Below is information and quotes about the United States, Hill Cumorah, The Book of Mormon, Lamanites, & Joseph Smith, where statements are made as facts by Prophets and Apostles. Not only do they witness by the Spirit that the Book of Mormon is true, many also say it is a fact that there is only one Hill Cumorah.
Do you think a Prophet or Apostle would ever use the word FACT or PROOF or EXACT
or DEFINATELY; whether in a daily conversation or as a revelation unless he
believed it was indeed TRUE?
I Don’t Either!
Joseph Smith’s Letter to Emma June 4, 1834 is shown below.
Joseph Smith’s Letter to Emma is True! Click the letter above to see for yourself
Jonathan Neville said, “Most members of the Church still believe the Hill Cumorah is in New York, a few miles from Palmyra.
Church leaders have consistently taught this for over 160 years. No member of the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve has ever taught Cumorah was anywhere other than New York. New discoveries in Church history validate this teaching.
However, some intellectuals in the Church—including faculty at BYU and CES—promote the theory that the Book of Mormon took place in Central America (Mesoamerica). This theory teaches that there are “two Cumorah’s.” They admit that Joseph Smith got the plates from the hill in New York (one Cumorah), but they rationalize that New York is too far from Central America (Mesoamerica) to be the scene of the final battles of the Jaredites and the Nephites. They also claim Mormon’s depository (Mormon 6:6) is somewhere in Mexico.
These intellectuals are teaching their students that the prophets and apostles are wrong about the New York Cumorah.
Because these intellectuals have trained thousands of LDS students at BYU and CES, their ideas have permeated the Church. The “two-Cumorahs” theory is on display every time you see a depiction of the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica. This theory has caused confusion among members and investigators. But the teachings of the prophets are clear and consistent.
In Letter VII (July 1835) President Cowdery described the Hill Cumorah in New York. He explained that “at about one mile west rises another ridge of less height, running parallel with the former” and declares it was a “fact that here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed.” He emphasized that “in this valley fell the remaining strength and pride of a once powerful people, the Nephites.” “This hill, by the Jaredites, was called Ramah; by it, or around it, pitched the famous army of Coriantumr their tent… The opposing army were to the west, and in this same valley, and near by.” He also explained that Mormon’s depository of Nephite records (Mormon 6:6) was in the same hill.” Joseph Smith Papers, here. Jonathan Neville http://bookofmormonwars.blogspot.com/
Joseph Fielding Smith [Fact]
“It must be conceded that this description fits perfectly the land of Cumorah in New York, as it has been known since the visitation of Moroni to the Prophet Joseph Smith, for the hill is in the proximity of the Great Lakes and also in the land of many rivers and fountains. Moreover, the Prophet Joseph Smith himself is on record, definitely declaring the present hill called Cumorah to be the exact hill spoken of in the Book of Mormon. Further, the fact that all of his associates from the beginning down have spoken of it as the identical hill where Mormon and Moroni hid the records, must carry some weight. It is difficult for a reasonable person to believe that such men as Oliver Cowdery. Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, David Whitmer, and many others, could speak frequently of the Spot where the Prophet Joseph Smith obtained the plates as the Hill Cumorah, and not be corrected by the Prophet, if that were not the fact. That they did speak of this hill in the days of the Prophet in this definite manner is an established record of history.” Doctrines of Salvation Joseph Fielding Smith Chapter 12
Anthony W. Ivins [Fact]
“The passages which I have quoted from the Book of Mormon… definitely establish the following facts: That the Hill Cumorah, and the Hill Ramah are identical; that it was around this hill that the armies of both the Jaredites and Nephites, fought their great last battles; that it was in this hill that Mormon deposited all of the sacred records which had been entrusted to his care by Ammaron, except the abridgment which he had made from the plates of Nephi, which were delivered into the hands of his son, Moroni. We know positively that it was in this hill that Moroni deposited the abridgment made by his father, and his own abridgment of the record of the Jaredites, and that it was from this hill that Joseph Smith obtained possession of them.” President Anthony W. Ivins of the First Presidency, April 1929 General Conference:
HEBER J. GRANT [Knows it]!
While listening to the remarks of Brother Ivins, referring to a book that was written by one of our enemies, in which the statement is made that there is not a particle of evidence to show that there is any trace of the Hebrew among the people who anciently inhabited this country, and that there is no evidence that would go to prove that the Book of Mormon is true. I was reminded of a little item of evidence that came under my observation while I was in the City of London. A gentleman there, to whom a very dear friend of mine, Col. Alex. G. Hawes, had given me a letter, kindly invited a number of newspaper men to his home to meet me. I am very sorry that the newspaper men declined the honor; but I had the privilege of meeting with this man and his family, and a few friends, and conversing with them. One of his friends had been a member of the British legation at Constantinople, and had spent a considerable portion of his life there. He had traveled all over the holy land, and was familiar with the people and their customs. Among other things, he said: “Mr. Grant, I was astonished beyond measure, when I visited Canada, to find there oriental patterns woven in beads, by the American Indians. They were the same patterns that were woven in rugs, in the oriental countries. I have traveled extensively, and I had never seen those oriental patterns in any part of the world except in the holy land, until I found them among the North American Indians. Those patterns have been handed down for hundreds of years, from generation to generation ; they are kept in families, and can be found nowhere else; and how under the heavens those Indians, who have no connection with the people of the holy land, should have the same patterns is a mystery to me.” “Well, mv friend,” I said, “if I were to inform you that the forefathers of these American Indians came from the city of Jerusalem, that would explain it, wouldn’t it?” He replied, “Well, of course, it would.” I asked him if he had ever read the Book of Mormon. He said, “No.” “Well, it will be my pleasure to send you a copy, and from it you will learn that the forefathers of the American Indians came from Jerusalem.” “Well,” he said, “that explains the mystery; I am much obliged for the book.” Now, the one thing for us to do, as Latter-day Saints, is to be loyal, to be true, to be patriotic, to be honest with God; then we need have no fear of what the world may say about us. We have the truth, and we know it, thank God; we know it, though the world may not know it. Let us follow the admonition of the Savior, and let our light so shine that other men seeing our good deeds shall glorify God.”
Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. New York April 6, 1845 [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
Jonathan Neville
“It’s interesting to note that Oliver wrote Letter VII (the essay that declares it is a fact that the Hill Cumorah in New York is the scene of the final battles of the Jaredites and Nephites and the site of Mormon’s depository of Nephite records) in his capacity as Assistant President of the Church.
He wrote Letter VII with the assistance of Joseph Smith.
He wrote Letter VII just a few months after ordaining the original Quorum of the Twelve and a few months before receiving the priesthood keys from Moses, Elias and Elijah in the Kirtland temple (together with Joseph Smith).
Joseph had his scribes copy Letter VII into his personal history, where you can read it in the Joseph Smith Papers, here. Joseph had Letter VII reprinted in all the Church newspapers during his lifetime. Both of his brothers who served as editors of newspapers, Don Carlos and William, republished Letter VII in their respective newspapers.” Jonathan Neville MOBOM
“Oliver Cowdery was the first to give the world any account in detail of these early events connected with the coming forth of the great work of God. This he did in 1834-35 in a series of nine letters to the “Saints Messenger and Advocate,” published at Kirtland, Ohio, under the caption, “Early Scenes and Incidents in the Church.” And as these letters were published in the lifetime of the Prophet, with his sanction and in a periodical published by the Church, it cannot be doubted but that the statements contained in them are reliable…. The place where the Nephite record was deposited must and ever be of interest to those who believe that record to be true, and therefore a description of the hill of Cumorah will not be out of place in concluding this chapter.” Course of Study for the Quorums of Priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1909 [Letter VII on Cumorah] The link is here:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101074888171;view=1up;seq=45
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/book-of-mormon-geography?lang=eng
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 DESCENDANT OF RED CLOUD, SITTING BULL, CHIEF JOSEPH, CHEE DODGE, CHIEF CRAZY HORSE
“I am proud to declare to you today, brothers and sisters, that I am a descendant of Lehi, Nephi, and all the great Book of Mormon prophets. I am proud to be a child of the Book of Mormon people. I have found my true heritage; I have found my true identity. I am a son of God, a child of God, a child of the Book of Mormon, a child of Lehi, a rich heritage that extends all the way back to my Heavenly Father, through Moses, and Abraham, and other great prophets.
I am also proud to be a descendant of great Indian chiefs of our country. I am proud to be a descendant of Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, Chee Dodge, Chief Crazy Horse and all these great Indian chiefs that did so well as leaders of their people. I want you to know that these men were great. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are all in paradise; and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them are converted, and maybe some of them are on the fourth missionary discussion. I am proud of my rich heritage.
To you my people, the Lamanite people, on Indian reservations and in the cities of our country and through the islands of the sea, I want you to know that Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother. He is our Savior. He is our Redeemer.” George P. Lee October 1975 My Heritage Is Choice (Editor’s note: I thought long and hard about using this quote, but who am I to judge?)
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
