephites had the records. There is even detail recorded about the Jaredite plates found by Limhi’s people during their expedition, as well as a record of Coriantumr, the Jaredite, dwelling with the people of Zarahemla. See Mosiah 8:9, Omni 1:21. The Nephites were meticulously serious about accurately preserving the records; to the degree that when Jesus personally reviewed their records, he corrected a single error. See 3 Nephi 23:7-13.
2b. Two separate hills are recorded as repositories where the records were located or hidden. One is named Shim and the other Cumorah. Due to the careful and accurate process the Nephites practiced, only one hill named Cumorah existed. If there were a duplicate named hill, it would have been recorded in the Book of Mormon. No such licensure was given by the Nephites, nor is found in writings expressly authored by Joseph Smith. We know exactly where the sole hill Cumorah is located.
3. The prophet Ether references the place of “a New Jerusalem on this land” (Ether 3:3, 3:2-8). We know the place of the New Jerusalem by revelation (D&C 84:2-4), to be in western Missouri. Coriantumr was king over all the land (Ether 12:1) in which Ether lived. Coriantumr was unaware that another people were being established in the land (Ether 13:21) until Ether told him. Therefore Coriantumr’s kingdom could not have spanned beyond the land area of the continent upon which they dwelt. He was simply unable to maintain so large a kingdom, losing it to other peoples. Where then were Coriantumr and Ether? In order for Ether to correctly and emphatically declare “this land” four times in Ether 13, as being the future place of the New Jerusalem, he must needs have been standing on the North American continent. Otherwise standing on Central or South American Continents, he would have had to declare “the land northward“. Therefore, we know that at least two million Jaredites inhabited this land of North America. See Ether 15:2.
4a. The final battles of the Jaredites, also the Nephites and Lamanites, are identified by Moroni as being by the hill Ramah, which was the Jaredite name for the hill Cumorah, where Mormon “did hide up the records”. See Ether 15:11, Mormon 6:6. Therefore the hill Cumorah exists on the same land that Ether declared as the land where the New Jerusalem would be built. Because the final battles of the Nephites and Lamanites were also upon the North American Continent, at least two hundred thirty thousand Nephites (Mormon 6:10-15) and greater numbers of Lamanites, existed upon the same.
4b. It is highly plausible, given the circumstances of record relocation, that the hill Shim exists in close proximity to the hill Cumorah. During the midst of terrible battles and at great peril, Mormon made the decision to move several sets of heavy permanent records on plates of various metals between the hills for security and safe keeping. We know that one of Mormon’s main tasks was to abridge records onto the gold plates which included the plates of Nephi. In addition, the Jaredite plates, which Moroni later abridged, brass plates and sword taken from Laban, as well as the Liahona would have been part of the relocation. I’m not sure of other records that were in his possession. Mormon also had to keep the plates away from extremely corrupt and greedily depraved Nephites. My point is that it was not easy to orchestrate the move in a secure fashion.
5. Since the Nephites and Lamanites existed in such great numbers in North America, as indicated indirectly by Moroni, we must agree that they inhabited the land for a period of at least several decades during which continual battles and wars occurred, beginning in 321 AD. See Mormon 1:8.
I invite any reader to share with me your specific information about this research as well as any changes you feel are necessary.
Samuel Dunaway
Personal background:
●Born in Illinois in 60s.
●Spent much time as a young boy hiking and building forts in the woods.
●Some older boys in the neighborhood searched for arrow heads.
●Moved to Colorado and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1983.
●Rian Nelson introduced me to the Church. While he shared his testimony with me, he did not mention anything about evidences of the Book of Mormon.
●Gained a testimony of Church gospel and doctrine based on revelation from Holy Ghost, thus desiring baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
●Since reading the Book of Mormon for the first time, I believed that Moroni buried plates in the hill Cumorah in New York.
●Heard various versions and theories about where the Nephites and Lamanites may have lived in the intervening years.
●Gave the prevailing theories a lot of thought but never came to any sound conclusions regarding proposed Central or South America locations.
●Confusion regarding the various theories resulted in many questions including the following:
-How did Mormon relocate several records over such a vast distance to the hill Cumorah and in the midst of terrible battles?
‐How did Moroni carry heavy plates with him while wandering northward, evading Lamanite hunters and continuing to write the record?
●In 2016 I began to study evidences relating to Book of Mormon peoples.
●Have found some North America location theories to be extraneous but well documented as a whole.
●In 2018 I was pleasantly surprised to learn of Rian’s involvement in research supporting such evidences.
●My divine testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon remains separate from any evidences.
Samuel Dunaway
[email protected]
