There is a great significance with specific dates on the Lord’s timeline. We know He is a God of order and understands the order of the universe. As you read the scripture below, you will understand the amazing opportunity we have as Latter-day Saints to learn and share gospel principles of importance. “How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.” (D&C 121:33)

I believe today there is new knowledge pouring down from the Heaven’s above by the Lord. Not just new ideas, innovation, and technology, but more importantly, Spiritual Truths. I also believe many great Latter-day Saints as the scripture says above, are doing much of that current work. Many Latter-day Saints are inspired today as the Spirit guides them. They are people you know and strangers. They come from all over the world and are inspired to bring forth new information about science, health, archaeology, physics, and information about the Book of Mormon that may yet be unknown. Look for truth in all you do as we have been told you may know the “truth of all things”. The Lord says knowledge from heaven is coming down. Who knows, as you are in tune, it may come from any one of you who reads this? Could there be knowledge today of where the actual gold plates are right now?

In answer to the question of the title of this blog, “Where are the gold plates?”, I think you know the answer. Most people do. It is not an answer that most non member’s of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints like. It’s not even an answer that active members of said Church like. Here is my answer. “They were given back to Moroni”, “we don’t know”, or “it’s not important”, or “The Lord took them back”, or, or, or. Doesn’t feel good does it? I love Jonathan Neville’s material called, appropriately, “Whatever Happened to the Gold Plates” DVD here or “Whatever Happened to the Gold Plates” Book here.

This is the book that explains the “two-sets-of-plates” scenario that everyone is talking about. It is an awesome book for LDS audiences who are familiar with Church history and want to learn more. The book explains that Joseph translated two sets of plates, that Mormon’s repository was in New York, and that the plates are still not far from Cumorah.

An excerpt from Letter IV by Oliver Cowdery with support from Joseph Smith it says, “He [Moroni] then proceeded and gave a general account of the promises made to the fathers, and also gave a history of the aborigenes of this country, and said they were literal descendants of Abraham. He represented them as once being an enlightened and intelligent people, possessing a correct knowledge of the gospel, and the plan of restoration and redemption. He said this history was written and deposited not far from that place, and that it was our brother’s privilege, if obedient to the commandments of the Lord, to obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record.” Letter IV Oliver Cowdery

So we know Moroni abridged the plates near his home in Palmyra, wouldn’t it make sense that the plates would be returned near the same place to the same person? (Continue reading for my answer to the question of where the gold plates are today).

The Feast of Trumpets an Important Date 

The Jewish celebration of Rosh Hashanah, or Feast of Trumpets (also called The Day of Remembrance), begins on Friday evening as the sun sets on the first day of the seventh month* of Tishrei on the Judaic calendar, (And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying: “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.’” Leviticus 23:23-24). It was on the evening of September 22, 1827, the Saturday Sabbath, the very month and day Israel celebrated the Feast of Trumpets on 1st, Tishrei, 5588, that Moroni gave the plates to Joseph Smith Jr. Since this feast was traditionally used as a symbol for the gathering of Israel, it is unlikely this timing was accidental as Joseph was asked to meet with Moroni for four years in a row on the anniversary date of his first visit in preparation for that important and significant symbolic day in 1827.

Many Judaic writers teach that the major theme of the Feast of Trumpets is remembrance: God’s remembrance of His covenants with Israel and the need for Israel to remember their God. The prayers of the day plead for this remembrance. They ask God to remember His covenants with the ancient patriarchs that He would regather His people.” (Lenet Hadley Read, “The Golden Plates and the Feast of Trumpets,” Ensign, Jan. 2000). The Book of Mormon’s purpose, as stated by Moroni, is “to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever” – Title Page of the Book of Mormon (p. xxvii). The Book of Mormon then is both a sign and a witness that the final harvest, to gather in the House of Israel from among the nations of the world, has begun—to which all should rejoice. *Seventh month: see footnote (1) p. 308. Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Page xix

Angelic handoff of Mormon golden plates to Joseph Smith took place 190 years ago today

By Trent Toone Deseret News  Sep 22, 2017

“It was on this day in 1827 — 190 years ago — that Joseph Smith received the golden plates from the angel Moroni at a hill in upstate New York.

The Mormon prophet went on to translate the plates’ ancient writings and publish the Book of Mormon.

The timing of the anniversary seems appropriate given that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently purchased the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon and church historians are piecing together fragments of the original manuscript for future publication, the Deseret News has reported.

Why the date of Sept. 22? The annual visitations by Moroni appeared to be in timing with the Israelite harvest festival season…:” Trent Toone Deseret News

Description of the Hill Cumorah Monument

“The monument was erected on the Hill Cumorah by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to commemorate the delivering of the ancient American record to Joseph the Prophet on September 22, 1827 as an expression of gratitude and recognition to the world of this outstanding event. “The Hill Cumorah Monument has an appearance of a symbolic pillar of light with upward leading lines so designed as to draw the thought of man towards Heaven and God and give heed to the Gospel plan.

“After President McKay’s remarks the canvas shroud that was covering the [Hill Cumorah] monument was removed and the congregations joined in the song ‘What Was Witnessed in the Heavens.’ In attendance at this session [of the unveiling of the Monument in 1935] was a young Gordon B. Hinckley, on his way home from his mission to England. He later wrote an article for the Deseret News giving these details of that event: ‘On the summit of the hill was a canvas-draped monument. At an appointed signal four trumpeters raised their gleaming instruments. In sharp clear tones ‘An Angel From On High’ echoed across the placid countryside. The flag—the Stars and Stripes—fluttered in the wind, and it never looked more beautiful than it did over that hill sacred and important to the history of America. Then the canvas shroud fell from the monument, and the figure of Moroni looked out across the quiet fields which in his day of life had been scenes of carnage and sorrow’” – Cameron J. Packer, “A Study of the Hill Cumorah: A Significant Latter-Day Saint Landmark in Western New York,” BYU Dept of Religious Education, Provo, UT, (2002) p. 118; emphasis added. (http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5008/)

Here is another witness of a young Elder Hinckley saying that the Hill Cumorah in NY is where the final battles happened.

Read more about this dedication on my blog here. There was a 2nd flag (Replica pictured left) on that site that day, which will beyond all conjecture tell you that the final battles of the Jaredites and the Nephites happened on that very hill. Also check out yesterday’s blog about Cumorah.

More Witnesses of the Final Battles of Cumorah in NY

“Hill Cumorah. Before their more powerful foes, the Nephites dwindled and fled until about the year A.D. 400 they were destroyed as a nation after a series of great battles, the last of which was fought near the hill called Cumorah, in the State of New York, where the hidden record was subsequently revealed to Joseph Smith.”  The Story and the Philosophy of Mormonism, pages 16-17. Apostle Talmage

Orson Pratt said: “[Moroni’s] nation was destroyed in what we term the State of New York, around about a hill, called by that people the Hill of Cumorah, when many hundreds of thousands of the Nephites — men, women and children, fell, during the greatest battle that they had had with the Lamanites.” (Journal of Discourses Vol. 20, pg. 62)

“One of the old Indian Trails which became the route of the first road of the white man in this area, from Canandaigua Lake, two miles south of the Hill to Lake Ontario twenty-two miles north passing the “nose” of the Hill Cumorah. The finding of Indian arrow and spearheads in great quantities on the slopes of the Hill and in the fields surrounding it indicates that long after the great battle in which the Nephites were annihilated Hill Cumorah has been an important battle ground. Willard Bean’s experience coincides with Giles’ conclusion as he found many arrowheads and artifacts as he visited and worked on the Hill Cumorah in the early 1900’s.” A STUDY OF THE HILL CUMORAH: A SIGNIFICANT LATTER-DAY SAINT LANDMARK IN WESTERN NEW YORK Cameron J. Packer Religious Education Master of Arts

“There are in the church historians and intellectuals who like to retell history or revise things at times. The Prophet and the 12 have trusted these people to say the correct things and most of the time they do what is right. However, some of these intellects who think they are more important that the Brethren they serve, make mistakes. Some is a mistake and some of it is their pride to look good. In Utah especially are two camps of believers so to speak. One group of good LDS members believes there is a hill Cumorah in New York and one in Mexico. They are called Mesoamericanists.

They also believe the final battles of the Nephites were on an unnamed hill in Mexico somewhere. They also believe Joseph translated the plates using a stone in a hat to read from and that Joseph never looked at the plates to translate. There is another group of good active LDS people called Heartlanders, who believe the Heartland of the USA is where the Book of Mormon events happened and there is only one hill Cumorah in NY. They believe the final battles happened at this hill in NY and not in Mexico. They also believe that Joseph only used the Urim and Thummim to translate the Gold Plates. (breastplate with two stones in a silver bow like spectacles) The Church is neutral on these ideas as they don’t want to do anything except preach the doctrine of the Book of Mormon, which of course is most important. We all know the Book of Mormon is true, but we also know the “very elect” will believe a lie and try to deceive us. We urge you to pray about all things for your own personal witness as we know the Prophet and Apostles will not lead us astray, but they also want us to think on our own and study about things.” Jonathan Neville

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Trent Toone Deseret News Continues with his article titled, Angelic handoff of Mormon golden plates to Joseph Smith took place 190 years ago today, “The initial visit on September 21 in 1823 coincided with that year’s celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. In 1824, September 22 was the eve of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the beginning of the fall festivals. In 1825, September 22 was precisely Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). In 1827, when Moroni finally delivered the plates to Joseph (Joseph Smith—History 1:59), his timing on September 22 coincided exactly with Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Feast of Trumpets,” BookofMormonCentral.org explains.

No existing account was made of all that happened the night the Prophet Joseph retrieved the golden plates from the Hill Cumorah, but he was warned that “wicked men” would “lay every plan and scheme that is possible to get them away” from him, Andrew H. Hedges wrote in a 2001 church magazine article, “Take Heed: Continually Protecting the Gold Plates.”

The evil men did not succeed. After once retrieving the plates from a secret place, Joseph was attacked by three men but fought his way out, his mother Lucy Mack Smith recorded in her book, “History of Joseph Smith.”

“As he was jumping over a log, a man sprang up from behind and gave him a heavy blow with a gun,” his mother wrote. “Joseph turned around and knocked him to the ground, and then ran at the top of his speed. About half a mile further, he was attacked again in precisely the same way. He soon brought this one down also and ran on again, but before he got home, he was accosted the third time with a severe stroke with a gun.

“Joseph struck this third and final attacker with such force that he dislocated his own thumb. He continued running, ‘being closely pursued until he came near his father’s house,’ at which time his assailants, ‘for fear of being detected,’ broke off the chase. Reaching a fence corner, he ‘threw himself down … to recover his breath,’ then rose and continued running until he reached the house.”

On the same day Joseph Smith received the plates, future church leader Heber C. Kimball, his wife and others in Mendon, New York, along with future church president Brigham Young and friends in Port Byron, New York, all claimed to see wonders in the heavens, including an army of men marching across the horizon, History of the Saints wrote for LDSLiving.com.

“They continued marching until they reached the western horizon. They moved in platoons, and walked so close that the rear ranks trod in the steps of their file leaders until the whole bow was literally crowded with soldiers. They were dressed in the full battle gear of 19th century soldiers—muskets; bayonets, and were so clear and distinct that Heber and the small group of neighbors could distinguish the features of their faces, and hear the jingle of their equipage as they moved,” the article said.

When asked what it all meant, an older man replied, “Why, it’s one of the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.”

Many have wondered what became of the golden plates following the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon. The plates were deposited in Cumorah’s cave, Cameron J. Packer wrote in an article for Journal of Book of Mormon Studies.

Packer’s article presents several accounts from church leaders and others about what happened to the plates. One account by Young in the Journal of Discourses, June 17, 1877, reports that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey walked into a cave at the hill and found themselves in a room full of other ancient records, “probably many wagon loads,” the account said.

They saw sacred objects like the Sword of Laban and “tons of choice treasures and records,” Wilford Wood wrote in his journal on Dec. 11, 1869. “By looking at all the accounts and context in which they were shared, one can see that regardless of the meta-physical nature of Cumorah’s cave, it has served to teach important gospel principles — principles such as God’s miraculous dealings with man, his dominion over all things, consecration, and continuing revelation,” Packer wrote.” Cameron J. Packer Journal of Book of Mormon Studies.

So now where do you feel the gold plates are today?

So where do you feel the gold plates are today? I believe they are in the Cave at Cumorah which is a large 15′ by 15′ cave near the original stone box where the plates were first found by Joseph.

Orson Pratt said, “The hill Cumorah, with the surrounding vicinity, is distinguished as the great battlefield on which, and near which, two powerful nations were concentrated with all their forces. Men, women and children fought till hundreds of thousands on both sides were hewn down, and left to molder upon the ground. . . .

These new plates were given to Moroni to finish the history. And all the ancient plates, Mormon deposited in Cumorah, about three hundred and eighty-four years after Christ. When Moroni, about thirty-six years after, made the deposit of the book entrusted to him, he was, without doubt, inspired to select a department of the hill separate from the great depository of the numerous volumes hid up by his father. The particular place in the hill where Moroni secreted the book, was revealed, by the angel, to the prophet Joseph Smith, to whom the volume was delivered in September, A.D. 1827. But the grand repository of all the numerous records of the ancient nations of the western continent, was located in another department of the hill, and it’s contents under the charge of holy angels, until the day should come for them to be transferred to the sacred temple of Zion.” 1866 Orson Pratt Millennial Star (28 (27): 417)

In relation to these records, Orson Pratt commented in 1873: “But will these things be brought to light? Yes. The records, now slumbering in the hill Cumorah, will be brought forth by the power of God, to fulfil the words of our text, that ‘the knowledge of God shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the deep.'” (Orson Pratt, May 18, 1873, in Journal of Discourses 16:57)

An Apostles Testimony about Cumorah (I believe him)

“I will give you a lesson today that the Lord has taken great pains to bring to us… In the western part of the state of New York near Palmyra is a prominent hill known as the “hill Cumorah” (Mormon. 6:6). [There] perished at the foot of Cumorah the remnant of the once mighty Jaredite nation, of whom the Lord had said, ‘There shall be none greater… upon all the face of the earth’ (Ether 1:43, p. 461). “As I contemplated this tragic scene from the crest of Cumorah and viewed the beautiful land of the Restoration as it appears today, I cried in my soul, how could it have happened?… This second civilization to which I refer, the Nephites, flourished in America between 600 B.C. and A.D. 400. Their civilization came to an end for the same reason, at the same place, and in the same manner as did the Jaredites…I bear you my personal witness that I know that the things I have presented to you today are true—both those pertaining to past events and those pertaining to events yet to come.” (President Marion G. Romney of the First Presidency 145th Semiannual Conference, Saturday Morning Session, October 4, 1975; emphasis added.)

Now you know where the plates are today, and that the final battles of the Book of Mormon happend right here in the United States of America, on, in and near the hill Cumorah. That is a testimony of many prophets and it is a huge part of my personal testimony as well.

See other blog here: https://www.bofm.blog/septemb-22-1827/