Tag Archives: Joseph Smith

Why Is there Pain And Suffering In The World?

Spirituality, ,

Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world, if we have an infinitely loving God? We can best understand this question when we look at the grand plan of our infinitely loving Heavenly Father. His course is “one eternal round.” (1 Nephi 10:19; Alma 7:20; 37:12; D&C 3:2; 35:1

My Journey

My life journey has been very dynamic, and I have learned some extremely important lessons on the way. Religion was not important to me while growing up, but I have always believed in God. In my teenage years, I had three special experiences that touched my soul.

I was not taught to pray or to read the scriptures. I don’t even remember a Bible or a Book of Mormon in the house. I read the book about the Bobbsey Twins.

One time I felt to pray and ask forgiveness for my sins. A wonderful peaceful spirit washed over me, and I felt truly forgiven. Another time I climbed Maple Mountain to commune with God up on Monument Peak. I felt His sweet Spirit there as well. When I had my bicycle accident and received a priesthood blessing and saw it manifest, that warmed my heart.

Going to Church

As a priest, I started going to priesthood meetings. When the Bishop asked me to give a talk, I was stumped and had no clue how to do it. When I stood up to talk at a fireside at my Uncle Leo and Aunt Nena Harmer’s, I felt totally unprepared, but the Spirit opened my mouth and words came out.  I came to know the reality of the Holy Ghost giving utterance.

I have already shared my experience with how the Lord helped me with my master’s thesis. But a few years later, just after I was asked to serve as Stake President, the bureau gives their senior scientists free physical exams. The doctor found an enlarged prostate. I called John Linford, who was a counselor to me, and asked if he would give me a blessing. He did, and it worked. THANK YOU LORD.

It Changed the World

Then in 1980, things were going poorly at the bureau with Division leadership management issues. I was thinking seriously about looking for another job. At that same time, they approached me and asked me to lead the time and frequency dissemination research group with three new people. At the same time, I was in charge of the atomic clock timekeeping group, which they wanted me to keep doing. Double the workload with no extra compensation. My first thoughts were, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Then I felt to ask the Lord. He gave me a download of experiments that I could do. One of them was to develop a GPS Common-view time-transfer special receiver. We did and it changed the world.

I shared the idea with NASA/JPL, who badly needed it for precisely timing their tracking of deep space vehicles like Voyager 2, which is still sending signals back.
NASA is still receiving signals from Voyager 2. As of February 2025, Voyager 2 is more than 14 billion miles (about 23 billion kilometers) away from Earth and continues to send data back, albeit at a very low rate. It is currently in interstellar space, far beyond the influence of our Sun’s gravity.

Due to its extreme distance, the signal from Voyager 2 takes over 18 hours to reach Earth, which means NASA has to wait that long for any communication. The spacecraft is still operating with limited power and its instruments are being turned off periodically to conserve energy. But it’s remarkable that it’s still functional and providing valuable data after more than 47 years in space!

The signal is expected to continue for a few more years, but the spacecraft’s power supply will eventually run out in the next couple of years. JPL gave us, the bureau, a quarter of a million dollars to develop that receiver to help track their spacecraft. The international timing community picked up on it in a major way, and I put one at Arecibo Observatory for doing millisecond pulsar timing. I was made chairman of a “Millisecond pulsar sub-committee” for the International Astronomical Union, as a result of my findings—discovering PSR B1937+21 to be binary and using the Allan variance showed that the electron content along the signal path is a random walk process. It takes about 12 thousand years for the signal to reach the Earth.

Stress Is A Killer

Over the years, I have learned that stress is a killer. Sunday evening, 31 July 2016, I was conversing with Sterling. He knows how to push my buttons, and I had a horrible night. I woke up the next morning with a heart attack. That Tuesday, I went through quadruple bypass surgery.

I asked for a priesthood blessing at the hospital in Nephi, before they took me by ambulance to Utah Valley Hospital. I felt as calm as could be about what would happen. I had a great visit with the person attending me in the back of the ambulance—sharing all kinds of fun information, while they were driving 90 mph to get there as fast as possible.
That fall, I was invited to receive the highest award given by the IEEE/UFFC community, in New Orleans at the annual International Frequency Control Symposium, and they also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the publication of my master’s thesis. I was there with my Sweetheart.

Ingor Blinov is the same gentleman who gave me the award in Suzdal, Russia, in 2014.
They also asked me to chair a session, specifically about the Allan variance and its usefulness.

They also shared a special periodical publication written by 16 different people across the globe sharing the usefulness of the Allan variance. It was a very enjoyable time. IT’S ABOUT TIME. We sold a ton of books while there. I am still learning how to deal with the killer stress.

Believe in Miracles

In 2018, I was notified that I had received the coveted Keithley Award and received $10k, which I gave to the Church. I was invited to give a talk in Houston at an international metrology conference. My talk was to be given Wednesday morning the 18th of April. That Monday morning while walking out to the truck to drive to the airport in SLC, I dropped my keys. Fortunately, Natalie Wright was there, and she asked, ”Are you all right?” I was suffering from a stroke. She called Kevin, and he came over. With his training, he immediately recognized the systems of a stroke and suggested we call the ambulance. He then asked if I wanted a priesthood blessing. I, of course, said yes. After the blessing, I said, I’m okay. I am going to Houston.

I drove to the airport and flew on to Houston, but I could definitely tell something was not right. That evening, I walked to a restaurant for dinner about a half mile. On the way back my one leg was acting funny. When I got back to the hotel. I couldn’t speak. I went to the concierge, and he could tell I was having another stroke. They immediately called an ambulance. The hospital in Houston was first class. When the therapist checked me in the morning, she asked me to share all the words I could starting with F. I said, “Frog.” And I was done. I had had another stroke that morning, as I was talking some earlier that morning.

Karie, bless her heart, flew down. The people at the conference and at the hotel were most understanding and kind. Nathan called the local bishop and asked if someone could go and give me a priesthood blessing. That afternoon, the Elders showed up and gave me a precious blessing. We let the conference people know I would be there for my talk. The hotel gave Karie a free room.

The next morning to an international audience I said, “I don’t know how many of you believe in miracles, but we just had one.” And I explained my situation. I gave an hour and ten-minute talk—sharing my work. Karie made tons of friends, and we sold two cases of books. AGAIN, THANK YOU, LORD.

I had another stroke a few years ago while riding my bike. I was on my way home, and road  my bike off into the weeds and fell over. Bodie Wright was across the street and immediately came over to help me get back up. Again, with another priesthood blessing, I am on my way and riding my bike nearly every day now.

Why So Much Pain and Suffering

Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world, if we have an infinitely loving God? Why did His Son have to suffer more than was humanly possible, as He brought about the infinite atonement? We have the Apostle John’s profound and most popular Christian statement, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
But that statement begs the question. We can best understand and answer these questions and why the purging is necessary before Christ comes again when we look at the grand plan of our infinitely loving Heavenly Father. His course is “one eternal round.” (1 Nephi 10:19; Alma 7:20; 37:12; D&C 3:2; 35:

Plan of Happiness

His perfect plan of happiness is a grand chiasmus, as with the figure at the top: A-B-C-B’-A’. A, the Earth was created nigh unto Kolob; B, then came the “Garden of Eden” for Adam and Eve; C, then the Fall of Adam and Eve brought us to where we are now; B’, then the Earth moves to its millennial epoch; A’, finally, the Savior presents to the Father His kingdom into Celestial realms of glory. So “one eternal round” is celestial, terrestrial, celestial, terrestrial, and celestial, as shown in the depiction.

Similarly, we can think of three kinds of people: celestial, terrestrial, and telestial. The celestial folks are motivated by the pure love of Christ. The terrestrial people are the good and honorable motivated out of duty. The telestial are worldly and selfish, and allow Satan and his angels to motivate their doings. They are often lustful as well and pornography often entraps them.

As a praying physicist, I have given you proof that the Book of Mormon is the word of God in many ways. I am pleased that LDS Living picked up on this insight. But as we look directly at the history of how the first 5,000 copies came to be typed set and printed, we see the hand of the Lord. It was done in the Lord’s compressed timeframe of six months, when it has been shown that it should have taken at least 17 ½ months.

The Lords Fingerprint

I have also given you proof of the Lord’s fingerprint in all of our scriptures with the 1,800 phrases tying back to the language of Adam.  Knowing these things, we learn from Lehi, as he blesses his son Jacob, “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must need to be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must need to remain as dead, having no life neither death nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.” (2 Nephi 2:11)

We also know as righteous King Benjamin stated just before he died, “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19)

Why God Allows Evil

In dealing with this very difficult question, “Why would a God who is good create evil? I pull from my first book, It’s About Time:

2.3 Why Does God—Who Is Good—Create Evil? From Isaiah:

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” — Isaiah 45:7

How and why does the Lord create evil or allow it? Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world? The great thinkers of the ages have never come up with the answers to these
questions. C. S. Lewis, after going through his own apostasy from Christianity, may have come the closest—becoming one of Christianity’s most avid advocates. During his
teenage and apostate years, he felt that the strongest force for atheism was expressed in a poem by Lucretius:
Had God designed the world, it would not be
A world so frail and faulty as we see.
Lucr. 5.198-199)

After J. R. R. Tolkien and others of his friends persuaded Lewis to deeply consider Christianity, it turned his life around. As he considered Christ, Lewis concluded that “only two of this man are possible. Either He was a raving lunatic of an unusually abominable type, or else He was, and is, precisely what He said. There is no middle way.”20

After gaining his deep appreciation for Christianity, regarding evil, pain, and suffering that comes with life, Lewis poignantly states that if you “try to exclude the possibility of suffering the order of nature and the existence of free will involve,. . . you find that you have excluded life itself.”

Great Thinkers

Albert Schweitzer—considered by some to be the greatest humanitarian and one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century—was a devout student of the teachings of Jesus. He mastered philosophy, music, theology, and medicine, and became the world’s authority on Bach’s timeless organ music, and he also could build an organ. His great intellect and all his learning led him to what he called “Reverence for Life,” which included all life. He built a hospital in Africa to relieve suffering there and had great success in doing so. He dealt with both world wars and wrote much about the wars. From 1945 to 1950,  Schweitzer was considered the greatest man in the world.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize. He had then and still has a great influence on philosophy and thinking in the world. In all of his eighty years of learning, Dr. Schweitzer could not answer the “great question: What is the meaning of evil in the world?” And “in what way is our existence transitory and yet eternal?”   He left these questions unanswered, but because he knew of God’s love he focused his life on loving by relieving the sufferings of others.

Herman Melville had similar questions, “How can a God that is good create evil?” He wrote his classic book Moby-Dick; trying to deal with this question. In the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám—this great Persian thinker, Omar Khayyám—struggled with such questions and after listening to the world’s philosophers discuss these questions, he said, ”I went out by the same door wherein I went.”23

The questions remained unanswered.

20) C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, pp 13-14
21) C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, pp 13-14
22) Albert Schweitzer, Out of My Life and Thought
23) The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Joseph Smith (1805-1834) with only a third-grade education was taught by God, as part of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Joseph was raised up as a prophet of God to restore the following truths that had been lost during the dark ages. The following Truths were revealed to him, as a modern prophet, in answer to the following challenging questions:

Who Are We?

Where did we come from?
What is our purpose in life?
Where do we go after death?
Why does God allow evil in the world?

None of the great thinkers, including Lewis, give in-depth answers to these questions, which are gloriously now available to us through the restoration of these truths through the Prophet Joseph Smith. depth answers to these questions, which are gloriously now available to us through the 
restoration of these truths through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  This latter-day restoration is called the Last dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the dispensation of the fullness of times.

The Apostle Paul spoke of it, “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:” (Ephesians 1:10)

The Apostle Paul spoke of it, “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him” (Ephesians 1:10)

Agency

Agency led to the fall of Adam and Eve and thence to life’s challenges, including sin, pain, and suffering. Ironically, the fall is a major and necessary step in the Father’s perfect plan of happiness. After the fall, Eve was glad and in rejoicing responded:  “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.” (Moses 5:11)

Their fall opened the door for Father’s spirit offspring, which includes everyone who has lived or will live on the Earth, to gain a physical body and life experiences.
The Apostle Paul so aptly said that “…the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”26

The evil in the world has led many to doubt God’s existence; it is one of those doctrines not understood or appreciated by the natural man or woman, as mentioned by Paul. Even though this doctrine has been brought into light and understanding through the restoration of the fullness of the gospel, much of it is taught in the Bible.  Another of the grand ironies of the universe—perfectly exemplified by our Savior—is that when people surrender their will to the will of the Father, then they can be totally free. As our Redeemer so succinctly said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:36)
24) John 8:32
25) John 14:6
26) 1 Cor. 2:14

Reasons for Challenges

Neal A. Maxwell (1926-2004) was one of the recent modern apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which church was restored through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Church was organized with twelve apostles, as it was in the meridian of time. Maxwell profoundly commented that there are three reasons for life’s challenges: (1) a natural consequence of mortality; (2) the sins or mistakes people make; and, (3) those trials have been given by a loving Lord for our growth and benefit, from my notes from a General Conference talk.

It may seem odd to thank the Lord for the chastisements and challenges in addition to our uncountable blessings, but they all have a divine purpose. When difficult times come, they will ask the Lord what lessons He wants us to learn, because these experiences are always for eternal good if viewed through divine eyes, as hard as some of them may seem.
44) John 8:32, 36
45) 1 Kings 19:12; 1 Nephi 17:45
46) 2 Nephi 32:2-5; Moroni 7:27-32; Moses 1:39
47)  Doctrine and Covenants 121:45-46
48) 2 Nephi 2:8, 26-27
49) Matt. 11:28-30

The Millennium

In my second book, Time & Eternity, the End-Times & Beyond Revealed, I share the important truth that all who accept Christ and live His teachings will make it into the Millennium regardless of religion. Everyone is born with the Spirit of Christ to know good from evil. (John 1:9) By following our conscience to do good, everyone is given the opportunity in this life to accept Jesus whether they are Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, agnostic, atheist,

Following His light leads us there. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Then the Apostle Peter gives this great warning: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:19-23

When Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith, he offered a similar warning: “He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when ‘they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people,’ but soon would come.” (JS-H 40)

Nephi, in sharing about our day and time, makes it very clear: “And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people. And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness.” (1 Nephi 22:20-21)

So we see that the purging ahead is because all those telestial-minded people have chosen to reject  Christ and His teachings. In due process, they will be “cut off” from among the people before His Second Coming. In the perfect fairness of God, after suffering for their sins for a thousand years, they will be allowed to come to Christ. And most of them will and gratefully so—knowing that the telestial kingdom is a degree of glory greater than we can comprehend. “And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament. These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, nor the testimony of Jesus. And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding;” (D&C 76:81, 82, 89)

Perfect Plan of Happiness

In the Lord’s perfect plan of happiness, He honors the desires of our hearts. Alma says it well: “I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction. Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience. For behold, the Lord doth 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 29:4, 5, 8)

In the perfect fairness of our infinitely loving God, everyone will see that the purging ahead was not only needed but will rejoice in the blessings of the infinite atonement:

God will force no one to Heaven; to do so it would not be Heaven.

David W. Allan (10 February 2025)

Photo: David W. Allan

Rod Meldrum and Jonathan Neville Podcasts

Spirituality, , , , ,

Rod Meldrum and Jonathan Neville discussed historical ground-breaking material about LDS Church history in two recent Book of Mormon Evidence podcasts. Each discussion was an hour long. (Links Below)

Did you know Benjamin Winchester changed the course of history for the Church? Did you know there were two sets of gold plates for the Book of Mormon? Did you know that Zarahemla is across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo, Ill.? Did you know the Sidon River in the Book of Mormon is the Mississippi? Did you know Zarahemla and Sidon are Phoenician words? Artificial Intelligence (AI) and modern Stylometry reveal the truth, as Jonathan and Rod point out.

Benjamin Winchester

Benjamin Winchester wrote three articles appearing In the Times and Seasons indicating the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica. These articles were attributed erroneously to Joseph Smith. The Prophet Joseph tried to change Benjamin’s mind and couldn’t. Joseph prophesied of Benjamin’s apostasy, and that he would do great harm to the Church. Joseph said Winchester was “rotten at heart.”

Jonathan’s book, The Lost City of Zarahemla, From Iowa to Guatemala—and Back Again, details how Winchester deceived the Church. I share Jonathan’s perspective here: “In 1842, a zealous, committed Mormon [Benjamin Winchester] invented a way to gain more converts. All he had to do was link the Book of Mormon to popular books, including a national bestseller, about Mesoamerica. This proof would be irresistible to the public. Except the prophet disagreed with the tactic. Convinced he was right, he battled Joseph Smith. Formally suspended and silenced, he fought back. He arranged for the publication in the Times and Seasons of articles that specifically linked the Book of Mormon to Mesoamerica. The consequences? Joseph Smith resigned from the paper. The champions of the Mesoamerican theory apostatized from the Church. And the Mesoamerican theory would undermine faith in Joseph Smith’s role as prophet, seer and revelator for the next 174 years. This man’s zeal and subterfuge have remained a secret despite the devoted efforts of historians, educators, and church leaders to uncover the truth. Until now.”

The Lord knows the end from the beginning and can turn bad into good. So, I find it fascinating that the Lord gave Joseph a revelation in March 1841 – “Let them build up a city unto my name upon the land opposite the city of Nauvoo, and let the name of Zarahemla be named upon it.” (D&C 125:3) These controversial articles in the Times and Seasons came later, and they changed the course of history significantly for the Lord’s Church. Here, the Lord has given a revelation to those paying attention to His word to avoid Winchester’s deceit.

In the infinite wisdom of the Lord, this revelation didn’t say Zarahemla was there for His all-knowing wise purposes. The magnificent ruins in Central and South America caught the eye of many Church leaders and academics in the Church. And most believed the articles in the Times and Seasons, promoting the Mesoamerica model, were attributed to the Prophet Joseph. That model came to be believed by most members of the Church. I believed it, as did Jonathan Neville!

Now, AI and modern stylometry techniques show those articles were written by Benjamin Winchester, and the Church members have been massively deceived. Now, we can prove that North America is where the Book of Mormon took place. The Book of Mormon geography is here in this “Land of Promise”—North America.

Edna Allan’s Major Insight

My wife, Edna, knowing the Lord can turn bad into good, had a major insight. She believes the Lord knowing this deceit turned bad into good. This deceit caused the Church to take the gospel to the people in Central and South America much more than otherwise. Because the Church leaders and members believed the Book of Mormon took place in Central and South America, they focused missionary work in that direction. The blessings to those good people have been enormous. Indeed, the course of history for the Church has changed for the good in spite of the deceit.

Exposing The Deceit

Now, the Lord is exposing that deceit, as the North American Indians (Lamanites) are blossoming as a rose in fulfillment of prophecy. Rod and Jonathan, in their podcasts, document this deceit in detail. They share the history of how this deceit came about.

Also, I am privileged to be part of Book of Mormon Heartland showing where the Book of Mormon really took place. This geography model exposes this deceit.  At the same time, in the above links, I prove the Mesoamerica model false.

Because the Lord turned this deceit into good, there are now 8 million members of the Church in Central and South America combined. Interestingly, there are only 7 million in the United States and Canada combined. The combined membership in Central and South America would be much fewer if this deceit had not occurred. Now, 15 million of the 17 million members of the Church are in the Americas.

Membership growth curves have changed dramatically over time. Now the membership in Africa is exploding, while the growth is flat in the Americas and in most of the rest of the world. The main cause of that flattening is Satan’s Wokeism and all the secularism that has invaded our education systems. The proven false theories of Darwinian evolution and the Big Bang are pervasive.

If you go to the statistics on the Church’s website, you will notice that there is no Central America. All the Central America countries are lumped in with North America. I had to add up the membership from the individual countries to get a Central America statistic. I did this from the Church’s Wikipedia page.

Unfortunately, the 2024 “Come Follow Me” manual for the Church still shows pictures from Mesoamerica. Even though the Mesoamerica model for Book of Mormon geography has been proven false.

However, we have seen progress. I taught the “Institute of Religion” class for the Moroni Stake in our Church for eleven years. The original Book of Mormon manual for that course of study had many pictures depicting Mesoamerica geography for the Book of Mormon. They made a new manual and took out all of those pictures.  “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32)

Two Sets of Gold Plates

Most don’t know that there were two sets of gold plates used in translating the Book of Mormon. Jonathan Neville has written an excellent book about this important topic: Whatever Happened to the Golden Plates? He also helped me with a blog article sharing this fascinating dimension for these sacred records coming forth.

Joseph shared that Moroni wrote the Title Page for the Book of Mormon. It was underneath the plates Joseph translated that were given to Joseph from the stone box in the Hill Cumorah. Two-thirds of them were sealed. These are the plates from which Joseph translated the Book of Lehi. The 116 pages of that translation were lost by Martin Harris’s wife, with Satanic designs. He was then instructed by the Lord to translate the Book of Mosiah through and including the Book of Moroni.

Notice the two paragraphs of the Title Page tell us that it is an abridgment of the record of the Nephites and an abridgment of the record of the Jaredites, respectively. These abridgments were made by Mormon and Moroni, respectively. The Title Page mentions nothing of the unabridged portion coming later from the small plates. It is estimated that the large plates taken from the stone box weighed about 60 lbs.

After finishing that translation from the large plates, Joseph was then instructed to give the large plates to a messenger. That messenger took them and put them into the repository in the Hill Cumorah. This is a room of records that was in the Hill Cumorah different from the stone box. As Jonathan points out from his research, that messenger was Nephi, one of the three Nephites. (3 Nephi 28) Nephi then took the small plates from the repository to Joseph Smith in Fayette, NY. Joseph had been instructed to go to Fayette to the Peter and Mary Whitmer home. The Whitmer family were kind supporters of the completion of this sacred work. Joseph then finished the translation from 1 Nephi through and including at least part of the Words of Mormon in the Book of Mormon.

This is a beautiful example of the FIRST shall be LAST, and the LAST shall be FIRST (D&C 29:30). “… the first shall be last, and that the last shall be first in all things whatsoever I have created by the word of my power, which is the power of my Spirit.” The last of the Book of Mormon was translated first, and the first part was translated last. “Brother Nephi” showed these small plates to Mary Whitmer, and she said that was how he introduced himself.

After the translation was finished in Fayette, the Three Witnesses were privileged to be shown the large plates by Moroni. They did not handle them but heard the Lord’s voice witnessing of their truth. All three of these witnesses later became disaffected with the Church, but never denied their testimonies. In a court of law, this would be sufficient evidence for the validation of this sacred record.

Again, as Jonathan points out, Joseph then took these plates back to the repository in the Hill Cumorah. These are the plates that Joseph showed to the eight witnesses near Palmyra. These witnesses were privileged to heft and turn the leaves of the small plates. Joseph’s father was one of those witnesses and said the plates weighed about 30 pounds.
No part of these plates was sealed.

John Whitmer, one of the scribes for the translation of the small plates, copied off some of the characters. This is the famous “CARACTERS” document. AI and Stylometry have identified John as the scribe. These characters are not “reformed Egyptian”, but Demotic Egyptian. That was the language used at the time Lehi left Jerusalem. Bryan Nettles verifies this in a blog article. You can see a picture of the “CARACTERS” document in this blog article.

Some confuse the “CARACTERS” document with the Anthon transcript. It is not. Joseph copied and translated some characters from the large plates, while in Harmony, PA. Martin Harris took these to experts to validate them. This is where we have a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the Book of Mormon: (See Isaiah 29:11-24 and JS-H 63-65)

  • Isa. 29:11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
  • 12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

The Found City of Zarahemla

As mentioned, Jonathan Neville wrote the wonderful book, The Lost City of Zarahemla. He later told me, he should have named it, “The Found City of Zarahemla.” I find it fascinating that the Lord gave the revelation to Joseph Smith to name the city across from Nauvoo, Ill, Zarahemla. In His infinite wisdom, the Lord not only did it just before the Mesoamerica, Times and Seasons, deceit problem. The Lord also did not say it was the same site as the city and land so important in Book of Mormon history.

The Lord knew we would find that out later. Which we have after the massive Church’s effort to take the fullness of the gospel to the people in Central and South America. And the Church missionaries have had great success in doing so.

Now we know it is the day when the Lamanites (North American Natives) are blossoming as a rose in preparation for the Lord’s coming. We are learning more and more about the Native Americans. We now know not only where the City and the Land of Zarahemla are. Recent discoveries have shown an amazing, Spotted Bee Balm, an herbal remedy found in that area. It reminds one of the following scripture:

And some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate— (Alma 46:40)

We remember when the saints settled in Nauvoo, they had serious problems with malaria. Now you can go to www.RocktheWorldBotanicals.com and take advantage of this newly discovered herbal blend. Its purest form and greatest abundance is where the Land of Zarahemla was!

Non-member Assistance

It seems that the leadership of our church has taken a neutral stand regarding Book of Mormon geography. Since many of the religion professors at BYU believe in the Mesoamerica model, I am guessing their influence has something to do with why we see Mesoamerica images in the Church’s 2024 “Come Follow Me” program.

Yet, the Lord has set an everlasting decree that whosoever possesses this land shall serve the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ. If they do not, they shall be “Swept off.” The people of North America cannot say, if they are destroyed, they didn’t know. (Ether 2:7-12) The Book of Mormon is very clear on the critical need for the people of this “Promised Land” to repent.

I find it fascinating how the Lord has orchestrated with non-members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Phillip Beale has shown the path of how the Lehites got to North America.  Russell Burrows has found some 4,000 ancient artifacts in the southern Illinois, Indiana area. Many North American Natives are reaching out to assist in sharing that the Book of Mormon is of their ancestry. The DNA of many of the native North Americans have strong Israelite markers. We read in the Title page the Lord’s purpose for the Book of Mormon:

It “is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever— And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, manifesting himself unto all nations.” Now the Book of Mormon is in 115 languages, and more are coming.

The printing of the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon in the Divine ratio was a major miracle. I was praying about this miracle. And, the Lord revealed to my mind and heart that these 5,000 copies were printed in the Divine ratio: 7 ½ inches / 4 5/8 inches = 1.62. In honor of this miracle, I had my new book, Time & Eternity, printed in the Divine ratio as well.

David W. Allan

Book of Mormon Evidence Part 3

Book of Mormon Evidence Part 4

Photo:  Permission Granted

Two Sets of Gold Plates and God’s Witnesses

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If we have eyes to see and hearts to feel and minds to understand, God gives us opportunities to know the validity of His work in every direction we turn.  The two sets of Gold Plates and His two sets of witnesses thereto are a case in point, as you will see.

What Ever Happened to the Golden Plates?

I learned from the scholar, Jonathan Neville, there were two sets of gold plates for the Book of Mormon.  He has written an amazing and most useful book regarding “Whatever Happened to the Golden Plates?” With his useful lawyer skills and intelligent thoroughness, his new book, “A Man That Can Translate” is brilliant. Both books have been great resource books for my research. Jonathan is a great friend and helped me with one of my blog articles Book of Mormon Miracles,  documenting the miraculous time-lines in bringing forth the Book of Mormon.  The miracles associated with the printing of the Book of Mormon are amazing as well.

“Large Plates” and “Small Plates”

You will see why I call the two sets fo Gold Plates the “large plates” and the “small plates,” for logical and actual reasons.  As we look at the new information available from Jonathan and other sources, it helps us clarify the history of really what happened in the Book of Mormon translation process.  We will see how the Lord brought into play His Divine Law of Witnesses (2 Corinthians 13:1) to give us maximum validity of this incredible Book of Mormon that has so blessed the world so greatly.

Notice, in your current Book of Mormon the “Title Page” has two paragraphs: Paragraph 1 states. “…it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi…”; and Paragraph 2 states. “An abridgement taken from the Book of Ether, which is a record of the people of Jared.”  So, the “Title Page” is not a description of the “small plates, which were not an abridgment.  They were translated last even though they are first in the Book of Mormon.  Let us add a little bit of geography to help clarify the historicity and some important points regarding the Law of Witnesses.
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The Date of the First Vision

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The date of the First Vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith withheld ’til Now! 

How many of us heed the Lord’s profound admonition, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matt. 7:7-8)

Ask, Seek, Knock

At age 14 Joseph did ask, seek and knock, and what happened changed the world!  His soul hungered to know the truth and which church was right.  He also wanted to know if his sins were forgiven.  In his asking, seeking, and knocking, James 1:5 touched his heart to the core as he read, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

Where he went to inquire of the Lord, we now call it the “Sacred Grove.  He shares, “It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty.” (JS-H 14)

The First Vision

That spring day, unfolded the most important event since the infinite atonement of our Lord and Savior, as Joseph was visited by Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.  There he came to know the true nature of God; to know the Father and the Son is eternal life. (John 17:3)

Heavenly Father called Joseph by name, and said, “This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (JS-H 17)  He was told they had a work for him to do.  This was the beginning of opening the of Dispensation of the Fullness of Times prophesied by the Apostle Paul. (Eph. 1:10) Because of all the false traditions that had crept into Christianity over the centuries there was a need for a restoration of the fullness of the gospel, “restitution of all things,” before the Second Coming of our Lord, as prophesied by the Apostle Peter. (Acts 3:19-2)
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Joseph Smith – A Prophet For This Time

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You can always know where the TRUTH and WISDOM are, because Satan will be fighting the hardest there.   I don’t know of another person in the last few centuries who Satan has fought against more vehemently than the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Satan tried to make Joseph’s life a hell on earth, but failed because Joseph knew the Lord and was tutored directly by Him.

Joseph Smith – Wisest In The Last Dispensation of Time

After reading the book, They Knew the Prophet; Personal Accounts from over 100 People who Knew Joseph Smith by Hyrum & Helen Andrus, I am convinced by it and from all my research that Joseph Smith is the wisest to live in this last Dispensation of Time.  Because he was tutored directly by God, everything he touched prospered.    Had Satan not fought against him so vehemently he could have been the richest man in America (p 139 of the above book) and could have been president of the United States (read the book, The Martyrdom Conspiracy), and would have freed the slaves without one of the bloodiest wars in history (the American Civil War).

The Savior gave us an absolute criterion on how to know if a prophet is true or false. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt. 7:20) As we look at the fruits of the Prophet Joseph he shines as one of the brightest prophets who have ever lived.

Uniqueness of The Book of Mormon in the Lord’s Latter-day Work and proof of Joseph as a prophet

When Joseph gave the world the Book of Mormon, the Lord offered in it the potential to solve all the ills of society.  The Book of Mormon has baffled critics for nearly 200 years, and now it is being accepted because of the overwhelming evidence of its validity and its far-reaching spiritual capacity to bring us to Christ – even more powerfully than the Bible.

Both the translation and printing of the Book of Mormon were God orchestrated miracles. It is estimated that Joseph spent about 65 days translating from two unknown languages (Demonic Egyptian and Reformed Egyptian) at about two words per minute. He had to spell many of them for the scribe because they were unique to the Book of Mormon people. Demotic Egyptian was spoken in 600 B.C. when Nephi was the scribe. A thousand years later Mormon wrote is abridgement in what is called Reformed Egyptian.

It should have taken at least 17 1/2 months to print and bind the first 5,000 copies; it was done in the Lord’s compressed time from of six months. Furthermore, The Lord instructed Joseph to have it printed in the Divine Ratio or Golden Mean.

Now over 90% of the leading American scientists believe the Bible is a myth.   Amazingly, Joseph in Egypt prophesied this would happen, as quoted by Lehi, and he proclaims the Book of Mormon would come forth to re-validate the Bible in our day (2 Nephi 3:11).  The Prophet Nephi gave a similar prophecy. (1 Nephi 13:38-41).

The King James Version (KJV) of the Bible has been shown to be the most accurate English translation, but still there are many miss-understood statements, and the Book of Mormon gives great clarification, insights, especially into the Lord’s infinite atonement.  Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible (JST), which the Lord commanded him to do, adds greatly to our understanding as well. Now David Hocking has provided the “Annotated Edition of the Joseph Smith Translation of the New Testament,” which is a great contribution.

James Palmer, who knew the Prophet Joseph Smith well, quotes Joseph saying, “I did translate the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, and it is before the world; and all the powers of earth and hell can never rob me of the honor of it.” (p 150 of They Knew the Prophet) In summary, Joseph has done more to further the work of the Lord than any other person who has ever lived except the Savior Himself. (Doctrine & Covenants 135:3)

Harold Bloom in his book, The American Religion, called Joseph Smith “an authentic religious genius unique in our national history,” with “insight [that] could have come only from a remarkably apt reading of the Bible… So strong was this act of reading that it broke through all the orthodoxies — Protestant, Catholic, Judaic — and found its way back to elements that Smith rightly intuited had been censored out of the stories of the archaic Jewish religion.”  Bloom misses the major point that Joseph Smith was tutored directly by God.  What could be better?  And the fruits of his labors show it.  The Savior said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” (Mathew 7:20)

In the above Mathew scripture, the Savior gives logically, both a necessary and sufficient condition to know a prophet is from God, and the profound number of Joseph’s prophecies validate him as such.  Consider the not well-known prophecy that the saints would only be seven years in Nauvoo, Ill, then the “will go into the Rocky Mountains, right into the midst of the Lamanites [the native American Indians]. (p 62 They Knew the Prophet)  And the Prophet exclaimed, “Oh the beauty of those snow-capped mountains!  The cool refreshing streams that are running down through those mountain gorges!” (p 104, They Knew the Prophet)

Three unique phrases tying to the Adamic Language

The KJV, as the most accurate English translation, has done more good for the world than any other book:  I believe the Lord inspired Joseph to nominally use King James English in his revelations and translations work to give Divine signature to it all.

In the KJV and the scriptures coming forth from the Prophet Joseph Smith, there are 1800 occurrences of the three phrases, “And it came to pass,” “And now it came to pass,” and “And it shall come to pass,” that I have identified in these scriptures that they tie back to the Adamic language and correspond to the Lord’s definition of truth (D&C 93:24), as I shared in the previous link and again here:

The phrase, “And now it came to pass” occurs uniquely in the BoM 104 times.  From the ancient Hebrew kabala and gematria the phrases “And it came to pass,” ties to EL (God) and significant past events, and the phrase “And it shall come to pass” ties to Jehovah and important future events.  The distribution of these three phrases in their 1800 occurrences in our standard works is a direct manifestation of divine signature.  Who uses them, how they are used, and where they are used is a direct validation of all the scriptures.

The Works of Robert Kay

Robert Kay, who as a Jew, was trained in the language of the Jews, discovered the Book of Mormon when he was fifteen.  He immediately recognized the Hebraisms in the book.  He studied the book for three years and then joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Later he wrote a three-volume set, Voices from the Dust, which profoundly illustrates these Hebraisms.  I am on my fifth reading of this three volume set and have gained much in doing so.  The above link is for Volume 1.  Volume 2 and 3 are available on Amazon.com as well.  Rob sells them at his cost.  Rob has an amazing conversion experience and gave me permission to share it.

Rob used the 1840 version of the Book of Mormon, the last one the Prophet edited before he was martyred, to illustrate the Hebraisms in his three-volume set, Voices from the Dust.   Rob and I discussed how the Hebrew doesn’t have punctuation and that the above three phrases often begin each of his sections, as he ties it to the ancient Hebrew format.  The Hebraisms he shares are so insightful and fascinating and give a different dimension of understanding of this incredible record, the Book of Mormon, as a second witness companion with the Bible to help bring the world to Christ.

Critics of the Book of Mormon often say that Joseph plagiarizes the Bible.  The shallowness of their claims are refuted by Rob Kay’s work, and by the ancient phrases that tie to the Kabbalah and to the Adamic language as I shared above and as explained in more detail in this link. Jonathan Neville’s book, Infinite Goodness, Joseph Smith, Jonathan Edwards, and the Book of Mormon, also clearly refutes these plagiarism accusations.

Hebrew Midrash Magnification

I find it interesting that of the 425 verses of Isaiah scriptures in the Book of Mormon, more than half of them are different, and in some cases those differences are far reaching.  The further astounding dimension of the inclusion of these scriptures is that the prophet or the Savior, who is citing these scriptures is doing it for our benefit and expanding the meaning of them by using the ancient Hebrew Midrash magnification technique, so that their great importance for our day can be appreciated.  For me commonality between religious writers only validates that they are all listening to the same Spirit.

Accomplishments of the Prophet Joseph Smith

The accomplishments of the Prophet Joseph in his short 38 ½ years seem humanly impossible.  Indeed, they would be except that the Lord was with him.  The Lord showed Joseph much more than he was able to share, but even so I expect that Joseph did not comprehend at the time the enormity of what he was bringing forth to the world.  As an example, I have found a hidden book of scriptures in our scriptures in the phrase, “And it shall come to pass,” waiting for someone under inspiration to pull it out.  I made my limited attempt in this 34 page PDF article.  There are some really exciting insights one can gain as you go through these scriptures, and I am guessing Joseph didn’t have a clue how significant the phrase, “And it shall come to pass” would be in the revelations and translations he brought to the world.

It is fascinating that the Savior uses this phrase “And it shall come to pass” seven times (the number of perfection or completion) in the last part of Third Nephi where He is talking to us today.  I share these seven occurrences and their detailed relevance for our day in a lecture that I gave at the Book of Mormon Conference  on  27, September 2019.

In The Age Of Enlightenment – Follow His Counsel

I believe Joseph is pleased with the enormous ramifications and the ongoing rippling effects of what he has shared with the world.  It is like we are living in the shadow of “the stone… cut out of the mountain without hands [by God]” (Daniel 2:45) that “shall role forth, until it has filled the whole earth.” (Doctrine and Covenants 65:2).  Joseph Smith’s whole mission – especially including the translation of the Book of Mormon – was and is to bring us to Christ – to know the true Redeemer and our Beloved Father-in-heaven.  To know them is Eternal Life (John 17:3) – the greatest of all the gifts of God (D&C 14:7) – and Joseph has shown us the way.  His great mission began when he saw the Father and the Son, as prophesied by Enoch, and like as Stephen saw just before his martyrdom. (Acts 7:54-56)

David W Allan

updated 18 November 2024

Not All Scientists Agree With Darwin

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darwinSince Darwin published his book on the theory of evolution in 1859, On the Origins of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Live, atheism has increased significantly.

Darwin’s work has become the accepted theory of the life sciences and his theory has become the explanation for the diversity of life. In contrast, all the great prophets throughout the ages have preached the creation, the fall, and the atonement (three pillars of eternity) as being fundamental to Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness and eternal life.

In their pride, modern scientists think to say, “Since the Bible doesn’t agree with us, the Bible must be a myth.  The people of the world seem to have lost track that the greatest scientist we have ever known, Isaac Newton, who says just the opposite.  Newton, along with many other early scientists were devout creationists.

Sir Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician who is widely recognized as one of the greatest scientist of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution.  Most do not know that Newton spent more time in the Bible than doing science as is documented in his personal writings.

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