Laban, Laman, Lehi, Lemuel... Lots of Lucky Alliteration.

There are many Book of Mormon names found in this book that was published years prior to the publication of the Book of Mormon.  These are just a few I found, but I'm sure I'd find more if I looked closer.  Wow, what are the odds, huh?!?!

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More Book of Mormon names found in this book to which young Joseph Smith would have had access.

Goodness!  There are a lot of them!  Keep reading.

Even the river name is in here!  Amazing coincidence!

Here's a link to this book published prior to the Book of Mormon

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Incredibly, Joseph Smith Sr. Had Exact Same "Tree of Life" Dream as Lehi

The Book of Mormon is so incredible!  I only recently discovered that Joseph Smith's father had actually had the very same dream or vision as the one Lehi had over 2,400 years earlier!  Have you heard about this?

The other day I was reading in a great book called Rough Stone Rolling, by the preeminent LDS historian, Richard Lyman Bushman.  In his book, Bushman details how Joseph Smith Jr.'s father, Joseph Smith Sr., had the very same dream as Book of Mormon prophet Nephi's father, Lehi had.

The dream of Lehi, commonly known as the Tree of Life dream provides a wonderful lesson about holding fast to the iron rod which represents the word of God. As the story goes, the iron rod leads those who hold fast to a tree of life which bears the sweetest fruit ever to be had. The sweet fruit symbolizes the love of God.  It's a beautiful allegory.

At any rate, the cool thing here is how Joseph Smith Sr. had never even read nor heard of the Book of Mormon when he had the same dream that Lehi had.  In fact, the Book of Mormon hadn't even been given to Joseph Smith, Jr. yet, let alone translated!  In Rough Stone Rolling, Bushman shows us how Joseph Smith Jr. knew about and had, indeed, heard and re-heard the detailed telling of his father's dream as a youth even before laying eyes on the elusive golden plates.

Isn't it fascinating how the very same dream Joseph Smith Jr. had heard repeated many times by his father ended up being translated into the Book of Mormon several years later?  Amazing!

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Handy List of Links to Important Church Essays

I'm really excited about the Church's release of many new essays that appear to address some of the difficult questions my anti-Mormon friends and family typically bring up.  The essays are all published on the Church's web site. However, I've noticed that they can sometimes be difficult to find, so I've compiled a list here both for my own use and in the hopes that others will also find it useful.

Interestingly, I've noticed that many of the essays actually acknowledge things that I was always taught were untrue for most of my life. I'm also not completely sure if it was the prophet, the apostles, Church employees, other general authorities, or some other group who has authored these. So I still find some of them a little confusing and am "ponderizing" and "studying them out in my mind".  I've found that following the footnotes is usually quite revealing and interesting. Take a look and see what you think.

List of Church Gospel Topics Essays

• Joseph Smith gave progressively more elaborate accounts of the First Vision    Learn More
• Book of Mormon Translation didn't use the plates or the urim and thummim     Learn More
• Turns out Brigham Young was just a racist                                                        Learn More
• Polygamy was not just to take care of widows of men murdered by the mobs   
• Polygamy originated with Joseph in Kirtland, OH, to house maid, Fanny Alger. Emma Unaware
• Note: Footnotes on this are very interesting                                      Learn More
• Purpose of polygamy was to "raise up seed unto the Lord"                       
• Lord capitulates to Congressional demands, changes mind on polygamy  Learn More
• "Translated the Book of Abraham Papyrus" actually means "Channeled it"       Learn More
• In spite of the teachings of generations of previous prophets and apostles, the Lamanites have been absorbed in the vast indigenous-American gene pool                                  Learn More

How Can the Polynesians be Redeemed from Hagoth's Horrible Sin?

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In The Book of Mormon, we learn that the Nephite, Hagoth, lead an interesting and brave expedition to the islands of the seas and was never heard from again (Alma 63:4-9). Through the miracle of modern revelation we know that these brave souls were the ancestors of the modern day Polynesians. Given what we now know about Pacific Ocean currents and winds, the fact that they made it anywhere but further up the west cost of the continent is a miracle in its own right!

Hagoth the Nephite prepares to embark after taking on fresh water and coconuts (Author's rendition; not actual photo.)

From Hawaii to New Zealand we have numerous examples of modern apostles and prophets of Jesus Christ affirming and reaffirming, as fact, that Hagoth and his rag-tag band of explorers were ultimately successful in their quest. For example, Elder Matthew Cowley told the people of Hawaii, “Brothers and sisters, you are God’s children—you are Israel. You have in your veins the blood of Nephi” (Cole, Page 384); and Elder Mark E. Petersen said over the pulpit, referring to the Polynesian saints, “...these people are of the blood of Israel. They are heirs to the promises of the Book of Mormon. God is now awakening them to their great destiny. As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men” (Petersen, page 457).  Such examples abound.

Knowing, as we do, that Nephites were “white and delightsome” (2 Nephi, 5:21), I’ve always wondered what despicable act or acts these faithful Nephite followers of Hagoth (or their descendants) committed in order for the Lord to curse them with the "dark and loathsome skins" of the Lamanites. Given the fact that all Polynesians inherently have the curse, we can assume one of two things.  Either a small group of Hagoth’s followers and/or their descendants committed their heinous transgressions early on and then passed their curse down to the rest of their descendants relatively early in their collective spread across the Pacific; or the many descendants all committed many reprehensible sins across the many islands after the descendants had already spread across the Polynesian Islands.  Because so many Polynesians appear to have about the same skin tone, one can probably assume the former to be closer to the truth.

What disgusting act does a believing Christian of Hebrew descent have to perform in order to not only be cursed by the Lord himself, but also cause all of their posterity for dozens of generations to be cursed?  Based on my 46 years of experience in the Lord's one true church, I can think of only one thing: causing others to doubt the authority of Lord’s anointed.  Perhaps, once outside of the presence of Shiblon and the reigning judges of the day, Hagoth began to take undue authority unto himself and caused the members of his expedition to cease to believe in the authority of Shiblon and the judges.  With the expedition party being so out of reach and out of touch of the general authorities of the church, God would surely have had no other recourse but to exercise his own judgement and punishment upon Hagoth and, presumably, his followers.

What can be done to redeem these poor souls from the curse of their forefathers?  Joseph Smith gives us the answer: through intermarriage with white men, the posterity of Hagoth may be redeemed.  Oh, the tender mercies and mysterious ways of the Lord!

If you look carefully, you can already see the transformation occurring.

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Animals of a Lesser God?

I've seen and heard a lot of bickering lately regarding the fact that the Book of Mormon refers to animals that a few stupid archaeologists like these idiots; and this moron believe did not exist in the Americas during Book of Mormon times.  For example, they say that horses had been extinct in the Americas for thousands of years until the Spanish re-introduced them well after Book of Mormon times had ended.  There are other such examples, such as swine; and even elephants are mentioned a couple of times. One plausible explanation some really smart non-archaeologists proffer is that words don't actually mean what they mean.  For example, when God said "horses", he actually meant "tapirs" like this:

Who is right, you ask?  My response: How should I know?  I'm not a scientist.

However, these discussions did get me thinking about the animals that are conspicuously missing from the Book of Mormon. For example, did you ever consider the fact that llamas are never mentioned; not even once?  What about Jaguars? Pretty sure wicked King Noah had a few of those around!

And check out this dude rocking a sweet jaguar pelt scabbard, with matching boots, and wristbands!

Heck, they could've at least mentioned bobcats. What about condors, bald eagles, hawks, ravens and parrots; all prevalent in Native American lore and glyphs?  If it had been up to me, I'd have mentioned those for sure!

Coyotes, buffalo, and alligators?  Nowhere to be found!  No moose, no armadillo, no ocelot.  What the heck?

One would think that sloths, anteaters, and prairie dogs would at least deserve a mention in passing.  While beavers got no respect from the ancient Nephites, their pelts eventually became quite popular with both colonial and European aristocrats in the late 1700s.

Despite the fact that I've read the Book of Mormon numerous times, I cannot recall a single mention of monkeys.  Given the fact that we know the Nephites were actually just the Mayans; and that they lived in the jungles of Central America, it's pretty astounding that monkeys don't get more Book of Mormon play. There could at least be a "Parable of the Wayward Monkey Troupe" or a trusty monkey sidekick named "Max" to keep Ammon company.  But "cattle", "swine", "horses", "elephants"?  Bo-ring!

Max severs the arms of one the notorious sheep rustlers of Ishmael

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Next to be Excommunicated: Elder Roberts, Assistant Church Historian and a President of the First Council of the Seventy

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I purchased a book called "Studies of the Book of Mormon" written by Elder Roberts, one of the Presidents of  First Council of the Seventy.  Apparently he's also the assistant church historian or some such. I was saddened after reading part of the book to learn that yet another general authority of the church appears to have lost his way.  You see, it turns out that Elder Roberts is one of these so-called "intellectuals" who think they know more than Heavenly Father.  Here is just one of many anti-Book of Mormon quotes from Elder Roberts' book:

"Did Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews furnish structural material for Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon? It has been pointed out in these pages that there are many things in the former book that might well have suggested many major things in the other.Not a few things merely, one or two, or half dozen, but many; and it is this fact of many things of similarity and the cumulative force of them that makes them so serious a menace to Joseph Smith's story of the Book of Mormon's origin"

This G.A. is nuts, right?  I mean, just because a guy is one of the Presidents of the First Council of the Seventy and the Assistant Church Historian; and just because a guy literally wrote the Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Century I, that doesn't mean he knows what he's talking about, right?

"O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not."
      - 2 Nephi 9:28

With all the recent excommunications that have happened, it won't surprise me if the Church gives him the boot, post haste.  Good riddance, I say, if your testimony of the Book of Mormon is that weak, you are probably not worthy to be in the Church, even if you are a highly respected general authority.

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"No Ordinary Man Could Have Written This"

A friend of mine posted a link to this interesting video on Facebook a few days ago.  Naturally, I assumed, because of the title, it must be referring to the Book of Mormon.  It really made me think.

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Are the American Indians Still Lamanites?

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Then

Now

OK, wait.  I'm confused.

Then

"The Nephites suffered extinction about 400 A.D., but the Lamanites lived on in their degraded course, and are today extant upon the land as the American Indians."

- Apostle James Talmage, Apostle, Jesus the Christ, 23rd ed., p. 49

"... the Book of Mormon tells that a small band of Israelites under Lehi migrated from Jerusalem to the Western Hemisphere about 600 B.C. Upon Lehi's death his family divided into two opposing factions, one under Lehi's oldest son, Laman (see Lamanites), and the other under a younger son, Nephi."
– Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Native Americans,” v. 3, p. 981

"Lamanites share a royal heritage. I should like to address my remarks to you, our kinsmen of the isles of the sea and the Americas. Millions of you have blood relatively unmixed with gentile nations."
- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 596

OK, Yeah, that's what I remember being taught for 46 years.

Now

"The Ancestors of the American Indians

The evidence assembled to date suggests that the majority of Native Americans carry largely Asian DNA."
- LDS.org essay on Book of Mormon and DNA Studies

Aww crap!  Now I'm confused again!

Then

“Holy scripture records that “after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof.” (Ether 13:2.) Such a special place needed now to be kept apart from other regions, free from the indiscriminate traveler as well as the soldier of fortune. To guarantee such sanctity the very surface of the earth was rent. In response to God's decree, the great continents separated and the ocean rushed in to surround them. The promised place was set apart. Without habitation it waited for the fulfillment of God's special purposes.

With care and selectivity, the Lord began almost at once to repeople the promised land. The Jaredites came first, with stories of the great flood fresh in their memories and the Lord's solemn declaration ringing in their ears: “Whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fullness of his wrath should come upon them.” (Ether 2:8.)
- A Promised Land -  The Ensign, June 1976  By Jeffrey R. Holland

5 But, said he, notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord.
6 Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.
7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.
8 And behold, it is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance.
9 Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall keep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their inheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever. . . .
- 2 Nephi, Chapter 1, Book of Mormon

OK, Yup.  That's what I learned in primary and Sunday school.

Now

"...Latter-day Saints assumed that Near Easterners or West Asians like Jared, Lehi, Mulek, and their companions were the first or the largest or even the only groups to settle the Americas..."

"The Book of Mormon itself, however, does not claim that the peoples it describes were either the predominant or the exclusive inhabitants of the lands they occupied."

Hey, hey, hey, HEY!  Now wait just a gosh darned second, there!  What do you mean we assumed!?!?

Also, that second statement is preposterous, in light of the quotes above that came directly from the Book of Mormon, itself! 

Then

"The Lord took every precaution to see that nothing might interfere with this posterity of Joseph in working out their God-given destiny and the destiny of America. He provided, and so told Lehi at the very beginning of his settlement, that: . . it is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations ; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance. (2 Nephi 1:8.) The Lord so kept the land for a thousand years after Lehi landed. He so kept it in His wisdom for another thousand years after the Nephites were destroyed, perhaps to give the Lamanitish branch another chance."
- Apostle J. Reuben Clark, "Prophecies, Penalties, and Blessings," Improvement Era, 1940, v. xliii., July 1940. no. 7

"We, therefore cast a glance southward into old Mexico and through the great countries beyond -- down through Central America and South America, where there are millions and millions of Lamanites, direct descendants of Father Lehi." 

- Elder Andrew Jenson, Church Historian's Officer, Conference Report, October 1921, p.120

"About twenty-five centuries ago, a hardy group left the comforts of a great city, crossed a desert, braved an ocean, and came to the shores of this, their promised land. There were two large families, those of Lehi and Ishmael, who in not many centuries numbered hundreds of millions of people on these two American continents."

- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 601

Right!  Yes!  Exactly!  This is what the LDS Church taught me.  No ifs, ands, or buts!  

Now

"Book of Mormon peoples were “among the ancestors of the American Indians.”"

"the DNA of Book of Mormon peoples likely represented only a fraction of all DNA in ancient America"

Has the Lord gone schizophrenic?  What the heck?!?!

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City of "Moroni" Discovered on Island of "Comora"

Amazing!  Captain Kidd stories took place in and around the city of "Moroni" on Island of "Comora".  We know from Book of Mormon stories that "Moroni" and "Cumorah" are both prominent names in the Book of Mormon. Hey, wouldn't it be a funny coincidence if it turned out that Joseph Smith was a fan of Captain Kidd stories?  Well guess what?  It turns out that he was!

"Another Palmyra native, Philetus Spear, said that Joseph Smith as a boy 'had for a library a copy of the Arabian Nights, stories of Captain Kidd, and a few novels.'[v] According to James H. Kennedy, ... young Joseph’s own reading about the pirate had 'made a deep impression on him.'[vi] Palmyra resident Ann Eaton added that Kidd was 'his hero.'"

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"Comoros" sound so much like "Cumorah"

1808 map of Africa refers to these Islands as “Camora.”

In this 1649 map of the region the islands are called "Comoro"

1748 map of Anjouan/Johanna island showing "Meroni" in the "Comore" islands

Pretty cool, right!?!?

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Wow, the Urim and Thummim Look Way Different Than I Imagined!

Apparently, this is what the Urim and Thummim actually look like:

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Fox 13 - LDS Church Reveals Urim and Thummim

I always thought the "seer stones" were a lot cooler!  More like this:

Yeah, that's more like it!  That's what I was shown and was taught for 46 years.  Here's another example:

I don't know why, but the whole breast plate with the eyeglasses seems, somehow, more believable as a mechanism for translating ancient records than putting a polished stone in a hat.   It was really weird seeing the real urim and thummim.

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Pre-Book of Mormon Stories

Young Joseph Smith used to sit around spinning Book of Mormon stories before they had even been translated.  He was amazing!

Lucy Mack Smith said in her book about Joseph Smith Jr.:

"I presume our family presented an aspect as singular as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth –– all seated in a circle, father, mother, sons and daughters, and giving the most profound attention to a boy, eighteen years of age, who had never read the Bible through in his life....During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular, their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them" [p. [1], bk. 4]

Here's a link to the source document  (scroll down when you get there).

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Phraseology of Curious Workmanship

The wording and phraseology if this 1819 3rd edition book look very familiar.

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The entire book is like this.  Sounds so much like the Book of Mormon, you'd think it was the Book of Mormon.

Click on the image to see it full size.

Woa!  That's a lot of what I like to call, "ko-inky-dink"!

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Who were the ancestors of Native Americans?

Oliver Cowdery's pastor in 1823: "Hebrews were the ancestors of the American Indians."

Oliver Cowdery's pastor published his book about 7 years before the Book of Mormon was published in 1830.  It was written only one county away from where Joseph Smith grew up.  Pretty amazing coincidence!  See what you think: 

Ethan Smith's book about the ancestors of the American Indians being Hebrews from Jerusalem

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Has LDS.org been hacked?

Oh. My. Gosh! Will the persecution never end?

This unsigned LDS.org essay asserts that polygamy actually was practiced in Nauvoo and Kirtland. 

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And this additional essay found on LDS.org even tries to convince us that Joseph Smith married some thirty to forty wives and that many were already married to other men!  It even goes so far as to say that Joseph married some teenage girls.

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Nice try, anti-Mormon hackers!  I won't believe your anti-Mormon lies, even if you do post them on the official church web site!  I know from my 46 years of Mormon upbringing that it was really just a few desperate pioneers that practiced polygamy... "because all the men of the church had been killed off during the persecution and they needed someone to take care of the women".  That story must be true because it is was what I was taught all my life and it is what I and the other missionaries taught all those people while serving a mission for the church.