Why would she want to raise her children after life on earth? Their souls will be grown, and they will no longer need rearing to adulthood like they would have needed on earth. Are there children in heaven?
Then the other day I was spending time with Ivy and Sage. Wren was also in the room. Ivy said something very smart. Sage said something very cute. Wren spit up. I realized how precious each of these phases was.
While I’d always considered this promise strange, in that moment it made sense. I wouldn’t want to miss out on any of these moments or phases with my daughters. Each age, each moment, each day is so unique with each of them.
Right now Ivy is becoming so smart and so helpful.
Right now Sage is so trusting and so happy.
Right now Wren is so innocent and so cute.
I could add 100 more individual adjectives for them at these specific moments. They are each so unique.
A common theme of my prayers is asking God the question: What did I do to earn these precious gifts?
I don’t know how I could possibly be worthy of these unique and special souls that have been sent down to me. I look at Ivy, Sage, and Wren and just marvel at who they are.
I marvel that the world goes day-to-day without answers to these questions:
Why am I here?
Where did I come from?
Where am I going?
What happens to those we love when they move on?
This life is so hard but without the inkling of an understanding of what comes next, it seems so hopeless.
The Plan of Salvation is a Plan of Happiness. Because God loves us He gave us families. Because He loves us He gave us the chance to come to this planet to learn.
I marvel at this plan and that I get to be a part of it.
I don’t know exactly how things work after this life. I don’t know how eternity works. But I do know that God is perfect and He loves us perfectly. I know that nothing will be lost – not one moment, not one gift.
I know that God gave me these daughters not for this life but for eternity. I know we’ll be together forever.
*I’m following an extremely short post with an extremely long one. I don’t expect most people (or anyone) to read all my notes and information at the end, but I’m still posting it to illustrate how seriously I’ve looked into this. Don’t ever doubt if I take this seriously.
**I was asked to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon with high school students. This is what I wrote.
I recently read in a Doctrine and Covenants commentary a quote from George Q. Cannon, relating a time that Parley P. Pratt preached to the early saints of the restoration. George Q Cannon stated:
“[Parley P. Pratt] brought forth from the prophesies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other prophets, abundant proofs concerning the work which the Lord had established through His servant Joseph. A great many of the Latter-day Saints were surprised that there were so many evidences existing in the Bible concerning this work. The Church had then been organized some five months, but the members had never heard from the Elders these proofs and evidences which existed in the Bible.”
That commentary added:
“Studying the Scriptures without the guidance of the Spirit does not reveal their true meaning to us. But if we have the Spirit, we shall not fall into error, even if we are not great Bible scholars.”
I have good and bad news for you young people. At this point in your life you’ve heard it said countless times that you’re a choice generation. You are! I state it unequivocally and with as much force as I can muster. YOU ARE A CHOICE GENERATION. Sent here by your Heavenly Father for THIS MOMENT. Look around you. How many are in this room? How many compared to the countless young people you associate with at school? You are God’s choicest soldiers. His chosen. Never doubt it.
With this honor comes a great responsibility. You can no longer plead ignorance as the saints of 1830, not knowing the truth that exists out there. You have all the information of the world literally at your fingertips. If you use your mobile phones and the internet to play Candy Crush and scroll through Instagram, you waste a great power. One day you will stand before God and you will report. At that time you can say, “I didn’t know.” And He will reply, “You didn’t look. I put you on that earth with a responsibility and all the power of information to find everything you could seek. You didn’t look.”
It is out there for you to find the “proof” you need to know the Book of Mormon is true. There are countless resources: books, the internet, commentaries, podcasts. These things can be used to confirm in your mind and soul, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Book of Mormon is true, that this is Christ’s Church, that this is His work. You must find it. You cannot plead ignorance. You have been chosen for an extraordinarily significant purpose. Don’t ever doubt it. If you ever wonder why you’re here or what you’re meant to do, I don’t know. But God does. And I assure you, because you’re in this room right now, at early morning seminary, studying the word of God, that you’re on this earth for something powerful, significant, and important. NEVER FORGET IT.
Now, finding the proof in the Book of Mormon is not easy. It’s not something you discover casually. I’ve studied the Book of Mormon alongside commentaries every single day since I came back to church 8 and a half years ago. I know I’m just scratching the surface of all the proof that exists out there that the Book of Mormon is true. Find a reason to study the Book of Mormon that excites you and it will make your study so much easier and rewarding. For me, this passion project of finding “proofs” of the Book of Mormon started with a friend who could not accept that the Book of Mormon is true because of a lack of evidence. I believe I’ve found sufficient “proof” that the Book of Mormon is true. But you need to find that for yourself.
I’ll provide a list of reading materials, talks, podcasts, and people to get you started. Just know, my list isn’t close to all that is out there to prove to you that the Book of Mormon is true. I hope the list I provide overwhelms you. It should! The evidence that the Book of Mormon is true is out there, it is irrefutable, it is overwhelming. You just have to see it.
I say this next part not to brag but to show an example. It is possible to use the power at your fingertips for good. You don’t need to spend so much (or any) time on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.
My sister sent this to me the other day:
I replied with this:
I replied that I only use my phone at this point to reply to texts, take notes, and study the scriptures. This brings me joy. I hope it can bring the same to you.
Now I must apologize to you. You can no longer walk blindly and ignorantly through the world wondering if the Book of Mormon is true. You have the tools, you know how to use them. It is up to you now to find your own proof and confirm your testimony so that when someone asks you if the Book of Mormon is true, you can reply without hesitation that you know it is.
I leave this, my testimony of the Book of Mormon, with you, in the name of Jesus Christ.
This list is from LeGrand Richards’s book Just to Illustrate.
The Bible is the Lord’s Blueprint. Any church that is God’s church should fit God’s blueprint. The below is a list of biblical scriptures that fit “God’s Church Blueprint”. Other churches have no explanation or guesses about the meaning of these scriptures. We know.
John 10:16 (other sheep I have)
1 Corinthians 15:29 (baptism for the dead)
1 Peter 3:18-20 (Christ preaches to spirits in prison)
Revelations 4:1 and 14:6-7 (angel with Gospel preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people)
Acts 3:19-21 (Christ to come after the restitution of all things)
Daniel 2:27-28, 34-35, 44 (is there a church that claims it is God’s kingdom on the earth?)
Malachi 3:1 (messenger sent to prepare the way for Christ’s second coming)
Amos 3:7 (God reveals nothing except to His prophets)
Malachi 4:5-6 (Send Elijah lest the earth be smitten with a curse)
Isaiah 2:2-3 (In the last days, Lord’s house in the tops of the mountains)
Luke 24:25 (are we slow of heart to believe what the prophets have spoken?)
Ezekiel 37:15-20 (Stick of Joseph, verse 18 wilt thou tell us what the Bible means? Answer – verse 19)
My own Added:
Matthew 12:25 (House divided amongst itself)
Ezekiel 37:21-22 (where else is this gathering taking place but the Church of Jesus Christ?)
Isaiah 24:5 (changed ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant, what is the everlasting covenant?)
Why are these promises in the Bible if they are not a part of God’s blueprint and if He does not intend for them to be fulfilled?
The Bible is the Lord’s blueprint, and it will fit no other church in the world.
Proofs of the Book of Mormon:
The below lists coincide with this link (When I wrote this in 2022 this first list was 139 items long, in the past two years it has grown to the current 306 and is still growing) –
Nephi 10:7 first note, Zacharias murder, supportive texts discovered after Joseph Smith’s death.
Nephi 10:10 Lamb of God, writings of Joseph of Egypt that Lehi took from Jerusalem
Nephi 10:18 chiasmus
Nephi 11:6-7 Son of God
Nephi 12:4 thunderings: Book of rolls
Nephi 12:20-21 population
Nephi 13:26-28 all about truths removed from bible.
Nephi 15:28
Nephi 16:10 curious – Semitic
Nephi 16:13 hebraism
Nephi 16:20 murmur exceedingly
Nephi 16:21 hebraism
Nephi 16:23 bow and sling. How would joseph smith know those details?
Nephi 17:1 Joseph ridiculed for 100 years about this route
Nephi 17:5 Nephi’s Journey (Aston theory)
Nephi 17:5 Irreantum-Egyptian, how could joseph smith know that word?
Nephi 18:9 lack of adverbs
Nephi 18:13 geography
Nephi 18:23 promised land
Nephi 18:25 words for corn/wheat
Nephi 20/21 Isaiah translation
Nephi 20/21 Isaiah – chiasmus- Bible deletions
Nephi 20/21 Isaiah – authenticity
Nephi 20/21 use of Isaiah in joseph smith’s day
Nephi 21:1 portion added to Isaiah by “Joseph Smith” is perfect chiasmus
Nephi 22:31 Egyptian closing
2 Nephi 2:4 perfect doctrine of the fall
2 Nephi 2:15 inverted quotations
2 Nephi 2:17 Satan
2 Nephi chapter 3 heading – chiasmus
2 Nephi 3:12 sticks of Judah and joseph
2 Nephi 3:12 fruit of thy loins
2 Nephi 3:14 PROPHESIES OF A FUTURE JOSEPH
2 Nephi 3:15 Messiah ben Joseph
2 Nephi 3:15 meaning of Hyrum
2 Nephi 3:15 pretty much every note for that verse (9 notes)
2 Nephi 3:17 historicity of spokesman for Moses in Genesis and BoM and Jewish tradition
2 Nephi 4:10 and it came to pass
2 Nephi 4:11 cultural inheritance consistent with bible and ancient israel
2 Nephi 4:16 Nephi’s psalm, chiasmus, Hebrew literature
2 Nephi 5:15 and conjunctions Hebraisms
2 Nephi 5:16 why are there temples in America after same pattern to Jerusalem?
2 Nephi 6:4 linguistics
2 Nephi 8:15 variations of Isaiah translation
2 Nephi 8:20 Ephraim and Manasseh importance explained
2 Nephi 9:2 doctrines taught in chapter 9
2 Nephi 9:7 “atonement” New Testament vs Book of Mormon
2 Nephi 9:40 unique use of word by author (Jacob)
2 Nephi 12 (heading) Isaiah plagiarized? Modern language
2 Nephi 12:2 missing phrase and upon all the ships of the sea
2 Nephi 12:20 HE hath made
2 Nephi 13:12 and my people (translation correction)
2 Nephi 13:14 And (translation correction – send to Zach)
2 Nephi 12:16 footnote for “sea”
2 Nephi 15:5 I will – Septuagint
2 Nephi 20:29 Ramath, more ancient spelling
2 Nephi 23:3 mistranslation of Isaiah in kjv
Page 60 and 61 of “temple worship” book- parallels of current temple rituals and ancient rituals that Joseph Smith knew nothing about.
2 Nephi 24:4 Isaiah not found in KJV but in codex Alexandrinus
2 Nephi 25:19 name of Jesus and Mary used in ancient records
2 Nephi 27:1-5 chiasmus (note on verse 1)
2 Nephi 27-2 Book of Mormon consistent with Syriac texts
2 Nephi 27:15 the Anthon transcript
2 Nephi 27:32 BoM consistent with Syriac and Septuagint
2 Nephi 28:10 note – blood types in americas
2 Nephi 29:3 note -“teachings of joseph smith” on the Bible and why we need BoM
2 Nephi 29:3 adding to the Bible
2 Nephi 29:6 incompleteness of the Bible
2 Nephi 29:12 Hebrew poetic device
2 Nephi 29:13 books of scripture
2 Nephi 33:9 Polysyndeton- repetitive use of and (no punctuation in Hebrew)
Jacob 2:2 different voices of BoM
Jacob 4:1 engraving on metal plates
Jacob 5:1 olive tree allegory proof of BoM note
Jacob 5 section heading: note “Horticulure – Joseph Smith knowledge of and proof of BoM”
Jacob 5:3 Joseph Smith use of the word vineyard
Jacob 5:16 Hebrew syntax
Jacob 7:20 Hebrew idiom
Jacob 7:27 all three notes on adieu
Enos 1 and and and vav-consecutive
Enos 14 intricacies and subtleties in reference to Jacob and Esau
Jarom 1:7 fortifications
Jarom 1:8 preposition repeated hebraism
Omni 1:1 different writing styles
Omni 1:8 Hebrew name
Omni 1:12 Mosiah
Omni 1:15 how did Joseph Smith come up with Mulek (note on this verse)
Pretty much all of notes in Omni chapter.
Omni 1:18 note about the potential royal and priestly lineage of Mulek, son of King Zedekiah.
Words of Mormon heading
Words of Mormon 1:5 why Isaiah in the BoM
Words of Mormon 1:17 stiffneckedness
Mosiah 1:1 absence of colophons (different voices for an abridged record vs first person account).
Mosiah 1:2 and it came to pass – Maya
Mosiah 1:2 He had…He called…He caused (third person account) note – new voices in translation / no errors.
Mosiah 2 chapter heading. Multiple notes on the chapter heading.
Mosiah 2:7 tower more correct translation (note from Matthew roper)
Mosiah 3:1-3 chiasmus (note on verse 1)
Mosiah 3:18-19 chiasm
Mosiah 4:16 parallels between jubilee celebration and king Benjamin’s Speech
Mosiah 5:10-12 first chiasmus found in BoM (this is a good note and proof of BoM)
Mosiah 5:11 God’s name spoken 7 and 3 times for a total of 10, just like ancient Israel.
Mosiah 7:9 scribe for King Limhi
Mosiah 7:17 8 features of covenant tradition
Mosiah 7:21 language structure
Mosiah 7:26 minor proof of the BoM. Good point about how difficult to keep things straight.
Mosiah 10:20 slew slaughter Hebraic phrase
Mosiah 11:25 tradition of fasting while covered in ash
Mosiah 12:1 prophesies fulfilled, keeping track
Mosiah 12:3 Dead Sea scrolls, Hugh Nibley, need to look at this one closer.
Mosiah 15:7 crucified
Mosiah 15:7 cross in Americas
Mosiah 15:20-23 chiasmus
Mosiah 17:2 Alma
Mosiah 20:19 Semitic device
Mosiah 21:2 how did Joseph Smith incorporate those voices seamlessly?
Mosiah 23:31 Hebrew poetry word pairs
Mosiah 25:2 Ezekiel prophesy fulfilled
Mosiah 26:39 Semitic language
Mosiah 29:7 plot, keeping track of everything, see also 28:9
Alma 1:1 Hebraism
Alma 1:2 Arabic idiom judgement-seat
Alma 1:29 Hebrew writing form polysyndeton
Alma 1:29 flocks and herds consistent with Old Testament
Alma 2:1 another Hebrew literary device hal-clause
Alma 2:15 river Sidon – how did joseph know the name Sidon?
Alma 2:20 tents
Alma 2:22 meaning of names
Alma 2:37 hermounts – what a coincidence! This is a good one.
Alma 3:1 Epanalepsis, writing styles of BoM authors
Alma 3:13 mark of red, another Hebraism
Alma 3:26 Semitic repeating of number
Alma 5 superscription. Pretty amazing joseph smith kept this all straight.
Alma 5:7 behold
Alma 5:9 soul expands – works better in Hebrew than English
Alma 5:9 song of redeeming love, old world temple rite
Alma 11:15 barley
Alma 36:9 Semitic language
Alma 5:19 more inverted quotations (Seidel’s law, see 2 Nephi 2:15)
Alma 5:26 amazing joseph smith kept these voices and phrases from time periods straight.
Alma 5:28 Semitic idiom
Alma 5:37 Semitic expressions
Alma 5:40 antithetical parallelism
Alma 7:10 land of Jerusalem
Alma 7:11 pains and sickness more accurate translation
Alma 8:6 how did Joseph Smith know maya place names ended in “ha”/“hah”?
Alma 8:7 bountiful and desolation connection to Hebrew
Alma 8:7 custom in mesoamerica to name after kings who first settled
Alma 8:13 additional “and” additional proof of BoM authenticity
Alma 8:18 it came to pass (same as 2 Nephi 4:10)
Alma 9:19 having…having…
Alma 11:15 barley
Alma 10:11 women wives Hebraism
Alma 10:20 singular for plural
Alma 11:4 perfect monetary system
Alma 11:5 monetary system with ties to ancient civilizations
Alma 11:13 how did joseph smith know onti was a unit of value in Egyptian?
Alma 11:15 how did joseph smith know that Egypt measured in barley before the world knew?
Alma 11:16 Hebrew word
Alma 11:43 limb and joint
Alma 12:11 different voices
Alma 13:9 chiasm
Alma 13:25 “would to God” how did Joseph Smith know that meant it wouldn’t happen?
Alma 14:8 fire Epistrophe
Alma 15:17 altar – deliverance
Alma 16:5 Aha – warrior in Egyptian
Alma 17:14 precious stones
Alma 18:9 horses (multiple notes)
Alma 18:9 wheels (multiple notes)
Alma 18:13 Rabbanah Aramaic, melek Hebrew, good thing joseph smith knew that.
Alma 18:18 Hebrew idiom
Alma 22:31 Desolation and Bountiful
Alma 23:1 epanalepsis Hebrew writing device
Alma 23:7 double negative Hebrew authorship
Alma 25:1 prisoners of war needed to establish a new king – consistent with maya rituals
Alma 27:15 compound subject proper Hebrew
Alma 27:22 Jershon = Semitic to inherit
Alma 29:9 authorship
Alma 30:51 Put Forth His Hand – different phrases by different authors
Alma 31:7 Helaman Egyptian name
Alma 31:7 Shiblon and Corianton Hebrew and Arabic
Alma 31:21 rameamptom Semitic
Alma 32:8 Semitic idiom
All of Alma chapter 32 on faith. An unlearned farm kid wrote this?
Alma 33:13 writings of Zenos discovered in 1906
Alma 34:8 voice of Alma
Alma 34:10 A great and last sacrifice, voice of Amulek
Alma 35:13 Joseph Smith returning to things previously mentioned during dictation
Alma 35:16 Passover father talk to sons Old Testament tradition
Alma chapter 36 odds of chiasmus being random
Alma 36:9 Semitic language
Alma 36:22 exact quote of Lehi
Alma 37:5 Proof of brass/bronze existing from 6th century BC
Alma 37:23 Gazalem and Liahona Egyptian and Hebrew meanings
Alma 37:23 Onyx or chocolate colored seer stone tribe of Joseph in ancient Israel
Alma 37:37 ancient Hebrew poetic form, known as merismus
Alma 37:37 Liahona – very good Hebrew
Alma 39:3 Isabel – Lack of Baal names – Jaredite
Alma 39:9 cross yourself – John Gee, awkward English
Alma 41:13-15 Hebrew parallelistic writing
Alma 43:21 armor terms in BoM differ from those used in bible.
Alma 43:26 voice of Moroni, land in quarters
Alma 45:19 mistranslation of Bible about Moses translation, Joseph would have had to keep track of this in his Bible translation.
Alma 46:17 Dead Sea scrolls, land of desolation and land of bountiful before a war
Alma 46:29 Hebraisms
Alma 46:21 Hugh Nibley – Battle Scroll – proof of BoM
Alma 46:22 simile oath
Alma 46:24 coat of the Garden of Eden
Alma 46:40 no cold words in BoM
Alma 49:13 proof of fortifications
Alma 51:5 king men, historical correlation with what is happening in Book of Mormon
Alma 51:33 climate in new year
Alma 53:7 seasons of war. Such a tiny detail. But what you’d expect if this is a legitimate record. How amazing that joseph smith considered the seasonality of war in middle America when making up this book…
Alma 54:1 Egyptian
Alma 57:5 Joseph Smith did this timeline stuff off the top of his head?
Alma 63:5 Hagoth Mycenaean name
Helaman 1:3 Egyptian and Nephite judge names
Helaman 1:3 Paanchi- indisputably Egyptian
Helaman 1:9 Kishkumen and Akish tied together in way different parts of the book
All the notes in Helaman 3 (especially verses 4 and 5) about the evidence of vast civilizations in the americas.
Helaman 3:5 deforestation
Helaman 3:5 blood types
Helaman 3:7 cement – proof
Helaman 3:7 more on cement + all other notes about cement on this verse
Helaman 3:12 “sea south” changed to “ocean of the peaceful people” (bottom part of that note).
Helaman 3:14 “and” – Semitic language
Helaman 3:14 shipping and calendar
Helaman 3:15 undisputed now that Mesoamerican people kept written records.
Helaman 3:36 fifty and second year, Semitic numbering
Helaman 5:39 Semitic names
Helaman 6:8-9 free trade
Helaman 6:10 good chiasmus
Helaman 6:10 Mulek, which was after the son of Zedekiah – think about how long it took you to connect reading the scriptures that King Zedekiah of Jerusalem had all his sons killed – and you with all your commentaries and explanations and internet- then think of 24 year old joseph smith putting that together and applying it to a “fiction” he wrote implying that one of the sons got away and was established in the americas but that’s tied in just in a side part of his main “fiction”, a guy who didn’t even know Jerusalem had walls. Insane.
Helaman 6:22-26 good chiasm
Helaman 7:10 chief market, highway, gardens (5 notes in total).
Helaman 8:15 parallelism
Helaman 8:18 Semitic expression
Helaman 11:36 Anabasis staircase parallelism
Helaman 12:13 if and Hebraism
Helaman 13:11 anaphora Hebrew literary device
Helaman 13:33 quote from Enoch text
Helaman 14:25 how did Joseph Smith insert a “missed” prophesy INTO a chiasm?
Helaman 16:22 Hebrew preposition usage
3 Nephi 1:1 Mexican record mentions age of 600 years
3 Nephi 1:1 both notes about Lachoneus – ch to k and why a Greek name is in BoM
3 Nephi 1:8 Native American legends of the “dawn star”
3 Nephi 1:13 Olmec-Maya long count calendar correlates with Book of Mormon account
3 Nephi 2:8 birth of Christ same as birth of Quetzalcoatl
3 Nephi 3:9 Giddianhi Egyptian name
3 Nephi 9 jaredite records references to secret societies that would tie in later
3 Nephi 3:12 robbers vs thieves distinction
3 Nephi 3:22 horse bones archaeology
3 Nephi 4:4 7 years and ancient Israel custom
3 Nephi 4:7 polysyndeton, religion of and
3 Nephi 5:10 poetic structure and Mormon and Nephi having similar testimonies
3 Nephi 8:5 Quetzalcoatl same birthdate as Christ
3 Nephi 8:11 Great destruction in Mexican history correlates with Book of Mormon
3 Nephi 8:12 Volcano activity 34 A.D.
3 Nephi 8:23 Hebrew idioms
3 Nephi 9:3 great cities and Book of Mormon parallels to Mesoamerican cities
3 Nephi 9:8 volcanic lava covering cities from time of Christ
3 Nephi 9:10 another and, and, and Hebraism
3 Nephi 9:10 known ancient city of Lamonai buried
3 Nephi 11:14 Mesoamerica depictions of a god with marks in his hands
3 Nephi 11:14 Jesus Christ and Quetzalcoatl parallels
3 Nephi 11:14 Parallel names between Christ and god of Mesoamerica
3 Nephi 11:15 Ancient Aztec record, Quetzalcoatl with prints in hands and feet
3 Nephi 11:19-20 another polysyndeton
3 Nephi 11:21 Baptism in ancient Mesoamerica
3 Nephi 11:27 3 Gods in one parallel in Mesoamerica – remarkable
3 Nephi 12:1 Hebraism – conjunctions and parenthesis
3 Nephi 12:6 filled with the Holy Ghost correct
3 Nephi 12:10 persecuted for my name’s sake closer to Aramaic
3 Nephi 12:17 likely Paul criticism removed from Book of Mormon
3 Nephi 12:20 another example of perfectly adjusted text to adjust from an old world audience to a new world audience, how did JS do this off the top of his head?
3 Nephi 12:21 old world oral law new world written law, amazing thought by JS
3 Nephi 12:22 Book of Mormon matches earliest manuscripts (this is a good one).
3 Nephi 12:29 further case where sermon at temple seems more like what Christ would have said
3 Nephi 13:1 another more accurate translation than Bible almsgiving for poor
3 Nephi 15:16-17, 21 Joseph and Judah uniting, Jewish readings
3 Nephi 18:5 Christ/Quetzalcoatl ordained priests
3 Nephi 18:6-7 sacrament in the new world
3 Nephi 18:7 remembrance as a covenant
3 Nephi 19:4 names in the Book of Mormon don’t use vowels not found in Hebrew
3 Nephi 19:6 Mesoamerican temple dedicated to Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and 12 helpers
3 Nephi 19:25 more accounts from Mesoamerica that align with BoM record of a white God (Christ) visiting
3 Nephi 20:1 And = but Hebraism
3 Nephi 20:6-7 ancient records show Quetzalcoatl fed a multitude like BoM
3 Nephi 20:10 another chiasm
3 Nephi 20:10 Jesus’ covenant people discourse significance of chiasm
3 Nephi 24:1 Aztec belief in white god and letter from Cortez to Spain
3 Nephi 24:9 Hebraism
3 Nephi 26:5 joseph smith keeping straight quotes he’d have to make later
3 Nephi 27:14 specific example of pre Spanish cross
3 Nephi 27:20 baptism in Americas
3 Nephi 28:1 “that” Hebraism
3 Nephi 28:23 Aztec names with Hebrew roots
4 Nephi 1 evidence of religious change around 34 A.D.
4 Nephi 1:5 polysyndeton (repeated ands)
4 Nephi 1:6 annal-like recounting
4 Nephi 1:17 double negative hebraism
4 Nephi 1:24 pearls
4 Nephi 1:26 Teotihuacan pride cycle coincides with BoM timeline
Defense of Mormon theology:
2 Nephi 29:9 Polytheism, idolatry, and the patriarchs
Mosiah 4:6 note premortal life references in bible
Mosiah 4:6 note Ancient texts – Christ in premortality
(Godhead)- Mosiah 15:2 note about suzerain and vassal relationship. How Christ is the father and the son.
Mosiah 16:13 grace
Alma 1:4 faith and works
Matthew 21:30 faith and works
Proof of restoration:
2 Nephi 21:1 “Gentiles, Israel, and the olive tree allegory” note
2 Nephi 21:12 only church to prophesy of the Jews returning to Jerusalem
2 Nephi 26:4 defense against an example of accused “plagiarism”
Jacob 5:35 apostasy
Mosiah 4:3 baptism (this is a good note explaining importance of baptism)
Defense of Book of Mormon:
2 Nephi 29:3 Bible anachronism
2 Nephi 33:4 BoM Christ focused
Enos 1:21 horses
Omni 1:15 DNA
Mosiah 2:3 offering sacrifices
Mosiah 3:2 the name of Jesus Christ
Mosiah 9:9 wheat and barley
Mosiah 16:7 quoting Paul (who quoted Hosea)
Mosiah 16:8 pretty much same as above with additions
Alma 2:12 bows
Alma 2:15 Sidon without Tyre (“Sidon – historical” note)
Alma 4:6 silks
Alma 4:6 silks and linens
Kind of:
2 Nephi 24:19 remnant – raiment
Mosiah 2:9 how did joseph smith connect that “this day” was linked to temple worship in Hebrew?
Mosiah 2:28 choirs and kingly coronation
Mosiah 2:28 king farewell (note on about to go down to my grave)
Mosiah 2:30 Similarities between Mosiah coronation and Old Testament coronations
Mosiah 8:15 defense of seer stones, used in ancient Egypt
Mosiah 19:24 peace ceremony
Mosiah 27:29
Mosiah 27:34 how did Joseph smith know Himli could be a Hebrew name?
Mosiah 28:9 keeping track of plot
Alma 3:15 “and again” meant to be read aloud, without punctuation in the ancient writing
Alma 3:14 this is kind of complex but I think it adds to the complexity of the lost 116 pages, how could JS plan this?
These are my own additions of books, talks, podcasts, scriptures, etc. that I’ve found provide particularly strong proofs of the restoration:
Joseph Smith:
D&C 135:4 note from Jeffrey R Holland about Joseph Smith and Hyrum BoM testimony unto death.
Hebrews 9:16
D&C 42:64
Old Testament:
Isaiah 2:3 why are Zion and Jerusalem different places? We know.
Isaiah 2:16 how did Joseph Smith know about the Greek and Hebrew? (Subscript a)
Isaiah 54:16 explanation? This coincidence combined with a 14 year old who likely never read this verse claiming to see God, then writing an extraordinary book, then spawning a worldwide religion. Coincidence? “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.”
Malachi 2:4 where do other churches believe the covenant of God is today?
Malachi 3:1 what temple do other churches think Christ will come back to?
Malachi 3:7 What ordinances do other churches believe they need to return to?
Books:
A Marvelous Work and a Wonder
Just to Illustrate
A Case for the Book of Mormon
Those Gold Plates – From Those Gold Plates (book by Peterson – the Book of Mormon claimed to be in reformed Egyptian. Many names of people and places in the BoM have roots in Egyptian. How did Joseph Smith do that? Ancient Writing on gold plates has since been found across the globe. Even the cement box Joseph Smith described the plates residing in has been found as an ancient way to store precious items, like records. Page 72- the 29th chapter of Isaiah says the book would come forth before the flourishing of Lebanon, which started to happen in the mid 19th century.
Temple Worship by Andrew C Skinner (item 59 of list above)
1000 Evidences for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Haven’t read yet)
Podcasts:
LDS Perspectives (especially Episode 6 on DNA)
Church History Matters
Talks:
What is the blueprint of Christ’s church? By Tad R Callister
According to David Bokovoy, when the Book of Mormon appeared in 1830, the Western world had only a limited knowledge of the literary techniques utilized by Semitic authors. One such discovery came to light in 1955 when a scholar named Seidel published a study on parallel statements in Psalms and Isaiah. His work prepared the way for further analysis of what has come to be called “inverted quotations” in the Bible, and today scholars refer to such inverted quotations of earlier sources as an example of Seidel’s law. The Bible contains many examples of inverted quotations. Since Bible scholars in Joseph Smith’s day had not yet recognized the existence of Seidel’s law, its attestation in 2 Nephi 2:15 and elsewhere in the Book of Mormon (e.g., Alma 5:19; compare Psalm 24:4) provides additional evidence that the Book of Mormon is an authentic record of ancient origin.
How did Joseph Smith know about inverted quotations?
Royal Skousen reports that the original text of the Book of Mormon contains expressions which seem inappropriate or improper in some of their uses. For example, in the original text a good many occurrences of the phrase “and it came to pass” are found in inappropriate contexts. In his editing for the 1837 edition, Joseph Smith removed at least 47 of these apparently extraneous uses of this well-worked phrase. In most cases, there were two or more examples of “it came to pass” in close proximity; in some cases, nothing new had “come to pass.” Now the King James phrase “and it came to pass” corresponds to a Hebrew word meaning “and it happened.” When translating the Hebrew Bible, the King James translators avoided translating this Hebrew word whenever it wouldn’t make sense.
English, especially when too many events were “coming to pass” or when nothing had really “come to pass”–in other words, in those very places that the original text of the Book of Mormon “inappropriately” allows “and it came to pass” to occur. Consider the following example (where the deleted phrase “it came to pass that” is in brackets) with a corresponding example from Genesis, given in the original before the King James translators took it out:
2 Nephi 4:10–and it came to pass that when my father had made an end of speaking unto them behold [it came to pass that] he spake unto the sons of Ishmael yea and even all his household (1837).
Genesis 27:30–and it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob and [it came to pass that] Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
Other Book of Mormon examples of multiple occurrences of “it came to pass” which were edited by Joseph Smith in 1837 are found in Alma 8:18-19 and Alma 14:4-5.
What is important here is to realize that the original text of the Book of Mormon apparently contains expressions that are not characteristic of English at any place or time, in particular neither Joseph Smith’s upstate New York dialect nor the King James Bible. Subsequent editing of the text into standard English has systematically removed these non-English expressions from the text–the very expressions that provide the strongest support for the hypothesis that the Book of Mormon is a literal translation of a non-English text.
How did Joseph Smith know to have multiple “and it came to pass”es in the Book of Mormon when the same pattern had been removed from any Bible? Then, if he originally had these “it came to pass”es, why did he remove them if he did understand their significance?
Having learned of the special meaning associated with the Prophet’s name, I was especially interested when I discovered the following in the patriarchal blessing of the Prophet’s older brother Hyrum. “Behold thou art Hyrum, the Lord hath called thee by that name, and by that name He has blessed thee.” It then dawned on me that Hyrum is also a Hebrew name which means “my brother is exalted.” What more appropriate name could have been given to the man who was destined to go with Joseph to Carthage and seal his testimony with his blood? So the testimony of the Restoration has been sealed on this dispensation with the blood of two prophets who, according to the ancient tradition, bore the right names.
Me – interesting coincidence.
I intentionally didn’t pick the best ones from my list. I took a random sample of three. You’ll have to dig into the list yourself to find the best ones and shore up your own testimony of the Book of Mormon. True faith and real testimony takes effort.
Any one of these may not be enough to say the Book of Mormon is true. But when taken together, all these coincidences, hundreds of evidences, it is true.
I didn’t compile this list in a couple weeks. This has been 8 years of study, a little bit every day, to compile this list. I’m not close to finished. My point is that you can find your own proof. It’s there. Just look for it.
What if Brigham Young incorrectly instituted the practice of the priesthood ban for black people?
We always think in this way that God can do anything, however He wants to. Why didn’t He fix the priesthood ban for blacks issue immediately after Brigham Young if it was in fact a mistake by Brigham Young?
We sometimes neglect to think that, if God were to fix things however He wants to, that would likely supersede our agency. This whole life is about us making choices. It would be a problem if God started correcting everything on this earth, especially with our many mistakes and shortcomings as mortals. It was never in God’s plan to supersede our agency, that was Lucifer’s plan.
But let’s take a bigger perspective on this.
What if God did correct this issue of black men not receiving the priesthood in the 1800s and early 1900s? What if He corrected it an eternity ago, when He created the Plan? God’s plan is perfect. God doesn’t always fix things the way we think He should fix things. In fact, He probably never fixes things the way we think they should be fixed. That’s what makes Him God and us tiny mortals trying with all our might to be like Him, but inevitably falling short.
God’s Plan was established well before black men were denied the priesthood through Earth’s late 19th and early 20th centuries. His plan allows all those who would have faithfully accepted the priesthood while in this life to lose out on nothing. This is in precisely the same way His plan accounts for His countless children who didn’t have access to the saving ordinances of the Gospel in life, whether that be due to the gospel not being present on earth, never hearing about it, or a child dying before reaching the age of accountability. God’s plan is perfect. He’s already thought it through. I assume those who have an issue with the delay in the Church allowing black men to have the priesthood also have an issue with the tens of millions of infant deaths each year. In that case, your issue is with your faith in God, not in any church policy.
I understand that these things are hard to understand while here. Some reading this may respond, “Yes, that’s precisely the issue I have: That many noble and worthy men weren’t allowed the priesthood and the millions of innocent children that die unfairly.” I understand this challenge. This is where faith comes in. I have faith in God, His Plan, His love, and that He will make all these things we don’t understand right. If we don’t have faith in those things, then yes, God is a monster that we should not worship. The God I know loves us and one day all these things will be understood.
Something to us, here, simple and short-minded on earth, that looks like a huge mistake – it’s not a mistake to God. All those who couldn’t get the priesthood due to an incorrect policy will receive it.
What if Brigham Young did make a mistake and what if the Church really would have collapsed if that mistake was corrected in the 1860s? THEN God’s church wouldn’t be on the earth. That seems like a real mistake. Again, God has thought these things through.
We have an example of this principle in the policy change instituted by Wilford Woodruff banning plural marriage. In Official Declaration 1 of 1890, now in the Doctrine and Covenants, Wilford Woodruff says,
“The question is this: Which is the wisest course for the Latter-day Saints to pursue—to continue to attempt to practice plural marriage, with the laws of the nation against it and the opposition of sixty millions of people, and at the cost of the confiscation and loss of all the Temples, and the stopping of all the ordinances therein, both for the living and the dead, and the imprisonment of the First Presidency and Twelve and the heads of families in the Church, and the confiscation of personal property of the people (all of which of themselves would stop the practice); or, after doing and suffering what we have through our adherence to this principle to cease the practice and submit to the law, and through doing so leave the Prophets, Apostles and fathers at home, so that they can instruct the people and attend to the duties of the Church, and also leave the Temples in the hands of the Saints, so that they can attend to the ordinances of the Gospel, both for the living and the dead?
“The Lord showed me by vision and revelation exactly what would take place if we did not stop this practice. If we had not stopped it, you would have had no use for … any of the men in this temple at Logan; for all ordinances would be stopped throughout the land of Zion. Confusion would reign throughout Israel, and many men would be made prisoners. This trouble would have come upon the whole Church, and we should have been compelled to stop the practice. Now, the question is, whether it should be stopped in this manner, or in the way the Lord has manifested to us, and leave our Prophets and Apostles and fathers free men, and the temples in the hands of the people, so that the dead may be redeemed.”
Sometimes we live with this thinking that God can do whatever so why doesn’t He? This, I think, is the basis of so many losing faith in Him. I look forward to the day when we are all reminded that we came to earth willingly, that we knew the Plan, and that we were eternally grateful for the opportunity to have freedom of choice and to learn right from wrong, away from Him (God), where it was completely up to us to make choices.
Again, we fall into this thinking, I think, that God can do anything He wants however He wants. Maybe. But God still works through us. God still gives us our agency. God still lives by laws. God said He allows plural marriage in the case where he wants to raise a righteous generation unto Himself (Jacob 2). What would we have had God do if He needed to grow the church membership in one generation? Import a couple hundred thousand men and women from space? The answer is – God works with us. He works within the world He has given us.
God allows us the bounds to make mistakes. Within those mistakes, God’s Plan works. I have faith in the truth of that. God takes our worst, and it becomes part of the Plan. He prefers our best, but He knows us better than we know ourselves.
On the question of if Brigham Young did make a mistake – again, maybe the answer is yes, but I will refer again to the Official Declaration 1 – this was Wilford Woodruff speaking, “The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God” (emphasis added).
It is not in the program. It is not in the mind of God.
I believe in giving God all the power we actually try to take away from His power. God doesn’t watch things unfold her and go, “Oh crap, I need a righteous generation, let’s implement polygamy.” Or, “Oh man, Brigham isn’t listening, this is bad.” This was worked out long ago. Just because we don’t like the way God did things makes it all the more likely He did it perfectly, because we are dumb, and so limited in our view. We cannot comprehend the workings of God.
Did Brigham Young make a mistake? I don’t know.
I know who didn’t make a mistake. That’s where I put my faith.
I’d like to relay a powerful story from LeGrand Richards’ book Just to Illustrate. In the book, he tells the story of meeting a man who claimed his father was one of the first converts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mississippi in 1840.
This was shared with LeGrand in 1940. Since the conversion of his father in 1840, his father and his father’s descendants had contributed 100 YEARS of missionary service to the Church of Jesus Christ. Fifteen of the man’s descendants were at that time serving active missions. LeGrand relates that a couple years later he met that same man who told LeGrand the number was now 160 years of missionary service.
“You see,” said the man, “when you add ten or fifteen years each year from ten or fifteen missionaries in the field, it does not take long to add another hundred years.”
LeGrand then says, “The missionary who brought that man into the church back in 1840 might not have felt that he had accomplished much, especially if he were his only convert. Yet in a hundred years there was one hundred and sixty years of missionary work from that one man and his descendants. Add to that all the converts made by their converts and their descendants, and you would almost have a nation of men, all as the result of that one conversion.”
We should never be discouraged about our small efforts in sharing the gospel. We don’t know how the world could be changed by that one invitation.
Think how much joy that missionary is having in heaven, watching as light, love, and peace is brought to thousands upon thousands of individuals because of the one person he shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with in 1840.
What a powerful thought and what motivation to share the light we have with others.
In 1830 the church was brand new and something extremely difficult happened. An issue occurred which would forever shape church government. This issue would establish a pattern, God’s pattern, of order.
An extremely faithful member of the Church, in fact one of the 8 witnesses of the Book of Mormon, started to receive revelations on the gathering of Zion. This member was Hiram Page. He was faithful to the church and would never deny the Book of Mormon’s authenticity. It was not surprising that many church members believed the revelations Hiram Page received. Why wouldn’t they? He was a faithful member. He was one of the 8 witnesses, a blessed individual that saw and beheld the gold plates.
The issue was, if Hiram Page could receive revelation for the entire church, then who couldn’t receive revelation for the entire church? You’re seeing where this is going. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would go the way of all other sects of Christianity: chaos.
There must be order in God’s system. God could not have every person claiming revelation for His Church. It’s important to note, personal revelation is an important part of our mortal journey. Personal revelation is also critical in God’s church. Revelation cannot be received by an individual pertaining to the entire church or to guide those in a higher position of authority. Without this rule, there would be complete confusion, as there started to be when Hiram Page reported his revelations.
When this problem arose, Joseph Smith was in the most difficult of positions. How did he correct this issue without seeming authoritarian and dictatorial? He needed Hiram Page, Oliver Cowdery (who supported Hiram’s revelations), and all church members to understand the significance of this issue.
Joseph Smith met with the congregation and explained revelations received prior to Hiram’s revelations. Joseph Smith had documented the Lord’s commandments in Doctrine and Covenants sections 20 and 21. He now learned that many members of the new church didn’t understand these doctrines and principles of church government.
The history states that Joseph Smith joined with the people and explained the revelations in Doctrine and Covenants 20 and 21 in detail. He used simple language and explained what it actually meant. In what could have been a contentious and ugly situation, church members, Oliver Cowdery, and Hiram Page himself left understanding the error of their ways. This was a prophet of God explaining God’s order. All present accepted.
This is the way it should be.
I would like to compare this to something I learned when reading about how “retired” Pope Benedict XVI… retired. I didn’t understand how this could be and wanted to research to see what happened.
Instead of commenting on what I learned about Pope Benedict’s retirement, I want to comment on something else I came across. An article I read talked about how the current Pope Francis has considered relaxing priestly celibacy rules and how “retired” Pope Benedict came out publicly against this.
Does this not present a problem? What if the current Pope did make a decree and the “retired” Pope publicly voiced his disagreement with it? Would there be another branch of Catholicism? One following current Pope and one following retired Pope?
I can’t understand it. There can’t be confusion in God’s kingdom. While men are imperfect, God can’t have questions of authority in His church. Otherwise, there is complete chaos.
These stories of how two issues were handled strengthened my testimony of the importance of authority. I believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s Church restored to the earth, and as such, it must have order. As I study Priesthood authority and how the church functions with millions of members across the entire globe, I’m blown away at how seamlessly it all works.
Joseph Smith foresaw General Authority Seventies when the church was a couple dozen members. Now as the Church grows and there are 12 quorums of the Seventy, anyone who doesn’t believe this church to be divinely guided must marvel at Joseph Smith’s foresight.
The truth is it wasn’t Joseph Smith’s foresight, it was God’s foresight. This church is divinely guided, divinely structured, and divinely governed. My testimony of this grows daily as I understand the structure of the church better and see how the Lord guides His Kingdom.
No Coincidences 