Podcasts about hill cumorah

The Nephites gather to the Hill Cumorah for the final battles. This is a reading of Mormon Chapter 6. Here is a link to the text: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/morm/6?lang=eng

As Joseph Smith was traveling to the Hill Cumorah 5 times to retrieve the Nephite plates, a conspiracy was forming to steal them from him. Martin Harris, a family friend, would assist to keeping the plates safe. Join us for the fascinating episode in Joseph's life.

From the shadow of the Hill Cumorah, we bring you questions and answer recordings in front of a live Standard of Truth Tour audience. Below are the questions that led the discussion for this episode: Who was Joseph Smith going to have as his vice-presidential running mate? How frequently did Church members gather for a “sacrament” meeting from 1830 to the end of the Nauvoo period? What is the Mount Rushmore of Restored Gospel doctrines/teachings? We know the plates were stored in a stone box (or at least stones arranged together to contain plates when buried). Are there any accounts of anyone finding the empty stone box? Surely, individuals have tried to find the box, maybe even the antis in their zeal to prove there "never had been a stone box, hence never plates". Perhaps, the box was destroyed by an angel or even Joseph as it was no longer pertinent to anything. Taylor, the brother of the lady who emailed you when she was in labor, asked for further elaboration on the laws that were passed/attempted to pass around eradicating the early members of the church/pioneers…and of course, polygamy.  Sign up for our free monthly (likely quarterly) email: ⁠ https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠questions@standardoftruthpodcast.com

Abstract: This article explores issues with past suggestions concerning the etymology of the name Cumorah and suggests a slightly updated etymology, “Rise up, O Light of the Lord.” It then suggests that Book of Mormon references to the Hill Cumorah appear to confirm the proposed etymology, thus becoming an apt description of the Restoration. No […] The post “Rise Up, O Light of the Lord”: An Appropriate and Defensible Etymology for Cumorah first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

Abstract: This article explores issues with past suggestions concerning the etymology of the name Cumorah and suggests a slightly updated etymology, “Rise up, O Light of the Lord.” It then suggests that Book of Mormon references to the Hill Cumorah appear to confirm the proposed etymology, thus becoming an apt description of the Restoration. No […] The post “Rise Up, O Light of the Lord”: An Appropriate and Defensible Etymology for Cumorah first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

We have a very good idea of where Book of Mormon events actually took place. How can there be two Hlll Cumorahs?  The same way there are many "Jefferson Avenues" and "State Streets".  The Book of Mormon text does not fit the small gravel hill by the Smith family farm where Moroni buried the plates.  It does fit the large, prominent hill in the "Tuxtla Mountains" in southern Veracruz, Mexico, east of Mexico City, almost to the Gulf of Mexico, and a little South. The Hill Shim/Cumorah is likely the Mayan hill "Shim" later called the hill "Cintepic" by the Aztecs. Cin=corn tepic=hill.  Mayan and Aztec legends say the corn grown by the base of the hill Shim grows from the blood of their ancestors where the Jeredites and Nephites were slaughtered. The waters of Ripliancum are probably the "Hueyapan River." the River Sidon is most likely the Grijalva river.  The City of Nephi is probably the Kaminaljuyu city ruins on the western edge of Guatamala City.

Joseph Smith at one point thought North American Native Americans were Lamanites. At another point, he thought Native Americans in Central America were Lamanites.  Other Church leaders have widely varying ideas about which tribes are decended from the Lamanites.  If there had been a revelation on that point, there would not be widely varying ideas.  What we do know is that the Book of Mormon says there is a cave with vast numbers of plates in the Hill Cumorah. There is no cave, and no plates, in the New York hill. The Hill Cumorah in Mesoamerica is many times larger, has many caves and has not been explored.  The Book of Mormon says Hill Cumorah was by many streams and fountains of water. This describes the Mesoamerican hill, but not the New York hill.  Over 1,100 years elapsed between the end of the Book of Mormon account and Columbus voyage to the Americas, enough time for inter-marriage between Lamanites of Mesoamerica and numerous North American Tribes. Columbus never touched foot on North America.  His voyages were all to Mesoamerica.

Today, Dominic covers 19 random reasons why he is not a Mormon. It's telethon month! We are at $5,098 of our $25,000 goal! We're looking to fund a full-fledged media team for 2024. You may have noticed we didn't have a single telethon last year, because of supporters like you who have given us stability. But now, we're looking to go bigger and better. With your help, we'll be able to equip thousands of Christians, strengthen the faith, and bring the gospel to the lost. Not only will we be putting out more content, but this will also allow us to promote the entire Bob Enyart Library of content. Just like how C.S. Lewis' ministry was magnified 1,000-fold after his death, we believe Bob's ministry will be too. To make this dream a reality, head over to our store and make a donation, purchase a product or sign up for a monthly subscription. (All monthly charges are multiplied by 10, then applied towards our telethon goal). 19 Random Reasons List: Joseph's  many wives and sexual sin 👉 Click here. Brigham (Liked 'Em) Young 👉Click here. Failed civil war prophecy 👉 Click here. No Evidence 👉 Talk to them DNA Evidence 👉Click here. Mormons discuss Hill Cumorah 👉Click here. Jericho's Walls prove the Bible 👉Click here. Failed David W. Patten prophecy 👉Click here. The Book of Abraham 👉 Click here. Pagan worship used for the book of Abraham 👉 Click here. Early Christians Corroborated about the Resurrection 👉 Click here. Mormonism contradicts the Bible 👉 Read all of Paul's epistles Mormons say "trust your heart" 👉 Talk to any Mormon missionary Awful translations 👉Click here. Mormons don't use the translation they believe was inspired by God 👉Click here. I was wrong about how much money the Mormon church has. It's way more 👉Click here. LDS discredit the Bible 👉Click here. Astronomical Evidence for the Bible: The Pleiades is Bound 👉 Click here. The belt of Orion is loose 👉 Click here. Cowdery left the faith 👉 Click here. Christ's followers didn't 👉Click here.

Did you know that a groundbreaking play about Joseph Smith's treasure digging and folk magic was produced at BYU in the 80s, well before Michael Quinn's book was published?Playwright and post Mormon Rob Lauer discusses his time at BYU during the era of intellectual revolution, his groundbreaking play "Digger," working with sci fi writer Orson Scott Card, his years as The Hill Cumorah Pageant director, his innovative new play about post manifesto polygamy, and more! We couldn't get enough of Rob's stories and experiences, this episode could have gone to Mormon Stories length if we let it! We know you'll love getting to know Rob better just like we did.Links to plays Rob discussed on the podcast:Link to DIGGER (Winner of BYU's 1982 Mayhew Award for Drama) available through Zion Theatricals. https://leicesterbaytheatricals.com/?p=8938To Watch the 1989 production of THE BEEHIVE STATE online, go to YOUTUBE and type in the search words The Beehive State 1989 production, or use the links below:Link to THE BEEHIVE STATE (ACT 1) VIDEO 1989 Productionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxPRDEXJxl4Link to THE BEEHIVE STATE (ACT 2) VIDEO 1989 Productionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h8k6kp8MPQLink to ROB LAUER'S Author Page on AMAZONhttps://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07NYHJM2P/aboutLink to ROB LAUER'S plays available from PREMIERE THEATRICAL LICENSING: https://leicesterbaytheatricals.com/?p=728Links to ROB LAUER'S plays available from Stage Rights:TOM & PENNY'S YARD PARTY (Best Play of 1990--Deep South Writer's Conference)https://www.stagerights.com/allshows/tom-and-pennys-yard-party/MY JO (Musical inspired by "Little Women")https://www.stagerights.com/allshows/my-jo/ Link to ROB LAUER'S writing on REFORM MORMONISM:http://www.reformmormonism.org How to Donate to Mormonish Podcast:We appreciate our Mormonish viewers and listeners so much! If you would like to financially support our podcast, you can DONATE to support Mormonish Podcast here: PayPal: https://paypal.me/BiblioTechMediaVenmo: @BiblioTechMedia Contact Mormonish Podcast: mormonishpodcast@gmail.com

Last time, Bob Roylance discussed why he believes the Book of Mormon took place in the Yucatan Peninsula. This time, we'll compare it with the Heartland Theory, another popular geography. Is there one Hill Cumorah or two? Is there a relationship between Yucatan & the Heartland? Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/hs3gyNmPbyE transcript to follow Copyright © 2023 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2023 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission

Here is one from the archives. We released this episode with Jonathan Neville back on April 8, 2022. Jonathan Neville is a big-tent proponent when it comes to Book of Mormon beliefs.  Part of that likely stems from Heartland being shut out of groups like Book of Mormon Central. But Jonathan is also wants to keep the tent open for people who believe in a non-historical Book of Mormon. https://youtu.be/yfbOflp3OD4 Non-Historical Book of Mormon? Jonathan: But it all comes back to this Mesoamerican thing, because I think once the scholars convince people that Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith were wrong about the Hill Cumorah, that was like a chink in the armor. They could be wrong about anything else. They said, "If they were wrong about something they said was a fact, then they could be wrong about anything else." So, they can be wrong about the translation. I don't know if you know, Skousen recently published a thing in The Interpreter about how now he's saying that Oliver Cowdery deliberately misled everybody about the translation. GT 2:56:48 Royal Skousen. Jonathan 2:56:48 Royal Skousen. And I couldn't disagree more, but I understand why he says that because the Mesoamerican thing opened the door to questioning everything Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery taught, and you end up with, what's left? Everybody just kind of says, "Well, as long as you believe in Christ, that's all the matters." But, come on. I mean, when it gets down to it, the only evidence that we have of the restoration of the priesthood is from Oliver Cowdery. Joseph Smith talked about it, but he didn't talk about the event. Yet, they're saying Oliver Cowdery was wrong about the Hill Cumorah? So, what I advocate is not anybody agree with anything that I say. I advocate, let's get all the facts out, and then let's look at the different interpretations of the facts. You go all the way from Dan Vogel and Tom Murphy, through Jack Welch, John Sorenson and Dan Peterson. Then, over here we have Rod Meldrum, and Wayne May on the geography issue, or me on the translation or whatever. Let's just put all of them out and let's get rid of this citation cartel that censors things they don't like. The Interpreter, to me, is an appalling journal. It shouldn't even be considered an academic journal. GT 2:57:20 Yet, you read it. Jonathan 2:58:06 Well, I have a blog called The Interpreter Peer Reviewed, where once in a while someone will send me an article, "You've got to deal with this." I read it, okay. Then, what I would do is a peer review. I understand it's more of a peer approval process that it goes through with those guys, because everybody on their peer review process already drinks the Kool Aid. I mean, they don't consider an outside perspective, and I know, because I've talked with them. I know how they are, and you can read it in their journals. They get upset that I even talk about it. Dan Peterson freaks out. In Dan Peterson's own blog that he does on his Patheos, whatever, he's referred to me several times and wants everybody read this critical web page. There's a page that's critical of me all the time. At first, I thought, "Well, I should respond to that." But then I read it. It's so ludicrous. I feel like if people can't discern fact from sophistry, then that's on them. I'm not going to spend all my time tamping down all the sophistry going around. Jonathan 2:59:12 I just feel like people need to present the facts. If The Interpreter--the name Interpreter kind of tells it all, because they feel like they are the credentialed class. They are the ones that have been hired by the prophets to guide the rest of us, that kind of stuff which they've said. And the name Interpreter, alone, is a non-starter, because they're trying to interpret the scriptures for us. I think the scriptures are given to ordinary people that we can understand and interpret for ourselves. We don't need some scholars interpreting it for us.

Hill Cumorah. A new tour guide. Elder Davis. Hop, hop, grasshopper hop.

In this Religion Today episode, host Martin Tanner, points out that no LDS Church leader, including Joseph Smith, has ever claimed revelation on where the events in the Book of Mormon happened.  But the text of the Book of Mormon provides inspired details enabling us to make to strong inferences they happened in Central America.  Are there two Cumorah's? How could Moroni get the plates from Hill Cumorah in Mesoamerica to the hill by the Smith Family's farm in New York? These and other questions are answered. * ALL LISTENERS ARE INVITED TO HEAR A NON-LATTER-DAY SAINT, EMILIE SPEAR, FROM COLORADO SHARE HER NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE IN WHICH SHE SAW JESUS, WITH DETAILS CONFIRMING LDS BELIEFS."  DETAILS FOR THIS FREE EVENT ON FRIDAY, JUNE 23rd, IN SLC, ARE IN THIS EPISODE.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is Part 1 of 2 episodes with Brant Gardner. The second episode focuses on the translation of the Book of Mormon. Brant Gardner, a Book of Mormon Scholar, gives a response to our interview with "Heartland" model scholar, Jonathan Neville on Book of Mormon Geography. Gardner supports the "academic" Mesoamerican model for the events that took place in the Book of Mormon.  He cites North, East, South, and West directions in the text, population, agriculture, and other points he believes support the Mesoamerican model. We also cover the crucial point of "Where is the Hill Cumorah?" Everything may ride on how you interpret this location and the history of referring to the hill in New York as Cumorah. Website - www.cwicmedia.com   

I have no horse in this race. But many do. Where did the Book of Mormon take place? The academic model is the Meso-American model. But there is a growing belief in what has become known as the Heartland model which states that the Book of Mormon took place in the Eastern United States. According to scholar Jonathan Neville, one of the thought leaders of the Heartland Model, if we simply listen to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, we would have to take a closer look at this model. Is there "gatekeeping" going on at Book of Mormon Central (Scripture Central)? Key to the Heartland Model is the location of Cumorah. The Meso-American Model has the Hill Cumorah in Meso-America. The Heartland Model in New York. Obviously, the plates were found in New York, but the meta-narrative is that this hill was mistakenly called Cumorah or "traditionally" called Cumorah. Listen to this conversation and make your own judgment. Website - www.cwicmedia.com 

Mormon returned to command the Nephite armies as the fifth and final war raged on. Facing defeat, he invited the Lamanite king to a final battle at the Hill Cumorah. There, in what may have been the largest battle in the history of the western hemisphere, the Nephite state was destroyed for the third and final time. This episode includes Mormon's final lament and also some key lessons from his most detailed battle of his own experience.

Here it is in all it's wretched glory. Ep. 116 is filled with facts about the founding of the Mormon organization, it's wild as hell teachings, and mad prophets like founder Joseph Smith, and successor Brigham Young. We begin at the beginning of course, and i attempt to leave no seer stone unturned.(Pun intended) I hope you enjoy this history, and share with others. I can't wait to bring you the second part which will cover the priesthoods, marriages, or sealings as they call them including marrying the dead, and my favorite part, which is the Freemasonry influence. I'd say, the foundation actually. Now, it's time to go down that rabbit hole far beyond the mainstream which mazes underneath the Nauvoo Temple, all the way up to the Hill Cumorah in New York, and even up to an alleged star called Kolob! Thank You for your support!Cheers, and BlessingsThe Odd Man Out

Here it is in all it's wretched glory. Ep. 116 is filled with facts about the founding of the Mormon organization, it's wild as hell teachings, and mad prophets like founder Joseph Smith, and successor Brigham Young. We begin at the beginning of course, and i attempt to leave no seer stone unturned.(Pun intended) I hope you enjoy this history, and share with others. I can't wait to bring you the second part which will cover the priesthoods, marriages, or sealings as they call them including marrying the dead, and my favorite part, which is the Freemasonry influence. I'd say, the foundation actually. Now, it's time to go down that rabbit hole far beyond the mainstream which mazes underneath the Nauvoo Temple, all the way up to the Hill Cumorah in New York, and even up to an alleged star called Kolob!  Thank You for your support! Cheers, and Blessings The Odd Man Out   Show Notes   Three Main Books: BOM Doctrines, & Covenants Pearl of Great Price   Joseph Smith said, "the mind or the intelligence which man possesses is CO-equal [CO-eternal] with God himself" (TPJS 353) "The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end." Another teaching is that the words of The Living Oracles, or living prophets are greater than the Bible, BOM, or Doctrine, & Covenants Abraham 3:3 reads “And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God…”   Verse 9 in the same chapter adds that “Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God.” Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, stated, “I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods” (History of the Church 6:474). Brigham Young, the second prophet and president of the LDS Church, said, “How many Gods there are, I do not know. But there never was a time when there were not Gods…” (Journal of Discourses 7:333). Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt taught, “We were begotten by our Father in Heaven; the person of our Father in Heaven was begotten on a previous heavenly world by His Father; and again, He was begotten by a still more ancient Father, and so one, from one generation to generation” (The Seer, pg. 132). The god of Mormonism is not immutable. Whereas God's perfection makes it never necessary for Him to change, the God of Mormonism changes both in his physical person and moral attributes. This is demonstrated by the fact that he evolved from a man into a God and that he has changed decrees which are theoretically “unalterable.” Examples of this would include the abandonment of polygamy in 1890, the reversal of the ban which withheld the LDS Priesthood from Blacks in 1978, and the changes in the LDS temple ceremony in 1980. The god of Mormonism is not eternally God. Joseph Smith taught that God was not always God when he stated, “We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see” (Teachings, pg. 345). Because the LDS God is limited to a physical body, he is not omnipresent. Brigham Young said, “Some would have us believe that God is present everywhere. It is not so” (Journal of Discourses 6:345). LDS Apostle James Talmage stated that neither God the Father, nor “any actual person of any one member of the Godhead can be physically present in more than one place at one time” (The Articles of Faith, pg. 39). The Mormon God's “omnipresence” is fulfilled through the Holy Spirit which, according to Mormon Apostle John Widtsoe, is not to be confused with the Holy Ghost (Evidences and Reconciliations, pp. 76-77). Mormon author W. Cleon Skousen stated that God is God only because another force sustains him as such. He wrote, “Through modern revelation we learn that the universe is filled with vast numbers of intelligences, and we further learn that Elohim is God simply because all of these intelligences honor and sustain Him as such…since God ‘acquired' the honor and sustaining influence of ‘all things' it follows as a corollary that if He should ever do anything to violate the confidence or ‘sense of justice' of these intelligences, they would promptly withdraw their support, and the ‘power' of God would disintegrate…'He would cease to be God'” (The First 2,000 Years, pp. 355-356). The Bible “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me” (Isaiah 43:10-11). It appears to me the end point of Mormonism like most occult religions is godhood. They teach the Hindu philosophy that humans are unrealized gods. On the afternoon of June 8, 1873, preaching from the pulpit of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, President Brigham Young declared: The devil told the truth ... I do not blame Mother Eve. I would not have had her miss eating the forbidden fruit for anything in the world.... They must pass through the same ordeals as the Gods, that they may know good from evil... .27 Former President Joseph Fielding Smith stated it in these words: The fall of man came as a blessing in disguise.... I never speak of the part Eve took in this fall as a sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin.... We can hardly look upon anything resulting in such benefits as being a sin... Apostle Pratt wrote, If we should take a million of worlds like this and number their particles, we should find that there are more gods than there are particles of matter in those worlds. The Gods who dwell in the heaven have been ... exalted also, from fallen men to Celestial Gods to inhabit their Heaven forever and ever." Mormon President Spencer W. Kimball declared: In each of us is the potentiality to become a God-pure, holy, true, influential, powerful, independent of earthly forces.... We were in the beginning with God.... Man can transform himself.... He has in him the seeds of Godhood that can grow. He can lift himself by his very bootstraps.32 No salvation lest thou believe in Joseph Smith President Joseph Fielding Smith made that clear when he wrote: [There is] no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth when he said that he stood in the presence of angels sent from the Lord, and obtained the keys of authority, and the commandment to organize the Church of Jesus Christ once again upon the earth, then this knowledge is of the most vital importance to the entire world. No man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God.' "No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the Celestial Kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith." Brigham Young More Mormon Quotes On This Subject: https://www.mrm.org/no-salvation-without-joseph-smith For more info see: The Mormon Conspiracy The Mormon Cult The GOD Makers 1, & 2 documentaries, & book. No Man Knows My Story By Chapter https://youtu.be/0-DRJZLIUJw   Texe Marrs Secrets of The Temple https://youtu.be/OoOyilCeP6M   Terms Used By The LDS https://www.mrm.org/a-z   Odd Man Out Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theoddmanout     ACR- My Podcasting Family Visit the home of The Oddcast at "Alternate Current Radio, and check out all their other great shows including, Boiler Room, and be sure to subscribe to their Social Media to get updates on all the fantastic talk, and music shows. https://alternatecurrentradio.com/         
 Check out the ACR video: "Shilling For Sanity" https://youtu.be/TyQv1JL78Eg   

Support the show by subscribing, liking, sharing, & donating!   Fringe Radio Network- Radio on the Fringe! FRINGE RADIO NETWORK! -SECURE- Radio on the Fringe!      Patreon-Welcome to The Society Of Cryptic Savants   https://www.bitchute.com/video/C4PQuq0udPvJ/ Social Media: _theoddmanout on Twitter, and Instagram       Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theoddcastfttheoddmanout    "A special Thank You to my Patrons who contributed to this episode. You are very much appreciated."              
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Is trek worth it? How do you balance artistry with Church standards? Utah candy shop sells racist chocolate. Gunman fires at Hill Cumorah.

A man is behind bars after a standoff in American Falls. A man is in custody after shots were fired near Hill Cumorah. Work of some Latter-day Saint artists are being showcased at the church's history museum near Temple Square.

(8a) Bob Shares thoughts on the gunfire at the Hill Cumorah site. Congress to go live on national TV tonight about the Jan 6th capital riot.

What wounds can my mission heal?This week Jordan and Zack are introduced to Alex by her husband, Christiaan (he's our guest from Ep. 14). Alex shares how she was not planning to serve a mission at all, and how serving in the "cradle of the restoration" changed her life. Alex shares what it was like to serve at a Church Historical site, give a tour to the cast of the Book of Mormon broadway cast, and the power of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. While growing up, Alex's brother Lance was tragically killed in a car accident. Alex concludes with her testimony, and the beauty of serving in a place where doctrines on life after death were revealed to Joseph Smith, and the personal significance that has on her.@herebycalleddotcomherebycalled.com

What if you're scared to death of public speaking? In this episode we sit down with Nicole, who was part of the first wave of sister missionaries to replace senior couples as Church History site missionaries. She shares how she felt the enabling power of the atonement bless her to be able to speak and interact with people in a way she never though possible. She shares the power of serving in the "cradle of the Restoration" of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and an amazing convert she was blessed to teach.@herebycalleddotcomherebycalled.com

Subscribe at Patreon.com/GospelTangents for full interviews or Gospel Tangents Website. The Book of Mormon ends with a great battle with millions killed near a hill called Cumorah. Yet no bones were found near the Hill Cumorah.  How does Jonathan Neville reconcile this? He'll describes more of the Heartland Theory of Book of Mormon. Jonathan:  So, […]

Did the Book of Mormon take place in South America? My guest Owen Ira Terry thinks so, and he lays out some of the evidence in this episode. An angel revealed South America as Lehi's landing site to Frederick G. Williams. Jacob said that they were living on "an isle of the sea" (2 Nephi 10:20), and the South American Model actually allows for this. Interesting candidate sites for the Land of Nephi and the Hill Cumorah are discussed. There was a great wall of Peru? And there are a bunch of other cool correlations that I had never heard of before. We also talk a bit about the creation vs evolution debate and the Flood of Noah. Check it out! Show notes: https://mormontheories.wordpress.com/2021/11/30/003oweniraterry/ Follow the Mormon Theories podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mormontheories/ Contact me here. I want to hear your theory too: https://mormontheories.wordpress.com/contact/

Are Mormon missionaries who lead tours at historic church sites like those across upstate New York told to teach false information about the church's founding? Mormon Stories producer and co-host Carah Burrell takes the reins for her second episode as lead interviewer of our guest Camille Jones as we talk with her about serving in Palmyra, New York at the LDS church's visitor center. In part one of our two-part interview with Camille, we discuss the narrative the church wants to be forwarded about the church's founding versus what Camille wishes she would have known while volunteering as a full-time missionary. We cover topics from the golden plates, to the Hill Cumorah, and more. Camille also discusses the confusing and uncomfortable advances older Mormon men have made on her throughout her teen years. This eye-opening experience highlighted the power imbalance between Mormon men and women, a theme that carries on into part 2 where Camille discusses being employed by the church. Show notes: Ghost of Eternal Polygamy by Carol Lynn Pearson What Progressive Mormons Want with Julienna Viegas-Haws

This is an episode about My Hill cumorah Pageant memories. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This takes about the Hill cumorah Pageant and some of the history. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The Mormon History Association's just-completed annual conference offered the usual smorgasbord of delectable scholarly presentations relating to Mormonism. The 2021 theme for the hybrid in-person and online meeting in Park City was “Restoration, Reunion and Resilience.” There were sessions on polygamy and early Latter-day Saint experiences in Nauvoo, Ill., and Kirtland, Ohio, along with discussions of race, LGBTQ issues and the Mark Hofmann bombings. The historians also recognized that they were gathering in the ancestral lands of several northern bands of the Ute Indian Tribe. In addition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans to rehabilitate the Hill Cumorah, the Manchester, N.Y., spot where founder Joseph Smith said he unearthed gold plates that contained the faith's signature scripture, the Book of Mormon. On this week's show Barbara Jones Brown, the association's executive director, and Jenny Lund, this year's president and director of the church's historic sites, share highlights and insights from the conference and plans for the future.

The LDS church announced the Hill Cumorah pageant will not have a final year of performances, as was planned. Lee, who grew up near the pageant, gives his memories about the pageant and asks listeners to weigh in on their favorite pageant memories. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing up in upstate New York, Brittany had the chance to learn from her grandmother and father about a Peacemaker who visited their people. She also had the chance to participate in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's pageant at the Hill Cumorah and feel the power of sacred events we cherish from the Book of Mormon. Dancing has become a spiritual gift that continues to bring her joy. These and other experiences have helped Brittany through her tough days of personal and familial struggles. Brittany is an amazing woman with an amazing testimony. Come learn with her what it means to be of the culture of Christ and how to look for the good in others and in yourself.

In today's interview, we are joined by Neal and Jasmin Rappleye. In this interview, we'll discuss a non-profit organization called "Book of Mormon Central" and some of it's many great resources available. We'll also take some time to discuss topics such as the Hill Cumorah and Book of Mormon Anachronisms. To check out "Book of Mormon Central" and some of their many great resources check out the links below: https://bookofmormoncentral.org/ https://scriptureplus.org/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSsrx8lFpeuBjNIE7FNm2CQ

This week on the Saint's Unscripted "Faith and Beliefs" segment, David is going to once again rewrite hundreds of years of LDS teaching about the Hill Cumorah and where it really is, and I am going to bring it right back around to the false teaching that Joseph Smith intended it to be. Support The Master's Dog by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-master-s-dog

Why were Joseph and others searching for treasure? How did the Smith family's financial straits play into Joseph not receiving the plates for years, and how was marriage essential for Joseph? In Episode 3, Part II, we discuss how crucial it was for a woman to be a part of founding the Church, the effect of Alvin's death on the Smith Family, and the evidence of a stone box on the Hill Cumorah. 

Ben and Shiloh talk about the entrance of “the mentor” in Joseph Smith’s journey through the angelic messenger Moroni. Last week was Joseph’s “call to adventure,” and the entrance of Joseph’s mentor sets both the theme and the stage for the entire restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the modern world. In our telling of this story we typically focus on three points: (1) Moroni’s multiple appearances to Joseph on the night of September 21, 1823, and one appearance the next day, (2) that Moroni said Joseph’s name would be for good and bad among all nations, and (3) that Joseph was shown in vision where the plates were buried upon the Hill Cumorah. What we commonly neglect is the main body of Moroni’s actual message to Joseph in quoting from four distinct passages of scripture and of what those scriptures are and mean. It is through these scriptures where Moroni reveals the power and need for the restoration. Through Malachi we discover that the power and authority of God are coming to heal the family of God on earth; through Isaiah we gain confidence that Zion will be established where violence will cease to exist and where all nature will be redeemed; Acts informs us that a new Moses is coming in Jesus Christ who will bring His doctrine (which doctrine is the Sermon on the Mount); and Joel’s prophecy makes us aware that signs and wonders will happen beyond our comprehension, yet we have no reason to fear for the Lord will deliver all who call upon His name. Truly, these are grand purposes and a glorious theme for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

A podcast for the whole family to study Come Follow Me together! We do an overview of the lesson for the week and break it down into bite-sized chunks. This week Moroni visits JS, Emma & Joseph get married, Joseph goes to the Hill Cumorah four years in a row and finally takes the plates and begins translating.

Episode 12: Multitudes Were on the Alert: It was just after midnight on September 22, 1827, when Joseph Smith and his wife Emma journeyed to the Hill Cumorah and there Joseph received the Gold Plates from the angel Moroni. This episode deals with the story of those who tried every exertion to get the plates from Joseph. Scholars: Steven Harper, Larry Porter, Mark Staker, Richard Anderson, Andrew Hedges, Michael MacKay, Richard Bennett

Congratulations! We’ve made it to the end of the Book of Mormon!The year is about 421 A.D. Moroni is the last of the Nephites and is preparing to bury the plates and writes one last message to us.The gold plates, sword of Laban, and breastplate with the Urim and Thummim are deposited in the Hill Cumorah where they will remain hidden for fourteen hundred years until the resurrected angel Moroni visits Joseph Smith and leads him to the hill in 1823.Nathan and Stephen Smith discuss Moroni 10 and share their insights into these chapters.Come visit us at allenlisted.com where you can contact us and we would love to hear your questions and comments!A full script from this show with scriptures, notes, and quotes can be found here.Thanks for joining us as we put on the armor of God!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28840502)

Jonathan Neville Author, JD, Lawyer, Educator lettervii.com – moronisamerica.com – bookofmormonwars.comPresentations:Church history to build, not destroy, faith.Current trends in the International Church.Purchase Jonathan’s newest book called, “A Man that Can Translate: Joseph Smith and the Nephite Interpreters”. “Joseph Smith, Jr., and his principle scribe, Oliver Cowdery, claimed that Joseph translated the golden plates with an instrument the Nephites called “interpreters.” Joseph and Oliver called them Urim and Thummim. Some of their contemporaries claimed instead that Joseph merely dictated words that appeared on a seer stone he placed in a hat. The dual narratives were well known in 1834. In response, Joseph and Oliver formally reaffirmed that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim. They reiterated that position for the rest of their lives.In recent years, historians have revived the seer stone narrative. Which version is correct? Urim and Thummim or seer stone? Can they both be correct, or is it an either/or situation? Some historians have reconciled the discrepancies by simply redefining the term “Urim and Thummim” to mean both the Nephite interpreters and the seer stones, but that revisionist approach contradicts the plain historical usage. This book explores the historical evidence and proposes a solution that vindicates the testimonies of Joseph and Oliver while also accepting the statements of the observers as to what they saw. Except what they actually saw was not what they thought they saw.”Jonathan Neville is a lawyer, businessman, educator and author who has written over forty books, including both nonfiction and fiction. He has studied Church history and the Book of Mormon for decades, but didn’t begin publishing in the field until 2015. As of July 2017, he has published ten books on these topics. He also writes for several blogs, including lettervii.com, and moronisamerica.com.Brother Neville approaches these issues like the criminal prosecutor he once was. He pursues the evidence wherever it leads and doesn’t simply “assume” anything or take anyone’s word at face value. When it comes to Church history, he follows the adage: “trust, but verify.” That process of verifying has led to some important new discoveries that he finds to be faith-affirming and corroborate what Joseph Smith said and what the Book of Mormon teaches.For the last twenty-five years, Jonathan has lived in Utah, but he has lived in Europe for 8 years, in the Philippines, in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, Tennessee, and Illinois. He has visited over 60 countries on every continent—including a Chilean base in Antarctica. He travels frequently with his wife Beverly, a PhD and Division Director for the Salt Lake County Health Department who is also a college professor and author, a popular speaker at BYU Education Week, and the author of an article in the Ensign in 2015. They have eight children, seven grandchildren, and no pets.Tim Ballard, author of the Lincoln Hypothesis among other books, says Brother Neville’s book titled Moroni’s America is “a definite game changer… finally a complete, honest, and faithful look at Book of Mormon geography that deals with all the tough questions.”Brother Neville’s book, Whatever Happened to the Golden Plates?, explains how Joseph Smith actually translated two separate sets of plates—only one of which came from Moroni’s box in the Hill Cumorah. This new understanding of Church history helps explain details that have puzzled historians for decadesBrother Neville has spoken at firesides and conferences throughout the United States and in Europe.Support the show (http://www.bookofmormonevidencestreaming.com)

(8a) We are more than likely on the edge of a new depression; Announcement expected regarding school reopening for the current school year; caller tells of experience with his mother in a nursing home; Hill Cumorah pageant final performance pushed off to 2021; the actual efficacy of protests

What wounds can my mission heal?This week Jordan and Zack are introduced to Alex by her husband, Christiaan (he’s our guest from Ep. 14). Alex shares how she was not planning to serve a mission at all, and how serving in the “cradle of the restoration” changed her life. Alex shares what it was like to serve at a Church Historical site, give a tour to the cast of the Book of Mormon broadway cast, and the power of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. While growing up, Alex’s brother Lance was tragically killed in a car accident. Alex concludes with her testimony, and the beauty of serving in a place where doctrines on life after death were revealed to Joseph…

In this interview with Dylan Ettinger we talk about Dylan's early experience growing up in the Mormon church, his disaffection and how the lesser known history as well as his experience impacted the writing of "Winter on the Hill Cumorah" out now on Chondritic Sounds. We also discuss the slippery slope from KORN to Wolf Eyes in Dylan's personal history.

In the past few years, there have been two major theories proposed about where the actual events in the Book of Mormon took place. Filmmaker Kieth Merrill gave one important bit of advice to any Book of Mormon “geography hobbyist” about suggesting their theory is the official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When Merrill was reviewing productions about a new major film on the appearance of Jesus Christ in the New World, President James E. Faust took him aside and directed him not to portray or use any recognizable location to imply that the Church endorses any location over another. President Faust simply said: “We do not know.” Merrill got the message. Today, two different groups occupy the stage and take turns pitching their theories: one group at Brigham Young University is convinced that it's somewhere in southern Mexico or Meso-America, a theory that was first proposed about the turn of the 20th-century by scholars in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; their group, Book of Mormon Central, backs this theory. The second theory, the one that proponents at Book of Mormon Evidence say was what Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Brigham Young. Parley P. Pratt and other early brethren supported, is that it took place in the upper midwest and northeastern states of the United States, specifically, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and as far west as Iowa. While there are new publications and studies being released by this group, Book of Mormon Evidence, about new archaeological and geographic findings. this podcasts focuses on what the Prophet Joseph said about the “western Indians” to whom early missionaries were sent, particularly to the tribes in the upper midwest. Latter Day Radio's guest in this podcast, Rod Meldrum, focuses on those events and passages in the Book of Mormon that support his “Heartland” or “Hopewell” theory. Co-author Bruce Porter, along with Rod Meldrum, suggest in their book “Prophecies ad Promises, the Book of Mormon and the United States of America” that, instead of just reading specific passages in the Book of Mormon that deal with just geography, it is better to establish a “hierarchy of multiple witnesses that are unambiguous, clear and unassailable” rather than trying to make a few passages fit a preconceived idea for a romantic notion of where the key events in the Book of Mormon took place. They point to first, what Book of Mormon prophecies and promises testify of in relation to the Promised Land and the people associated with it; second, they consider the inspired and revealed statements by the Prophet Joseph Smith associated with specific locations (like comments he made on the Zion's March, such as the reference to Zelph's grave); third, look at physical, “real world” evidence such as correlating civilizations in the correct time frame (600 BC to 400 AD), archaeological findings with the text, cultural lifestyles, genetic relationships and linguistic ties; and, fourth, they point to passages contained within the Book of Mormon that are locatable geographical indicators. Meldrum and his allies emphasize that no one knows for sure where the final events in the Book of Mormon took place, but they insist that there is one Hill Cumorah and that the final Nephite “extinction” battle took place near that hill around 400 A.D. But, they also admit that after that period–a very, very long time ago—that the descendants of that awful battle spread all over the western hemisphere taking their stories, their oral histories and the legends with them, likely as far away as South America. Now, you can decide if the “Heartland” model holds any merit. Latter Day Radio, like the Church itself, takes no official position, except this one: The Book of Mormon is exactly what it proposes: Another testament for Jesus Christ published for our day.

What if you’re scared to death of public speaking? In this episode we sit down with Nicole, who was part of the first wave of sister missionaries to replace senior couples as Church History site missionaries. She shares how she felt the enabling power of the atonement bless her to be able to speak and interact with people in a way she never though possible. She shares the power of serving in the “cradle of the Restoration” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and an amazing convert she was blessed to teach.@herebycalleddotcomherebycalled.com

Lesson 13 (2 Nephi 1-5)"He Works in Me to do His Will"Book of Mormon Evidence Podcast - Come Follow Me Supplementary StudyHosted by Rod Meldrum - Author & International Speaker - The FIRM FoundationGuests in this episode: Jonathan Neville Jonathan Neville is a lawyer, businessman, educator and author who has written over forty books, including both nonfiction and fiction. He has studied Church history and the Book of Mormon for decades, but didn’t begin publishing in the field until 2015. As of July 2017, he has published ten books on these topics. He also writes for several blogs, including lettervii.com.Brother Neville approaches these issues like the criminal prosecutor he once was. He pursues the evidence wherever it leads and doesn’t simply “assume” anything or take anyone’s word at face value. When it comes to Church history, he follows the adage: “trust, but verify.” That process of verifying has led to some important new discoveries that he finds to be faith-affirming and corroborate what Joseph Smith said and what the Book of Mormon teaches.For the last twenty-five years, Jonathan has lived in Utah, but he has lived in Europe for 8 years, in the Philippines, in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, Tennessee, and Illinois. He has visited over 60 countries on every continent—including a Chilean base in Antarctica. He travels frequently with his wife Beverly, a PhD and Division Director for the Salt Lake County Health Department who is also a college professor and author, a popular speaker at BYU Education Week, and the author of an article in the Ensign in 2015. They have eight children, seven grandchildren, and no pets.Tim Ballard, author of the Lincoln Hypothesis among other books, says Brother Neville’s book titled Moroni’s America is “a definite game changer… finally a complete, honest, and faithful look at Book of Mormon geography that deals with all the tough questions.”Brother Neville’s book, Whatever Happened to the Golden Plates?, explains how Joseph Smith actually translated two separate sets of plates—only one of which came from Moroni’s box in the Hill Cumorah. This new understanding of Church history helps explain details that have puzzled historians for decades.Brother Neville has spoken at firesides and conferences throughout the United States and in Europe.http://www.moronisamerica.comhttps://deseretbook.com/t/author/jonathan-nevilleSupport the show (http://www.bookofmormonevidencestreaming.com)

Why would a book claiming to be scripture want to be associated with having a “familiar spirit”???? Is Jesus Christ – Eternal God???? How reliable is the Bible? Why was the word “white” changed to “pure” in referencing the righteous Lamanites???? We will answer these questions and more in this lesson. The post 2 Nephi 31-33 | Mar 2-8 appeared first on Talking to Mormons.

Why would a book claiming to be scripture want to be associated with having a “familiar spirit”???? Is Jesus Christ – Eternal God???? How reliable is the Bible? Why was the word “white” changed to “pure” in referencing the righteous Lamanites???? We will answer these questions and more in this lesson. The post 2 Nephi 31-33 | Mar 2-8 appeared first on Talking to Mormons.

Why would a book claiming to be scripture want to be associated with having a “familiar spirit”???? Is Jesus Christ – Eternal God???? How reliable is the Bible? Why was the word “white” changed to “pure” in referencing the righteous Lamanites???? We will answer these questions and more in this lesson. The post 2 Nephi 26-30 | Feb 24 – Mar 1 appeared first on Talking to Mormons.

Why would a book claiming to be scripture want to be associated with having a “familiar spirit”???? Is Jesus Christ – Eternal God???? How reliable is the Bible? Why was the word “white” changed to “pure” in referencing the righteous Lamanites???? We will answer these questions and more in this lesson. The post 2 Nephi 26-30 | Feb 24 – Mar 1 appeared first on Talking to Mormons.

Is Christ – God, The Eternal Father❓ Do we worship Jesus❓ How did the name Lucifer get into the Bible – and, how did it end up in the Book of Mormon❓ Why is the definition of grace in the Book of Mormon – so different from the definition of grace in the Bible❓ We will discover the answer to these questions today. The post 2 Nephi 11-25 | Feb 17-23 appeared first on Talking to Mormons.

Is Christ – God, The Eternal Father❓ Do we worship Jesus❓ How did the name Lucifer get into the Bible – and, how did it end up in the Book of Mormon❓ Why is the definition of grace in the Book of Mormon – so different from the definition of grace in the Bible❓ We will discover the answer to these questions today. The post 2 Nephi 11-25 | Feb 17-23 appeared first on Talking to Mormons.

Martin Tanner interviews film-maker T.C. Christensen, director and producer of acclaimed movies:  17 Miracles, Ephraim's Rescue, Cokeville Miracle and The Work and the Glory.  T.C.'s latest film "The Fighting Preacher" is a true story about Willard and Rebecca Bean's 25 year long mission in 1915 to Palmyra, New York.  At the time, the Hill Cumorah had been entirely deforested and dug-up by treasure seekers, and the Restored Church of Christ owned virtually no property in the area.  The Fighting Preacher chronicles how slowly, Willard and Rebecca Bean turn Palmyra residents from antagonists to friends; and, how they help the Church purchase the Hill Cumorah, the Smith Family Farm, Whitmer Farm, Martin Harris Farm and other properties, as well as replant trees on the Hill Cumorah.  The story of Willard and Rebecca Bean is not one of proselyting, but of ministering.

In this Dialogue podcast Don Bradley discusses “The 116 Lost Pages Re-Discovering the Book of Lehi.” From the Miller Eccles website: From an early age, Don Bradley has been intrigued with Mormon history. As an 11 year-old, he visited the Hill Cumorah with his parents and went looking for his own set of sacred records. Continue Reading »

The Book of Mormon describes the final battle place between the Nephites and Lamanites as the land and hill Cumorah. While it has been commonly believed that the hill in New York where Joseph Smith received the gold plates is the same Hill Cumorah described in the Book of Mormon, this identification has been questioned. Read at bit.ly/know489

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints surprised many when it announced that large church pageants are now “discouraged.” That same day, leaders of the mother of all Latter-day Saint pageants, the Hill Cumorah Pageant, said that it would end its 81-year run after the 2020 season. On this week’s podcast, Gerald Argetsinger, who served in the pageant presidency for 12 years and worked as its artistic director for most of the 1990s, laments the loss of this iconic piece of Latter-day Saint dramatic history, discusses the pageant’s storied past and highlights the impact the show had through the decades on members and nonmembers alike.

  This episode features two wonderful and creative thinkers and religious souls whose lives have been deeply influenced by Joseph Smith. But here is the kicker: neither are Latter-day Saints. Jane Barnes and Rob Lauer view Joseph through eyes we don't often (if ever) encounter within institutional Mormonism. Perhaps very few outside some who knew him personally were attracted by what most fascinates and enlivens them. Jane was the primary writer and researcher for the 2007 PBS/Frontline and Helen Whitney produced documentary film, The Mormons. During her time working on the film, and even earlier, she came to appreciate Joseph as a dynamic, creative, prophetic figure, and she even had a "conversion" experience in which she understood him as a key figure in her awakening to her own spirituality. Ultimately, her experiences led her to write a much-celebrated memoir, Falling in Love with Joseph Smith: My Search for the Real Prophet (Tarcher/Penguin, 2012). Rob encountered Joseph Smith in his teens, and connected deeply with him in a way that led him to join the church. As he encountered the disconnect between how he saw and encountered Joseph versus how the church and its culture had tamed him and bleached out of him most of the color and life that he had been attracted to, he left Mormonism. He re-joined for a while, even co-directing the Hill Cumorah pageant for seven years, before he felt Joseph's teachings led him out of the church again—but not because he didn't embrace them any longer but because they empowered him to see his being gay as an essential part of his deep spiritual identity, while also seeing that the church wasn't capable of sustaining him as a gay man. To this day, however, he still says his is a religion "of" Joseph Smith (meaning he believes his key and empowering insights about humans, gods, and life's highest call). Interestingly, both Jane and Rob encountered Joseph Smith first through Fawn Brodie's book, No One Knows My History, which is generally thought by members as anti-Mormon. For them, however, they found a powerful figure on a unique journey, with gifts and creativity, that became a catalyst for their own spiritual walks. Notice as you listen to this episode how taking a fresh look at Joseph from outside the "boxes" we in the church so often put him in and want to limit him to can allow us to see him in much more vibrant detail. As writers and artists (novelist/filmmaker and playwright/television producer/newspaper editor), they see Joseph as bold and imaginative as well as good and kind, but also as broken and full of contradictions, many of them that are very unappealing. Still, they see him as a "prophet" in the larger sense of the word rather than the limited view we in the church have cultivated as we have  idealized the term, turned the title into a "president" of an institution, and shied away from representing him in all his humanness. It's this very humanness that leads them to love and appreciate him in ways that feel, at least to me, to be much more powerful than the level of encounter of most Latter-day Saints.

How it went from Gold Plates to the Book of Mormon ---Transcript--- Hey everyone, this is Russell. I want to welcome you guys back to the Book of Mormon Challenge podcast. I am super excited for today's episode. I apologize to those who have been waiting. It has taken a while. It's interesting how when you try to move forward on important things like this how many things get in the way. So today, I got my kids ready for school, I woke up early this morning to get all the outlines prepared, got up, got my kids out the door to school, and then now I'm back in here recording this before I'm allowing myself to go into the office and get started on my day, to make sure you guys have it. Because I keep wanting to dive into 1 Nephi Chapter 1, I've got the entire episode all prepared and ready, and there's so much exciting stuff I want to share with you. But I felt like there was a preamble, something I needed to give and share with you before that. And it's the story of how we actually got the Book of Mormon. I'm sitting here in my office, and I have as you know, one of the original 5000 books that was printed here. And I'm not so much going to go into how the book was printed and published and things like that, that's not the purpose of the podcast. But how did we actually get it? Every time I share anything with my friends who aren't members of the church, they are confused, “So what is this? A new Bible? A new translation?” And not matter how many times I explain it they always get confused. So I want to kind of go through the details of the story and it's one of the most amazing, insane, cool stories in the history of the world, yet nobody seems to talk about it very much. So I wanted to share it because I think it's important. And my goal, in fact, my entire goal of this podcast, I think I've told you. There's a couple of reasons, one is to get me to really get back into studying and learning and trying to find out the most amazing things from the Book of Mormon. But number two is to get you excited about the Book of Mormon. It's not so much me telling you my commentary on the Book of Mormon, that's not my goal. My goal is to talk about it in a way that gets you so excited after you hear the episode that you have to go and open it, you have to read the next chapter or the next verse. If I can do that, then I've done my job correctly. So I figure the best thing I can do today is get you so excited that if you haven't got the Book of Mormon yet, you're like, “Alright I'm going to go and just buy one, I'm going to go order it online.” Whatever you need to do, you're going to get one and so you'll actually open it and start reading it. So that's my goal today, just to get you pumped by….because the back story about how it came to be because it really is fascinating. And hopefully you've listened to some of the earlier episodes, I talk about the history and all those kind of things. If not, please go back to the very beginning. I'm trying to, all these episodes kind of build on each other. So make sure you're listening to them as you go. But this story is really, really cool. If you listened to a couple of episodes ago, I talked about Joseph Smith and his first vision. So if you remember that, I'll kind of recap it really quickly. As a 14 year old kid he was confused and trying to figure out which church to join, and he went and he prayed and had a vision where Heavenly Father and Jesus came to him and said, “Don't join any of the churches.” And he was like, “What? I never even considered that.” And they're like, “Yeah, don't join any church. None of them are here and you're going to be an instrument to help bring back my true church here on the earth.” So he has this vision and he goes and tells his family about it, tells other people and he thinks that everyone is going to be excited to hear that Heavenly Father and Jesus came to him, and what actually happened was the opposite. He was lucky to have his family and people close to him believe him, but most of the people in the community didn't. And he was persecuted really heavily. He was, his family was, and it was a really, really difficult time for the next few years. If you can imagine as a young boy having this vision and then not hearing from Heavenly Father again, you're like, “What happened? Did I do something wrong?” You know, what's the next step? So that's kind of where this part of the story picks up. It's Joseph Smith wondering that same thing, what's the next step? So most of this podcast is going to be coming from two different things. One is Joseph Smith History. I went through the history and found some really cool parts of the story to tell. And the second one is a talk given by President Russell M. Nelson, who is the living prophet of the church today. This is a talk he gave called A Treasured Testament. He gave it a long time ago, I don't know, 1992. So a long time ago, but it kind of tells the back story and shares some of the amazing insights, some amazing quoting of stuff from that as well. The goal of both of these things is to get you so excited to open up the book and start reading with me because the next episode we are going 1 Nephi Chapter 1, and we're finally going to be diving in. So what happened, in Joseph Smith History he was talking about how there had been a space of time between the first vision and he was trying to figure out what to do. And he said during that time, you know he was a young boy. He was a teenager, and as most teenagers, I've got two boys, twin boys who are going to become teenagers here in about two months or three months from now. And he started just doing what teenagers do and he said, “I frequently fell into many foolish errors and displayed the weaknesses of youth and foibles of human nature. I'm sorry to say it lead me to diverse temptations offensive in the sight of God. But in making this confession, no one needs to suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins, a disposition to commit such was never in my nature, but I was guilty of levity and sometimes associating with jovial company, etc. Not consistent with the character of which ought to maintained by one who was called of God, as I had been.” So can you imagine that? You're a young kid and you see Heavenly Father, you see Jesus, but then you're a teenager and you're doing stupid stuff and whatever, but always having that guilt of, I should be better. I know better than this. But continually falling back on those ways. And I don't know about you, but I have those things all the time, where I feel like our Heavenly Father has blessed me so, so greatly, yet I do stupid things. I'm like, “Why am I doing this? I should be better than that.” And I think he felt the same way, obviously. He goes on and said, “I often felt condemned for my weaknesses and imperfections.” So that's kind of how he felt going into this. So it'd been I think 3 or 4 years after the first vision and he was like, “Alright, I need to find out where I fit with God.” And hopefully all of us have this conversation. It's a scary one, it's one that sometimes I don't think any of us really want to go ask because you might find out and that can be kind of scary. But Joseph Smith thought, I'm going to find out what God thinks. Am I doing okay? Where am I at with him? So he goes on to say, “I betook myself to prayer and supplication to the Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and my follies. And also for a manifestation to me that I might know of my state and standing before him.” Can you imagine going to Heavenly Father like, “Okay, so I need to know my state and my standing. How am I doing? Am I doing good, am I doing bad?” something that I'm sure we're all super curious about, but man, that's a scary thing. What if he told you? What if he was like, “Man, you're doing a horrible job Russell.”? But he did that. But first, he asked for forgiveness of his sins, “I know I've not been doing what you, I haven't been living up to what I believe what you want me to be, so I'm asking for forgiveness. And then I want to know my standing. How am I doing? What should I be doing? You came to me, what now? Obviously you don't come to everyone, what was the purpose, and what should I be doing?” He goes on to say, “I want to know of my state and standing before him, for I had a full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation as I'd previously had one.” Can you imagine, he's like, “I've had a vision before, I'm probably going to have one again.” He just believed it that much. I think most of us, we forget of the miracles we've had in our life and we just kind of pass them off, whereas he was like, “You know I had a miracle last time, he came and visited me. I think he's going to visit me again. Let's go pray.” And he did that, which is such a cool thing. So much faith, I wish I had that faith like that. So he went in there and asked for forgiveness of his sins, he prayed to know his state before God and what happened next is amazing. What happened next is an angel came and appeared to him in his room. And the angel's name was Moroni. So those of you guys who don't know who Moroni is yet, you know obviously the word Mormon from the Book of Mormon. So Mormon was the last prophet, one of the last prophets in the Book of Mormon and he had a son named Moroni. Moroni  was the last one who was kind of writing all the history and he was the last righteous person in the land at the time, so he had been entrusted with these Gold Plates. These are metal pages that they had been etching in their history for 600 years of what was happening with them and with God, it was their journals. So he had all of these, they called them Gold Plates, where they were metal pages and they all had all these things etched in them. So Moroni had these and before he died he went and buried them in a hill so that nobody could find them. But they were a history of his people. So that's kind of who Moroni was. So he's sitting there in bed praying to find out his standing before God and all the sudden this angel appears to him. And the angel's name was Moroni and Moroni started talking to him. And the first thing Moroni tells him is, “Hey, just so you know Joseph Smith, my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindred's and tongues, where there should be both good and evil spoken among all people.” So you imagine that, an angel comes and just so you know, if you start on this mission, your name is going to be used for good and evil. So people who love you are going to think that you are the greatest thing in the world, and the rest of the world is going to hate you and think you're an evil, horrible person. Can you imagine stepping into your mission, you know at this time he was, I don't know how old he was at the time, but still a teenager, maybe 18-19 years old or something like that. And say, just so you know if you decide to go on this mission, your mission should you choose to accept it is this thing and your name is going to be used for both good and evil. So then he goes on and says, “Okay, there was a book deposited, written on gold plates, giving the account of the former inhabitants of this continent and the source from whence they sprang.” He also said, “That the fullness of the everlasting gospel is contained in it, as delivered by the savior to the ancient inhabitants.” So he said, there's these gold plates that I buried up in the mountain. He said that on these's plates are record of the ancient Indians, the people who used to live here in America. And it talks about when the savior came to them. He said that, “I buried these in the mountain and I also, because I know that you don't know how to speak the language that we wrote in, there are also two stones and silver bows, and these stones fastened to the breast plate constitute what are called the Urim and Thummim.” And he says, “The Urim and Thummin are what were called seer stones, these stones are what would constitute seers in ancient or former times, and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating this book.” So he didn't know what these were, but he said, “There's these seer stones, if you look through them you'll be able to translate the Book of Mormon, they're also buried in the mountain.” And he kind of explained the whole thing. So I'm sure Joseph Smith is like, “Oh my gosh, this is so cool. There's these buried gold plates in a mountain and there's these seer stones. If I look through the stones I can translate this ancient language.” This is, I don't know about you, but this is better than any movie in the history of the world. So the angel's telling him this stuff, then after that the angel starts quoting him scriptures. So he's quoting him scriptures from Isaiah and Malachi and  all these things. So he's quoting these scriptures and he quotes the scripture and he says, ‘This is about to be fulfilled.” And he quotes another scripture and says, “This is about to be fulfilled.” And he quotes another one and says, “This is not yet fulfilled, but it's soon going to be.” So the angel is like telling him, all these things these ancient prophets wrote about, like Isaiah, all these people, they testified that in the coming days, in the future, these things are going to happen. He's like, all those things are being fulfilled right now. You are the literal fulfillment of all these prophecies of all the prophets up until this point. Can you imagine being this kid, sitting here thinking I've read Isaiah, I've read these people, I've read these words and what they were talking about was happening. I'm experiencing this right now. Can you imagine that? Imagine yourself as a kid going through this. So he goes through the things, he shares all these things, and at the end of it, then the angel leaves. So Joseph is sitting here in bed going, “What in the world just happened? An angel visited me, told me about these gold plates, these really cool Urim and Thummim, seer stones, I'll be able to translate this book. Then he started telling me all these, quoting these scriptures and telling me that all this stuff is actually happening right now and it's coming true. And he's telling all this stuff….” And as he's thinking about it, pondering and meditating about it, all the sudden the light comes back in the room and the angel appears again. So the angel appears a second time and then tells him the exact same thing. And he's like, “What in the world?” So he tells him the exact same thing as the first time. So he's like, okay I get it. He listened to the whole thing, and the second time the angel added something, he said he informed him, “There's going to be great judgments which are coming upon the earth and great desolations by famine, sword and pestilence and these grievous judgments should come upon the earth in this generation.” So he said that and then he left again. So the first time he comes and tells the story and leaves. The second time he comes again and tells the entire story again and then he's like, “Oh by the way, in the very near future the whole world is going to be roght with desolations, famine, sword, pestilences and the grievous judgments are coming upon the earth because this is a wicked time and a wicked place we live in.” and then he leaves. Can you imagine, Joseph Smith is probably like, “What? An angel came to me twice. You just told me again that all the fulfillment of all these prophecies are happening…” and he's sitting there thinking about it, and guess what happened? The same messenger came a third time. He said he gave him the exact same message again, but this time he added a caution, and this is what he said, “The same messenger at my bedside and I heard him rehearse or repeat over again to me the same things as before, and this time he added a caution to me telling me that Satan would try to tempt me in consequences of my indignant circumstances in my father's family.” Because Joseph Smith's family was really poor at the time, “To get the plates for the purpose of being rich. This he forbade me saying I must have no other object in view of getting the plates but to glorify God, and must not be influenced by any other motive than that of building the kingdom. Otherwise, I would not get them.” So he comes back and tells the whole thing and says, “Oh by the way, these gold plates are worth a ton of money and just so you know, you are going to be tempted like crazy from Satan to sell these things because you are poor and you are broke and if you try to use that for any purpose like that, if you even think about it, you're not going to get them.” In fact, in another spot he actually says, “You'll be destroyed if you try to use them for anything else.” Can you imagine this angel telling you, just be good or you're going to be destroyed. I don't know about you, but that would scare me a lot. So he gets the warning, be careful what you do with these because it really, really matters. So then the angel leaves again, and that's when it ends. So now he's sitting there, and he's laying there in bed and all the sudden the sun starts coming up and he realizes, “I've been talking to this angel the entire night.” So he gets up and he's like, “I gotta go to work in the farm.” So he runs out, starts working in the farm and he's super tired, he hasn't slept all night and his dad notices how tired he is and says, “Go back home, go take a nap, go get some sleep.” So he's walking back to the house and he's jumping over this fence as he's going back to the house and he passes out, literally falls on the floor and just goes unconscious. And a few minutes later he wakes up, and guess who he sees when he wakes up? The same angel again. And the angel tells him the same message again. The entire message. Then after he tells him the message, then he's like, “Go tell your dad what I just told you.” I wonder if he was just like, “Dude, I spent the entire night with you. Why wouldn't you have told your parents about this?” So he tells him the whole message again and says, “Go tell your father.” So Joseph Smith gets back up, walks over to his dad and is like, “Alright dad, this is what happened, a messenger came…” and tells him the whole thing and his dad, and this is so telling of the relationship this father and son had, his father told him, “This is from God. You need to go do exactly what the angel told you to do.” So the angel had told him in the vision exactly where the gold plates were at, and they were in a hill called Hill Cumorah, which happened to be right by his house. I wish I had time, I wish I had enough time to have researched this ahead of time, I wanted to but I just ran out of time and I wanted to get this episode out. But it's interesting, all the things the lord had to do to get Joseph Smith to end up in Palmyra, New York next to the Hill Cumorah. His family wasn't born there, he wasn't raised there, they were born somewhere else. And there were all sorts of insane things. There was a volcano that erupted that made their family crops die, which made them go bankrupt, which made them move their farm three or four times to eventually get to this spot hundreds of miles, I don't know how far away, hundreds of miles away from where they were born and raised to this farm that happened to be next to the exact same spot where angel Moroni, where Moroni before he was an angel, where Moroni had buried these plates. So the lord had moved their family and shoved them to this spot, boom, so they were in the right spot to be able to go and get those plates. So Joseph Smith knew where, he'd seen the vision of exactly where it was at, so he walked over to the Hill Cumorah and found the spot where those plates were at and let's see if I can find where it says….its talking about the Hill Cumorah, he said, “On the west side of this hill, not far from the top under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates deposited in a stone box. The stone was thick and rounding in the middle and on the upper sides, and thinner towards the edges so that the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but the edges all around were covered with earth.” So imagine this, Joseph finds this spot and he's like, “This is it, this is the spot.” And then he started digging it out. So it says, “Having removed the earth, I obtained a lever which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion I raised it up, I looked in and there indeed I beheld the plates and the Urim and Thummim, and the breast plate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the bottom of the box lay two stones cross ways over the box and on these stones lay the plates and the other things with them.” Can you imagine that? You have these visions and then you go and you find this rock, you move the rock and then boom, in there, just like the angel had said, there are these gold plates, and there's the Urim and Thummim to translate, everything is there. I can't even imagine, as a teenaged kid, can you imagine find that? That's like the greatest treasure in the world. So the first thing he does when he sees it, is start grabbing it to pull it out. That's the first thing I would do, I need to touch it. And he started to grab it and he said, “I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by the messenger and was again informed that the time for bringing them forth had not yet arrived, and neither would it until four years from that time. But he told me I should come to that place in precisely one year from that time, and that he would there meet with me, and that I should continue to do so until the time should come for obtaining the plates.” So he's like, “don't touch these plates, you're not allowed to.” And he's like, “Ah, but I want the gold. This is so cool.” And the angel's like, “Don't touch it. You gotta come back next year.” So he goes on to say, “Accordingly, as I had been commanded, I went at the end of each year and at each time I found the same messenger there and received instructions and intelligences from him at each of our interviews, respecting what the lord was going to do and how in what manner his kingdom was to be conducted in the last days.” So every year for four years he goes back, the angel talks to him again, sends him away. He comes back and keeps doing this for four more years. So for four years he gets to learn about him, see him. I'm sure, can you imagine how much curiosity he'd have, “What is on these things. I want to read them so bad.” Okay, then fast forward a little bit later, after four years, he says, “The length of time had arrived for obtaining the plates and the Urim and Thummim and the breast plates on the 22nd day of September 1827, having gone as usual at the end of another year, to the place where they were deposited. The same heavenly messenger delivered them unto me with this charge, that I should be responsible for them, that if I should let them go carelessly or through any neglect of mine that I should be cut off. But if I would use all my endeavors to preserve them until he, the messenger, should call for them, that I should be protected.” So I'm going to trust you with these gold plates, but if you lose or you neglect them you will be cut off. I don't know exactly what cut off means, but it does not sound like very much fun. So he finally gets the gold plates and the chance to take them, and there's rumors. Because he's been talking about this, he's told people an angel came to him, there's gold plates, he told people about it and people didn't believe him. But they thought, “Well, if he does have gold plates then we want them.” And the persecutions that came from that point forward were insane, people trying to steal them and trying to murder him. There are so many stories that I just don't have time to tell you guys today, but it's crazy. But I do want to share a little bit about the translation process, because this is the coolest part. This is why this book, again I'm holding in my hand right now, one of the original 5000, why this book is so exciting. Because imagine this, if somebody told you there was this book that was inscribed upon golden plates that the ancient American's told their stories, their dealings with God, the talked about God, when Christ came to them, and the entire history of their life, and if you read this book you'll understand Jesus, and Christ and salvation better than anything else on earth. And it's all on these gold plates. And to be able to read it you have to translate, and there were these little seer stones that you look through and as you look through them you'll see the character and it will tell you what the actual word needs to be and be able to find out and decode this book and find out what it is. If someone told me that, I'd be like, “I have to read this book. This sounds like the most exciting, interesting, fascinating story in the history of world.” And it is, yet hardly anybody in the world knows about it. That's what us, as Mormons are always talking about. “If you understood what's in this book you would go crazy. If you knew what was here, if you realized what we had to go through to get this.” Imagine Joseph Smith going back for four years and seeing these gold plates and wondering what in the world is on there. These have been protected for thousands of years from the world and now today they are, the lord is telling me let's bring these out. Aren't you curious what's on there? Aren't you curious, all the revelations, all the prophecies of Isaiah and Malachi, all these prophecies where the angel came back and said, “Look, this is the literal fulfillment of that prophecy. Isaiah was talking about this moment right here.” Aren't you curious what he's talking about? What's actually inside the book? I don't know how you couldn't be curious. It drives me wild when people are like, “Oh, well I'm not going to read it.” It doesn't make any logical sense to me whatsoever, even just out of raw curiosity. What in the world could possibly be in here? Especially when you have people like me where it's literally changed their life. If you look at, I can't even tell you happiness…everything…if you know me and follow me and wonder, “Man, why is Russell so happy?” This is the foundation of why. So I don't know how much more of an endorsement I can give than that. This will bring you more peace, security, happiness….I don't even know how…it's everything I'm saying and a whole much more. It's insane. So I'm hopefully getting you excited to like, “What was on those gold plates?” Aren't you curious? With that said, I'm going to jump over to this talk from President Russell M. Nelson that he gave back in 1992 because there are some quotes I'm going to share from this. So I'm going to read some parts because it's going to explain how the translation part worked. Because if you think about this, Joseph Smith was a young boy, he had no formal education, he could barely read, and he had in a very, very short period of time, and I'll explain that here in a second, had to take these gold plates that were written in some ancient language that most people didn't even know at the time, and he had to translate them into English, and he did the whole thing in less than three months. So how is that even possible? Now me, as an author I've written two books, those who know me, I'm writing book number three right now, just for me to write a book, it takes me four or five years of research, one year of actual writing, and my books aren't even that good compared to this. This book is weaving out 600 years of history from multiple different civilizations, inside the book there's all sorts of proof elements. One of the things in here is an ancient type of Hebrew poetry called Chiasmus, I'm probably going to pronounce it wrong, chiasmus, which is this really cool ancient type of poetry that we didn't even find out about until well after the Book of Mormon was published and then scholars found out about this thing. You go back to the Book of Mormon, the entire book is laced with this amazing poetry where sometimes it's within four or five versus, sometimes its wrapped within 20 or 30 chapters to be able to see the whole hierarchy of this poetry that's been built into the book. All these things that there's no way that Joseph Smith or any human could have done that, unless they lived at that time, actually doing it. Anyway, there's so many proof elements, but none of those matter. My goal, again is not to get you to prove any of this, other than to read it and pray and ask God, because he'll tell you. But just to get you excited and intrigued. Alright I'm going to jump into this talk. So the first thing that Russell M. Nelson said, he said, “I'm intrigued that Joseph Smith, an unschooled young man in rural America could have translated this Semitic language mix into the English language. The unlikely scenario relates to Isaiah's remarkable prophecy. In Isaiah Chapter 29, Verse 14 he said, ‘I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and wonder.' This, the becoming forth of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the church, this is the marvelous work and wonder that Isaiah was prophesying about, that the angel Moroni came back and said, “Look…remember Isaiah was talking about a marvelous work and wonder that's going to happen in the last days, this is it. It begins today.” Can you imagine that? I'm going to go on and keep reading this. It says, “Truly this latter day work is precisely that. Think of the short time that Joseph Smith took to translate the Book of Mormon. Working from April to June of 1828, Joseph translated the first 116 pages that Martin Harris later lost.” So kind of the back story, and I'm going to actually share this story when we get a little deeper in the Book of Mormon, there's a huge miracle around it. But they translated the first 116 pages, it was called the Book of Lehi. And when you read the Book of Mormon you'll notice there's not Book of Lehi. Where'd the Book of Lehi go? And Lehi was the father of Nephi. So they translated the first 116 pages and Martin Harris got all excited and begged to be able to show his family so they could justify all the money, time and effort he's spent on this. And Joseph Smith went and asked the Lord, said, ‘Hey can Martin Harris show his family these pages?” and the lord said no. And then Joseph Smith told Martin Harris, Martin Harris was like, “Please.” And they went back and forth and kept fighting and praying and finally the Lord is like, “Fine, go do it.” So he did and he lost the pages. So they were going to start retranslating and the Lord's like, “No, no, no. I told you not to give it to him, you did, you sinned, you are losing the power to translate for a season.” So he took away his ability to even translate for a while, then they started retranslating it and said, “Look, we're not going to re-translate that because if you do, Satan will use that as a tool to get people to not believe in this work. So instead you're going to start on this other book,” that was kind of an afterthought, that was called the Book of Nephi, and again, I'll tell you that story when we get to the Book of Nephi. It's a similar story, but it's written by Nephi, Lehi's son. So the first 116 pages are lost and we'll never, we never have had a chance to see those unfortunately. So that was the first translation, then they started over and it said, “Joseph began translating again on Tuesday, April 7,1829 with Oliver Cowdery as his scribe. The manuscript was completed eighty-five days later, on June 30 of that year.” So 85 days, they translated the entire Book of Mormon. I don't know about you, but it's taken me more than 85 days just to read it, let alone translating it from an ancient language. “Of course, not all of that time was spent working on the translation. The prophet and his scribes all took time to eat, to sleep, to seek employment, to receive the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, to make at least one and possibly two trips to Colesville, 30 miles away….” Which again, they didn't have cars back then, so 30 miles is like 500 miles now days. “…to receive and record 13 other revelations that are now sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, to move from Harmony to Fayette, to acquire the Book of Mormon copyright, and to begin making arrangement for the publication of the Book of Mormon. Conservatively estimated that left 65 or fewer working days on which the prophet and his scribes translated this book, which contains 531 pages in its current edition.” Alright that's 8 pages per day. “Consider that when you translate a book from another language or as you try to read at your own schedule of the Book of Mormon.” It said, “Oliver Cowdery testified a few days later, ‘these days were never to be forgotten. To sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened with the utmost gratitude of this bosom.” Can you imagine that, sitting there as Joseph Smith is translating this book by the gift and power of God? He said, “Those were days never to be forgotten. To sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven.” So cool.  It said, “Day after day I continued, uninterrupted to write from his mouth as he translated the history of a record called the Book of Mormon.” He goes on to say, “The details of this miraculous method of translation are still not fully known, yet we do have few precious insights. David Whitmer wrote: ‘Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light, and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principle scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power man.' Can you imagine that, he just got the gold plates, they're in this hat or something, and then he pulls it up so there's not light shining in there and he's got this stone and he looks down and he looks at the character, which is like, imagine ancient reformed Egyptian, right, a little thing. And he puts the seer stone over it, and below the seer stone it's like, “This is what that word or that phrase means.” He would say the word, he'd write it down, and it would disappear and he'd go to the next word. I can't even imagine how cool this is. This is better than if you guys watch those movies like National Treasure or something, where they're trying to decipher the secret message from the founding fathers. This is secret messages from God. This is secret messages from his prophets on ancient America, aren't you curious what he said? I hope you are. Alright, let me come back in here. So Emma Smith, this is Joseph's wife, it says, “Emma Smith, who acted as an earlier scribe for Joseph gave this account in 1856: ‘When my husband was translating the Book of Mormon, I wrote a part of it, as he dictated each sentence, word for word, and when he came to proper names he could not pronounce, or long words he spelled them out, and while I was writing them, if I made any mistake in spelling, he would stop me and correct my spelling, although it was impossible for him to see how I was writing them down at the time. Even the word Sarah he could not pronounce at first, but had to spell it out and Ij would pronounce it for him. ‘When he stopped for any purpose at any time he would, when he commenced again, begin where he left off wiout any hesitation, and one time while he was translating he stopped suddenly, pale as a sheet, and said, ‘Emma, did Jerusalem have walls around it?' when I answered yes he replied, ‘Oh I didn't know, I was afraid I had been deceived.' He had such a limited knowledge of history at that time that he did not even know that Jerusalem was surrounded by walls.” I got chills just sharing that. Can you imagine, he's reading stuff and sharing it and he's discovering it as we're discovering it and we're reading it. He's asking Emma is that actually true? That is so cool. It says, “On another occasion Emma recorded: ‘The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen tablecloth which I had given him to fold them in. I once felt of the plates as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book.” “Although the prophet would polish his skills over the years, Emma acknowledged that Joseph possessed only rudimentary literacy at the time he translated the gold plates.” This is coming from his wife, who loves him. I can imagine most husband's spouses are willing to tell the true story about who the person actually is. So this is what Emma said about Joseph's ability to actually do something like this. She said, “Joseph Smith could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter, let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon. And though I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, it is marvelous to a me, a marvel and a wonder, as much so as to anyone else.” So his wife is like, there's no way he wrote this book. I love him but he's not that smart. He couldn't even dictate a coherent or well-worded letter. So it's just, it's fascinating. So as you go on here, that kind of gives you kind of a glimpse of what happened as they translated this book. And then the story afterwards, again, I could spend 20 podcasts just pre-setting up the book, but I want to get into the book. But after that they had it translated right, so it was written out and then they had to go and there is a whole story about how they got EB Grandin to actually print this book that I'm holding in my hands right now. They went and had to get it typed so they had to get the money for it. If you look back in the day, they didn't have type writers or printers, they had to get every letter, letter by letter, THE, print it out and stamp ink on it, and they'd stamp that onto a piece of paper and cut the bindings, sew it together. So when I look at this book and I open it up and I look at the ink and how it's so hard to read in some areas and I look at the bindings how they're hand sewn together. I look at the sacrifice that went into this, but not just that. The translation that happened prior to it, and then to get this book and all the people trying to steal the gold plates from him and eventually, the angel took the gold plates back. And then they get the book, get it printed, get it out there, and then they thought, “Man, everyone in the world is going to freak out when they see this. They're going to be so excited. Can you imagine the miracles that happened for us to get this thing.” And they gave it out to the world initially, as you know, the world didn't just runningly accept it. People did, but not everybody. And to this day it's still, Satan fights against it so hard because he doesn't want it to get into people's hands. But as you read the Book of Mormon, in this talk he shares like 30 different amazing things about the Book of Mormon, but there's one that I want to stress because it's the key. I think that the biggest tragedy to me is that Christians who are great Christian people who are scared to read it or don't want to read it, or whatever it might be, and we'll get more into those reasons as we dive into the book, but I want all my Christian brothers and sisters to feel comfortable with this. So this is one thing that President Nelson talked about, he said, “The Book of Mormon reveals that Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary is literally the son of God. No book of scripture bares more solemnly the weighty burden of that testimony than does the Book of Mormon. It's pages contain nearly 4000 references to Christ using more than 100 different titles for him. His holy name is mentioned on the average of once every 2.8 verses. No wonder this book has been designated another testament of Jesus Christ.” So anyone who's scared like, “This is going to take away from the Bible. Or this is going to take away from Christ.” Or whatever, no. This is another testament of Christ. The whole purpose, the whole focus of this book is to get people to believe in Christ, to get them to turn their heart to Christ. It is the most amazing proof we have that our savior came to this earth, that he died, and he was resurrected again. I promise you that if you read it and you ponder about, and you pray about it, you don't have to take my word for it, you don't have to take anyone's word for it. But if you pray, if you read and you pray about it, our Heavenly Father will tell you it's true. I had an interesting talk yesterday with one of my friends and he said that there was someone who lives by us, who as a young boy became a member of the church and got baptized and then left. He hasn't been back to church for, I don't know 50-60 years. And he was going and he was trying to get him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and find out what he once knew. So finally the guy said, “I commit, I will read the Book of Mormon and I'll pray about it.” And he's like, “Cool.” So he came back a week later and said, “How'd it go?” and he's like, “Well, I spent 3 hours online researching the Book of Mormon and I didn't feel good.” And he said, “Well of course you didn't. What were you reading about it.” And he kind of told him, and he's like, “you're reading people who hate the church, who hate the Book of Mormon. How do you think you're going to feel.” And he's like, “I didn't feel good about it.” And he said, “How about this, I want you to take a different challenge. This time spend 3 hours actually reading the Book of Mormon and then tell me how you feel.” That's the test. When you read the book you will feel the Lord's spirit, you will feel the Holy Ghost, you will feel the feelings of God because this book is from him. Don't read about the book, that's my one fear of this podcast , you're going to listen to me talk about the book and then you're going to base your judgments based on that. Please don't. My only goal of this podcast is to get you so excited that you go and you open the book and you read it. And if you read it you will feel that, I promise you that. You'll read it and you'll feel it and then pray about it and ask God if it's true. Don't take my word for it, don't take anyone's word for it because that's not the goal. The goal is not to convince you of anything, the goal is for you to read it, to feel it and then to pray and ask God. And then if you do, it'll change your life. I promise you that. It's changed my life, it's changed millions of other people's lives around the world and it'll change yours as well. Alright to end, I want to end actually reading part of, the ending part of this talk from President Nelson and then I want to share my testimony as well. But I thought he did such a good job kind of summing this up. He said, “It is a book that the Lord Jesus Christ has personally testified to be true. In the form of an oath, the Lord said, referring to the Prophet Joseph Smith's work, ‘He has translated the book, even that part which I have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true.' So that was in Doctrine and Covenants section 17 verse 6 where Jesus Christ himself testified that the Book of Mormon is true. He said, “you know well that this promise that the Lord offers to the readers of the Book of Mormon. If you do these last commandments of mine, which I have given you, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you, for my grace is sufficient for you, and you shall be lifted up at the last day. “The Prophet Joseph Smith declared and his successor, President Ezra Taft Benson, has reaffirmed that at the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. It is a treasured testament of truth. It is the prophesied sign that the Lord has commenced to gather Israel and fulfill his covenants. “ So I just want to testify to you, just like the angel did when he told Joseph Smith when he came three times in the night and again the next day, and then every year for the next four years. He said that all of the prophecies from the old testament, all of the things that Isaiah and all these prophets wrote about, that were going to happen in the last days, they're happening. It's happening all around you. And Satan's going to deceive you and try to get you blind to it by keeping you busy and I feel this in my life every single day. There's so many things that are happening. So many things fighting for our time, good things that are fighting for our time, it's hard to keep our eyes open enough to look for the truth. But it's there, it's right in front of our eyes. It's been restored. There was a boy who was humble enough and worthy enough to pray and get Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to come to him. He then, through the gift and power of God was able to go and find these Gold plates, this old record of people who lived here on the ancient American Continent. People who actually had a chance to see Christ and feel the wounds in his hands and his feet and put all those things in their record. He was able to translate them by the gift and the power of God. They weren't translated 10, 50, 100 times by tons of different people. It was translated once. So this book in my hands that I'm holding today is the exact same thing that came, went from the prophets here in ancient America, right into the Gold plates, then from one translation being put here in this book. So when you read this, you know it hasn't been changed, hasn't been manipulated. It is literally the words of God. And what's interesting is that the ancient prophets who wrote this, this book was not for them. They didn't have a chance to see it right. As you read through the book you'll see, they were writing this book, the Lord commanded them and said, you're writing this book. It's not for you, it's for a future people who need to have this book. This book will turn their hearts back to God. So they're like, I'm not writing this for my people, I'm writing it for you, whoever is reading this someday in the future. I'm writing this for you so you'll know what happened to us, so you can protect yourself and you can protect your families. So it was written by ancient American prophets for me and for you, specifically for today. Specifically for us to get through the challenges and the trials and tribulations and all the amazing things that Satan's throwing at us today, this book was written to protect us and to save us and to bring us closer to Christ. He is our savior, he is our messiah, he is our God and he's our king. I testify to you that this book will draw you closer to him than anything else on this planet. And I want you, I pray that you read it and that you feel it. And if you do that, like I said, your life will be changed forever, just like mine has. So I want to share that with you on the end of this episode, and get excited because on the next episode we're going to be diving into 1 Nephi Chapter 1. So if you don't have your Book of Mormon yet, go and get one. If you go to bookofmormonchallenge.com there's a link where you can get a free one. Or you can go to Amazon, I'm sure you can get a free one on Amazon. Just get a copy of it because I want you to start reading this together with me, otherwise what's the point of all this work I'm putting into it, right? So we're going to go to 1 Nephi chapter 1. This is the way that the game is going to be played. I'm going to tell you about 1 Nephi Chapter 1. I'm going to get you so excited, so fired up, and so pumped to read it and then I'm going stop and I'm going to leave you hanging and that's going to drive you to go and actually read it. And that's how this podcast is going to go moving forward. I'm going to get you excited about what's happening, what to look for, the magic, the secret messages, all the amazing things that the Lord has weaved into these verses that if you're not careful you're going to miss it. I'm going to set those things up so you can look for them and you can find them so when you read them you'll have these amazing spiritual moments where you'll be reading something and it'll hit you. And for everyone it's going to be different. Everyone's at different times and points in your lives. And some things you'll read and it won't make sense, and some things you'll read and you won't be ready for it. But some things you'll read and you'll sit there and be like, how in the world did this prophet, and it could be Alma or Nephi or Leman, not Leman, Helamin or Moroni, how did they know? How did they know that I would be struggling with that today? They literally, they must have put that chapter in for me. They must have put that verse. That phrase must have been for me. They saw our day and they must have known that was for me. You're going to have those experiences and it'll be the most amazing, spiritual, coolest things, when those things happen. It doesn't happen all the time, but I promise you that if you will read this book with me, and dive in there and study it, and you'll be looking for those things, and you're praying for answers to your prayers, as you read them, you'll find that these prophets hid things in here specifically for you, things that you may have read in the past, or other people read and it didn't touch them, but when you read it, it will hit you differently than it has hit anybody else in the history of time. And you'll know that scripture was specifically written for you.  And that's what's so magical about this book. I hope that you take me up on the challenge and you dive in and you read it and you enjoy it. With that said, I will end this episode of the podcast. Thank you so much for listening and for participating. I will see you guys on the next episode when we jump into 1 Nephi Chapter 1.

Most of today was spent looking through microfilms of Luman Walter's probate file. He must have been somewhat wealthy because the surrogates who handled his possessions afterwards did a fantastic job of cataloging all of his personal inventory. The rest of the day was spent at the Hill Cumorah visitor center talking with a delightful elder missionary.

The Hill Cumorah Pageant is performed over several nights every July in Palmyra, New York, at the very site where Mormons believe that Joseph Smith found the tablets upon which were written the Book of Mormon. With a cast of over 650 people, elaborate special effects, and a 10-level stage, the pageant dramatizes stories from the Book for Mormon. I spoke with several cast and crew before a performance in 2015. More info and pictures at www.InsideStoriesOnline.com. 

The Book of Mormon model for a Mesoamerican geography has – like virtually all scholarly models – a handful of anomalies or potentially problematic issues.  One of those areas of concern legitimately asks how the golden plates could have been dug out of the ground in upstate New York, if Book of Mormon events took […] The post Fair Issues 94: Moroni and the Hill Cumorah appeared first on FairMormon.

The angel Moroni appears to Joseph Smith and tells him about the Book of Mormon written on gold plates in the Hill Cumorah.

The angel Moroni appears to Joseph Smith and tells him about the Book of Mormon written on gold plates in the Hill Cumorah.

The angel Moroni appears to Joseph Smith and tells him about the Book of Mormon written on gold plates in the Hill Cumorah.