The Negative and the Positive Image of the Shroud

C. S. Lewis said that as you study the life of Jesus, you can only come up with two conclusions: 1) He is the greatest deceiver of all times, or 2) “He is exactly what and who He said He is: the Son of God and the Redeemer of mankind.” This I know, Jesus is a God of miracles. Here I document the highly unusual and not well-known Miracle of the Shroud of Turin. As I have learned from ancient records and I share below in detail what happened when they gook Jesus’ body down from the cross. From the scriptures, we know that Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus’ very wealthy great Uncle, got permission from Pilot to take the body of Jesus. And with the help of Nicodemus, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, they took His body down from the cross. They were inspired to give Him a most Regal burial. They used a three-to-one herringbone weave linen cloth sacred to the Jews, measuring 14’ 6” x 3’ 9”. They laid His body on the linen with the spices: “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.” (John 19:38-39) They then brought the linen up over His body’s head and down over His feet. This was purposeful to share with the world as His shed blood was absorbed by the linen from the extremely large number of wounds that had been inflicted upon Him. These wounds from the scourging, from the crown of thorns, from the nails of crucifixion, and from where the spear was thrust from His right side over into His heart are evident from His blood absorbed by the Shroud.

The Shroud of Turin is Changing Lives

I have been greatly inspired and deeply touched by the new information coming out on the Shroud of Turin. Scientific information that was not known until our age has brought new and astonishing light. The information has been life changing for me and for many others. The images and insights have touched me to the core of my soul, as I have come to appreciate more deeply the suffering of our Lord. “He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ.” (D&C 88:6-7)

Science has greatly augmented the Shroud

The Shroud has been studied more than any other artifact in history. Atheists and agnostics have been turned into believers, who have been directly involved with the Shroud. The Lord has preserved it through three major fires, and brought the Shroud forth in amazing purity in the latter days, as a witness to the world. The augmentation of modern scientific technology has now added fascinating insights from a 2000-year-old linen cloth covering the tortured body of our Savior. One notices the nail marks in the wrists. And the trust spear going from the right side into the heart, as was practiced by the Roman soldiers. 120 marks all over his body from the scourging. The bleeding from the crown of thorns. Modern technology has opened up our eyes to a greater degree of our Lord’s unimaginable sufferings for us.

I share below the link for an excellent talk by Dr. John Campbell, who is a Ph.D. nurse pathologist. He has over 3 million visits to his weekly youtube channel. I also got the most informative book, The Shroud: Fresh Light on the 2000 Year Old Mystery by Ian Wilson. There is a massive amount of information on the internet—a lot of it is controversial and misleading. The following website has a great deal of well documented information: The Shroud of Turin Website – Home Page. It was put up by a converted non-believer, as his life was totally changed when he encountered the science surrounding the Shroud. Now to the MIRACLE!

A GREAT BURST OF LIGHT

God, knowing the end from the beginning, ties history into a cohesive whole to bring about His eternal purposes. His work is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of [humankind]. (Moses 1:39) I share here a fascinating hypothesis—consistent with the known facts—about one of the main mysteries and miracle about the Shroud. God knew that in the last days, atheism would be rampant, and science would become most people’s god. In His infinite love—looking at the last days—He performed a major miracle along with His glorious resurrection at the end of His three days in the tomb. Apocryphal literature tells us that at the time of His resurrection, there was a brilliant light in the tomb. Jesus orchestrated turning the linen in which He was carefully covered by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus into a negative image, as can be seen from the picture. The world had to wait until 1898 to see this MIRACLE.  Our omniscient Lord knew the miracle would be revealed when plate photography was discovered. Secondo Pia was a forty-three old lawyer with some reputation as a good amateur photographer. He took a photograph of the Shroud, and to His astonishing surprise, the negative from the film displayed in positive form for the first time revealing to the world the crucified body of Christ. An undisputable miracle, which no one can explain except that the God of Miracles, Jesus, did it. The burst of light in the tomb worked this otherwise unexplainable miracle.

I listened to a scientist who estimated that the great burst of light needed to be 34 quadrillion watts over 1/4th of a nanosecond. This staggering amount of energy over an infinitesimal time was needed to make the negative image on the Shroud without destroying it. Clearly, this is a God made celestial event to help the world know the great importance of the Shroud’s message. So, we have science now loudly proclaiming the infinite atonement of our Lord and Savior. How it was done, God only knows, but now we have this undeniable miracle bringing many non-believers to Christ. And we rejoice in His omniscience, power, and glory.

Pia’s photographic revelation was so remarkable that they followed up with a fully professional Turin photographer, Giuseppe Ernie, to take some proper new official photographs… using photographic equipment that was technically a vast improvement on Secondo Pia’s.

We also read from SHROUD.COM the conclusions from STURP’s study of the Shroud:

editor’s Note: After years of exhaustive study and evaluation of the data and the submission of their research to highly regarded peer-reviewed scientific journals, the following official Summary of STURP’s Conclusions was written by John Heller (in non-technical language) and distributed at the press conference held after STURP’s final meeting in October 1981:

“No pigments, paints, dyes or stains have been found on the fibrils. X-ray, fluorescence and microchemistry on the fibrils preclude the possibility of paint being used as a method for creating the image. Ultra Violet and infrared evaluation confirm these studies. Computer image enhancement and analysis by a device known as a VP-8 image analyzer show that the image has unique, three-dimensional information encoded in it. Microchemical evaluation has indicated no evidence of any spices, oils, or any biochemicals known to be produced by the body in life or in death. It is clear that there has been a direct contact of the Shroud with a body, which explains certain features such as scourge marks, as well as the blood. However, while this type of contact might explain some of the features of the torso, it is totally incapable of explaining the image of the face with the high resolution that has been amply demonstrated by photography.

“The basic problem from a scientific point of view is that some explanations which might be tenable from a chemical point of view, are precluded by physics. Contrariwise, certain physical explanations which may be attractive are completely precluded by the chemistry. For an adequate explanation for the image of the Shroud, one must have an explanation which is scientifically sound, from a physical, chemical, biological and medical viewpoint. At the present, this type of solution does not appear to be obtainable by the best efforts of the members of the Shroud Team. Furthermore, experiments in physics and chemistry with old linen have failed to reproduce adequately the phenomenon presented by the Shroud of Turin. The scientific consensus is that the image was produced by something which resulted in oxidation, dehydration and conjugation of the polysaccharide structure of the microfibrils of the linen itself. Such changes can be duplicated in the laboratory by certain chemical and physical processes. A similar type of change in linen can be obtained by sulfuric acid or heat. However, there are no chemical or physical methods known which can account for the totality of the image, nor can any combination of physical, chemical, biological or medical circumstances explain the image adequately.

“Thus, the answer to the question of how the image was produced or what produced the image remains, now, as it has in the past, a mystery.

“We can conclude for now that the Shroud image is that of a real human form of a scourged, crucified man. It is not the product of an artist. The blood stains are composed of hemoglobin and also give a positive test for serum albumin. The image is an ongoing mystery and until further chemical studies are made, perhaps by this group of scientists, or perhaps by some scientists in the future, the problem remains unsolved.”

The God of Miracles made the Negative so that it would turn into a latter-day MIRACLE!

The solution is, we have a God of Miracles; the negative picture taken by modern photography reveals the positive image of our crucified Redeemer and the photographic miracle He performed at the time of His resurrection.

Dr. John Campbell in the link below shares pictures of the Shroud in Modern digital photography. Modern scientific technology has allowed a reconstruction of the Lord’s body after He died, and His head hung down. Rigor mortis had set in before they took His body down.

Two scourgers stood on either side of Him with a whip of three leather strips each connected to a lead ball with broken sheep bones protruding to tear the flesh. There are 120 of these on His body. We cannot imagine the pain and suffering that the scourging alone caused Him.

We see the Shroud and Science’s construction of our Crucified Lord

They drove nails through His wrists where the meridian nerve would inflict incredible pain. The Savior had to push up against the nail in His feet in order to breath. When they broke the legs of the malefactors on the crosses on either side of Jesus’ dead body on the center cross, they suffocated because they could no longer push up to breath. The blood and water that ran out of Jesus’ body when the Roman soldier thrust in a spear, tells us that He literally died of a “broken heart.” (John 10:18; 19:34) Dr. James E. Talmage, who was also an Apostle, documents the “broken heart” hypothesis in his famous book, Jesus the Christ, on pages 668-669.

The Gospel of Joseph of Arimathea

The Gospel of Joseph of Arimathea, which was written before the four gospels and taken with him to England, clarifies many details of what really happened that Thursday in Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified. Just as John 19:40 states, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus together took Him down, “they.” The Gospel of Joseph of Arimathea shows that they laid Him on the shroud when they took Him down. The time was short before the Sabbath would begin. So, the 14 and ½ feet long shroud, as the Lord knew it would be, was placed up over His head. It absorbed the blood stains from all the horrendous treatment He went through under the Jews and the Romans. Since Jesus knew that plate photography would be invented and would reveal the actual image of His crucified and tortured body, the blood stains are direct evidence of the details of what happened, and Jesus knew it would be a major conversion tool to bring non-believers, agnostics, and atheists to Him in the last days. That has already happened to many and is happening now across the globe thanks to the significant internet coverage of this most studied artifact in history. The SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE IS UNDENIABLE. Faith leads you to know using Moroni’s inspired “null hypothesis” insight.

We have visited the garden tomb where Jusus was buried. Apparently, Joseph of Arimathea was not as tall as Jesus; so, they chiseled away some of the stone to accommodate His 6’ 2’’ size. This matches the size of His body as deduced from the Shroud. Some say He was shorter than that, but this is my witness and the chiseled stone gives the evidence.

NASA’s Eight Shades of Gray Imaging

In 1978, NASA developed what is called eight shades of gray to distinguish valleys and mountains during flybys of the moon and of planets. This technology was used to reveal detailed features of the Savior’s face. In his presentation about the Shroud, Dr. John Campbell shares a lot of amazing pictures, where they have used this NASA technique. I highly recommend you watch it. His insights are well documented. I leave it for him to share with you these inspiring details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT1R2kDPHFA.

Failure to Prove the Shroud a fraud

In 1988, three scientists obtained a piece from the Shroud and did carbon dating. They concluded the date of that piece to be between 1200 and 1390 A.D. Hence, the cloth dates in the medieval period. The people of the world then viewed the Shroud to be a fraud. What has been shown from the data is that this piece was a patch put on the Shroud at that time and so is very misleading. All of the other data show that the Shroud dates first century. Both some dirt and some pollen found in the Shroud date first century in Jerusalem, for example.

Unique Linen weave used at the time of Christ

Dr. Campbell shares great pictures of the herringbone weave with enlargements at the 200 to 500 nanometer level. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. On page 74 of Ian Wilson’s book on the Shroud is a picture of this unique herringbone weave used at the time of Christ and not at all during medieval times. Thus, also proving the carbon dating information to be wrong for dating the Shroud.

I have pulled a large number of quotes giving amazing insights from Ian Wilson’s book: THE SHROUD. Many of he quotes share how atheists, agnostics, and non-believer’s lives were changed with their encounter with the Shroud. It is not permissible to include such a large number of quotes in this blog article. For those who have my e-mail address, I will be happy to send them to you upon your request. Of course, you can get his book on Amazon. It is loaded with amazing, inspiring, and very useful information and is available in Kindle format.

“Absolutely Certain” is this Documented Miracle

I share here one summary quote from page 26 “Absolutely certain, however, is that the latest high-definition work verifies Secondo Pia and Giuseppe Enrie’s hidden negative discoveries in the most powerful way possible.”

A “gold-mine” of TRUTH in the Miracle of the SACRED LINEN SHROUD in which Christ was buried

Here we document that the first miracle by our omniscient Lord, as He was resurrected, was to turn the Shroud in which He was buried into a photographic negative image. In His omniscience, reaching out to the atheists, agnostics, and non-believers that He knew would be a major problem in the last days, He worked this miracle on the Shroud in which He was buried. The miracle of His resurrection has blessed the world more than any other in the history of the world. This linen cloth Shroud Miracle is a “gold mine” of TRUTH to bless us greatly in these the latter days because of our high-tech latter-day capabilities. It is wonderful that we can use science to help the non-believers to come to know Him.

When John the Beloved visited the tomb, he saw the linen shroud “wrapped together in a place by itself.” (John 20:5-7) The Spirit prompted John the Beloved to specially notice that item that would convert atheist and agnostics 2,000 years later.

Linen is made from Flax, and I just learned from David Hocking that Martin Harris made his money by growing flax on his farm. Martin provided the $3,000 needed to publish the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon. We know that the Hebrews in North America used linen; it is mentioned nine times in the Book of Mormon. Flax doesn’t grow in Mesoamerica—further disproving the Mesoamerica model for Book of Mormon geography.

Now with high-definition digital photographic, science unfolds this first miracle performed by our omniscient Lord, at the time of His resurrection. The positive from the negative reveals the blood from the crown of thorns, the 120 scourge marks all over His body. One sees the very evident nail marks in His wrists, as He wreathed in agony on the cross for three hours. One also sees the unique hole in the chest going from His right side all the way over to His heart.

The five-nail marks of the crucifixion are evident. These five nails denote the crucifixion and are a descriptor for the Native Americans of their Creator. It is often called the mystic symbol, and they pronounce it, “Yod-hey-vau.” (Jehovah) Scientists now have taken many away from God, as most believe in organic evolution. Now, our infinite loving Lord is using science to bring them back with the “positive” exposure of the “Linen burial cloth of the Shroud.”

My Heart is Full as I share this Miracle about the Lord’s Suffering.

With broken heart and contrite spirit, we think about the incredible suffering our Savior went through under the hands of the Jews and the Romans. But then we realize that indescribable suffering was not as great as what He suffered for us in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sins as he bled from every pore for the sins and suffering for all of Heavenly Father’s children. (Mosiah 3:7) There is a great hymn describing His suffering called “Gethsemane.” Bing Videos.

With my own humble heart, as I contemplate what I have shared, I close with this blog article: https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-importance-of-the-infinite-atonement/. In apocryphal literature we read of the great BURST OF LIGHT at the time of His resurrection bringing the Lord triumph over death and hell. And then the Lord brought about the MIRACLE OF THE SHROUD. May the Lord bless you and me to partake fully of His grace—anticipating a glorious resurrection and a fullness of joy because of Him.

David W. Allan (31 December 2024)

With the Shroud being the most studied and photographed artifact in history, the above pictures are now available.

Don’t Ignore the TRUTH

As emotional beings, our choices and decisions are mostly based on our feelings. However, Our thoughts, words, and deeds are thereby influenced. We live in the information age. The information on the internet, social media, TV, podcasts, and the entertainment industry along with our environment have significant influences on what we believe and what we do. But our God-given sovereignty gives us the choice of what our life will be. It is so important to use our intelligence wisely. I love Chauncey Riddle’s classic book, THINK INDEPENDENTLY. And most importantly, “Don’t Ignore the TRUTH.” Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6)

We Live in the Information Age

Living in the information age, there is a tendency on the part of many to “Google” their questions, which are updated using AI to hopefully be the best information available. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an extremely powerful tool, but it has no soul. In 1965, I wrote my first computer program to characterize atomic clocks’ performances on an IBM 360 machine that NBS had acquired; it filled up a room. We used to have a joke about computer programming, “Garbage in, garbage out.” As we move into the digital era, one bit wrong can make a lot of difference. As you have noticed on your cell phone, pushing the wrong button may well take you where you don’t want to go. My personal  joke about the internet is, “There is a lot of information there, and some of it is true!”

Satan is the Great Deceiver

In the information age, there is massive propaganda deceit there because Satan uses it also to take as many as he can away from Christ. Satan is the great deceiver. He knows Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6) Christ is the LOGOS—the WORD. (John 1:1) Whosoever treasureth up the WORD, shall not be deceived. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, Satan has been deceiving the masses to take them away from Christ. So we see the great importance of treasuring the WORD. (JS-M 37) ” And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Important Omissions from the Bible

The Bible is considered to be God’s word. It has done more good by far than any other book in bringing about good and bringing people to Christ. But we have to ask some important questions.
1) Is God’s word only in the Bible? The answer is a resounding, “No!”
2) And the really hard question is, “Has Satan had a massive influence as well on Bible translations?” Unfortunately, the answer is, “Yes,” and causing great deceit across the masses and over the ages.
3) Is Christ’s infinite atonement poorly understood—causing satanic deceit among the masses? Satan has brought about this great deceit. So, again, the answer is, “Yes.”

I hope to open up TRUTH and LIGHT regarding these very important questions. Many other significant questions could be asked, but let me just focus on these because of their great importance.

Many Inspired non-Biblical texts

Regarding the first question, in the last 200 years, a large number of non-Biblical texts have come forth and most of them have been translated into English. They give major insights outside of the Biblical text that denote God speaking to others in ancient times and in modern times. In 1830, the Lord gave the world 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon in a miraculous manner. Both the translation and the printing were major miracles. God’s fingerprints are all over in this game-changing book. On a per-capita basis, the Book of Mormon has brought more people to Christ of those who have read it than any other book .

Jonah Barnes in his recent book, THE KEY TO THE KEYSTONE, sights that there are 20 mentions in the Bible itself of other sacred writings that are not in the Bible. In addition, he shows that the Book of Mormon prophets cite and often quote from some 40 other ancient prophetic texts outside the Bible canon, and their messages are most profound. Many of these are cited from the Brass Plates, which Lehi brought with them to America around 592 B.C. And much of the information in the Brass Plates is not in the Bible, which is sacred literature going back to the creation and the Garden of Eden. The Book of Mormon prophets shared the gospel by using the information on the Brass Plates, which tells of the creation, the Garden of Eden, and covers the infinite atonement. These prophets told of the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement. Elder Bruce R. McConkie called the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement the three pillars of eternity.

David Hocking just finished number seven of his annotated editions of sacred scriptures. They are awesome contributions to sacred literature. Nephi prophesied of “other books” to come forth in our day. I believe David’s last one is the best yet: THE REVELATIONS OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH, JR. David shares that the Book of Mormon quotes from the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jasher. Interestingly, the English translation of neither of these books existed at the time Joseph Translated the Book of Mormon, which he finished in 1829.

A very important realization is that God’s WORD can come to each of us by personal revelation. David Hocking shares two examples of my personal revelations on pages 315-317 of his last book. The Lord revealed to me that the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed in the Divine Ratio (7.5 inches/4.635 inches = 1.618). In addition, my research led me to a major printing miracle for the Book of Mormon. Gordon Weight shares in a pamphlet he wrote that it should have taken at least 17 1/2 months to print and bind 5,000 copies. In the Lord’s compressed time frame, it was done in 6 months for the book to be ready for the organization of His Church on the 6th of April in 1830. David’s new book now documents these major miracles that most have never heard about or have read about in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Serious Omissions from the Bible

These ancient sacred writings that are not in the Bible expose two serious omissions in the Old Testament Bible codex. The third serious omission applies to the Bible as a whole. The “infinite atonement” is neither explained nor even mentioned. That confusion in the Bible has led to most Christians looking to the “cross” and to Jesus’ blood, as their path to heaven.

• First is the omission of the importance of the role of Satan and his potential impact during our mortal journey.
• In many of the non-Biblical texts, the prophecies of the anointed one, the Son of God, the Savior of all humankind, and that He would be crucified by the Jews were removed. You can imagine why. As these ancient scribes read these texts, they didn’t want the world to know that their descendants would be killing the Son of God.
• The infinite atonement is beautifully explained in the Book of Mormon by several of the prophets as well as in other apocryphal writings. I also did a podcast with Rod Meldrum on this critically important subject, which is scripturally based. I share that the the infinite atonement is perfectly just and perfectly merciful in God’s infinite love.

These Omissions Cleared up with non-Biblical Texts

So, both the Book of Mormon, as well as the other non-Biblical texts, profoundly and thankfully supply the Lord’s revelations to others to overcome these serious omissions.

Let us not overlook or avoid the TRUTH. These texts provide great enlightenment and bring us closer to God. Well did Alma share: “For behold, the Lord doeth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.” (Alma 29:8)

The Infinite Atonement the Most Important Event in World History

The most important event in all of world history is the infinite atonement of our Lord and Savior. Because of its preeminence, President Nelson at the last General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asked us to learn more about the atonement. In response, I wrote a special blog article: “The Importance of the Infinite Atonement.” I quote heavily from non-Biblical texts to give major insights that I feel the Lord has given me as I have pondered, studied, and prayed. I have also written several blog articles doing the best I can to help people understand this most important event in all of world history. I list the links for those here. There is a lot of repetition, but repetition brings conviction:
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-importance-of-the-infinite-atonement/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-full-infinite-atonement/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/spiritual-science-seven-steps-in-atonement/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-infinite-atonement-of-jesus-christ/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-infinite-atonement-and-paradise/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/resurrection-capstone-of-the-atonement/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-perfect-infinite-atonement/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-resurrection-disproves-the-theory-of-organic-evolution/

Enormous Burst of Celestial Light

After the martyrdom of the early Apostles, world history documents the incomprehensible creeds, which prevent people from knowing  the TRUE GOD. (see the Nicene Creed) God overcame that serious problem. My late friend John Pratt deduced from Enoch’s calendar that an enormous burst of celestial light came forth on the 26th of March 1820. The true nature of the Father and the Son was revealed in the sacred grove to the young boy, Joseph Smith, Jr. Like the boy prophet, Samuel in the Bible, Joseph came to know God. And thus commenced the restoration of the fullness of the gospel beginning with the Book of Mormon.

As Jesus prayed, to know the Father and the Son is Eternal Life (John 17:3). The creeds had removed that knowing and made the Trinity a mystery. This vision was the most important event that had happened in world history since Jesus had finished His infinite atonement. Now we can know the true infinitely loving nature of Elohim, Who is ever reaching out to each of us wanting us to partake of Eterna Life (Matt. 7:7-8). Now I know Elohim through the Spirit of revelation and from all the sacred writings we now have available. The “other books” (read 1 Nephi 13:39) have helped me tremendously to come to KNOW ELOHIM.

David W. Allan (15th of December 2024)

Photo of the cover of the Annotated Edition of the Book of Enoch by David Hocking with David’s permission.

Martin Harris’ Modern Angelic Testimony

Our good friend, Lynn “Doc” Cleland, recently shared with us a four-minute video he made of Martin Harris living in Douglas, Wyoming. Martin is the third great-grandson of Martin Harris, who was one of the three witnesses bearing testimony that the angel Moroni had shown them the gold plates used by Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Mormon. The witnesses heard the voice of God commanding them to share their testimony with the world, which is in every copy of the Book of Mormon. As orchestrated by the Lord, the original Martin Harris angelically shared his testimony again through his third great-grandson. This happened in 2009 as part of Doc’s incredible handcart journey while replicating his third great-grandmother’s handcart experience.

Lynn “Doc” Cleland’s Journey of nearly 1,400 Miles

I had the opportunity to meet Lynn “Doc” Cleland at a Book of Mormon Evidence conference in 2023. He told us about his third great-grandmother, Sarah Goode, who had joined the Church and was widowed in 1854. She was left alone with six children under the age of 12.

Before leaving England in April of 1856 to join the saints in Salt Lake, she was given a blessing and promise she would complete the journey successfully and not lose any of her children on the way. She was also promised that she would be the first one to enter the Salt Lake Valley from her company.

After they arrived in the States they went by train to Iowa City, where she joined the Ellsworth handcart company. On the last day of the 1,400-mile trek, she got permission from Captain Ellsworth to leave early. She and her six children were the first to enter the Salt Lake Valley, as promised in her blessing. As she pulled her handcart into the valley, with her permission, her six children were swept up by horsemen who came to meet them at the mouth of Immigration Canyon. It was a time of great rejoicing.

She is featured in the movie, Seventeen Miracles. Her experience was also featured in a 2006 ENSIGN article: “Some Must Push and Some Must Pull”. This article touched Doc’s heart and he knew her story through his family history. In 2009, he decided to honor this brave woman by replicating her experience.

Doc built a handcart, ate the same kinds of food Sarah would have eaten, and pulled a handcart alone for nearly 1,400 miles, following the same path as best he could. Over the 110-day journey, he lost 48 pounds, and nearly died three times during his trek and was miraculously healed.

He has written the book, “Faith Greater Than Pain”, which is available on Amazon. A full-length Hollywood-level movie is planned to share his remarkable experience.

Angelic Experiences

Doc had some major angelic assistance experiences during his trek and learned that Sarah had been with him all the way. She inspired him in the writing of the book. The Lord’s orchestration of the following is also a most inspiring example. When he got to Douglas, WY, he noticed that there was an LDS church not far from the trail. So, he went there that evening where he met the Young Men’s President for their ward by the name of Martin Harris. Doc learned that Martin is the third great son of Martin Harris–one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon. As a witness, his profound testimony is in every copy of the Book of Mormon.

Grandfather, Martin Harris, also mortgaged his farm to provide the $3,000 needed to print the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon. He also took the characters to Professor Charles Anthon to validate their correctness which Joseph Smith had copied and translated from the gold plates. The printing of the Book of Mormon was also a major miracle all by itself.

A Coincidence?

Doc called the local Bishop and got permission to set up his tent on the lawn of the church. Since this was a Wednesday evening and Brother Harris was at the church with the young people, Doc asked him for a favor. Doc had a replica of the first copy of the Book of Mormon and felt to ask Martin to write in it and share his testimony of the book, and Martin agreed to do that.

After a long evening, at about 10 o’clock Martin gave the book back to Doc in his tent. Doc being tired, didn’t read what Martin had written until two days later. He was so touched by his testimony, he decided to make a trip back to Douglas, Wyoming, and have Martin tell him, “The rest of the story.”

When Doc went back, to Douglas, Brother Harris shared that over the course of that Wednesday evening, he couldn’t think what to write; he just stared at a blank page. Finally, after all his church duties were taken care of and while pondering what to write, a phrase came into his mind. He wrote it down. Then, he waited; another phrase came into his mind. He wrote it down, and this continued until the testimony was completed.

Doc shared with me this testimony, which is most inspiring. It is the original Martin Harris putting into the mind of his third great-grandson his current testimony. Doc also shared with me a four-minute video he obtained from the grandson telling of this unique angelic experience.

So, we have this unique ministering angel Divine orchestration. Martin’s third great-grandfather, Martin Harris—one of the three witnesses of the gold plates, gets to share his testimony again. In due process, Doc will be sharing that marvelous current testimony that is written in his first replica edition of the Book of Mormon in a movie.

This event reminds me of how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. He would study the characters on the gold plates through the Urim and Thummim and then a phase would come to mind. The phrase needed to be correct–including the spelling of a lot of unique names– before he could move on. This translation process was indeed a major miracle. It is estimated that Joseph spent about 65 days in translation and averaged about 20 words per minute from this ancient unknown Egyptian language. A MARVELOUS WORK AND A WONDER, indeed; not a coincidence!

It is now known that the small plates translated by Joeseph Smith in Fayette, NY, were Demotic Egyptian (1 Nephi through Omni). One of the scribes, John Whitmer, copied off some of these characters, and my good friend, Brian Nettles, has been able to translate many of them. In this link, you can see a copy of the “Caracter’s” document that Brian translated from.

The large plates translated in Harmony, PA, were Reformed Egyptian with Mormon and Moroni being the scribes. Most people don’t know there were two sets of plates that Joseph used to translate the Book of Mormon.

David W. Allan (13 July 2024)

PS Doc has given me permission to share Martin’s testimony and video with those I can trust. Let me know if you are interested. Neither Martin’s testimony nor the video should be duplicated because Doc maintains the rights for them to be in the forthcoming movie.

This angelic ministration experience is a beautiful example as shared by Vinney Tolman in his most inspiring book: The Light After Death. The book report referenced gives inspiring details of the importance of angelic ministrations.

Photo:  Utah State Historical Society