Cumorah in General Conference

Cumorah in General Conference

280 total references

1839-1970

188 references to Cumorah

1 to Cumorahs

14 to Cumorah’s

But how do the people feel? Perhaps you will refer the answer of this question to myself. Were I to answer it, I should say, they feel every way. Permit me to refer particularly to the brethren and sisters who have lately come to this place—they have all the variety of feelings that is common to the human heart. They know how they feel; they are my witnesses. The most frivolous and trifling circumstance that can transpire, will produce in them the most keen and cutting trial. What can we say about it? For one I will say, let them come, the small trials and the large ones; let them be many or few, it is the same; let them come as the Lord pleases. Brother Heber C. Kimball was speaking this morning about this people being driven from pillar to post, and he told the cause of their many trials. I will ask a question concerning this matter. If you had not been driven from York State, and the persecution become so hot as to send you up to Kirtland, Ohio, would you have known as much as you now know? Persecution did not commence in Kirtland, nor in Jackson County, but it commenced at the time Joseph the Prophet sought the plates in the hill Cumorah. It did not commence after I came into the Church, but I found it at work when I entered the Church.

(1850s1853, BY The Gospel ¶16 • JD 2:5)

I have lived in the State of New York, town of Bloomfield, Monroe County, right in the heart of the country where the ancient Lamanites, and other veterans, destroyed each other, root and branch; where the Book of Mormon was discovered in the hill of Cumorah. From among those rich hills the people are flocking to these mountains. Why? Because this is the richest place in the world.

(1850s1853, HCK Union ¶31 • JD 2:110)

Let it never be forgotten, but let the mind’s eye always be directed to it as the eye of the storm-beaten mariner is ever directed towards the polar star or the beacon lights, that, while they ward off danger, they inspire with joy. It is a prophetic saying, relating to the destiny of this country, contained in the records found in Cumorah, and translated by the stripling youth, whose blood has sealed the truth of his translation—hear it, all ye ends of the earth! “THERE SHALL NO KING BE RAISED UP ON THIS LAND; AND WHOSOEVER SEEKETH TO RAISE UP A KING ON THIS LAND SHALL PERISH.” “This land,” means both North and South America, and also the families of islands that geographically and naturally belong and adhere to the same. There are promises and decrees of God in relation to “this land” of an extraordinary character. No other land can boast of the same. How beautifully does the spirit of the above prophetic sentiment chime in with the great American principle, “that no foreign prince, potentate, or sovereign will be allowed to interfere in the affairs of this Continent!” Spain must give up Cuba; England, Canada; and the United States of America must hold, as her dependencies, every country on the Western Continent, with the islands along its borders. Mexico would not allow our agents to preach the Gospel within her borders. The Catholic faith, sustained by political power, to the exclusion of all others, is a cause sufficient for revolutions at home, and for a conquest by a power whose policy it is to let religion stand upon its own merits.

(1850s1853, OH Celebration ¶7 • JD 7:108)

The night the plates were given to Joseph Smith from their bed in the summit of the hill Cumorah, I saw, in the firmament above my head, hosts of men in platoons of twelve; and I saw them march until they reached the western horizon, as far as I could see them. After looking upon them for hours with my natural eyes, I never observed a variation of a hair’s breadth in their step, or the least disorder or confusion in their ranks. I think of this sight, and then look at this people: they do not compare in this respect with things in heaven. We are praying continually that things may be on the earth as they are in heaven. When there was a rebellion in heaven, they cast out the rebellious. I may not remain in this earthly house to see the day when the rebellious will all be cast out on earth as they were in heaven; but I shall obtain an organized glorious body and see the day when, if there is an evil in Israel, it will be cast out, the same as it was cast out of heaven. I shall see that day, by the help of God; and my prayer is, by day and by night, “Father, help me to keep thy commandments and magnify my calling and my Priesthood, which will exalt me, and bring me into thy presence, O Lord.” That is what the Priesthood is committed to us for. If we magnify our calling and fill our office, God will magnify us and bring us into his presence. If you believe this, brethren, why do you not live for it? I suppose a great many do, and a great many do not; and those who do not are the persons we are preaching to.

(1850s1854, HCK Discernment ¶16 • JD 6:326)

Brother Mills mentioned in his song, that crossing the Plains with handcarts was one of the greatest events that ever transpired in this Church. I will admit that it is an important event, successfully testing another method for gathering Israel, but its importance is small in comparison with the visitation of the angel of God to the Prophet Joseph, and with the reception of the sacred records from the hand of Moroni at the hill Cumorah.

(1850s1856, HCK Emigration ¶3 • JD 4:105)

How does it compare with the vision that Joseph and others had, when they went into a cave in the hill Cumorah, and saw more records than ten men could carry? There were books piled up on tables, book upon book. Those records this people will yet have, if they accept of the Book of Mormon and observe its precepts, and keep the commandments.

(1850s1856, HCK Emigration ¶4 • JD 4:105)

It is a little more than twenty-seven years since I commenced reading the Book of Mormon and defending the cause we are engaged in. My mind was open to conviction, and I knew that the Christian world had not the religion that Jesus and his Apostles taught. I knew that there was not a Bible Christian on the earth within my knowledge. A few years previous to that time Joseph had obtained the plates and began translating the Book of Mormon; and from the time he found those plates in the hill Cumorah, there has been just that tirade of abuse, lying, slandering, defaming the name and character of the Prophet and his associates, that there is at this day. It is no hotter a time now than it was then; there is no more persecution now than there was then.

(1850s1857, BY Nebuchadnezzar’s ¶16 • JD 5:75)

How did this state of things called Mormonism originate? We read that an angel came down and revealed himself to Joseph Smith and manifested unto him in vision the true position of the world in a religious point of view. He was surrounded with light and glory while the heavenly messenger communicated these things unto him, after a series of visitations and communications from the Apostle Peter and others who held the authority of the holy Priesthood, not only on the earth formerly but in the heavens afterwards. That they hold it in the heavens we know from the Scriptures. In them there are certain principles revealed in relation to that matter that nobody could reveal unless they were acquainted with the principle of revelation. Moses and Elias were seen with Jesus on the mount, when Peter and his brethren saw them, who said, “Master, it is good for us to be here: let us build three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias.” Who was this Moses? He was a man who had officiated before on the earth, had held the holy Priesthood, had been a teacher of righteousness, and who, with the Elders of Israel, had talked with God, and had received revelations from him, holding the Priesthood that administered in time and eternity. When he got through with this world his official duties were not ended, for he appeared to Jesus, Peter, James, and John upon the mount, to confer on them certain principles, authorities and Priesthood, that they might also be enabled to administer in the ordinances of salvation, and officiate as the representatives of God upon the earth. And hence, when Joseph Smith came, those who had held the keys before came to him, so he told me and others, and revealed unto him certain things pertaining to the kingdom of God upon the earth, and ordained him and set him apart to the ministry and Apostleship unto which he was called. He presented himself before the world and informed the people that God had spoken, and that he had spoken to him. He told them that the heavens had been opened and that angels clothed in light and glory had appeared to him and revealed unto him certain things. Then we have Oliver Cowdery, who tells us something about these things, and gives his testimony as a living witness. Again, there were eleven witnesses in relation to the Book of Mormon, who testify that the Book of Mormon was a divine revelation from God. And some of these witnesses tell us that an angel of God came and laid before them the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and they knew that their testimony was true and faithful. Others tell us that they saw and handled the plates from which the record was taken. I have conversed with several of those men who say they have seen the plates that Joseph Smith took out of the hill Cumorah; I have also conversed with Joseph Smith, who has told me of these things and many more that it would be unnecessary on the present occasion to relate. Here, then, is an abundance of testimony that assumes a supernatural agency—an interposition of the Almighty—an opening and an unfolding of something to the human family with which they have been unacquainted. These things are left for the human family to reason upon; they are presented unto us in that capacity, just as things were presented formerly to others. We were told formerly that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, and how can they hear without a preacher, and how can he preach unless he be sent.” Here, then, was a medium introduced by the Almighty to excite the faith or unbelief of the people. Here are certain records unfolded, and here is a man presenting himself before the people, declaring that God was about to usher in the dispensation of the fulness of times; and for this purpose he had introduced an ancient record that had belonged to the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent, together with that, he tells them that the so-called Christian churches had gone astray, and all mankind were laboring under gross darkness, and that darkness had covered the whole earth. He furthermore tells them that God had it in his mind to reveal unto them his will, and draw back the dark veil that overspreads the minds of the people—to introduce the principles of eternal truth, and that he came as a messenger from God, having been set apart by holy angels sent by the Almighty for that purpose, that, in the first place, he might be acquainted with correct principles, and then be able to teach them to others. This is the phase which this thing assumed at that time; and the people felt about it as the old Jews did when Jesus told them that they were deceivers, whited walls and painted sepulchres; they said, Away with such a fellow from the earth. When Joseph Smith told the priests, the good Methodists, the righteous Presbyterians, and the holy Roman Catholics that they were all wrong, how could they endure it. But you must endure it, for God has spoken and the word has gone forth. The Lord, in the first place, commanded all men everywhere to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, giving them a promise that they should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is different to anything that has been before in the world. That which was before, assumed no shape and came with no authority from God. The various sects of the world imagined that they had the Holy Ghost, but they forgot that it was to lead men into all truth. That spirit which they have mistaken for the Holy Ghost has led them into confusion, contention, and strife, and consequently it is not the Holy Ghost spoken of in the Scripture. Joseph Smith, having found and made manifest these things, and having turned the key that unlocks the destinies of the human family, having had committed unto him the key of this dispensation, he began to unfold and make manifest the things of God to the world, to all who were desirous to listen and yield obedience thereunto. A good many felt as the people felt when Jesus came, that “This man speaks with authority, and not as the scribes;” there were other principles and another spirit introduced developing other precepts, laws, ordinances, manifestations, and doctrines, and a greater power was associated with it than had been with any previous manifestations. What then? Why, the Lord was reasonable—he always has been; he is a good and gracious God, a benefactor and friend, suiting his doctrines and principles to the capacities of the human family. What was the consequence when men heard those principles? Many of them had a portion of the Spirit of the Lord among them, and as light cleaves to light, truth to truth, and intelligence to intelligence, wherever there was the light of the Spirit of God in the mind of man it discovered, comprehended, and embraced the truth. What is it? God has spoken; a record has been revealed, making manifest the events that have transpired on this Continent, and prophecy, and revelations, and visions, and the purposes of God, &c. This agrees with the Old Record; there is no need to bring argument here on that question, for it has been argued and investigated throughout the world. What then? Did I know because Joseph Smith knew? Not exactly. Joseph Smith had certain things revealed to him, and he was commanded to communicate those things unto others. What then? He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and shall know for himself of the things which he has believed in. This was the principle upon which my faith was based at the commencement. For instance, an Elder came to me and preached the Gospel and told me all these things. I was struck at once with them. I was well acquainted with the Bible, yet I had never heard such teachings before; had never seen such principles developed; had never listened to such words as came from his mouth, illustrating, making manifest and explaining the Scriptures, the Book of Mormon, and the revelations of God, and opening the heavens as it were to my view. It was to me one of the greatest things I had ever heard. He said to me, “If you will be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, inasmuch as you go in faith and humility and obedience to the law of God and forsake your sins,” &c. This was precisely the same thing that Peter told the people in his day. Said he, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” What will it do for us, Peter? “It will cause your old men to dream dreams, and your young men to see visions, and your servants and handmaids shall prophesy; it will bring things past to your remembrance, lead you into all truth, and show you things to come.” Here was quite a chance for a man to detect whether Peter was an impostor or not; and there was a favorable opportunity to detect whether the Mormon Elder was an impostor or not, for he promised the same things that Peter promised to believers, and all the Elders do the same. Can you find a Methodist, a Presbyterian, a Baptist, an Episcopalian, a Roman Catholic that dare tell you what Paul said anciently, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ?” Why? Have you not been persecuted and afflicted and been let down in a basket over a wall, been driven from place to place and considered a deceiver? Yes. “But I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; and therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” I have obeyed the same Gospel. What then? Did the signs follow? Yes; I believed before I obeyed, and after I had been baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and received the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, that Holy Ghost took of the things of God and showed them unto me, so that I then knew for myself. But did I believe particularly because I heard tongues and prophesyings and saw healings? No; but these made me glad, for in them I saw the ancient order of things brought back again. It made me rejoice to see the sick healed, the lame to leap for joy and the blind receive their sight, the deaf to hear and the dumb speak. This was a certain amount of testimony for the doctrines that had been advanced. But, besides this, there was an inward evidence—an invisible manifestation of the Spirit of the living God, bearing witness with mine that this was the work of God that he had established in the last days, and I knew it for myself and not because anybody said so. At first I believed it on the testimony of others, and then obtained a knowledge for myself. If there is no other man under the heavens that knows that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God I do, and I bear testimony of it to God, angels, and men. How did it operate upon others? In the same way, inasmuch as they were sincere and faithful, and diligent in observing the laws of God, and hence, as the Scriptures say, “You are all baptized into one baptism, and have all partaken of the same Spirit,” and that is the Spirit that first commenced to be revealed through Joseph Smith, and the administration of holy angels, and the development and restoration of the holy Priesthood. If you do not know in the same way that I know this is the Work of God, I would not give a straw for your religion.

(1860s1863, JT Discord and ¶13 • JD 10:128)

I defy any man on earth to point out the path a Prophet of God should walk in, or point out his duty, and just how far he must go, in dictating temporal or spiritual things. Temporal and spiritual things are inseparably connected, and ever will be. The first act that Joseph Smith was called to do by the angel of God, was, to get the plates from the hill Cumorah, and then translate them, and he got Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery to write for him. He would read the plates, by the aid of the Urim and Thummim, and they would write. They had to either raise their bread from the ground, or buy it, and they had to eat and drink, and sleep, and toil, and rest, while they were engaged in bringing forth the great Work of the last days. All these were temporal acts, directed by the spirit of revelation.

(1860s1864, BY Temporal ¶14 • JD 10:364)

I will now refer you to a little of my history. I was born in Vermont, and brought up very poor, and when nine years old I laid in my bed and in a vision saw those things that I have since passed through. Soon after I was baptized, brother Orson Pratt came to my house. I was standing in the door yard when he came, and at the time I felt much of the holy Spirit upon me. I was then a potter at my wheel. While brother Pratt was talking with me a voice spake to him and said, “Orson, my son, that man will one day become one of my apostles.” I did not know this till afterwards. A voice also spoke to me and told me my lineage, and I told my wife Vilate that she was of the same lineage, and she believed it. I told her also that we would never be separated. I could tell you a thousand things that happened in that early day. I have been, as I have already told you, to where Adam offered sacrifices and blessed his sons, and I felt as though there were hundreds of angels there, and there were angels there like unto the three Nephites. I have also been over the hill Cumorah, and I understand all about it. I remember the time when I was baptized into the church, and how after I was baptized, Alpheus Gifford said he felt impressed to ordain me an elder. I was on my knees and jumped up and told him to hold on that I was not a learned man, and I thought that my ordination would injure the work. But presently the Holy Ghost came upon me till I thought that I should be burnt up. I could speak in tongues and prophesy, and I understood the scriptures. And now let me tell you that I was never made to die, that is spiritually; but that I am an inhabitant of this earth and will never destroy my right to it. It is my Father’s and I know it, and His angels administer to men. This you can read in the Book of Mormon. Cleave now to the truth, and remember that a limb separated from a tree is not much, and so we are not much when separated from the truth. Therefore honor God and honor those you know; for if you do not honor those you know you will not honor God. If my children will not subject themselves to me they will not subject themselves to God; and so with our wives, they cannot honor God unless they honor us.

(1860s1868, HCK Forbearance ¶8 • JD 12:191)

We came to this formerly isolated place, and separated ourselves as far as we possibly could from what was termed civilization, not because we really desired to do so, or because of the fertility of the soil in this region, or the advantages we would enjoy in temporal things; but because we were in a measure obliged to do so. It is true that the Lord foretold to us, through the mouths of His servants, that the day would come when we should have to flee from our enemies, and that we would settle west of the Rocky Mountains. When we were dwelling in the State of Illinois, and had had a few years of comparative peace, the Spirit of the Lord rested upon His servant Joseph and made manifest to him that the wicked had it in their hearts to uproot His people who were established in Nauvoo, the same as they had done in our former settlements. The testimony of the Spirit to the servant of God was, that however peaceable the people around us might seem, yet, if they would not receive the Gospel and acknowledge the authority which God had restored from Heaven, they would fight against His people. Our Savior said, “He that is not for us is against us.” The truth of this saying we, as a people, have proven since the day that Joseph took the plates of the Book of Mormon from the hill Cumorah, in the town of Manchester, Ontario county, State of New York; and even before he succeeded in getting the plates, some seven years before the Lord entrusted them to his care, the prophet Joseph proved the truth of this saying. The Lord revealed himself to this youth when he was between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and as soon as he related this vision, although at that young and tender age, the wrath and indignation of the people were stirred up against him.

(1860s1868, OP Opposition ¶3 • JD 12:302)

They landed to the south of this, just below the Gulf of California, on our western coast. They inhabited North America, and spread forth on this Continent, and in the course of some sixteen hundred years’ residence here, they became a mighty and powerful nation. Although they became a great and mighty people, they were oftentimes very much chastened because of their sins. Here let me observe that before they arrived on this land the Lord said to them, “I design to lead you forth to a land that is choice above all other lands on the face of the whole earth; and this is my decree concerning the land which you are to occupy, that whatever nation shall possess the land from this time henceforth and forever shall serve me, the only true and living God, or they shall be swept off from the face thereof when they are fully ripened in their iniquity.” The Jaredites had this decree before them, before they set foot on this Continent. It was before them during the whole term of their existence here, that inasmuch as they would serve God they would be prospered, and inasmuch as they would not serve Him great judgments were upon them. Hence they were afflicted oftentimes because of their wickedness. On a certain occasion there were a very few individuals, Omer and his family and some few of his friends, that were righteous enough to be spared out of a whole nation. The Lord warned them by a dream to depart from the land of Moran, and led them forth in an easterly direction beyond the hill Cumorah, down into the eastern countries upon the seashore. By this means a few families were saved, while all the balance, consisting of millions of people, were overthrown because of their wickedness. But after they were destroyed the Omerites, who dwelt in the New England States, returned again and dwelt in the land of their fathers on the western coast.

(1860s1868, OP America ¶5 • JD 12:341)

When Joseph Smith took the plates of Mormon from the hill Cumorah, he was immediately surrounded by enemies, and though he was a young man of unexceptional character, he was compelled to go from place to place, while translating the work, to avoid persecution. The press and the pulpit denounced him as an impostor and his followers as dupes. As soon as he preached the doctrine of baptism for the remission of sins, and organized a Church with six members, he was arrested and brought before a magistrate, honorably discharged by him, and immediately arrested again and hurried into an adjoining county, where he was insulted, spit upon, and kept without food during the day, and then given crusts of bread and water. The next day he was taken before magistrates who, after a rigid examination, found no fault in him. A mob resolved to “tar and feather” him, but through the instrumentality of the constable, who previously treated him roughly, but who now became his friend, he made his escape in safety. All these proceedings were instigated by clergymen and professors of religion in high standing. A similar spirit of persecution was manifested in a greater or less degree in every place where the Gospel was proclaimed, not only against Joseph Smith, but also against other Elders who preached the word.

(1860s1868, GAS Historical ¶3 • JD 13:104)

Let me here observe that the Book of Mormon, which has been published for forty-one years, gives an account of the first settlement of this country by these inhabitants, showing that they are not the ten tribes, but they are the descendants of one tribe, and they came to this country about six hundred years before Christ. The people when they first landed consisted of only two or three families; and instead of landing on the northwest coast of North America, they landed on the southwest coast of South America. A history of the escape of these few families from Jerusalem is contained in the Book of Mormon. How they traveled on the eastern borders of the Red Sea, and how they built a vessel or ship to cross the Indian and Pacific oceans; they were instructed how to build this vessel, and when they had embarked on it, they were brought by the special direction of the Lord to this land. He guided their vessel, or instructed them how to guide it, until they landed on the west coast of South America. One portion had become wicked and had apostatized from the religion of their fathers and sought the destruction of the righteous portion. The righteous portion of these families left the first settlement and traveled several hundred miles to the north, and formed settlements, and became a powerful nation. The others—the wicked portion—became a powerful nation. About fifty years before Christ the Nephites, as the righteous portion was called, sent forth numerous colonies into North America. Among these colonies there was one that came and settled on the southern borders of our great lakes. Both nations became very wicked, notwithstanding their prophets foretold great destruction if they would not repent. They predicted that at the time of the crucifixion darkness, earthquakes and great destruction of cities should transpire. While they were standing near their temple, conversing about this sign which had been given them of the crucifixion, they heard a voice in the heavens, and they looked up and beheld their Messiah descending. He came down and stood in their midst, and showed them the scars in his hands and feet, and in his side; and after visiting them for several days successively, he told them that he was going to the ten tribes of Israel. He also chose twelve disciples to administer his Gospel on this land and for the ministration of the Holy Ghost. The twelve disciples went forth and preached the Gospel, commencing in South America, and then went into North America, until all the people both in North and South America were converted, receiving the principles of the Gospel—namely, baptism, and the laying on of hands, and all the other principles as preached in our day. About two centuries after this, the Nephites fell into wickedness: the Lamanites, who dwelt in the southern portion of South America, also apostatized; and they began to wage war with the Nephites, who were their enemies; and being exceedingly strong they drove all the Nephites out of South America and followed them with their armies up into the north country, and finally overpowered them. They were gathered together south of the great lakes in the country which we term New York. The Lord ordered that the plates on which the records were kept should be hid, and one of the prophets knowing that it was the last struggle of his nation, hid them in the hill Cumorah, in Ontario County, in the State of New York, with the exception of those which his son Moroni, who was also a prophet, had. The last account that we have is furnished to us by Moroni, who states that, after keeping himself hid for several years, and being commanded of the Lord, he hid away the records, about 420 years after Christ. Thus, I have given you a very brief history of the settlement of our country.

(1870s1871, OP Blessings ¶8 • JD 14:11)

He went out in the morning, as usual, with his father to labor in the field, and his father, observing that he looked pale, asked him if he was ill. He replied that he did not feel very well. His father advised him to go to the house. He started to go home, and after going a certain distance from his father, and before he reached the house, the angel again appeared to him—this was in daylight—and told him to turn back and tell his father what he had seen. He did so; he was also commanded by the angel in this fourth vision that he should go to the place where these plates were deposited. After relating to his father what he had seen, his father declared that it was a heavenly vision, and told him to be faithful to what had been revealed to him. He, therefore, on the morning of the 22nd of September, 1823, repaired to, and saw the place where these plates were deposited, just as he had seen in the night vision. They were deposited in a stone box not far from the summit of the hill Cumorah. The crowning stone that covered the box was oval; by taking away the turf from its edges he succeeded, by the use of a lever, in raising it from the box. When he saw the plates, he also saw an instrument that was called by the ancient prophets a Urim and Thummim. While he was thus gazing upon the plates, the angel came again to him, and as he was about to put forth his hand to take them, forbade him, saying that he needed further experience; that they could not be entrusted with anyone only with those having an eye single to the glory of God; that they were sacred records, and that no person could have them for speculative purposes; and gave him certain commandments to keep, and told him to visit that place again one year from that time when he would again meet with him. He did so at the expiration of the year, and did so until four years had passed away; and on the morning of the 22nd of September, 1827, the angel permitted him to take the plates, and also the Urim and Thummim.

(1870s1871, OP Fulfillment ¶29 • JD 14:142)

About three hundred and seventy-five years after the birth of Christ, the Nephites occupying North America, the Lamanites South America, and wars having existed between them for nearly fifty years, the Lamanites began to overpower the Nephites, and they drove them northward from the narrow neck of land which we call the Isthmus of Darien, burning, destroying and desolating every city, town and village through which they passed. The Nephites continued to flee before their conquerors until they came into the interior of the State of New York. There, the king or commander of the Nephites wrote an epistle to the Lamanites and requested an armistice for four years, for the purpose of gathering in all the Nephite nation into that one place. The king of the Lamanites granted this armistice, and during these four years they had no battles, but were occupied very diligently in gathering the whole Nephite nation into that one region, and the Lamanites gathering the whole Lamanite nation into the same region of country. Many millions on both sides were here gathered together, and when the four years had expired, hostilities were renewed, many battles were fought and the Nephites were overpowered, men, women and children being hewn down. The great and last battle, in which several hundred thousand Nephites perished was on the hill Cumorah, the same hill from which the plates were taken by Joseph Smith, the boy about whom I spoke to you the other evening. A few Nephites dissented over to the Lamanites and joined them, and a few escaped into the south country. Mormon, one of the prophets of the Nephites, who had the records in his possession, being commanded of the Lord, hid up the records in the hill Cumorah before the battles commenced. I mean all the records except an abridgment. The gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was taken are only an abridgment from vast numbers of other plates which were hidden up by Mormon in that hill. This abridgment, reserved and not hid up by Mormon, he gave to his son Moroni. He and Moroni both surveyed the destruction of their nation; they fell, wounded among the vast numbers on that hill, but their wounds were not fatal and they survived and for a short time kept themselves hid. Mormon, however, was afterwards discovered and destroyed by the Lamanites. Moroni continued from three hundred and eighty-four years, the date of the destruction of his nation, until four hundred and twenty years after Christ, that is the last date given in this record. Moroni tells us, as a prophet of God, that he was commanded of the Lord to hide up these records in the hill Cumorah, not in the same place where the other records had been hidden by his father Mormon, but in another place, for the Lord had promised the prophet Moroni that he would bring these records to light in the latter days, when he should bring forth a great and powerful nation upon this land. The Lord showed all these things to these ancient prophets, and they understood our history and wrote about it before ever Columbus discovered America. Moroni informs us that after the Lord should establish in the latter days a great and powerful nation of the Gentiles on the face of this land, and should deliver them by his power out of the hands of all other nations, then the Lord would bring forth this abridgment, these plates which Moroni was commanded to hide up; that the records should be revealed, that the individual who should discover them should, by the aid of the Urim and Thummim, be able to translate the records from the language in which they were written into our language, that these records should be brought forth expressly to accomplish the great purposes of the Lord in the last days in regard to warning all the nations of the Gentiles first, and that they might have the Gospel preached unto them in its ancient purity, as it was preached on this great western hemisphere, in order that the fulness of the Gentiles might be brought in, then their times should be fulfilled. After the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled by the coming forth of these records, the prophet informs us that the records should be sent to all the scattered remnants of the house of Israel in the four quarters of the earth, and that then the Lord would set his hand in power to deliver his people Israel from all the nations and kingdoms under the whole heaven, and that he would bring them back to the land of their fathers.

(1870s1872, OP Nephite ¶12 • JD 14:331)

There never was a dispensation on the earth when prophets and apostles, the inspiration, revelation and power of God, the holy priesthood and the keys of the kingdom were needed more than they are in this generation. There never has been a dispensation when the friends of God and righteousness among the children of men needed more faith in the promises and prophecies than they do today; and there certainly never has been a generation of people on the earth that has had a greater work to perform than the inhabitants of the earth in the latter days. That is one reason why this church and kingdom has progressed from its commencement until today, in the midst of all the opposition, oppression and warfare which have been waged against it by men inspired by the evil one. If this had not been the dispensation of the fulness of times—the dispensation in which God has declared that he will establish his kingdom on the earth never more to be thrown down, the inhabitants of the earth would have been enabled to overcome the kingdom and Zion of God in this as well as in any former dispensation. But the set time has come to favor Zion, and the Lord Almighty has decreed in the heavens that every weapon formed against her shall be broken. And if we take the history of any man, from the days Joseph Smith received the plates from the hill Cumorah, and translated the Book of Mormon by the Urim and Thummim, until today, whoever has raised his hand against this work has felt the chastening hand of Almighty God upon him; and I am at the defiance of the world to show me a president, governor, judge, ruler, priest or anybody else on the earth who has taken a stand against this kingdom who is an exception, and you may search their whole history. We have outlived several generations of our persecutors. Where are the men who tarred and feathered Joseph Smith in Portage County, Ohio? Where are the men who drove this people from Kirtland? Where are the men who drove the Church and kingdom from Jackson County, Missouri? Where are the men who undertook to kidnap the prophet while in Illinois? Where are they who drove the Latter-day Saints from Illinois into these mountains? Trace their whole history and see for yourselves. The fact is many of them are in their graves, awaiting their final judgment. And in the whole history of this people and their remarkable preservation, the invisible hand of God is as plainly to be seen as it has been in the history of the Jews from the days of Christ until now; and it will continue until this scene is wound up.

(1870s1872, WW Testimony ¶4 • JD 15:9)

Some four years passed away from this time, making this boy not quite nineteen years of age, and on one Sunday evening he returned to his bedroom, pondering upon the promise that had been given to him, and he began praying earnestly again that the Lord would show him the true Gospel of his son, according to the promise; and while he was thus praying in his father’s house in his chamber, a light burst into the room, becoming brighter by degrees, shining and then partially withdrawing, so that fear did not take possession of his bosom to any great degree. As he continued praying the light became brighter and brighter, and finally a personage clothed in a white robe stood before him. This personage was a little above the size of common men at the present day, and his arms and feet were partially bare. His feet did not stand on the floor of the room, but a certain distance above, and his countenance shone like lightning. This Angel appeared so pleasant, beautiful and glorious, and his countenance radiated such happiness on the mind of this young lad that all fear was taken from him as on the former occasion. This personage told him that he was an Angel of God, and that he had been sent, in answer to his prayer, with a very important message to deliver to him; that God designed to accomplish a great work on the earth, and that he was to be a chosen instrument in laying the foundation of, and establishing this work. He commenced telling him about the ancient inhabitants of this continent. He told him that the present American Indians were the descendants of Israel; that their forefathers were brought here from Jerusalem about six centuries before Christ; that when they came they were a righteous people and had Prophets among them; that when they landed on this continent they commenced, by the commandment of the Lord, keeping a record of their history, their prophecies and sacred doings upon metallic plates; that that nation, after having dwelt here about a thousand years, fell into great wickedness; that they divided themselves into two great nations; that the portion that had these plates, the Nephites, had so far apostatized from the Lord, that he threatened their overthrow, and to destroy them if they did not repent; that the Prophets went forth among them prophesying that if they did not repent, the other nation, called Lamanites, would destroy them from the face of the land. But they would not repent, and Mormon, a Prophet who lived at that time, was commanded of the Lord to take all the plates that were kept of the records of his fathers, and make an abridgment of them upon a new set of plates. So he commenced and abridged their history, from the time they left Jerusalem until that period, incorporating therein many of the prophesies and revelations given during that thousand years. After having made this abridgment he committed it into the hands of his son Moroni, knowing that his nation would be destroyed, and that Moroni, according to the revelations God had given him, would be spared to keep the records, and to behold the downfall of his nation. Mormon hid the records from which he made this abridgment in a hill, called the hill Cumorah, that being its ancient name, and this hill was about three miles from where this young man resided, in the town of Manchester, Ontario County, State of New York. There all the records were deposited, and according to the Book of Mormon they must have been very numerous indeed. The history of the ancient inhabitants of this land was kept by their kings, and the records became very voluminous; and they were all deposited by the Prophet Mormon in that hill; but the abridgment from which the Book of Mormon was taken was given into the hands of his son Moroni, to finish out the record. The last date given on these records was 420 years after Christ.

(1870s1872, OP Review of ¶9 • JD 15:182)

With the plates was an instrument, called the Urim and Thummim, used by Seers in ancient times, and which enabled them to understand the things of God. The great High Priest used such an instrument in the midst of Israel on the other continent, and inquired of the Lord to receive sentence of judgment in difficult cases that were brought before him to be judged. Aaron had a Urim and Thummim in the center of his breastplate; and when the cases were brought before him, the breastplate of judgment, containing the Urim and Thummim, was consulted, and whatever sentence the Lord gave, Aaron gave to the people of Israel. The Prophets who deposited those plates in the hill Cumorah were commanded of the Lord to deposit the Urim and Thummim with them, so that when the time came for them to be brought forth, the individual who was entrusted with them might be able to translate them by the gift and power of God. Joseph put forth his hands to take the plates, but upon doing so the angel immediately appeared to him and said, “Joseph, the time has not yet come for you to take the plates; you must be taught and instructed, and you must give heed to my commandments and to the commandments of the Lord until you are fully prepared to be entrusted with them, for the Lord promised his ancient servants on this land that no one should have them for the purpose of speculation, and that they should be brought forth with an eye single to the glory of God; and now, if you will keep the commandments of God in all things, and prepare yourself, you will in due time be permitted to take these plates from their place of deposit.” He would not suffer him to take them at that time. Four years from that day—on the morning of the 22nd of September, 1827—having been commanded of the Lord to come to that place at that special time, he went and was met by the angel. I will state, however, that during these four years he was often ministered to by the angels of God, and received instruction concerning the work that was to be performed in the latter days. But when the time had fully arrived he went to the hill Cumorah, according to appointment, and took the plates, and the Urim and Thummim with them, and took them to his father’s house in a wagon, which he had brought near to the hill for that purpose. He was then nearly twenty-two years old—twenty-two the following December.

(1870s1872, OP Review of ¶12 • JD 15:184)

This puts me in mind of the experience of our Prophet Joseph, and of David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and others. You are familiar with many things contained in the history of Joseph, about his hours of trial. He had some before the Lord permitted him to take the plates from the Hill Cumorah. God showed him where those plates were, and he was commanded by the angel to go and view them. He did so, and when he first saw them he put forth his hand to take them. But was he suffered to do so? No. What was the reason? He had not had the trials necessary to prove his integrity, and this must be proved before he could be entrusted with so sacred a treasure. Hence he was told to go and be obedient to the Lord, and to come there from time to time, as he was commanded by the angel of the Lord; and when the time had fully come he was permitted to take them.

(1870s1872, OP Spirit of ¶18 • JD 15:237)

We come down to the days of the building of the Tower of Babel, soon after the flood. About the time of Abraham the Tower of Babel was built. The people being of one language, gathered together to build a tower to reach, as they supposed, the crystalized heavens. They thought that the City of Enoch was caught up a little ways from the earth, and that the city was within the first sphere above the earth; and that if they could get a tower high enough, they might get to heaven, where the City of Enoch and the inhabitants thereof were located. They went to work and built a tower. They had this tradition, that there had been a translation of people from the earth, and they were anxious to become acquainted with them; but the Lord saw that they were one, and that they all had one language, and that nothing would be restrained from them which they imagined to do; and, as a curse, he sent a variety of tongues—took from them their own mother-tongue. The language of Adam was all forgotten in a moment; and independently of taking away from them the knowledge of their own tongue, he gave them a multitude of other tongues, so that they could not understand one another. In those days there were a few righteous individuals living at the Tower, among whom was Jared, a very good man, and his brother. When they understood, by the spirit of prophecy, that the Lord was about to scatter the people to the four corners of the earth, the brother of Jared called upon the Lord, by the request of Jared, that the Lord might lead them to a choice land. Did they come upon this great western hemisphere without a knowledge of God? No. Without any written record? No. Read the Book of Mormon, page 530, or, in other words, the Book of Ether, and you will find there recorded, several generations after the Israelites came from the Tower of Babel and landed upon this continent, that there was a certain woman, the daughter of one of the ancient men of note, that referred her father to those records which their fathers brought from the Tower of Babel; told her father what was recorded in them. “Hath my father not read the record which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old, that they by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory.” She put it in the heart of her father, Jared, to follow those wicked acts which were entered into by Cain. It shows that the Jaredites did not come here without a record of the things from the days of Adam, down; they had it with them. They kept it with them, and multiplied copies in the midst of their nation. But you may ask, how do we know about this first colony that came to this continent? How came we in possession of this knowledge? It was by the records which they themselves kept. The Jaredites, acquainted with the art of writing, kept their records. And among the host of records kept by them, were twenty-four plates of pure gold, which were kept by the Prophet Ether, some 1,600 or 1,800 years after their colony came to this land, from the Tower of Babel. He kept a record. These records were carried by Ether from the hill Ramah, afterwards called Cumorah, where the Jaredites were destroyed, as well as the Nephites. He carried them forth towards South America, and placed them in a position north of the Isthmus, where a portion of the people of King Limhi, about one hundred years before Christ, found them. I will read you a little description of their being found. On page 161, Book of Mormon, it appears that the people of Limhi were a certain colony that had left the main body of the Nephites, and had settled in the land where Nephi built and located his little colony, soon after their landing on the western coast of South America. After landing, and after the death of his father Lehi, Nephi was commanded of God to take those who would believe in the Most High, and flee out from his brethren. And they traveled many days’ journey to the northward, and located in a land which they called the Land of Nephi, and dwelt there some four hundred years. And then because of the wickedness of the people they were threatened with a great destruction. The Lord led Mosiah out of the Land of Nephi, and led him still further north, some twenty days’ journey, and they located on the river Sidon, now called Magdalena, which runs from the south to the north. And there they found a people called the people of Zarahemla. And some of the Nephites desired to return to the Land of Nephi, which they did. In about a century afterwards, there being no communication between the colonies, they sent out a number of men to see if they could find the people of Zarahemla. And they were lost, and came to a part of a country covered with bones. This is what I am going to read. And as a testimony that these things were true they brought twenty-four plates of gold, and breastplates of brass and copper, and swords, &c.

(1870s1873, OP Meeting of ¶13 • JD 16:51)

But will these things be brought to light? Yes. The records, now slumbering in the hill Cumorah, will be brought forth by the power of God, to fulfill the words of our text, that “the knowledge of God shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the great deep.”

(1870s1873, OP Meeting of ¶37 • JD 16:57)

I expect that God will do a greater work in our midst, when that shall be brought to pass, than we can yet conceive of. We have thought that the Lord God delays his coming. We have now been forty-three years organized as a Church, and sometimes we feel as if the Work of God is not making that progress which it should. There are reasons for it. It is not stopped or delayed; on the contrary, it is progressing, although probably not with the rapidity that it will progress when we get more faith, and are more perfect in our practices. I have had my thoughts attracted, in consequence of a visit which brother Brigham, Jun., and myself made to the hill Cumorah about three weeks ago, to the three Nephites who have been upon this land, and I have been greatly comforted at reading the promises of God concerning their labors and the work that should be accomplished by them among the Gentiles and among the Jews, also before the coming of the Lord Jesus. I doubt not that they are laboring today in the great cause on the earth. There are agencies laboring for the accomplishment of the purposes of God and for the fulfillment of the predictions of the holy Prophets, of which we have but little conception at the present time. We are engrossed by our own labors. You in Cache Valley have your thoughts centered on the labors that devolve upon you. We in Salt Lake and elsewhere have ours upon the work that immediately attracts our attention; and while we, or all amongst us who are faithful, shall no doubt be instrumental in the hands of God, in bringing to pass his purposes and accomplishing the work he has predicted in connection with the ten tribes, the Lamanites, the Jews, and the Gentile nations, we need not think that these things depend upon us alone. There are powers engaged in preparing the earth for the events that await it and fulfilling all the great predictions concerning it, which we know nothing of, and we need not think that it depends upon us Latter-day Saints alone, and that we are the only agents in the hands of God in bringing these things to pass. The powers of heaven are engaged with us in this work.

(1870s1873, GQC Altered ¶13 • JD 16:120)

From the time that Joseph Smith took the plates of Mormon from the hill Cumorah, to the present moment, the enemy of all righteousness has been howling, and exercising every means in his power to destroy those who believe in the Book of Mormon, and who are willing to follow the instructions and counsels which God has given for the upbuilding of his kingdom in the last days. But they who have been humble, and have walked in accordance with their professions, have been upheld and protected, and the blessing of the Almighty has been continually upon them.

(1870s1873, GAS Visit of ¶15 • JD 16:193)

Again, supposing that Joseph Smith had neglected to organize the Church of Latter-day Saints according to the ancient pattern, leaving out Apostles and inspired Prophets, as all the sects have done, all sensible men who believe in the Bible would have been compelled to come to the conclusion that in its organization this Church was defective, and did not agree with the ancient pattern, and they might have said—“You have no Prophets, you have no Apostles, and hence we reject you Joseph Smith, and your Book of Mormon; for if you were an inspired man, sent of God to raise up and establish his latter-day Church and kingdom upon the earth, you would have among you inspired Apostles and Prophets, and your Church would have agreed in all respects with the ancient pattern.” But although Joseph Smith was but a farmer’s boy, and had but a very limited education when the Lord called him, we find nothing lacking in the organization of the Church, we find that it agrees in every respect with the Church as organized anciently by the Savior. God even told him the very day on which it should be organized, and also named the various offices that should be contained therein, and he also gave him revelation concerning the names of the individuals who should be ordained, from time to time, until there were twelve Apostles and until the Priesthood was restored in all its branches. And when we compare the Gospel taught by this young man we find that it agrees in every particular with the ancient Gospel, as recorded in the New Testament. He preached faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, just as the ancients did, also repentance of all sins, as the ancients did; be baptized by immersion in water for the remission of sins in the name of Jesus Christ, just as the ancients did; God commanded him to lay hands upon those who believed, repented and were baptized for the remission of their sins, that the baptism of the Holy Ghost might be given to them, just as the ancients did. God promised, in this last dispensation, that the Saints should enjoy all the gifts enjoyed by his people in ancient days—that they should lay hands upon the sick and they should recover; that in the name of Jesus they should cast out devils, open the eyes of the blind, unstop deaf ears, cause the lame to walk, and that through them, God would show forth his power in this latter-day Church and kingdom as he did in the former-day Church and kingdom. These promises were made to the believers in our day; and moreover Joseph Smith declared that when he obtained the plates of the Book of Mormon, it was by an angel flying through the midst of heaven, who directed him by vision to the place where these plates were deposited—the hill Cumorah in the State of New York. He was also commanded of the Almighty to translate the contents of these plates by the aid of the Urim and Thummim, which were found deposited with the plates, and he translated them according to God’s command.

(1870s1874, OP Stick of ¶27 • JD 16:350)

Says one, “They did the same thing in the land of Jerusalem.” Yes, but they did not keep it up in the land of Palestine—they seem to have failed, for we have no account that this common stock principle, as at first organized, continued among the Saints on the Asiatic Continent. Churches were built up in various parts of Asia and Europe, one in one place, another in another, and they all seem to have had property of their own; and I believe, myself, that they were unprepared, in their scattered condition, to enter into this order of things. There was too much wickedness at Ephesus, in Galatia, at Corinth, and in the various places where small branches were organized, to enter into this common stock principle, and carry it out successfully. But on this continent there was a fine opportunity, for all the people, millions and millions of them were in the same faith. How easily, then, could they be guided and directed, and put in their property, and organize it as a common stock fund; and they did so, and were exceedingly blessed and prospered in their operation. And I will tell you how long it existed—about one-hundred and sixty-five years. But in the year two hundred and one after the birth of Christ, the people began to be lifted up, on this continent, in pride and popularity, and began to withdraw their funds from this common stock, and take them into their own hands, and call them their own, and they continued to do this, until the great majority of the people had corrupted themselves and withdrawn from this order. Then, after having broken up this common fund in a great measure, only a few individuals here and there still holding on to it, they became proud and high-minded, and lifted up in their hearts, and looked down upon those who were not so prosperous as themselves, and in this way a distinction of classes was again introduced, and the rich began to persecute the poor; and thus they continued to apostatize, until, about three hundred and thirty-four years after Christ, they began to have great and terrible wars among themselves, which lasted about fifty years, during which millions of them were destroyed. Finally, they became so utterly wicked, so fully ripened for destruction, that one branch of the nation, called the Nephites, gathered their entire people around the hill Cumorah, in the State of New York, in Ontario County; and the Lamanites, the opposite army, gathered by millions in the same region. The two nations were four years in gathering their forces, during which no fighting took place; but at the end of that time, having marshalled all their hosts, the fighting commenced, the Lamanites coming upon the Nephites, and destroying all of them, except a very few, who had previously deserted over to the Lamanites.

(1870s1874, OP Kingdom ¶17 • JD 17:30)

Before this decisive battle the Nephites, who had kept records of their nation, written on gold plates, hid them up in the hill Cumorah, where they have lain from that day to this. Mormon committed a few plates to his son Moroni, who was a Prophet and who survived the nation of the Nephites about thirty-six years, and he kept these few plates, while all the balance of them were hid up in that hill; and then, Moroni, being commanded of God, hid up the few plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.

(1870s1874, OP Kingdom ¶18 • JD 17:30)

Among the evidences that have accompanied the committing of this gospel to men in our day by an angel, let me refer you to those which were given before this church arose, when Joseph Smith, that farmer’s boy, was commanded to go to the hill Cumorah and take from the place of their deposit the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and to translate them. When he was commanded to do this work, and while in the act of doing it, the Lord God sent his angel to three men besides the translator, and to these men the angel exhibited, leaf by leaf, the unsealed portion of these plates, and at the same time the voice of the Lord from heaven was heard, testifying that the work had been translated correctly, and commanding them to bear witness of it unto all people, nations and tongues to whom this work should be sent. They, therefore, prefix their testimony in the Book of Mormon to that effect, testifying to the ministration of the angel, to seeing the plates and the engravings thereon, and to its correct translation.

(1870s1874, OP Gospel ¶8 • JD 17:268)

In the year 1823, Mr. Smith, being not quite eighteen years old, was meditating in his heart concerning the former vision, and was feeling great anxiety that the promise might be fulfilled to him, that he should, at some future time, have revealed to him the Gospel in all its fulness. He retired to his room one Sunday evening, in September (1823), and commenced to pray with all the earnestness and faith that he could possibly obtain, that the Lord would fulfill the promise that he had made to him. While thus praying, he discovered that a light seemed to be breaking into his room, growing brighter by degrees, until he saw a personage, apparently an angel, standing before him. This personage wore a white robe, and his countenance had the appearance of lightning, but yet appeared of an innocent expression. This personage did not stand upon the floor of the room, but his feet were a short distance above the floor. He informed this boy that the Lord had sent him as a messenger, in answer to his prayer, in order to impart unto him further information. And then he commenced telling him that this great American continent was once occupied by a numerous people, the descendants of the house of Israel, most of them the descendants of a remnant of the tribe of Joseph; that they came here from Jerusalem by the direct guidance of the Almighty, some six centuries before Christ; that in a vessel, which they built by the command of God, they came round by the Gulf of Arabia, crossed the Great Pacific Ocean, and landed on the western coast of South America; that the descendants of these people had many Prophets among them, and that after they had been on this continent about a thousand years, during the progress of which they had become divided into two distinct nations, they fell into great wickedness, and that God threatened them with overthrow; the people of one of these nations were called Lamanites, from Laman, one of the colony which came out of Jerusalem; that the people of the other nation were called Nephites, taking their name from Nephi, the brother of Laman; that between three and four centuries after Christ these two nations occupied the two great wings of this continent, the Lamanites occupying South America, and the Nephites North America; but the Nephites, at that time, having apostatized from the religion of their fathers, and many of them having become exceedingly wicked, the Lord threatened them with an overthrow. And he commanded one of the last Prophets, named Mormon, to make an abridgment of all the records of former Prophets who had been raised up on this land, an abridgment of the history of the nation from the time that they left Jerusalem until that time. He did so, and committed the abridged record, written on plates of gold, into the hands of another Prophet, his son Moroni. The original records, from which the abridgment was made, were hid up by Mormon in a hill called Cumorah, in the interior of what is now called the State of New York, but the abridgment was still in possession of the Prophet Moroni. About this time, or a little before this time, there had been a fifty years war between the inhabitants of North and South America; and finally the Lamanites of South America drove the Nephites from the Isthmus, and continued to burn their towns, cities and villages, and they destroyed hundreds and thousands of the Nephites; and ultimately they were driven into what we now call the State of New York. Three hundred and eighty years after the birth of Christ they entered into terms of peace, or, in other words, an armistice, for the space of four years, during which time the two nations gathered together all their forces into one vicinity, near the hill Cumorah. And when the four years of peace, or armistice, had expired, they came together in battle, in which the Nephites were overpowered, and hundreds of thousands of them killed, including women and children. Moroni, who was among the few Nephites who were spared, and in whose possession was the abridgment which had been made by his father, Mormon, was commanded to hide up that abridgment in the hill Cumorah, near the town of Manchester, Ontario County, State of New York. The Lord commanded him not only to hide up the record, but also to deposit with it the Urim and Thummim, an instrument used by the ancient seers who dwelt on this Continent. The Lord promised Moroni that, in the latter days, he would bring forth that book out of the ground, that it should whisper out of the dust; that it should speak unto the living as if it were from the dead, and when he should bring it forth this Urim and Thummim, deposited with it, should enable the finder to translate it into the language of the people who should then inherit the land. I have now given you a brief statement of these things, in substance, as they were taught by the angel of God who administered to Joseph Smith in September, 1823. After giving this instruction the angel disappeared; and as Mr. Smith continued to pray and call upon the name of the Lord, the angel appeared the second time, and made the same narration in relation to the Lamanites and Nephites as he made on his first visit. When conversing with Mr. Smith about these records, the vision of his mind was opened so that he was enabled to see where the records were deposited, and he was told by the angel that, if he would be faithful and do according to the commandments of the Lord his God, he, in due time, should have the privilege of bringing the records forth, and that he should translate them for the benefit of the people.

(1870s1874, OP Joseph Smith’s ¶6 • JD 17:281)

The angel again departed, and Mr. Smith, being unable to go to sleep, continued to pray, and the vision was renewed again; the angel, on his third visit, not only reiterating his previous statement, but also declaring many things that were then in the future in relation to the marvelous work and wonder which the Lord was about to perform upon the earth. When he had withdrawn for the third time, daylight began to appear in the east, and Mr. Smith had not slept the whole night; but he nevertheless went to work with his father in the field, at their usual early hour. But the visions of the night wrought upon his mind to that degree, that his natural strength began to fail, and his father, noticing that he looked pale, advised him to return at once to the house. He started to do so, but had only gone part of the way, when he again saw the light in the heavens, and the angel of God came down and stood before him, and commanded him to return to his father, and relate the visions of the previous night to him. He did so; and the old man commanded his son to be obedient to the heavenly messenger, believing with all his heart that the vision was from the Almighty. On this last occasion the angel told Mr. Smith to go to the hill Cumorah, which had been shown to him in vision the previous night, which was about three miles from his father’s house, and there he should have the privilege of beholding the records. He, after having spoken to his father, accordingly went, and beheld the records. He knew the place as soon as he saw it. He saw the crowning stone of the stone box that covered the records. It was oval in form, and was partially bare, the edges being under the sod. He immediately removed the turf that covered the edges of this stone, and, with a lever, succeeded in lifting off the upper stone, which was cemented to four others, in the form of a box, within which he saw the plates and the Urim and Thummim. He was about to put forth his hand to take the plates, when lo! the angel of God appeared again, and told him that the time had not fully come for these records to come forth; that he (Joseph) was yet inexperienced, and needed strength, and that if he would be obedient to the commands which he would give to him, and which the Lord would impart from time to time, he should, in due time, be permitted to receive these records, commanding him at the same time to come there one year from that date, and that he would appear again to him, and give him further instructions; and thus he should do from year to year, until he should receive the plates, provided that he should prove himself worthy before God; for the angel said unto him, that these plates could not be obtained by any person for speculative purposes; that they contained records that were sacred, prophecies and doctrines that were written by ancient Prophets, and that the Lord God had promised that these prophecies and revelations should go forth to all people, nations and tongues, and that they could not be entrusted with anyone to get gain. From that time, Mr. Smith, on the 22nd of September each year, continued to visit this place, until the year 1827, he being then not quite twenty-two years old. On the morning of the 22nd of September, in the year 1827, the angel of the Lord permitted him to take these records, with the Urim and Thummim, and he carried them to his father’s house. The people in that neighborhood, having learned about these things, sought by every means in their power—by persecution, mobs, and every other means that they could bring to bear, to find these plates and take them from him. But the Lord gave him directions, through the Urim and Thummim, what he should do with the plates, where he should hide them, and gave him all the information that was necessary to keep them out of the hands of the mobs.

(1870s1874, OP Joseph Smith’s ¶7 • JD 17:282)

We have passed from one thing to another, and I may say from one degree of knowledge to another. When Joseph first received the knowledge of the plates that were in the hill Cumorah, he did not then receive the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, he merely received the knowledge that the plates were there, and that the Lord would bring them forth, and that they contained the history of the aborigines of this country. He received the knowledge that they were once in possession of the Gospel, and from that time he went on, step by step, until he obtained the plates, and the Urim and Thummim, and had power to translate them. This did not make him an Apostle, it did not give to him the keys of the kingdom, nor make him an Elder in Israel. He was a Prophet, and had the spirit of prophecy, and had received all this before the Lord ordained him. And when the Lord, by revelation, told him to go to Pennsylvania, he did so, and finished the translation of the Book of Mormon; and when the Lord, in another revelation, told him to come back, into New York State, and to go to old Father Whitmer’s, who lived in a place opposite Waterloo, and there stop, he did so, and had meetings, and gathered up the few who believed in his testimony. He received the Aaronic Priesthood, and then he received the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and organized the Church. He first received the power to baptize, and still did not know that he was to receive any more until the Lord told him there was more for him. Then he received the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and had power to confirm after he had baptized, which he had not before. He would have stood precisely as John the Baptist stood, had not the Lord sent his other messengers, Peter, James and John, to ordain Joseph to the Melchizedek Priesthood. Then, after some of the brethren had been out preaching, he had a revelation that they should go up to the Ohio. I knew of them, though I was not acquainted with them before they went up there. They were seen by some of my family, my father saw and conversed with them. Then the way opened for a large gathering in the State of Ohio. Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Samuel Peterson, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and a few others, went up there and preached the Gospel, and they came among the members of the society called Campbellites, formerly members of the Close Communion Baptists, their leader’s name being Alexander Campbell. This man preached the doctrine that baptism was for the remission of sins, and that split the Church; but when the brethren came to these societies and taught them, not only baptism for the remission of sins, but the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, they believed it, and were baptized for the remission of their sins, and received the laying on of hands for the Holy Ghost, and then received other ordinances.

(1870s1874, BY Secret of ¶10 • JD 18:239)

But will this take place in the latter days? Does it not refer to some former age of the world? Read what is said in the 20th and 21st verses, and you can judge of the age of the world in which this book was to come forth. “The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” Not the rich particularly, unless they have a mind to; but the poor are to be gathered out from the nations to get homes for themselves. “For the terrible one is brought to nought, the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: That make a man an offender for a word, and that lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate.” All these are to be swept off. Has any such period ever arrived since Isaiah uttered this prophecy? No; but when a certain book should come forth it should bless the meek and lowly in heart, for their joy should increase in the Lord. And the poor among men be gathered out from the nations. Then, behold and lo, all that watch for iniquity shall be swept off from the face of the earth; there will be a clean sweep of them. As it was in the days of Noah so will it be in the days of the work preparatory for the second coming of the Son of man—every wicked person will be destroyed from the face of the earth, showing clearly that the revelations of this book refer to a latter-day work. Also in the fourth verse, in speaking of the people who should write this book, the Prophet says they shall be brought down, shall speak out of the ground, their plates, their books, their records, their writings, should come out of the ground—“Your speech shall be low out of the dust,” the same as the Book of Mormon was taken out of the hill, anciently called Cumorah, in the State of New York.

(1870s1875, OP Book of ¶26 • JD 18:166)

It is well known that the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith, from certain plates which he discovered, deposited in a certain hill, anciently called Cumorah, which is situated in Ontario County, State of New York, having previously been shown the place in open vision. This book was translated, and its first edition of five thousand copies was published, before the organization of this Church. It was stated in that book, that a Church should arise, and the people who should embrace the Gospel which it contained, should be gathered together into one body. For the fulfillment of this, I have only to refer you to the people, the body of this Church, inhabiting these mountain vales. This prophecy also speaks of the extent of this future work—it should not only be preached to the people of this American Continent, but it should be proclaimed to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, under heaven, and the gathering should be from all these nations.

(1870s1876, OP Prophecies ¶4 • JD 18:223)

TRYING TO BE SAINTS—TREASURES OF THE EVERLASTING HILLS—THE HILL CUMORAH—OBEDIENCE TO TRUE PRINCIPLE THE KEY TO KNOWLEDGE—ALL ENJOYMENT COMES FROM GOD—ORGANIZATION—DUTIES OF OFFICERS—FINAL RESULTS.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered at a Special Conference Held at Farmington, for the Purpose of Organizing a Stake of Zion for the County of Davis, on Sunday Afternoon, June 17, 1877.

Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.

(1870s1877, BY Trying to • JD 19:36)

You hear a great deal said about finding money. There is no difficulty at all in finding money, but there are a great many people who do not know what to do with it when they do find it. This is the great defect with the human family. I could relate many very singular circumstances. I lived right in the country where the plates were found from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and I know a great many things pertaining to that country. I believe I will take the liberty to tell you of another circumstance that will be as marvelous as anything can be. This is an incident in the life of Oliver Cowdery, but he did not take the liberty of telling such things in meeting as I take. I tell these things to you, and I have a motive for doing so. I want to carry them to the ears of my brethren and sisters, and to the children also, that they may grow to an understanding of some things that seem to be entirely hidden from the human family. Oliver Cowdery went with the Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates. Joseph did not translate all of the plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: “This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.” I tell you this as coming not only from Oliver Cowdery, but others who were familiar with it, and who understood it just as well as we understand coming to this meeting, enjoying the day, and by and by we separate and go away, forgetting most of what is said, but remembering some things. So is it with other circumstances in life. I relate this to you, and I want you to understand it. I take this liberty of referring to those things so that they will not be forgotten and lost. Carlos Smith was a young man of as much veracity as any young man we had, and he was a witness to these things. Samuel Smith saw some things, Hyrum saw a good many things, but Joseph was the leader.

(1870s1877, BY Trying to ¶7 • JD 19:38)

Then there is still another record to come forth. John the Baptist is said by the highest authority to be one of the greatest Prophets ever born of a woman; but we have very little written in the Jewish record concerning him. We have a revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants concerning the record of John, that great Prophet. And we are promised that if we were faithful as a people, the fullness of the record of John shall hereafter be revealed to us. When we get this, I think we shall have still more knowledge in regard to doctrine and principle, and things that are great and marvelous, of which we know very little, if anything about. This is not all. The Lord has told us that he would bring forth those brass plates that Lehi and the families that came with him from Jerusalem, some six hundred years before Christ, brought with them, which contain the history of the creation, and the writings of inspired men down to the days of Jeremiah; they came out in Jeremiah’s day. We are informed in the “Book of Mormon” that they contained many prophecies very great and extensive in their nature. And when these plates, now hidden in the hill Cumorah, are brought to light we shall have the history of the Old Testament much more fully, with the addition of a great many prophecies that are not now contained in that record. The prophecies of Joseph in Egypt were very great, and we are told in the “Book of Mormon” that there were a great many given to him. When we have all those, also the prophecies of Neum, a great Prophet who prophesied concerning Christ; also those of Zenos and Zenock, and others of which only bare reference is given; and then again when the ten tribes of Israel come from the north country, they will bring with them their records which they have kept since seven hundred and twenty years before Christ, which will contain an account of the hand dealing of God among that lost people, which doubtless will be exceedingly interesting as well as instructive.

(1870s1877, OP King Limhi ¶42 • JD 19:218)

There is a sentence in the Book of Mormon (p. 510), that has come to my mind, which I will read, “And whoso receiveth this record, and shall not condemn it because of the imperfections which are in it, the same shall know of greater things than these.” This passage from the Book of Mormon is one that I do not remember having chosen as a foundation of any special remarks. It is one that applies directly to the present generation—the people that should live on the earth at the time that the Lord our God should bring forth this record, and affording them the opportunity of reading its contents. They were written by the Prophet Moroni, who was the only man of his nation—the Nephites, who was righteous; his nation having been destroyed a few years before he penned this sentence. It is true a few of his nation had deserted and gone to the opposite nation—the Lamanites, and a few had fled at the general destruction; but they were hunted by the Lamanites, and were destroyed as a people. Moroni, being a Prophet of God, would not join that nation in their wickedness and idolatry, and the only way he could preserve his life was to keep himself secreted and hidden from the knowledge of the Lamanites. While concealing himself from his enemies, he finished the record of the Book of Mormon. The latest date which he gives in the record is 420 years after the birth of Christ, according to the signs that were given on this American continent, concerning his birth. Thirty-six years prior to this time his nation was destroyed in what we term the State of New York, around about a hill, called by that people the Hill of Cumorah, when many hundreds of thousands of the Nephites—men, women and children, fell, during the greatest battle that they had had with the Lamanites. For 36 years this prophet of God kept himself hid, and wrote as he was prompted by the spirit of inspiration, and finally hid up the plates of gold, containing the records in the Hill of Cumorah, with the promise which the Lord gave him that these records should come to light in the last days, that He himself would bring them forth by his own wisdom and power. And he also tells us his object, namely, to benefit the Gentiles who should occupy this American continent—the Promised Land, as they term it; and also for the benefit of other nations of Gentiles to whom the book should afterwards be sent; and when they should reject it, the Lord would cause it to be published to the remnants of the Lamanites inhabiting this country, whom we call American Indians, which shall be the means of revealing to them the history of their forefathers, and also certain promises made to them as a branch of the house of Israel, setting forth that many of their descendants should believe the record when it should be made known to them, and that they should be instructed in the things of God, and the curse, which has degenerated them to their present low condition, should be removed, and that they should lay down their weapons of war, and that they should cease to war and commit murders, and thefts and robberies, and that they should become a peaceable, and also a white and delightsome people. These are the predictions given in the Book of Mormon as some of the objects of the bringing forth of that record in the last days. And among other objects that the Lord had in view was, that he might enlighten the minds of the people in regard to the Gospel in all its plainness and fulness, with all its promises, blessings, gifts and ordinances; so that the people, the Gentiles, to whom this record should be sent, might have no excuse for rejecting it, and also that the Gospel might be established in the earth in its purity, according to ancient prophecies. Another object was, that he might build up his church among the Gentiles, if they should believe in this record and in the preaching of His servants when they should be sent forth in the last days among them, testifying to its truthfulness. In speaking of this work which the Lord is doing in the earth, we sometimes call it the Church of God, and we also speak of it as the kingdom of God. It is both, God himself being the King; not a civil power, not a civil government in the earth, for we already have established here upon this choice land a government wherein all classes of religious people may worship God as they please; but the Lord intended among these various religions and ecclesiastic denominations, to have a peculiar denomination, a peculiar people, a peculiar church, which he denominates his kingdom, and himself as the great lawgiver in this kingdom. Another object was that men might have more faith than what they had been in possession of in the former generations of apostasy and wickedness, and that the faith which the ancient Saints exercised might again dwell in the hearts of the children of men. For instance, a power of faith, through our repentance and through our obedience to the ordinances of baptism, to receive that greater and miraculous baptism of the Holy Ghost. And that this gift, this baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost which should be given to all the members of the Church of God, should put them in possession of certain gifts, which no other people on the face of the whole earth should have or know anything about, providing the members of the Church were worthy to possess them. I will name, in short, the various gifts that the Lord intended to be given to this people. In the latter days, when this record should be brought forth, he intended, in the first place, to raise up a great and mighty Prophet, to translate the divine book. This was fulfilled before the rise of the Church about 50 years ago. This Prophet who was raised up to perform this work was permitted to take these records out of the hill where Moroni had deposited them some 420 years after Christ. This Prophet was spoken of in the records, and the work that he should perform was also spoken of. And notwithstanding his youth and inexperience in regard to the learning and wisdom of the world, he proved himself a great and mighty man of God; he not only was the instrument in the hands of God of bringing to light the Book of Mormon, but also received numerous other revelations which are contained in this book called the Doctrine and Covenants, a book that contains nearly as much reading matter as the Book of Mormon; and besides these you will find that many of the revelations were given by him which are found in what is called the new edition of the Pearl of Great Price, published by the Deseret News Office, which gives a knowledge of things that took place in the creation much more fully than what is described in the book of Genesis, giving an account of a great many occurrences and events that transpired before the flood, also giving us much information of the Gospel that was taught in those early ages, and giving us some very important prophecies, reaching down to the present period of the world, and also prophecies that reach down still further, from the present day to the end of the world. These are not the only revelations, given through this great modern Prophet. The Lord brought to light sacred records from the Catacombs of Egypt. After several hundred men had wrought and toiled for many months in digging down one of these vast structures, they entered into its interior; they found a great number of mummies—the bodies of persons that had been preserved since the catacomb was built, and some eleven of these mummies, well preserved, were taken out by these men, and they finally fell into the hands of a person named M. H. Chandler. They were sent from Egypt to Ireland, where it was supposed he resided, but learning that he resided in America, they were sent to him. After receiving the mummies he began to take off some of the ancient covering or wrapping, and to his astonishment he found upon the breast of one of these mummies a record written upon ancient papyrus in plain characters, written both in black and red inks, or stains, or colors. And the mummies and the records were exhibited by Mr. Chandler, in New York, Philadelphia, and many of the Eastern States of our Union; and thousands of people saw them, and among them many learned men; and these characters were presented to them, and not infrequently was Mr. Chandler referred to “Joe” Smith as they used to term him, who, they said, pretended to have translated some records that he found in the western part of New York, and that if Mr. Chandler would go and see him perhaps he would translate those ancient characters. Many of these references were made with the intention of ridiculing Mr. Smith; but it so happened that in traveling through the country he visited Kirtland, Ohio, where the Prophet Joseph Smith resided, bringing the mummies and the ancient papyrus writings with him. Mr. C. had also obtained from learned men the best translation he could of some few characters, which however, was not a translation, but more in the shape of their ideas with regard to it, their acquaintance with the language not being sufficient to enable them to translate it literally. After some conversation with the Prophet Joseph, Mr. Chandler presented to him the ancient characters, asking him if he could translate them. The prophet took them and repaired to his room and inquired of the Lord concerning them. The Lord told him they were sacred records, containing the inspired writings of Abraham when he was in Egypt, and also those of Joseph, while he was in Egypt; and they had been deposited, with these mummies, which had been exhumed. And he also enquired of the Lord concerning some few characters which Mr. Chandler gave him by way of a test, to see if he could translate them. The Prophet Joseph translated these characters and returned them, with the translation to Mr. Chandler; and who, in comparing it with the translation of the same few characters by learned men, that he had before obtained, found the two to agree. The Prophet Joseph having learned the value of these ancient writings was very anxious to obtain them, and expressed himself wishful to purchase them. But Mr. Chandler told him that he would not sell the writings, unless he could sell the mummies, for it would detract from the curiosity of his exhibition. Mr. Smith inquired of him the price which was a considerable sum, and finally purchased the mummies and the writings, all of which he retained in his possession for many years; and they were seen by all the Church that saw proper to visit the house of the Prophet Joseph and also by hundreds of strangers.

(1870s1878, OP Book of ¶1 • JD 20:63)

It is now more than 51 years since the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated were committed by the angel Moroni, to the hands of Joseph Smith, who was raised up to be a prophet, seer and revelator to the nineteenth century, and to lay the foundation of this church and kingdom upon the earth. And since that sacred record, which contains the fulness of the everlasting Gospel, was first revealed to him in the Hill Cumorah, nearly 56 years have passed away; it is 49 years since the organization of the Church was effected in conformity with the laws of God, and in accordance with the laws of New York; that is to say, the rule established by the laws of New York governing the organization of religious bodies and to comply with the statutes and to give it tangible form. The 6th day of April was selected by revelation as the day on which this church should be organized. The question is asked by some, were there only six believers who had received the testimony of the Prophet and been baptized for the remission of their sins on that day? I answer, there were many more. Why, then, was the number six made to figure in the organization? I answer in this respect: the same as under the statutes of Utah cooperative associations must have at least six to unite in the formation of any such association before it can incorporate. But any number not less than six might unite and organize themselves into a religious association to enjoy the rights and privileges of the law as such religious bodies. This number was selected, however, from among the believers on this occasion to conform to the requisitions of the statutes. This is, therefore, the anniversary of the day on which the organization took place, or commenced rather to develop itself. And from that time, as the body of the Church increased, the Priesthood in its various branches has developed itself into the organization as we now behold it in the earth. There were no twelve Apostles at that date; the material from which to draw them had not been gathered. There were no seventy Elders; the material from which to make them was not yet on hand. There were no High Councils, no Bishops’ courts, nor quorums of High Priests, Elders, Priests, Teachers or Deacons. There was no classification of the organization of the priesthood as there is today. Neither was there any organization of the Stakes of Zion, for there was no material of which to make them. It was indeed but the shooting out of the earth, as it were, of the plant, like the mustard seed, which is a small plant at first, having but a single stalk; and as it rises and receives strength and sends down its roots and spreads forth its branches, from one branch another grows out and shoots forth. And so from day to day, and from month to month, and from year to year did the Lord reveal through the Prophet Joseph Smith, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, revealing to the people the order of the priesthood and the order of Zion and her government, her institutions and the classification of the priesthood under the two great heads—the Melchizedek and the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood, with their various subdivisions and quorums. It was not till the year 1835, in the month of February, that the quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the quorums of the Seventies were organized in this Church. These were drawn principally from those tried men who composed Zion’s camp. There was a revelation given in this same year showing how a High Council should be organized in Kirtland, and shortly after another was organized in Missouri; and it also defined the laws governing the High Council and Stake organizations. At first, when the Church was organized on the 6th day of April, the general duties of the Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons were defined in that revelation, given in that day, known as the articles and covenants of the Church. Elder seemed to be a generic name embracing all the branches of the Melchizedek priesthood, from the Elder proper to the Apostle, namely the Elders, High Priests (after the order of Melchizedek), including High Councilors, Seventies, Apostles and First Presidency. This also corresponds with the language of the Apostle Peter, in his exhortation contained in his first general epistle: “The elders who are among you I exhort, who am also an elder.” Still he was an Apostle and was ranked as the chief Apostle in his day, holding the keys and presidency to bind on the earth and loose in heaven; but he ranked himself among the Elders, for this term seemed to be a general appellation for all classes of the Melchizedek priesthood. In a similar manner also the term “priest” was used among the Jews under the operation of the law of Moses, and subsequently in the Christian church for those who officiated in the lesser or Levitical priesthood; and this term included the presiding priest or Bishop who was called under the Jewish dispensation the Chief or High Priest. But there were lesser organizations or subdivisions under the term of Priest, Levite, Nethenims, etc.

(1870s1879, ES Parable of ¶4 • JD 20:181)

How clearly is the condition of the nations of the earth today depicted in this book! It is stated, near to the quotation which I first made, that in these latter days God would create a great division among the people, that the wicked would destroy the wicked. There is a question on a subject that is clearly described in this record, that is drawing the attention of the ablest minds of the age. It is an influence that is shaking the governments and nations of the earth from center to circumference—I refer now to the “secret societies” that are filling the heads of governments with fear, that commit all kinds of diabolical depredations among the nations, and that are even threatening their very existence. These societies, which are inspired by a desire to throw off every kind of legal restraint, exist, in some form or another, in almost every nation under heaven, and especially in those nations claiming to be civilized. Perhaps this is what is meant by the great division among the people. This subject was brought up before the mind of Moroni, the last man in whose custody the plates from which this record was translated were, and who was so highly privileged as to hide them up in the hill Cumorah, where they were found by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in this age, being directed to obtain them by the angel of the Lord. It was a habit with Moroni, while making the closing portion of this record, to discourse upon the subject matter, to speak with the peoples of the earth who would live in this day in which you and I are living as if he spoke to them face to face, as one man speaks with another, and warn them of the evils that would exist among them and the destruction that would fall upon their heads. He also called upon them, by the voice of prophecy, to repent of their sins and accept of the plan of redemption, that they might be saved in the kingdom of the Father. Perhaps it would be interesting to you, considering the nature of the times in which we live, to draw your attention to what he (Moroni) says about this very condition to which he pointed by the spirit of prophecy, a condition that was to exist in the day in which we live. You will find it on page 588. He is now addressing the Gentiles who would be living when this book would be brought forth, and the work of the Father commenced. Hear his words: “And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread out over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not. Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be. Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who build it up. For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.” Now here is a prophecy. There is no ambiguity in reference to these words. This Prophet is speaking as if he were speaking face to face with those who would be living in this day, and he tells them to beware of these things, and we witness the fulfillment of his words, for such things are among the nations of the earth today, and are spreading everywhere and causing anxiety and fear to take hold of the hearts of the people.

(1880s1881 JD, JN Church of ¶13 • JD 22:24)

I wish to call your attention for a few moments to a subject closely connected with those days that I have been speaking of—the rise of the Church. It will be next Thursday night, 54 years since the Prophet Joseph Smith, then but a lad, was permitted by the angel of the Lord to take the gold plates of the Book of Mormon from the hill Cumorah, as it was called in ancient times, located in the State of New York. This I consider one of the most marvelous occurrences which has taken place for the past eighteen centuries—to be permitted to observe the face of an holy angel, and then be permitted, in addition to that, to take out of the ground, in fulfillment of ancient prophecy, a record of one-half of our globe, giving a history of the peoples and nations that occupied this great western hemisphere—more marvelous than anything that has transpired during that long period. What makes it still more marvelous is, that it is connected with revelation, with something that comes from heaven, with divine authority. God permitted this record to be taken from its place of ancient deposit. He it was that sent the angel to deliver those records into the hands of this boy. It was God. And what object did the Lord have in performing this marvelous thing? It was to establish on this earth that kingdom predicted by the ancient Prophet Daniel, that should be set up in the last days, which should stand forever, and should finally become a great mountain and fill the whole earth. What could be of more importance? Such an event was predicted to happen, that such a kingdom should arise, that God should be the authority of it, that he should lay the foundation of it, that he should set it up. If we go back to the finding of the records of the Book of Mormon; if we go back to that eventful day when God sent his angels to confirm the divinity of that record to three other persons; if we go back to the time of the organization of this Church, we find that God has in all these matters spoken himself. We did not select the day on which this kingdom should be organized. Joseph Smith, the Prophet, did not select the day, but God pointed out the very day, the very month, in which this work should be performed. Hence it is God’s work; it was God and not man that set up this kingdom. Has there been an authority established in this Church from the day of its organization that was established by man’s authority? Not one. Every authority in this Church, however high or however low, or whatever the nature of the callings might be, whatever the duties of the callings, God has introduced that authority. We have no record, no minutes in our Church, where there have been Apostles called and ordained in this kingdom, by man’s authority. It is just what we might expect. Anything else than this would not be ascribed to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God could not be set up by man. Man has no right to select even the day for the organization of that kingdom. Man has no right to select the least officer of that kingdom; it must all come from heaven. It was said that such a kingdom should be set up. It was set. It was set up according to the mind of God, according to his own mind, not according to the whims and notions of sectarians, or any theologians, or any learned man, but according to the mind of the great Jehovah. We have seen the progress of this kingdom. We have seen what God has accomplished during the last 51 years. We have seen his hand made manifest. We have seen the kingdom organized, not to dwell in the place of its particular organization, and the people be scattered all over the world like sectarianism, but a kingdom that should gather together the sons and daughters of God, according to the predictions of the ancient prophets into one place upon the face of our globe, to prepare them for the mighty events and occurrences that should take place when he should accomplish that work. And how marvelous it is to see the hundreds and hundreds of vessels that have crossed the ocean, the mighty ocean, in perfect safety, bringing the Saints of God to their destined haven, to rejoice in one body, in one place, in one region in the mountains of Israel, the great backbone of the western hemisphere, if we may so term it. This is all to fulfil prophecy.

(1880s1881 JD, OP Great Princi ¶2 • JD 22:224)

What are our condition and labor now? In this last dispensation the Prophet Joseph Smith, in the year 1820, first received revelations from the heavens, and it was only until 1844 that he was permitted to live. By 1830, the Book of Mormon was brought forth from the mountain Cumorah, was translated and printed, and fourteen years from that time the Prophet Joseph was taken from us.

(1880s1885 JD, FDR Parable of ¶23 • JD 26:301)

           I have now referred to men holding three different [5] callings in the Priesthood on the earth, who are indicated as being provided for in their proper positions in the heavens. If the Priesthood administers in time and in eternity; and if quorums of this kind are organized upon the earth, and this Priesthood is not taken away, but continued with them in the heavens, we do not wish, I think, to break up the order of the Priesthood upon the earth; and it would seem to be necessary that these principles of perpetuity or continuity should be held sacred among us. There is nothing new in this; we are told that Moses and Elias, who held the Priesthood on the earth, come from the heavens, where they still officiated, to administer to Jesus, Peter, James and John on the Mount. We are elsewhere told that a mighty Angel was seen by John on the Isle of Patmos, who communicated to him many great and important things. John was about to fall down and worship this holy messenger, but he forbade him, saying: "See that thou do it not; I am thy, fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: Worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." This mighty angel held the priesthood on the earth; he now held it in the heavens and came to administer to John. The same may be said of personages who came to administer to the Prophet Joseph Smith, such as Moroni, Nephi, John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, Elijah, Elias, Moses; and such ministrations have been made by Michael or Adam, Gabriel or Noah, and others; as instanced in the case of Gabriel, who came to earth to announce the approaching birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus Christ. This principle is confirmed by the Prophet Joseph Smith in an address to the Saints, embodied in the Doctrine and Covenants: He writes: "And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfillment of the Prophets– the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca County, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book. The voice of Michael on the banks of the [6] Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light. The voice of Peter, James and John in the wilderness, between Harmony, Susquehanna County, and Colesville, Broome County, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fullness of times.

(1880s1880, October, 8th Session, President John Taylor, ¶3 • CR)

           Again, the Lord brought out from Jerusalem, six hundred years B.C., Lehi, Ishmael and Zoram, who became the ancestry of another great and mighty people, including also Mulek and his company who came some ten years after. They saw the remains of the Jaredites; witnessed their bones around the hill Ramah, bleached and bare; and it was made known to them how their brethren had fallen. They in turn occupied the land, and became a mighty people until some four hundred years after the coming of Christ. This people also obtained the favor of God to a wonderful degree, insomuch that the Savior established His Church among them. This book, (the Book of Mormon), is a record and history of the people that lived on this western hemisphere, and is a history of the work of God in this land; the building up of His Church among them, and their apostasy, transgression and final destruction as a nation around the hill Cumorah.

(1880s1886, April, 7th Session, Apostle F. D. Richards, ¶8 • CR)

           WE may look upon the members of the different religious sects as being sincere and honest in their belief, as no doubt thousands and millions of them are; but we claim in regard to the Latter-day Saints that it is necessary for them today to know of the mission of Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and others, to know whether Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God or not, and whether or not he did receive the manifestations and power of God; to know if he did see the Father and the Son when he went to the woods to pray; that he did find the plates in the Hill Cumorah or did translate the same by the aid of the Urim and Thummim. Did he receive the Priesthood through the administration of the Apostles Peter, James and John? Did Moses confer upon him the keys of gathering the Israel of the latter day s or did Elijah appear to him in the Kirtland Temple and reveal to him the keys whereby the hearts of the fathers were to be turned to their children, and the hearts of the children turned to their fathers?

(1880s1888, April, 1st Session, Elder Andrew Jensen, ¶7 • CR)

           It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of-a power which records or binds on earth, and binds in heaven. Nevertheless in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the Priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah. This is a faithful saying! Who can hear it?
          And again, for the precedent, Matthew xvi: 18,19, "And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter: and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven."
          Now the great and grand secret of the whole matter, and the summum bonum of the whole subject that is lying before us, consists in obtaining the powers of the Holy Priesthood. For him to whom these keys are given, there is no difficulty in obtaining a knowledge of facts in relation to the salvation of the children of men, both as well for the dead as for the living.
          Herein is glory and honor, and immortality and eternal life. The ordinance of baptism by water, to be immersed therein in order to answer to the likeness of the dead, that one principle might accord with the other. To be immersed in the water and come forth out of the water is in the likeness of the resurrection of the dead in coming forth out of their graves; hence this ordinance was instituted to form a relationship with the ordinance of baptism for the dead, being in likeness of the dead.
          Consequently the baptismal font was instituted as a simile of the grave, and was commanded to be in a place underneath where the living are wont to assemble, to show forth the living and the dead; and that all things may have their likeness, and that they may accord one with another; that which is earthly conforming to that which is heavenly, as Paul hath declared, 1 Corinthians xv: 46, 47 and 48:
          "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord, from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." And as are the records on the earth in relation to your dead, which are truly made out, so also are the records in heaven. This, therefore, is the sealing and binding power, and, in one sense of the word, the keys of the kingdom which consist in the key of knowledge.
          And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead, and the living, that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary, and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers "that they without us cannot be made perfect;" neither can we without our dead be made perfect.
          And now, in relation to the baptism for the dead, I will give you another quotation of Paul, 1 Corinthians xv:29, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all; why are they then baptized for the dead?"
          And again, in connection with this quotation, I will give you a quotation from one of the prophets, who had his eye fixed on the restoration of the Priesthood, the glories to be revealed in the last days, and in an especial manner this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, viz., the baptism for the dead; for Malachi says, last chapter, verses 5th and 6th, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
          I might have rendered a plainer translation to this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands. It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse, unless there is a welding link of some kind or other, between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other, and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect, without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of times; which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time; and not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this the dispensation of the fullness of times.
          Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? "A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy; how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things; and they say unto Zion, behold! thy God reigneth. As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them."
          And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfillment of the prophets-the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca County, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book. The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light. The voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna County, and Colesville, Broome County, on the Susquehanna River, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and the dispensation of the fulness of times.
          And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca County, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And the voice of Michael, the arch-angel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam, down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their Priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little-giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope.

(1890s1894, April, 5th Session, President Wilford Woodruff, ¶4 • CR90)

was the next speaker. His remarks were devoted principally to early Church reminiscences, his acquaintance with the Prophet Joseph Smith, a personal visit to the Hill Cumorah and the translation of the Book of Mormon. He first heard the Prophet speak in Michigan in 1834. But that was not the first time he knew him to be a servant of the Lord, because prior to that time he had received a testimony to that effect. He had frequently heard him speak and it was his privilege to hear him deliver his last discourse in mortality and was present at his funeral. He had heard the martyred Prophet predict the great apostasy from the Church which took place shortly after his own death. The speaker was familiar with the various off-shoots which had sprung from the Church during that dark period and had lived to see many of them realize their own fallacies.

(1890s1895, April, 6th Session, Elder Edward Stevenson, ¶1 • CR90)

           It is impossible to read the wonderful history of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon out of the hill Cumorah and the restoration of the Priesthood at the command of God, by holy resurrected men-for others who restored the Priesthood as well as Moroni were resurrected beings-without feeling that in these glorious events the words of David are fulfilled:

(1890s1895, October, 3rd Session, Elder Franklin D. Richards, ¶28 • CR90)

           And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, and an angel from Heaven, declaring the fulfillment of the Prophets, the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book. The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light. The voice of Peter, James and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna County, and Colesville, Broome County, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times.
          And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca County, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (D&C 128:20-21).

(1890s1896, October, 4th Session, Elder Franklin D. Richards, ¶8 • CR90)

We visited the Hill Cumorah and were accorded the courtesy of going thereon by the wife of Mr. George Sampson, a brother of Admiral Wm. Sampson, who before his death owned the property. When we went up there and looked around, we felt that we were standing on holy ground. The brethren located, as near as they thought was possible, the place from which the plates of the Book of Mormon were taken by the Prophet. We were delighted to be there. Looking over the surrounding country we remembered that two great races of people had wound up their existence in the vicinity, had fought their last fight, and that hundreds of thousands had been slain within sight of that hill. Evidence of the great battles that have been fought there in days gone by are manifest in the numerous spear and arrow-heads that have been found by farmers while plowing in that neighborhood. We were fortunate enough to obtain a few of the arrowheads. Upon the hill, near a little grove of timber, the party stood and sang that glorious hymn:

(1900s1906, April, 5th Session, Elder George Albert Smith., ¶17 • CR90)

From here we visited the historic Hill Cumorah, and the old homestead of the Patriarch Joseph Smith and his family. We also visited the grave where the first childhood prayer of the Prophet Joseph Smith was offered up, and where the first manifestations of the approval of Heaven were made to man in these latter days, with reference to the opening of the dispensation in which the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus should be restored to the world, and the authority of the Holy Priesthood again conferred upon man. To say that the visiting of such places as these does not inspire serious thought and peculiar feelings, at least in my breast, would not be true.

(1900s1906, October, 1st Session, President Joseph F. Smith., ¶14 • CR90)

The Prophet Joseph Smith, who was sustained in the beginning as the President of this Church, did not make himself the President. God chose him to be His Prophet, and the people sustained him as their President. Yes, this man who had looked upon the face of the Father and the Son, who had communed with angels, who had had revealed to him the “sacred record” long “concealed,” concerning which we have been singing, who had received the imposition of hands by holy angels, conferring upon him the priesthood—the Aaronic priesthood, which empowered him to preach faith and repentance and to baptize for the remission of sins, and the Melchisedek priesthood, which empowered him to bestow the Holy Ghost upon those who had been baptized,—after all these wonderful exhibitions of the power of God, this man and his associate, Oliver Cowdery, were required to submit their names to a little congregation on the 6th day of April, 1830, when this Church was organized, that it might be seen whether or not those assembled—a little over thirty in number—would sustain them as their leaders. They were sustained, and thus became the first and second elders of the Church. But the query arises, Suppose they had not been sustained? Suppose that little flock had voted against, instead of for, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, what would have been the consequence? Would it have taken from those two elders the priesthood which God had conferred upon them? Would it have taken away the gifts which He had given them? Would it have blotted out the fact that the dispensation of the fulness of times had been opened by the personal appearing of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith? Would it have reconsigned that sacred record to the Hill Cumorah? Would the work have gone backward from that hour? Not at all. It would have had this effect, and this only: that little congregation would have been without the gifts and powers that God had conferred upon those men. It could not have been the Church of God. It would have been a body without a head. The priesthood would have been separated from the people. The Prophet, just before going to his death, speaking to the Nauvoo Legion and denouncing mob violence, said to them, “Will you stand by me in the vindication of these great principles which God has committed to my care?” And they threw up their hands and shouted “Yes!” The Prophet replied, “It is well. You are a good people, and I am willing to lay down my life for you. Had you done otherwise, I should have gone out there (pointing to the west) and should have raised up a mightier people.” This shows what would have resulted had that little flock, the Church of God, on the 6th of April, 1830, rejected Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery as their leaders. They could have gone anywhere on earth, where men and women would have been willing to receive them, and could have built up the Church and Kingdom. But God recognizes the rights of His people, along with the rights of His priesthood, which are His own rights. God and His people constitute this Church, and these men who have been chosen to be the teachers, the counselors, the leaders are the Lord’s servants, His representatives, the instruments and agents through whom He acts, to guide and bless His people.

(1900s1907, April, 9th Session, Elder Orson F. Whitney., ¶11 • CR90)

One thing said by one of the brethren in the opening of our conference concerning the environment of the home, and the environment of the Church, has been in my mind ever since it was said. I was led to think what a wonderful thing environment had worked in the hearts of some of the leaders of God’s people in this day, and above all, the wonderful development that came to the Prophet Joseph Smith because of his environment. I thought of the time this summer when I was privileged to visit the birthplace of the Prophet, Palmyra, the Hill Cumorah, and the Kirtland temple. Several mornings I visited the grove in which the Prophet Joseph Smith knelt in the personal presence of God and Jesus Christ; and the sacredness of the spot was uplifting to my soul. I thought of the Prophet Joseph, just merging from boyhood to manhood, when the influence and the power of environment could work wonders in the life of any person kneeling in that sacred place, in the presence of the heavenly Beings. I said to myself, “Oh, that every boy might be so influenced at such a stage in life.” Standing in the grove, where, it is said by the people who live there, the Prophet Joseph Smith beheld the Father and the Son, I was moved, and felt what a glorious thing it would be for the young men and young women of Zion, if they, too, could stand in the presence of God and Jesus Christ, and then grow up under that influence. What a great work they could perform, how powerful they would be in the earth in bringing the people to know the true character of our Father who is in heaven, and of His Son Jesus Christ. The world has a vague idea of some great spiritual force that manifests itself in all the phenomena of life, that is everywhere present. To the Latter-day Saints, all these manifestations are but the result of laws operated by our Father in heaven, who is indeed a personal God.

(1900s1907, October, 6th Session, Elder German E. Ellsworth., ¶6 • CR90)

After visiting the Hill Cumorah, the old homestead, and the wood in which these wonderful things were explained in the life of the Prophet Joseph, I had the privilege of visiting his birthplace, where now stands the monument that has been erected to his name. I learned from the man who quarried the stone that, as far as he could find out, it is the largest polished shaft in the world; and I thought how fitting that such a stone should be erected to the memory of the man who declared that he had seen God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, and that we are indeed His children. Why should we not erect such a monument to the honor of the man who gave to the world the greatest of all truths—the truth by which we might gain life eternal. I do not believe that the power and influence of such a manifestation as he received could leave any boy. They did not leave him. He stood alone, and when the weight seemed great, holy angels ministered to him, and cleared all doubt away, and the Church of Jesus Christ was established by our Father through him.

(1900s1907, October, 6th Session, Elder German E. Ellsworth., ¶7 • CR90)

And told that a record was hid in Cumorah,

(1910s1910, April, 7th Session, Elder Ben E. Rich., ¶20 • CR90)

In this latter dispensation it was because of his implicit faith in God that the boy prophet went into the woods and knelt down and prayed, and received the first great heavenly manifestation that came to him, by which the personality of the Godhead was again made known to mankind. It was by faith that he was able to go to the hill Cumorah and receive from the hands of the angel those sacred records that he later translated by the gift and power of God. It was by faith he led his people from Kirtland to the land of Missouri and back to Illinois, and though repeatedly plundered and driven from their homes, the faith that had been planted in their hearts remained with them, and they knew that God was mindful of them. It was by faith that the great city of Nauvoo was founded, under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith; and by faith the glorious truths contained in the Doctrine and Covenants were received by him.

(1910s1913, October, 8th Session, Elder George Albert Smith., ¶10 • CR90)

A few years later, in the year 1823, the Angel Moroni was sent to Joseph, who acquainted him further regarding this work that was about to commence, and revealed to him the existence of a book of metallic plates, upon which were inscribed the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent, of some of whom the American Indians are a remnant. After four years training, Moroni finally delivered unto Joseph these plates, together with the Urim and Thummim, by the aid of which, and through the gift and power of God, Joseph translated this history into the English language. He found that not only was it profane history, but that it related the hand dealings of God with branches of the House of Israel on this continent, and contained the Gospel as given unto the Nephites by Jesus in person, after His crucifixion. This same Moroni had stood, 1400 years before, as the last of his exterminated race, who had fallen through transgression. He being the last historian had, under divine instruction, hid these records in the Hill Cumorah, and it was fitting that he should restore them when the time arrived for their coming forth. On the east pinnacle of yonder Temple stands his statue, trumpet in hand, figuring the heralding of the Gospel, in fulfilment of the vision of John the Revelator, wherein he saw an angel bringing the Gospel again to earth.

(1910s1915, October, 3rd Session, Elder William H. Smart., ¶7 • CR90)

My brothers and sisters, on two occasions during this conference time, one of the revelations of the Lord, given before the organization of the Church, has been quoted. The revelation referred to is the one found in the 4th section of the D&C, wherein the Lord says, “A great and a mighty work is about to come forth among the children of men.” Each time that revelation was quoted, my mind went back to the beginning of this great work. I stood again in the grove where the Prophet Joseph Smith prayed unto our Father in heaven; and remembered my many visits to that sacred spot. Again I stood, in my mind, with the Prophet Joseph Smith upon the hill Cumorah, where he met the angel by appointment, and year after year was instructed concerning the great things that were to come to pass in this day. I saw him receive the plates from which the great record of the Nephites was printed. I was with him at Kirtland where, under privations and toil, he built the temple in which so many glorious visions were given to the Latter-day Saints. I followed him from Kirtland to Missouri, and from Missouri to Illinois. I was there where he, under the direction of the Spirit of the Lord, directed the digging of a drain ditch which turned unhealthy Commerce into the healthful, beautiful city of Nauvoo. I saw, in my mind’s eye, that place grow from only a few houses, to a city of 20,000, with prospects of being the biggest city in the state of Illinois. I saw railroads directed toward that city, bridges constructed across the Mississippi and a permanent city of our thriving country built.

(1910s1916, October, 9th Session, Elder G. E. Ellsworth., ¶2 • CR90)

Upon the Latter-day Saints, my brethren and sisters, has been laid this responsibility. The men of Zion, from the age of twelve years up, have received the Priesthood in every degree, and that priesthood carries with it the responsibility of proclaiming to the world the things that have been revealed by our Father. My brethren and sisters, I sometimes think “Woe be unto Zion, if she preaches not the gospel! What are we here for, if we are not to proclaim to the world this wonderful thing that has been restored by our Father? How many of us have stood in the grove with the Prophet Joseph Smith, when he beheld God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son! How many have followed the Prophet Joseph Smith to the hill Cumorah, where he received the Scriptures of divine truth, as revealed to the Nephites upon this continent? How many have learned the beautiful things contained in that wonderful book?

(1910s1916, October, 9th Session, Elder G. E. Ellsworth., ¶13 • CR90)

We will remember that it is within the present boundaries of that mission that the so-called “Mormon” hill, the Hill Cumorah, is located, and that the Church was organized in that region of country eighty-seven years ago; it was also in these eastern lands that John the Baptist, and Peter, James and John appeared and gave to us the holy priesthood.

(1910s1917, April, 7th Session, Elder Andrew Jenson., ¶3 • CR90)

I trust that the time is not far distant when the pure gospel of Christ, first proclaimed by divine messengers on the Hill Cumorah, in the village of Fayette and on the banks of the Susquehanna River, may be heard in every land and clime, and that all nations, kindreds, tongues and people may have an opportunity to listen to that gospel as it has been restored to the earth in these latter days. Amen.

(1910s1917, April, 7th Session, Elder Andrew Jenson., ¶16 • CR90)

I want the faith of Hyrum, so sweet in his soul, so full of loyalty and fealty to his brother, the Prophet, reading the words of Moroni, who had seen ten thousand led by him, murdered about the Hill Cumorah: who before closing the record of the Nephites uses these words, and Hyrum read them before that last trip to Carthage, and turned the leaf down, upon them as his testimony:

(1910s1918, October, 8th Session, Elder Joseph E. Robinson., ¶18 • CR90)

I remember while standing on the Hill Cumorah, of hearing these words, “Push the distribution of the record that was taken from this hill, for it will help bring the world to Christ;” and as the Bible has “Christianized,” as we term it today, many nations, so also will the Book of Mormon bring the world another long step towards membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I went immediately to Palmyra and secured postcard pictures of the hill and sent one to each of my missionaries, writing on each one the words suggested to my mind and the missionaries caught the real spirit of it and made that year one of the largest in Book of Mormon distribution we made in the Northern States.

(1910s1919, June, 7th Session, Elder German E. Ellsworth, ¶6 • CR90)

Today is the ninety-sixth anniversary of that wonderful manifestation from God, the visitation of an angel from heaven to the boy Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith testified to all the world that Moroni, an ancient prophet of God who resided upon this continent, appeared to him in answer to his prayer to the living God for light and knowledge. He states that his room started to become light, until it was as light as the noonday sun, and then a personage appeared before him, conversed with him, delivered a most important message, and quoted many important passages of scripture, as you will find recorded here in a brief account of this wonderful event, given by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Pearl of Great Price. I marked a number of passages that I thought I would read, but I will not take the time to do so. This angel delivered a message to Joseph Smith, and told him that in the Hill Cumorah there were buried golden plates containing a record of the forefathers of the American Indians. After delivering his message and quoting a lot of scripture to the boy, the messenger disappeared. He returned and repeated all that he had said before, and added a little additional scripture, then disappeared. He returned once more and repeated all that he had said upon the previous visits-and by this time it was morning. The boy dressed himself and went to the field to work, but his father, seeing that something was the matter with him, as he had been awake all night and was feeble, told him to go home. On his way home, while trying to climb over a fence, he fell and was awakened by the voice of the messenger, and for the fourth time these messages were delivered to the boy Joseph Smith, after which he told the boy to go to his father in the field and tell him all that he had heard from the messenger. Joseph went to his father and repeated the message that had been delivered to him by an angel of God, a former prophet who lived upon this earth, and his father said: “This message is from God,” and told him to follow the instructions of the angel. Joseph Smith went to the place where the plates containing the Book of Mormon record were buried, and when he was about to remove them, the angel told him the time had not yet come when the plates were to be delivered into his hands, but that he was to return to that spot once a year for four years, and then the plates were to be given to him. He did return once a year for four years, and upon each of those visits the angel of the Lord instructed this young man in the things of God, and prepared him to be the chosen instrument in the hands of the living God to restore again to the earth the plan of life and salvation, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Subsequently, John the Baptist, the man who baptized the Lord Jesus Christ, came and laid his hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and ordained those men to the Aaronic Priesthood, giving them the authority to baptize. After this ordination they went down into the waters of baptism and baptized each other. Subsequently, Peter, James, and John, the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had ministered in the days of the Savior and after his crucifixion, came to the earth, and they laid their hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and ordained the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving them all the keys, the powers, the rights and the authority to establish again the gospel plan and the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth. “Oh,” says the unbeliever, “we do not believe that any messenger ever appeared to Joseph Smith; we do not believe that John the Baptist laid his hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery; we do not believe that Peter, James, and John ordained these men apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The unbelief of all the world cannot change those facts, if they are facts; and we proclaim to the world that by the witness of the Holy Spirit we know that they are facts, and that they shall stand forever, for they can never be overthrown. The angel Moroni told the boy Joseph Smith that the day should come when an ancient prophet should appear and bestow the authority to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers. This promise was made years before the organization of this Church, and before the Book of Mormon was ever revealed, and a number of years later that promise was fulfilled, when that authority was given to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in a wonderful vision and manifestation in the Kirtland temple, April 3, 1836 (Section 110, Doctrine and Covenants):

(1910s1919, October, 1st Session, Discourse of President Heber J. Grant, ¶39 • CR90)

Three years later an angel of God appeared and told him there was buried in the hill Cumorah some golden plates containing a record, a sacred record of the forefathers of the American Indian, and that he should be the instrument in the hands of God of translating those plates. The angel gave him many wonderful instructions and quoted much Scripture to him; then disappeared. He returned and repeated his instructions and disappeared. He returned again and repeated those instructions, the three visitations occupying the entire night. The next day when that boy went to his work in the field with his father, having had no rest during the night, his father saw that he was not feeling well and told him to go home; and as he was climbing a fence he fainted, but he was aroused from his faint by the voice of the messenger who for the fourth time repeated all that he had said during the previous night, and told him to go back to his father and tell his father all that he had heard and seen. This he did, and the boy’s father answered: “This is of God. Listen to the teachings of the angel.” The boy visited the hill Cumorah; he saw the plates and was instructed by the messenger to come there once a year for four years, to be instructed by that angel of God, regarding the great and marvelous work that was to come forth in the last days. At the end of four years the plated containing the record were delivered to him by the angel Moroni. He translated those plates, and the translation is the Book of Mormon.

(1920s1920, April, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶111 • CR90)

At the second vision that the Prophet Joseph received, when the angel Moroni came to him and told him about the Book of Mormon, or rather the plates that were concealed in the Hill Cumorah, he also told him things that Joseph, perhaps, could not fully understand; and, in order, that the young man might not forget what he was told, the angel repeated them three times, spending the whole night with him. Among the things that were revealed to him was the principle of vicarious work for the dead, and the principle of the gathering of the people, principles of our Church that are unique to it. These were given by the angel Moroni. He also read from the book of Malachi about the hearts of children being turned to their fathers, and the fathers’ hearts to the children. He read to him the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, which refers to the gathering; and other principles he explained to the young man. Today we have heard read how much has been given for temples and for temple buildings, and this shows that the Latter-day Saints believe in the principle revealed to the Prophet Joseph as early as 1823. And just before his death, how interested he was in this work! He saw the great necessity that there was for the Saints to turn their hearts to the fathers, so as to avoid the curse that otherwise would come upon the earth. We have felt this today. We have gone into the temples, we have labored for our dead and we have had the witness in our souls that the Lord accepted of the work. Many people have told me what they have heard and seen in the temples. Names have been given to them of persons they had forgotten, who wanted their work done. How interested the people have been in searching for their genealogies! We must thank the genealogists of the world also because they have come to our help. They have spent a great deal of money in publishing genealogies, especially here in the United States; also in England. They have begun the same work in other countries, too. The spirit is upon them; their hearts are turning to their fathers. I know they do not believe in the necessity of doing work for them, but we believe that it is a necessity; and it is a joy and blessing to us to do this.

(1920s1920, April, 1st Session, President Anthon H. Lund, ¶22 • CR90)

There are two things which deeply impressed me, while on this special mission-something that I cannot dismiss from my mind upon my return home. One of these is the predictions contained in the Book or Mormon concerning the Indians, or Lamanites, the aborigines of this western hemisphere. On my sojourn in the Eastern States mission I had occasion to stand upon the hill Cumorah, as I had done upon two former occasions, and also had the privilege of spending a night in the old Smith home, near Manchester, western New York, where the angel Moroni appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith that memorable night between September 21 and 22, 1823.

(1920s1921, October, 5th Session, Elder Andrew Jenson, ¶4 • CR90)

A gentleman sent out several hundred letters to representative ministers, and asked them the question: “Do you believe in God, a personal God, a definite and tangible intelligence, not a congeries of laws floating like a fog in the universe, but God a person, in whose image you were made?” Not a minister answered, “yes.” They said they could not be certain about a thing of that kind. There is no Latter-day Saint who does not believe absolutely in God as a Personal being, and that the scripture tells the truth when it says “In the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” The foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ, organized ninety-two years ago today, is based upon the appearance of the Lord, God Almighty, a glorified Being beyond the power of man to describe to a boy not yet fifteen years of age. It is based upon the appearance of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in the express image of the Father, to that boy. In answer to the boy’s simple question, “Which of all the churches on earth today is the true one,” the Lord God Almighty pointed to His Son and said to that boy, “This is my beloved Son; hear Him.” When the question was repeated, which church to join, that boy was told to join none of them; that they had all gone astray. He was given to understand that he would be the instrument in the hands of God of again establishing upon the earth the gospel of Jesus Christ. We declare to all the world that God lives, that He is the Father of our spirits, that He is absolutely the Father of Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the world. Men say we lack liberality and breadth, because we say we are the only true Church. We are not lacking in liberality or breadth; the Redeemer of the world, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, said it, and we are repeating what He said. We believe in allowing all men absolute freedom to worship where and what they may, but we declare to all the world the truth as it has been revealed to us through the Prophet Joseph Smith. All men, all women, from the midnight sun country of Scandinavia to South Africa, from Canada to South America, or upon the Islands of the sea, who have entered the waters of baptism and joined the Church of Christ, believe that Joseph Smith was in very deed a prophet of the true and living God, and that God is a person and talked to the boy Joseph. The whole world may declare they do not believe that Joseph Smith saw God, the whole world may declare that they do not believe that Jesus Christ appeared to him or delivered a message, but all the disbelief of the world cannot change that message and the truth of it, as it was delivered. Joseph Smith declared that three years after the First Vision, in answer to fervent prayer, an angel of God appeared and delivered a message to him; that the angel disappeared and returned and repeated his message again; that he again disappeared and returned the third time. The entire night was consumed with the three repetitions of that message which was that there were buried, in the Hill Cumorah, some golden plates upon which was inscribed the sacred history of the forefathers of the American Indians, and that he should be the instrument in the hands of God of translating those plates. The plates have been translated and the translation is now known as the Book of Mormon.

(1920s1922, April, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶45 • CR90)

“And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets-the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book! The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light! The voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times!

(1920s1922, October, 9th Session, Elder Benjamin Goddard, ¶6 • CR90)

Cumorah Conference

(1920s1923, October, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶13 • CR90)

On the 22nd day of last month we had the privilege—four of the General Authorities from this city and one who was located at Brooklyn as the president of the Eastern States mission, Brother Brigham H. Roberts—of being present at the wonderful conference held at the Joseph Smith farm, in the Sacred Grove, and at the Hill Cumorah, celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of Joseph Smith’s first view of the plates from which the Book of Mormon was later translated. A very remarkable conference for three days was held there. A rich outpouring of the Spirit of the living God was experienced. I am grateful, indeed, to President Brigham H. Roberts for arranging that conference, for I am free to confess, that in the multitude of duties and responsibilities resting upon me, I might have neglected that one-hundredth anniversary. I feel grateful to Brother Roberts that he did not allow it to pass without a very splendid conference. It was one that each and every person who attended will look back to with that same pleasure and joy and satisfaction with which we look back upon the dedication of our temples, and the passing of other mile- stones, so to speak, in the history of this Church.

(1920s1923, October, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶14 • CR90)

I thank the Lord God Almighty for the faith, for the integrity, for the devotion to him and the gospel of his Son Jesus Christ in the lives of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. I thank the Lord that they were true, even to the day of their martyrdom. I rejoice in the testimonies at the Hill Cumorah, at the Joseph Smith farm, and at the Sacred Grove, regarding these men. I rejoice in the marvelous integrity and devotion to God of Brigham Young in the days of apostasy, in the days when murder was in the hearts of many who had once been Latter-day Saints. I rejoice that when men said that Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet, Brigham Young was as true as steel, and would have given his life at any time for the Prophet Joseph Smith. I rejoice in the wonderful accomplishments of Brigham Young.

(1920s1923, October, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶74 • CR90)

I thank the Lord for the great manifestation of his power on the Hill Cumorah and in the Sacred Grove. I have been to those places and I felt the importance of the things that were done in the neighborhood of the Hill Cumorah, which the brethren visited, on the crown of which they held a splendid meeting, participated in by a great many people not of   our faith. This meeting was commemorative of one of the most wonderful events that have ever occurred in this world. The first thing of importance in the revelations of God in the latter-days was the manifestation of the Father and the Son in that Sacred Grove to the boy Joseph. The next in importance, and as an opening of the work of the last days was the visits of the Angel Moroni to the Prophet Joseph, in his bedroom. When being reminded in his soul of the importance of the message he had already received, and feeling that he had not been faithful and true to the spirit of it in his own life, although he had not done anything of very great consequence that was wrong, he humbly confessed to God—and by this you shall know, the Lord says, when a man repents, “behold, he will confess his sins and turn away therefrom.” That is real repentance. Joseph repented, and while in this mood, this angelic visitation came. I understand it to some extent. I have had what I call dreams, some people call them by other names. I can see that gathering of light in that chamber of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I can see the form of the Angel Moroni appearing right in that light, not standing on the floor but above the floor, so that Joseph could see him and the beautiful glory that surrounded his personality, and I bear testimony that he was a real personage, that he did come to the Prophet Joseph. What he revealed has, in a very large measure, been fulfilled, and that which has not been fulfilled will all come to pass.

(1920s1923, October, 1st Session, President Charles W. Penrose, ¶18 • CR90)

As Brother John A. Widtsoe has already said, the Angel Moroni repeated his message three times, once, twice, thrice in a single night, and by that time daylight appeared. Again the following day, September 22, the boy Joseph Smith, but seventeen years of age, found his way, guided by the vision of the night before, to the Hill Cumorah and there discovered the plates. The message was repeated for the fourth time. In this message many passages of scripture were referred to and quoted. I read these references. While but a part of the third chapter of Malachi was quoted, I read it all.

(1920s1923, October, 2nd Session, Elder Richard R. Lyman, ¶3 • CR90)

The Conference At Cumorah

(1920s1923, October, 5th Session, Elder Brigham H. Roberts, ¶11 • CR90)

This summer campaign of four months was to culminate in the conference that we held at Cumorah, a fitting climax, I thought it would be, to the splendid labors of the missionaries in our Eastern States mission. I trust it turned out to be a great conference. There was one thing said about it in the Rochester Herald that I would like to put in the record of this conference, that it might have a permanent lodgment in the history of that event. It was written by no tyro of the press, but a man of comprehension. and I think also of deep feeling. It consists of but two brief paragraphs but the passage is of high value as an historical note. It is found in the Rochester Herald of Sept. 22, 1923, and is as follows:

(1920s1923, October, 5th Session, Elder Brigham H. Roberts, ¶12 • CR90)

The choir sang, “An angel from on high,” solos by Sister Sarah Wood and Hyrum Christensen. This hymn was sung on the Hill Cumorah recently on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the visits of the Angel Moroni to the Prophet Joseph Smith. On the present occasion only three of the verses were sung. President Heber J. Grant read the remainder of the words as follows:

(1920s1923, October, 5th Session, Elder Brigham H. Roberts, ¶27 • CR90)

In speaking of the services to which President Roberts has referred, this morning, at the Hill Cumorah, I thought when our president said that the prayer offered on that occasion was not recorded, that we are making history today for the unborn generations, and a servant of the Lord, under the inspiration of God, uttered a prayer inspired of Almighty God, and oh, what a joy it would be for generations to come to be able to read that divine instrument. I know, although I did not see the Angel Moroni when he appeared to the Prophet Joseph, that beyond all question of doubt, he did deliver those sacred records to the boy prophet, Joseph Smith. I received a testimony of this before I was born. My mother received the gospel in her native land, and when she passed through the shadows of death to bring me into this world she sealed upon me a testimony of the divinity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

(1920s1923, October, 5th Session, Elder Serge F. Ballif, ¶5 • CR90)

I have enjoyed the testimonies of my brethren concerning their visit at the Hill Cumorah. Ever since my early childhood, the story of Joseph the Prophet concerning his wonderful experiences has been a very touching story in my life, and I can scarcely read it or hear it related without tears coming to my eyes. It was a most astounding declaration, for a boy seventeen years of age to make to his friends or his loved ones in a little family gathering, that his name had been named by heavenly messengers, and the statement made that his name should be had for good and ill in all the world, among all kindreds, tongues and peoples. Hundreds of us living bear the testimony from experience in the world, among all civilized nations, that this is a fact, for the name of Joseph Smith has been heard and is spoken of today for good and ill in all the world among civilized nations thereof.

(1920s1923, October, 5th Session, Elder Hyrum G. Smith, ¶4 • CR90)

In the clipping from the daily paper, if it is correct—and I have no doubt that it is—a man professing to be a teacher of righteousness, in a public address recently delivered, referring particularly to the proceedings at the memorial services recently held at the Hill Cumorah, declared that the “Mormon” Church was the most ignorant church in the world, and that the proceedings, upon this occasion, when the one-hundredth anniversary of the appearance of the Angel Moroni to Joseph Smith was commemorated, were all rot, rot, rot. When I read it I thought of this scripture which I have read from the Acts of the Apostles. To this congregation of Latter-day Saints I suppose it would appear unnecessary—in fact I have heard the word ridiculous used—that attention be paid to such statements as these which I have just quoted, and in fact that is true, but it nevertheless does at times become necessary for the Church to make response to statements of this kind, for there are people, many of them good people, people who love the truth and desire it, who are misled and strongly prejudiced because of statements such as this that I have quoted being made by men in whom they have confidence. If those charges were true, if it were true that the Church taught doctrines which led men and women away from Christ, rather than to him, if it were true that the Church encouraged or in any degree endeavored to keep its members in a condition of ignorance, in this age of enlightenment and intelligence in which we live, these criticisms would be justified.

(1920s1923, October, 8th Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶15 • CR90)

The Nephite record, which, according to prophesy, should come from the earth lay buried in the Hill Cumorah for 1427 years. The people of which the book bears record were destroyed from the earth and the record was sealed up and buried by Moroni-the last Nephi prophet and historian. When it finally came forth it was like a voice from the ground, or a message from the grave. The Hill Cumorah was opened, the plates delivered by Moroni (who now appeared as a heavenly messenger) to Joseph who translated the records into English, and the people at once began to read it. It was the record of a people which no longer existed, but which had once flourished on this continent, and among the most precious narratives contained in it was an account of that which God, through his Son and his prophets, accomplished in this western continent.

(1920s1924, April, 7th Session, Elder Andrew Jenson, ¶27 • CR90)

Observing the faithless condition of the world today I am constrained to read to you from a portion of the record of Mormon as contained in the Book of Mormon, and as inscribed on plates and buried in the Hill Cumorah by Moroni. He says:

(1920s1925, April, 4th Session, Elder George Albert Smith, ¶10 • CR90)

It was a pleasant task for me to visit Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont, where the Prophet Joseph Smith was born, and to then follow in his wake to the western part of the State of New York and there to enter that sacred grove (a remnant of an extensive forest), where the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith and gave him certain instructions about not joining the sects of the day, but to wait for further revelation. I also visited the old Smith residence, or the very spot where the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith on that memorable night between the 21st and 22nd of September, 1825, and then followed the young Prophet, as it were, to the hill Cumorah, where I have stood a number of times looking at the place where the angel Moroni showed the Prophet Joseph where the plates containing an account of the old inhabitants of this land, were hidden, from which plates Joseph afterwards translated the Book of Mormon.

(1920s1925, October, 3rd Session, Elder Andrew Jenson, ¶5 • CR90)

The Lord saw fit in his wisdom and mercy to the children of men to bring forth another witness to substantiate the teachings of the holy Bible, for unknown to the world there was another witness which the Lord in his own due time was to bring forth, which was to testify that Jesus was the Christ and bear witness of his work which had been instituted on the western continent, for in the lonely Hill of Cumorah for fourteen hundred years this mute witness had been waiting the command of God when it should come forth to bear witness in connection with the Bible that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the plan of redemption which he instituted was the same today that it had been in all ages of the world. When this witness came out the whole world declared against it, that it was not divine, but the Lord gave evidence to a few or his servants by the power of the Holy Ghost that this record was true, and since the world was in such a deplorable condition spiritually, this witness came forth at a very opportune time.

(1920s1925, October, 5th Session, Elder John G. Allred, ¶4 • CR90)

Elder Junius F. Wells mentioned the old landmarks of the Church, the Memorial Farm in Vermont, the Hill Cumorah in New York, and other places. The Church has recently acquired the farm of Father Peter Whitmer in Fayette, Seneca county, New York, consisting of about one hundred and twenty acres of land. It was on this farm that the Church was organized on the sixth day of April, 1830. Some may say, Why purchase this property? I am satisfied that the day will come when these historic places will be visited by tourists and Latter-day Saints in great numbers, who will stand in reverence in such hallowed spots. On this farm, and probably in the very house on it, the first Sacrament was administered by the Prophet, after those present had gone through the formality of organizing the Church in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.

(1920s1926, October, 4th Session, Elder John Wells, ¶6 • CR90)

I have met a few people who have not yet a full understanding of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. They declare that it seems to be a myth or something that they cannot comprehend, something that does not seem a reality. But to me, ever since I was a small child and had the privilege of hearing the testimony of my parents and the teachers of the Church, the mission and life’s work of the Prophet Joseph Smith have been wonderful realities. I picture certain important instances in the life of the prophet which seem to be more impressive than other instances. For example, the occasion of his annual visits to the Hill Cumorah, and in fact the first vision of the Angel Moroni. Up to that time all of the artists and the scientists and the teachers of the world pictured to us that an angel was either a woman or a child. But here a man appears declaring himself to be an angel of the Lord, and coming directly from the presence of the Lord in answer to this boy’s prayer. Joseph said that he was frightened at first. Well, I think most of us would be just a little frightened. I fear that I would be more so than I am now. This angel declared that he was a man who once lived upon this earth, and that he had come with a glorious message to declare to this young man, who had desired to know the truth. In all the anxiety of his heart and the earnestness of it, he had gone to his parents and friends and to the ministers, who were teaching religion so-called, and he had not found satisfaction. He did not find that which satisfied his heart, until finally he went to the Lord and received a satisfaction that was wonderful beyond our power at times to appreciate. For the Lord, our Father, and his Son Jesus Christ descended from heaven to answer the boy’s question concerning his desire for the truth, and this was a reality, not a fancy or a dream.

(1920s1926, October, 6th Session, Elder Hyrum G. Smith, ¶5 • CR90)

After this angel, called Moroni, had explained to the boy during that whole night many important things pertaining to his mission, he showed him the Hill Cumorah, in which were deposited the plates from which was translated the Book of Mormon. This reality was of such a character that the next morning, or perhaps about noon time, this young man went to the place called the Hill Cumorah, because he had seen it in vision the night before and that early morning with such completeness and such plainness that he went directly to the place which was shown him in the vision, and where the plates were deposited. And with some kind of an instrument cleared away the remaining earth that covered the stone which covered the box; and, after he had removed the covering of the stone box which contained the records, like any curious youth or man, he reached forward in an attempt to take from the sacred box its contents, when, to his astonishment, he heard a voice forbidding him, and telling him that the time had not yet arrived for him to take these sacred treasures, and that he must further prepare himself by a course of waiting and preparation until such time as he might prove himself worthy of this great responsibility.

(1920s1926, October, 6th Session, Elder Hyrum G. Smith, ¶8 • CR90)

“And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets-the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book!” The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light! The voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom and of the dispensation of the fulness of times! “And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca County, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope!

(1920s1926, October, 7th Session, Elder Brigham H. Roberts, ¶12 • CR90)

I rejoice that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is gradually gathering into its control the sacred places where great historical events happened. I am sure that it will tend to intensify our remembrance of those events. I remember the effect the general conference of the Eastern States mission had upon our young missionaries-the conference that was held at the Hill Cumorah in 1923, celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the revealed existence of the Book of Mormon. I noticed the effect on a group of missionaries only a few days ago of a visit to the Memorial Cottage and the monument that mark the birthplace of our prophet. It seemed to inspire them with confidence and faith in what they had heard of him. I rejoice that we have these places. I rejoice that we have the Joseph Smith Farm, the farm on which the prophet toiled in his boyhood, and where some of the important revelations of God were given to him. I never visit that place but what I feel that I am living in the atmosphere of the great events that took place there. The most uplifting, sanctifying and glorifying inspiration that I have ever experienced has been in the Sacred Grove where the Lord appeared unto him who was to become the New Witness for God in the dispensation of the fulness of times. I am happy in the opportunity of visiting that place and of receiving the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper there, from time to time. I rejoice that recently, acting under instructions from the First Presidency, we were able to secure the place where the Church was born, the house in which, as I now believe, the Church was organized. I know that that is disputed, and that a house is referred to about one hundred feet or more from the house that now stands, that was destroyed, and is said to be the old Whitmer home and occupied by the prosperous Whitmer family during the time that the Prophet Joseph was a guest at their home, and in which he organized the Church. We now have a complete abstract of title with the name of every man and woman through whom the title has passed; and I think we shall be able to patiently investigate the matter until we arrive at the absolute truth as to whether or not the house now standing there is the old Peter Whitmer home. If that is not the house, we don’t want to hold forth to the world that it is; but if it is really the home of the Whitmer family, where these revelations in section 20 of the Doctrine & Covenants were given at sundry times, and where the Church was organized—if really we have that house, what a treasure it is! And what an inspiration it will be to the Church to be conscious of the fact that we do possess it. It was to this home that the Prophet Joseph, his wife Emma and Oliver Cowdery were brought by David Whitmer from Harmony, Pennsylvania, and were received as guests; and where the Prophet completed the translation of the Book of Mormon. As soon as it was completed, the prophet, by messenger, sent the glad word to his parents living at their home in Manchester township, and they with Martin Harris immediately repaired to the Whitmer home, where the prophet took the step necessary to obtain the testimony of the Three Witnesses. That testimony was received in a grove that then existed either on or near the Whitmer farm. They had prayer in the morning at the Whitmer home, for the Whitmer family were devout Christian people. Old father Peter Whitmer was a member of that strictest of sects, the Presbyterians. He was a sincere and good Presbyterian and followed the practice of prayer at his family altar. The day after the arrival of the prophet’s father and mother and Martin Harris, as they completed prayer that morning, the Prophet Joseph walked across the room, and speaking directly to Martin Harris, he said in effect: Martin Harris, you must repent. You must humble yourself before the Lord this day as you have never done before, and get a forgiveness of your sins; and if you will do this you shall, with Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, obtain a view of the plates from which the Book of Mormon is translated.

(1920s1926, October, 7th Session, Elder Brigham H. Roberts, ¶23 • CR90)

“I hope, Mr. Cowdery, that when you are going to reply to my argument to the jury that you will tell us something about the angel who came down in his night clothes while you and Joe Smith were digging golden plates out of the Cumorah hill, by which you have deluded so many thousands of our countrymen, by deceiving them in regard to the coming forth of a certain book called the Book of Mormon.”

(1920s1927, April, 8th Session, Elder Charles H. Hart, ¶21 • CR90)

I have also had the pleasure of being present at a meeting on the Hill Cumorah, which was held in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the delivery to Joseph Smith of the golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated by the inspiration of the living God, and also to attend a meeting in the Sacred Grove at Palmyra, where God, our heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ appeared to the boy Joseph Smith—the most remarkable and wonderful vision that we have any record of in the Holy Scriptures.

(1920s1927, October, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶4 • CR90)

Only three weeks ago, about now, I had the pleasure of standing upon the summit of the Hill Cumorah in company with President Grant. Being there upon that height of land, which so splendidly commands a view of the whole surrounding country, I could not refrain from recalling the time when Moroni stood upon the crown of that hill with the evidence of the ruins of the civilization of his people about him. And this warning, written in the Book of Ether, let me say, in closing, comes from the prophet of God who was also the historian of the great Jaredite nation, by abridging and translating their history into the Nephite language. This warning comes, then, from the historian of one civilization that had perished about the Hill Cumorah; it came also from the same man who was a witness of the destruction of the civilization of his own people at the same place. I hold that he was competent to speak upon this question, and it is most fitting, and is one of the evidences of inspiration in this Book, that one so competent to speak in warning should be chosen to be God’s mouthpiece in warning this great Gentile nation, holding dominion over the land in our day, to beware of their course lest they, too, forfeit their rights to the pride of place they occupy among the nations of the earth. For great as our nation is, it is not above the powers of destruction if it observes not the conditions upon which it may hold its position upon this land.

(1920s1927, October, 1st Session, Elder Brigham H. Roberts, ¶35 • CR90)

“On the 22nd day of September, 1927, it will be one hundred years since the Angel Moroni delivered to the prophet, Joseph Smith, the gold plates which had been deposited for centuries in the Hill Cumorah, near Palmyra, New York, from which plates the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God.

(1920s1927, October, 2nd Session, Elder William R. Sloan, ¶10 • CR90)

We were thrilled at Cumorah in celebrating the centennial of the anniversary of the delivery of the golden plates. We had the honor to there meet President Grant and several of the mission presidents. Those who sang, those who prayed, and those who spoke did so in proper appreciation of the historic significance of that occasion. The missionaries, two hundred of them, some of whom had traveled a thousand miles to be in attendance, at the invitation of President Grant, were greatly impressed. I am sure they received a spiritual elevation that will richly repay them for the journey. They made that journey, many of them, by the “missionary express,” and they were not so modest as not to remember the scriptural passage, “Ask and ye shall receive.” They were cheerfully driven by men who acknowledged that they were not in the habit of picking up people upon the highway, but it seemed to be different to them on this occasion. The elders have preached the gospel as they traveled, and have received the appreciation of people of distinction who have driven them for hundreds of miles.

(1920s1927, October, 4th Session, Elder Charles H. Hart, ¶18 • CR90)

Purchase of Hill Cumorah

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶88 • CR90)

Within a short time the Church has purchased the Hill Cumorah. The purchase embraces the farm where the hill stands, and the adjoining farm, which together with one that we had already purchased, including a part of the hill, gives us now the entire possession of the Hill Cumorah. I know that the hearts of the Latter-day Saints thrilled with pride when the announcement was made that we had secured this property. We now have the home where the prophet was born, and have erected a monument there. We now have the house and farm of Peter Whitmer, where the Church was born. We now have the Palmyra home. We have nearly all of the spots that are sacred in the history of the Church; and we rejoice in the financial condition of the Church whereby we have been able to accomplish these things.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶89 • CR90)

Reference has been made by the president to the acquisition by the Church of the spot of ground in the state of New York known as the Hill Cumorah. It appears to me to be an event of such importance that I desire to devote the short time which is at my disposal this morning to a discussion of that subject. There have been some differences of opinion in regard to it, and in order that I might be correct in the statements which I make I have this morning finished a short manuscript which I would like to read—the first time, I believe, in my experience, that I have ever addressed a congregation in this manner, and I do it for the purpose stated.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶2 • CR90)

“And I, Mormon, wrote an epistle to the king of the Lamanites, and desired of him that he would grant us that we might gather together our people unto the land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶31 • CR90)

“And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Cumorah; and it was a land of many waters, rivers and fountains; and here we had hoped to gain advantage over the Lamanites.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶33 • CR90)

“And when three hundred and eighty and four years had passed away, we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶34 • CR90)

In the Hill Cumorah

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶35 • CR90)

“And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold, I, Mormon, began to be old”—this man, at this time was, past 70 years of age and was still the commander-in-chief of the Nephite army; “and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the Hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶36 • CR90)

All of the remaining records, Mormon tells us, were deposited in the Hill Cumorah.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶40 • CR90)

That the Hill Cumorah and the Hill Ramah are identical is shown by the following: Moroni, in the Book of Ether, says:

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶41 • CR90)

The passages which I have quoted from the Book of Mormon and the more extended discussion of this subject by Elder B. H. Roberts which was published in The Deseret News of March 3, 1928, definitely establish the following facts: That the Hill Cumorah, and the Hill Ramah are identical; that it was around this hill that the armies of both the Jaredites and Nephites, fought their great last battles; that it was in this hill that Mormon deposited all of the sacred records which had been entrusted to his care by Ammaron, except the abridgment which he had made from the plates of Nephi, which were delivered into the hands of his son, Moroni. We know positively that it was in this hill that Moroni deposited the abridgment made by his father, and his own abridgment of the record of the Jaredites, and that it was from this hill that Joseph Smith obtained possession of them.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶44 • CR90)

This sealed portion of the record which came into the hands of Joseph Smith but was not translated by him so far as we are aware, the abridgment made by Mormon, the record of Ether, and the other sacred records which were deposited in the Hill Cumorah, still lie in their repository, awaiting the time when the Lord shall see fit to bring them forth, that they may be published to the world.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶61 • CR90)

Without doubt these treasures lie concealed today, some of them, at least, to be brought forth in the not distant future. How soon this will be we do not know, but this is certain, we are more than a century nearer that time than we were at the time when Joseph Smith took from their resting place in the Hill Cumorah, the plates from which he translated the contents of the Book of Mormon.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶66 • CR90)

I bear you witness, my brethren and sisters, that we have the truth. I am satisfied, beyond a doubt, that the Book of Mormon was found in the Hill Cumorah, which hill has been acquired by the Church. I rejoice in this. I knew long before last summer that the Book of Mormon was true. I have studied it, I have pondered upon it, I have read it again and again in two languages. I have taught the people among whom I have been called to labor that it is true; but last July, for the first time in my life, I had the opportunity of standing upon that hill, and I endeavored to visualize what transpired there one hundred years ago. In my heart, I prayed to the Lord that I might have a witness there that the book is true, that the record had been taken from that sacred ground. I bear you my testimony that I know, as well as I know that I am looking into your faces, that the angel Moroni stood there with the boy prophet and handed to him those records. I bear you my testimony that I know that that boy, by the inspiration of the Lord, translated that record, and we have it as a witness for God in the earth today. The gospel, in its fulness, is contained in that sacred record. I would that the people of the Church would study it more than they do. I had occasion to make frequent inquiry, during the last year and a half, among our missionaries who came into the mission field as to their having read and studied that book before they came out. I find, my brethren and sisters, that there are far too many of them who have not given it serious consideration, and have not studied it. I rejoice in the fact that there is in the Church a disposition now, among the auxiliary organizations, to get the youth of Zion to read. the Book of Mormon. You cannot read it without believing it is the word of God, and that it has been given to us for a purpose. I rejoice in the opportunity that has come to me to labor with the people whose ancestors wrote it. I bear you my witness that the Lamanite people are of Israel. I bear you my witness that they are descendants of those men who wrote that book, and I wish to do my part in their behalf. I wish to be instrumental, in the hands of the Lord, in bringing back to them the glorious knowledge that gives such joy to me,—that the Book of Mormon is true, that it contains a record of their forefathers, that it will teach to them the principles of the everlasting gospel, and that, by following those teachings, they may be saved in our Father’s kingdom.

(1920s1928, April, 1st Session, Rey L. Pratt, ¶8 • CR90)

I rejoice with you, my brethren and sisters, in the testimonies which we have received today. It was inquired of old: “If a man die, shall he live again?” That question has been answered well this morning. I rejoice, and I think you do, in the information given us by our prophet, seer and revelator at the opening of this conference, that Cumorah’s hill is now in the possession of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In standing upon that sacred ground on the one hundredth anniversary, I wished then, and I expressed the thought at our last semi-annual conference, that this property might belong to the Church; because in connection with the Hill Cumorah and the revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith, there has been a flood of information answering that question of old: “If a man die, shall he live again?” What joy must have come into the heart of Job when he was able to exclaim: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

(1920s1928, April, 5th Session, Elder Charles H. Hart, ¶2 • CR90)

Among the many important subjects that have been brought to our attention I think there is no item of more importance than the subject that was discussed by President Ivins in tracing the records of the Nephites from the centers of their civilization northward, and the long pilgrimage of the people as they moved northward until they came to the land of Ripliancum, the land of many waters, and the Hill Cumorah. I was deeply interested in what he said, and I believe that his remarks make a very important contribution, not only to this conference, but to the literature of the Church. It will at least be preserved in the minutes of this conference, and will be of permanent record.

(1920s1928, April, 6th Session, Elder Brigham H. Roberts, ¶16 • CR90)

I have recently returned from visiting the Eastern States Mission, presided over by Elder Henry H. Rolapp, in whose company I traveled through nine States of the Union and the District of Columbia, holding conferences in seven of those commonwealths and preaching the Gospel in the principal cities, including Washington, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia and Boston. I greatly enjoyed my travels in that very interesting region—the land of the Sacred Grove, where Joseph the Prophet beheld in vision God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, and received from them instructions relative to the opening of this Gospel dispensation; the land of the Hill Cumorah, where the record of the Nephites was unearthed by divine direction, that the world might know the truth concerning the glorious past and yet more glorious future of America; the land where Zion, the New Jerusalem, is to rise, and where a work has already begun that will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord in his glory. In that great mission also is the town of Palmyra, where the Book of Mormon was first printed; and the little village of Fayette, where the Church was organized on the sixth day of April in the year 1830.

(1920s1928, October, 3rd Session, Elder Orson F. Whitney, ¶11 • CR90)

“The theory found in the Book of Mormon hardly merits mention. The story is given in Bancroft’s Native Races, vol. v, and covers five pages (p. 96, et seq.) It is rather romantic and reaches from the Tower of Babel, soon after which it is claimed the first Mormons came to this continent, down to September 22, 1827, when Joseph Smith removed the buried book from the hill Cumorah, Ontario County, N. Y. The whole story is not only a pretentious fraud but also a blasphemous perversion of Old Testament history.

(1920s1929, April, 1st Session, President Anthony W. Ivins, ¶10 • CR90)

We have recently had the privilege of being refreshed anew by the inspiration which comes from a visit to Cumorah and the Sacred Grove, and to the Joseph Smith Memorial in the State of Vermont. There is a spirit about those places as there is about the revelations of the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I was reminded of the lines describing Joseph at the age of the restitution, given by Bishop Whitney in that great epic of his, known as “Elias, An Epic of the Ages,” and which I am persuaded is read too little by the Latter-day Saints. He describes Joseph at that time as:

(1920s1929, October, 4th Session, Charles H. Hart, ¶8 • CR90)

I thought how much different that is from the way we look at things. And then just a few days following that one of our saints happened to be listening over the radio to the world’s book man who speaks every afternoon with the exception of Sunday, on some subject regarding which a question has been asked. He called me over the phone and I stepped into the room where my wife and I have a radio, and there I heard Mr. R. C. Preble, who had been asked this question: “What publication do we have that is the most tellable, or rather that gives us the most reliable information regarding the origin of the American Indian?” And he gave as his answer, without any hesitancy whatever, “The Book of Mormon.” Then he proceeded to recite and tell how the Book of Mormon was delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith by an angel from on high, and that the record was taken from the Mormon Hill, as he put it, and that it was translated through the instrumentality of a pair of spectacles which were hidden in the box with the record. And then he went on to tell how it was translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith and others who wrote as he translated it by looking through this pair of spectacles. Then he went on to tell that the Book of Mormon contains the history of a people who left Jerusalem some six hundred years before Christ’s advent into the world, and that they landed upon the west coast of South America, where they settled, built wonderful cities, and eventually came on into this land and scattered over the various parts of North America. He then stated that in the extent of time those who were the most industrious in building cities were destroyed by the people called the Lamanites, now known as the American Indians; the records which this destroyed people had kept were the ones that were hidden in the Hill Cumorah and were received by the Prophet Joseph Smith from the hands of an angel. He gave such a fair account of it, and as this was the fourth question that I had heard him speak upon in regard to our people, in answer to questions which had been asked, I thought that I would take occasion to write to him, which I did. I dictated a letter, saying “If at any time you happen to be speaking upon any allied subjects pertaining to our people I will appreciate it very much if you will make the announcement that if there are any libraries in that part of the country that do not have a copy of the Book of Mormon, I shall be pleased to furnish them free of cost.” I said further, “If you have not a copy of the book I shall be very pleased to send you one with my compliments, and if at any time when you are speaking on any subject pertaining to our people and you haven’t first-hand information I shall be pleased to furnish you it.” It was about ten days before the letter reached him. I addressed it to W. H. A. S., the station at Louisville, because he was talking over the national “hookup” and I didn’t know just where he was; but it finally found him in the city of Chicago, and he immediately answered my letter and said that he would be very pleased indeed to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon. I sent him one with my compliments, and also enclosed with it several other pamphlets which contain some of the teachings of our people. I received another nice letter from him stating that he had received the literature, and that his secretary had already begun reading the Book of Mormon, and he was going to do so as the opportunity presented itself. And he continued: “I want to thank you for the little pamphlets which you enclosed, because of the information that they contain.”

(1930s1930, April, 6th Session, Elder Miles L. Jones, ¶8 • CR90)

I want to read to you a few verses from the 10th chapter of the Book of Moroni in the Book of Mormon. It was Moroni who had the responsibility of hiding up in the Hill Cumorah, many centuries ago, the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated; and he had the responsibility of delivering those plates to Joseph Smith, and after they had been translated by the gift and power of God, received them back at the hands of the Prophet Joseph.

(1930s1931, October, 5th Session, Elder George F. Richards, ¶7 • CR90)

I desire now to call your attention to what Moroni said just prior to hiding the plates in the Hill Cumorah. It is just what we read in the Bible. I might go into this subject a little in detail, but time will not permit. I am not given to discussing things, to be arbitrary, but when I make a statement I want to do so hoping that you will think about it and get some good out of it. In this matter of choosing men-that is what brings this to my mind-I am one of that number representing the First Council of the Seventies. There are constant changes in our councils brought about through changes in other work of the Church-men are taken out of our quorums to serve as high councilors. Bishop’s counselors, and for other purposes: and then the bishops of wards and presidencies of stakes recommend to us men to fill those vacancies. So we are all the time ordaining Seventies and setting apart presidents to keep these quorums intact as far as we can. All these men are recommended to us as good men, and the bishops beieve that they are good men, and most of them are good men, but there are some of them who have not proved to be very good. Some of these Elders who have been recommended to be Seventies, I do not know why they recommend them. Out of the number some of them are very choice men, but other Elders that we ordain Seventies, it is the last time we see them, and then we are blamed for the condition of quorums. But of course the responsibility rests with us to labor with those men and make of them, through the blessings of the Lord, good men.

(1930s1932, October, 1st Session, Elder J. Golden Kimball, ¶22 • CR90)

It had not occurred to me until coming to this conference that it might be significant that the pioneering of the work of preaching the Gospel over the radio in our mission originated on the Susquehanna River, not far from where the holy priesthood was restored in this dispensation, that is, in the city of Wilkesbarre, on the north line of Pennsylvania and near the southern line of New York. Since starting there we have preached the Gospel every week over the same radio now for the past two years and eight months. The locality in which we have had the greatest radio success seems to be that which surrounds the Hill Cumorah and the sacred grove-Wilkesbarre on the northeast, Jamestown, New York, on the northwest, Buffalo and Syracuse on the north. When I informed one of the officers of the Columbia Broadcasting System, last week, that within the last two years and eight months we had broadcast eight hundred and eighty-eight programs over the air, by very young untrained amateurs, boys and girls of from ninetee to twenty-two or twenty- three years of age, without any previous preparation or special education, he said that there was nothing comparable with it. I asked him if he wouldn’t write me a letter to that effect, and I received one yesterday confirming that statement. He said that there had been some extended programs by great preachers, like Dr. Fosdick of New York, but that there was nothing comparable with this work that is being carried on by the Church in the Eastern States Mission.

(1930s1933, April, 4th Session, Elder James H. Moyle, ¶6 • CR90)

My brethren and sisters, last July, and within a few days after I had been appointed to the presidency of the Eastern States Mission, I had the privilege of attending a conference held at the Joseph Smith Farm and on the Hill Cumorah, near Palmyra, New York. It was my good fortune, at that time, to meet all of the missionaries laboring in the Eastern States Mission. While I have not had the time since to visit them in the districts in which they are laboring, I feel that I can say that we are carrying on in that part of the Lord’s vineyard, as are the missionaries in the other parts of the world.

(1930s1933, October, 3rd Session, Elder Don B. Colton, ¶2 • CR90)

Dr. John Watson in “The Life of the Master” says: “Were a parchment discovered in an Egyptian mound, six inches square, containing fifty words which were certainly spoken by Jesus, this utterance would count more than all the books which have been published since the first century.” In fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah and also other prophets, the ancient record of nations long since dead, who dwelt on this the American continent, was taken from the hill Cumorah by angelic direction Sept. 22, 1827. The contents of this, record were translated by the prophet Joseph Smith by the power of God and the aid of the Urim and Thummim, and the Book of Mormon is the fruit of this translation. The history of the men and women on this continent ages ago was shrouded in seemingly impenetrable darkness, but God said: “Let there be light,” and there was light.

(1930s1934, October, 5th Session, Elder Charles A. Callis, ¶15 • CR90)

Inspirational Time at Cumorah

(1930s1935, October, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶81 • CR90)

I rejoice in the very wonderful time that we had at the dedication of the monument on the Hill Cumorah, in the wonderful turnout of people who were not of our faith, in the splendid reception given to us by the people of Palmyra, who provided accommodations at a moderate charge for the visitors from Utah and other sections of the country, making them feel at home. All of the feelings of animosity and hatred that existed in the hearts of the people of that town in early days against the Prophet Joseph Smith and others have entirely disappeared.

(1930s1935, October, 1st Session, President Heber J. Grant, ¶82 • CR90)

And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca County, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book!

(1930s1935, October, 2nd Session, Elder Don B. Colton, ¶4 • CR90)

The outstanding event during the last six months in the Eastern States Mission was the dedication of the monument on the Hill Cumorah, near Palmyra, New York. Reference was made this morning to this event. The work of the mission has centered, during the summer, largely around that place. Our missionaries visited every home within a radius of twenty miles of the Hill Cumorah. More than seventy thousand people live within that area.

(1930s1935, October, 2nd Session, Elder Don B. Colton, ¶5 • CR90)

We are deeply grateful to the Lord for the blessings that have been given to us in our mission. We are especially grateful for the fine publicity that was given through the newspapers, magazines, and over the radios concerning the dedication of the monument. Thousands of articles were published. The Hill Cumorah has continued to be a place of interest for many people since the dedication services were held. No day has passed, since the dedication of the monument, that has not seen many people come to that hill. Forty, I think, is the smallest number, and we have had as high as seven hundred and seventy in a day visit the monument and listen to the message of the missionaries who have been stationed in that locality.

(1930s1935, October, 2nd Session, Elder Don B. Colton, ¶6 • CR90)

If the dead can see and know of earthly events, as some people believe they do, then the heart of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, must have been filled with joy because of the recent events around his boyhood home. Over 5,000 of his followers, and others, gathered at “Cumorah Land” as it is called by the Mormons, for a four day celebration commemorating the restoration of the gospel. Sunday, July 21, on top of Mormon Hill, as the natives there have long called it, or the Hill Cumorah, as the Mormons say, was unveiled and dedicated a beautiful monument, which was set to mark the place where it is claimed the young Prophet Joseph found the golden tablets from which he translated the record known as the Book of Mormon.

(1930s1935, October, 2nd Session, Elder Don B. Colton, ¶25 • CR90)

A short time ago a man visited the Hill Cumorah, and after listening to the story of the elders he said: “The test of a man’s greatness is measured by ideas original with him. What did Joseph Smith give to the world new in the way of ideas?”

(1930s1935, October, 2nd Session, Elder Don B. Colton, ¶28 • CR90)

By reason of some impressions that I have received in visits to some of the missions during the past season since our last conference, and having had the great privilege of being present at the dedication of the monument at the Hill Cumorah, and by reason of some conversations which I had with some distinguished gentlemen who drove many miles to come to that dedication and asked earnestly concerning the Church, I have felt that the changes that are occurring are so rapid that we can probably scarcely appreciate them, being so close to them, and then perhaps we do not fully understand the meaning and significance of these changes.

(1930s1935, October, 3rd Session, Elder Melvin J. Ballard, ¶4 • CR90)

The resurrection, being an accomplished fact and a possibility with us, opens up to us wonderful opportunities. Perhaps there is no more sublime thought in all our teachings and all our doctrines than the possibility of eternal and perpetual progress that the human soul is capable of. Remove from our philosophy the thought and possibility of a resurrection and we lose that wonderful thought of eternal progression. With it goes the thought of our mutual association in family relationships we so much cherish as a people. They to me are crucial and fundamental beliefs. If we cannot accept them it becomes a sad day for us, but we do accept them wholeheartedly as they are perhaps the most wonderful thoughts in all of our philosophy. Along with this thought we accept another, the fact that testimony of this was borne to our generation. I mean the generation in these modern times, if we can extend it over a hundred years or more. That same testimony that Christ is a resurrected being, and a testimony as to the personality of God, his Father, came to us through a modern prophet. That fact and its succeeding important events were commemorated just recently by the erection and unveiling of a monument on the Hill Cumorah.

(1930s1935, October, 6th Session, Elder Antoine R. Ivins, ¶6 • CR90)

The Book of Mormon is a sacred record containing information that is found in no other book. The Lord has commanded us to divide with all his children the truths of the everlasting Gospel that have been revealed to prepare them for a place in the Celestial kingdom. Distributing the Book of Mormon is a most important missionary duty. In the year 1827 Joseph Smith was living at Palmyra in New York and it was at the Hill Cumorah, not far from his home that an angel delivered into his custody a volume of plates having the appearance of gold. He was directed to translate their contents into English, which he did by the gift and power of God. It caused quite a commotion in the community when it was reported that Joseph had received some golden records and had them in his possession. Attempts were made to take them from him. He and his father’s family were harassed because of the report that they had something valuable in their possession. The Lord had informed Joseph before he was fifteen years of age that a great mission was to be given to him if he would live a righteous life. Later it became part of his duty to translate and publish to the world the Book of Mormon. When the people in the neighborhood learned that he was contracting with a local printer to publish the book they did everything possible to discourage it. They declared that the work was a fraud and determined to prevent its publication, and in order that the venture might be a financial failure they tried to make the distribution impossible by agreeing that they would not read the book.

(1930s1936, April, 1st Session, Elder George Albert Smith, ¶8 • CR90)

Another was assigned “The Monument at Cumorah Hill.” He spoke eloquently, and may I say touchingly, upon, the subject of immortality and the deep appreciation of the faith that had come into his life by reason of contact with that monument. Anticipating the monument at Florence, Nebraska, another missionary spoke of fidelity and courage, and closed with a wonderful appeal for all present to exhibit the same fine qualities in missionary life.

(1930s1936, October, 1st Session, Elder Don B. Colton, ¶6 • CR90)

In addition, the various monuments and places of historical interest, such as the Hill Cumorah, the Joseph Smith Home at Palmyra, the Joseph Smith Birthplace in Vermont, and Winter Quarters, are all proving very attractive to many visitors. They are helpful means of teaching the remarkable history of this people and the foundations of our faith.

(1930s1936, October, 4th Session, Bishop Sylvester Q. Cannon, ¶13 • CR90)

One of the outstanding developments of that period has been the work at the Hill Cumorah where the Church has erected a beautiful and impressive monument and has also erected a Bureau of Information. During the last summer, an open air theatre has been erected. I mention these only in appreciation of the fine work that has been accomplished in creating and providing for us the agencies that are so necessary in aid of the preaching of the Gospel.

(1930s1937, October, 3rd Session, Elder Don B. Colton, ¶4 • CR90)

Spiritual Riches from Cumorah

(1930s1937, October, 6th Session, Elder Charles A. Callis, ¶26 • CR90)

Another hill, old in story, is ancient Cumorah. Out of that hill came truth and spiritual riches that will never fade nor perish—a volume of Scripture, the Book of Mormon. For many long centuries the people whom Columbus found when he stepped on the shores of America had no recorded knowledge of their forefathers, or the will of God concerning them. Without scripture which would make them wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ they “wandered as strangers in sin.” The deep darkness of ages had rested like a pall over their buried past. But God said, “Let there be light; and there was light.”

(1930s1937, October, 6th Session, Elder Charles A. Callis, ¶27 • CR90)

And again, what do we hear. Glad tidings from Cumorah. Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfillment of the prophets, the book to be revealed.

(1930s1937, October, 6th Session, Elder Charles A. Callis, ¶29 • CR90)

In conclusion I must take time to mention one thing. My first introduction to the Mission, by the way, was in company with President Don B. Colton at Palmyra on the occasion of the summer conference. Many people have asked me, and they constantly ask me there, as to whether or not that great pageant, “America’s Witness for Christ” is to be repeated this year. I answer of course in the affirmative. It is to be repeated. The conference is to be held again. I think I received more inspiration there upon that occasion than in a like period at any other time in my life to see the home of the Prophet, to attend those meetings in the Sacred Grove, to see the sacred drama, this great pageant upon the Hill Cumorah, and to witness those other scenes that are so historic and important to us. I thought of the words which came to Moses, “The place on which thou standest is holy ground.”

(1930s1938, April, 3rd Session, Elder Frank Evans, ¶14 • CR90)

Yes, the pageant will be repeated this year. The Conference will be held as usual. The Hill Cumorah is now listed on all the principal and official road-maps, and many, many thousands of people travel that way. I hope that many of the Saints from the West may enjoy this occasion with us. You have our heartiest invitation to be there.

(1930s1938, April, 3rd Session, Elder Frank Evans, ¶15 • CR90)

A little later in the summer many will visit the Hill Cumorah and the Sacred Grove, and the home of the Prophet. They will go to the little old farm, the cradle of the Church, the place where six young men performed the necessary service of organization—five farmers and one school master, the oldest only thirty, the youngest slightly over nineteen.

(1930s1939, April, 6th Session, Elder Frank Evans, ¶5 • CR90)

Many of them are in western New York, centering around the city of Palmyra. The Prophet’s boyhood home, the Sacred Grove, the Hill Cumorah, scenes associated with the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon, the Peter Whitmer home where the Church was organized, and the site of the first baptisms-all are within short drives of Palmyra. Not far distant on the banks of the Susquehanna River is the area in which the Priesthood was restored.

(1940s1942, October, 1st Session, Elder Stephen L Richards, ¶3 • CR90)

In this historic section perhaps nothing is quite so conspicuous and impressive as the Hill Cumorah. Capped by the beautiful monument which the Church has erected, it is the outstanding landmark of the countryside. A well-designed cottage-bureau of information at the base of the Hill with beautifully landscaped grounds, a commodious parking space for cars, and the illumination of the monument at night which gives to it and to the statue of the Angel Moroni which crowns it the appearance and atmosphere of an ethereal apparition projected high and impressively into the night sky, all combine to make this spot a mecca for tourists. When, as has been the yearly custom, the missionaries stage a sacred pageant on the crest of the Hill, representing figures and events of the past, culminating in the coming forth of the new witness for Christ, and when the trumpeters in the stillness of the night, stationed at the base of the imposing monument, sound their clarion call heralding the advent of the new dispensation of he fulness of times, thousands of spectators, gathered from far and near, coming mostly out of curiosity, are hushed in speechless and awful reverence for the sacred and mighty thing the representation portrays.

(1940s1942, October, 1st Session, Elder Stephen L Richards, ¶4 • CR90)

Although a boy fourteen years of age, he went into the woods near his home, into one of God’s first temples, bowed down upon the ground, and asked the Lord in his confusion, “Which of these churches shall I join?” I have no doubt he was surprised when the answer came to him, “Join none of them.” And then he was told that if he would obey the direction of our Heavenly Father, an important mission would be given for him to perform under divine direction. That was not the idea of a man who desired to deceive; it was the humble, simple faith of a boy. So he continued following the inspiration of the Lord. He continued carrying out the directions that were given to him by holy beings, the result of which was the uncovering in the Hill Cumorah of the golden plates from which the Book of Mormon, the history of the ancestors of the American Indians, was translated and published. Since then that book has been carried to the ends of the world, having been published in many languages. He was only a young man when that occurred. When the time came for its publication, he was ridiculed. People derided him and called him a money digger because he worked for a living and had to earn that living part of the time digging in the earth. But they didn’t look upon him as a servant of the Lord; neither did the majority of the people in the days of the Savior accept Jesus Christ of Nazareth as a servant of the Lord. The great majority rejected Christ and rejected each of his followers who became members of the quorum of the Twelve.

(1940s1945, October, 1st Session, President George Albert Smith, ¶9 • CR90)

There had been written in that book at the time of its compilation the statement that the book would be received by many people. Joseph Smith didn’t eliminate that statement when it came to publication. When the people said, “We’ll not read it,” he did not take it out and say, “Well, I can’t fulfil this.” If he had been writing the book himself, he probably would have changed the script, but it was not his script, and so it went to the world. I was present a few years ago when the Smith farm near the Hill Cumorah was purchased, and as I went through the neighborhood I found only one copy of the Book of Mormon. That was owned by a man named Pliny T. Sexton, who was chancellor of the University of New York and the banker at Palmyra. He had a copy of the first edition of the Book of Mormon as it came from the press. The leaves had never been cut, and he kept it in the safe in the bank. I asked him, “Is there any place here where I can find another copy of the Book of Mormon?” He said, “I do not know.” I then began to inquire among the people and found that the people of Palmyra had kept their word. They had neither bought nor would they read it. At that time Palmyra was a village and is still a village, but the Book of Mormon that was discredited then has since been read and accepted by people in all parts of the earth, people from many nations, numbering hundreds of thousands, and the work is still going forward, fulfilling the prediction that it was to be made

(1940s1945, October, 1st Session, President George Albert Smith, ¶11 • CR90)

These few minutes will not permit me to give much of an account of the activities of the Northern States Mission. There will be time, however, to tell you of one experience that has made a deep impression upon me. It is not a single experience but a recurring one as we have traveled about that territory in the United States. Within the boundaries of the Northern States Mission are many historical places of the early days of the Church, many landmarks that remind us of the courage and the faith of those who gave so much to the establishment of this work, and many of the landscapes bear evidence even to this day of the hardships and sufferings of these noble people. In that area are located Kirtland, Carthage, Nauvoo, Mt. Pisgah and Winter Quarters, and a little beyond the mission’s eastern boundary lies the Hill Cumorah at Palmyra, and between these places are some vaguely discernible trails and roads where these faithful Saints with weary feet have trod. Each time Sister Stoddard and I traveled about the mission and our journeys have taken us to or through these places, they have become more sacred to us. Many of our trips have been made in winter-time, and as that is the season of the year when these people, in most cases, were required to leave their homes and go into the open country, we could picture to a degree the suffering which they endured. We asked ourselves the question, how much faith did it require to give up home in the winter and move out into a storm that defied survival of human life. This they did because of their love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and because they were unwilling to compromise in any degree with those who were enemies of the truth.

(1940s1946, April, 1st Session, Elder David I. Stoddard, ¶3 • CR90)

The principle of obedience to the laws of the gospel is fundamental. It lies at the base. The Prophet Joseph Smith learned it very early in his ministry. He learned it when he went that first morning, after the visits of Moroni, to the Hill Cumorah. He had gone there under the direction of the angel, who had told him that he should have no thought in mind other than to bring to pass the righteousness of God and the accomplishment of his purposes in the earth. Joseph’s family was very poor, and as he walked toward the hill, he thought about the intrinsic value of the things that the angel had told him were buried there. He wondered if the plates, or something else to be found with them, could not be used to relieve the poverty of his parents and their family. When he uncovered the box and saw the gold plates, he reached to take them out and received a shock that set him back. He reached again and received a more severe shock. Then the third time, thinking all he needed was physical strength, he reached with al his might to take the plates and received still another shock which sapped his strength, and he cried out, “Why can I not obtain this book?” And unexpectedly to him, the angel said, “Because you have not kept the commandments of the Lord.” And then Joseph received a great manifestation that I have not time here to tell you about, but it kept him reminded all the days of his life that he had to obey in order to receive the promised blessings. The angel told him that he could not get the plates then, and that he would not be able to get them until he was not only willing to obey the laws of God but also was able to do so.

(1940s1946, October, 3rd Session, Elder Marion G. Romney, ¶10 • CR90)

I want to express here a deep appreciation for my friend, President German E. Ellsworth. I have reason to call him friend beyond just the common friendship of brother to brother. I think possibly outside of the early founders of the Church, no other man has sponsored the distribution of the Book of Mormon as has Brother Ellsworth, and I noted here a little statement he made in the meeting of the mission presidents last Wednesday when we spent from nine o’clock in the morning until four-thirty in the afternoon listening to the inspiration of these men who are laboring with your boys and girls in the mission field. Brother Ellsworth spoke of the time when he was president of the Northern States Mission and of the thousands and thousands of copies of the Book of Mormon he published that were distributed to the world. He said as he walked off the Hill Cumorah one day, the voice of the Lord said unto him: “Push the distribution of the record taken from this hill; it will help bring the world to Christ.” I think that when all other evidences fail, the Book of Mormon will do that very thing in this world, and as far as I am concerned, I think we haven’t all the evidence yet. There will be plenty more to come.

(1940s1946, October, Preliminary Session, Bishop Legrand Richards, ¶14 • CR90)

I have been thinking today also, of the pioneers, but of other pioneers who preceded the ones we have been honoring today. About twenty-five centennials ago, a hardy group left the comforts of a great city, crossed a desert, braved an ocean, and came to the shores of this, their promised land. There were two large families, those of Lehi and Ishmael, who in not many centuries, numbered hundreds of millions of people on these two American continents. Their scriptures and records taught them of God. They had many blessings, and many promises. They were given, by the creator of this land, a clear title to the Americas-a certificate of title, free and clear of all encumbrance. There was, however, one condition: They must serve the Lord their God if they were to retain title to the property. Their wickedness brought on wars. which scattered and destroyed them and divided them into two factions, the Nephites and Lamanites, and finally they peopled the continents. The years went apace; the Savior came to them afterhis resurrection-which glorious event we are celebrating today, this Easter day. The Savior so inspired them that for twice the period of our own Church history they were righteous and were devoted to their Heavenly Father. And then came prosperity and wealth. The sins of the world overtook them, and for about one hundred and seventy years, both factions were wicked, very wicked indeed, until the great battle on Cumorah when the Nephites were literally destroyed. The Prophet Mormon recounted two hundred and thirty thousand people lying in their blood in death, and this because of their wickedness. Their enemies had been permitted to come upon them. Mormon exclaims:

(1940s1947, April, 7th Session, Elder Spencer W. Kimball, ¶4 • CR90)

Brother [Albert E.] Bowen and others have referred to the Prophet Joseph as one of the most important influences in the lives of all of us. A week ago I had an opportunity to walk into the Sacred Grove, the place where that young man, Joseph, walked and prayed to the Lord to help him. One cannot walk into that grove without feeling that spirit of reverence, that spirit of sacredness, the only spot, if my memory serves me right, where God and his son Jesus Christ both appeared at the same time, at the same place, and they spoke to that boy. Oh, that is a fact! You cannot go into the grove but what you feel that influence. It is different from any other wooded grove in all the world, because it is a sacred place and a hallowed spot. That grove is right behind the house where his father and mother lived and where Joseph lived as a boy; and right down the road a little way-you who have not been there-is that other sacred spot, the Hill Cumorah, where the angel of the Lord appeared to that boy, not once, but in our consecutive years, before he delivered to him the golden plates, and from them came the Book of Mormon. That boy did not write that book. Then he sealed that testimony by giving his life. How much more evidence do we need? Surely the world must accept that as truth. And it would be well if we would stimulate that belief in the hearts and souls of our young people. If they can only feel that influence, that one feels when he is there, they would need never to doubt nor would they need ever to worry.

(1940s1947, October, 4th Session, Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson, ¶11 • CR90)

I was reminded of that as the brethren have spoken, particularly Bishop Richards, of the power of evil extant in the world today, and some evidences of that power. As I thought of that, I have remembered that in the life of the boy-prophet, Joseph Smith, before he was given the outbursting of two of the greatest revelations that have ever been given to man, both of those revelations were preceded by a demonstration of the power of evil,-in the Sacred Grove, and on the Hill Cumorah. It seemed to have been necessary that the Prophet was to understand the nature and power of that force in order that he could be prepared to contend successfully against it.

(1940s1949, October, 2nd Session, Elder Harold B. Lee, ¶5 • CR90)

Pageant At Hill Cumorah

(1940s1949, October, 6th Session, Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson, ¶10 • CR90)

I had made some study and preparation to discuss a subject that I thought might be appropriate at this conference, but I am not going to give that talk. Instead, if you will pardon me, I would like to share with you an experience that I recently had at Hill Cumorah and the Sacred Grove at Palmyra, New York.

(1940s1949, October, 6th Session, Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson, ¶11 • CR90)

The pageant is the story of the Book of Mormon. The rustic setting of Hill Cumorah is the stage or the background of that pageant. The scenes are those of the Angel Moroni receiving his instructions from his father Mormon, the story of the Prophet Joseph receiving his instructions from the Angel Moroni, and other scenes of the Nephite and Lamanite people, the story of the Book of Mormon, and the great message of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

(1940s1949, October, 6th Session, Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson, ¶13 • CR90)

The pageant was scheduled for nine-thirty in the evening. The dates had been selected when the moon was not shining, because the participants wanted darkness of the night on the hill. All the lights were turned off in that vicinity at the beginning of the pageant. At nine-ten every night those missionaries were asked to assemble at a certain wooded spot on Hill Cumorah, behind one of the large scenes, in the darkness. There was that great audience out in front, not knowing what was going on, but there those missionaries assembled every night at nine-ten, quietly, in a circle, huddled together, praying to the Lord that he would bless that pageant, that it would go forward without any interruption and that the audience would partake of the spirit of the pageant.

(1940s1949, October, 6th Session, Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson, ¶21 • CR90)

The audience was kept informed of the pageant proceedings by narrators who were speaking over a central loud-speaking system. Beautiful spotlights were flashed upon the different scenes on the Hill Cumorah. A commercial firm was employed to furnish the loud-speaking system, and a few of the Mormon missionaries who were mechanically inclined were assigned to help the technician with the loud-speaking system.

(1940s1949, October, 6th Session, Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson, ¶27 • CR90)

The last night the technician became very much concerned that the loud-speaking system might not continue to operate, and he told the missionaries he did not know what to do. There was that great audience of thousands of people. They could not follow the pageant without the loud- speaking system functioning: because some of the audience were a block away from the Hill and from the scenes. But as he became concerned, all he would have needed to do was to ask those missionaries, but he did not do that, so they took it in their own hands. They went out behind that truck in the wooded section of Hill Cumorah, and as we would expect, those missionaries knelt down and prayed that the Lord would see to it that the loud-speaking system would continue, and the loud-speaking system did continue until the pageant was over.

(1940s1949, October, 6th Session, Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson, ¶28 • CR90)

The pageant closed the third night, and before that great audience, as they saw the last scene, four missionaries, in the darkness of the night, with a brilliant spotlight flashed upon them, stood on top of Hill Cumorah. They were dressed in beautiful long white robes and each of them with his bugle turned toward that beautiful monument of the Angel Moroni and played in unity, “An Angel From On High.” Those thirty thousand people could not have witnessed that scene without their hearts being touched; it was one of the most thrilling yet touching experiences of my life.

(1940s1949, October, 6th Session, Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson, ¶34 • CR90)

I have a firm conviction that the Lord led the Pilgrims and the Puritans across the ocean, perhaps permitted the persecutions that would bring them here, so that when they came to the American shores with their righteous blood and their high ideals and standards, they would form the basis of a nation which would make possible the restoration of the gospel. I am sure that since there was not religious liberty, not political liberty here, the Lord permitted these few poorly-armed and ill-clad men at Valley Forge and elsewhere to defeat a great army with its trained soldiery and its many mercenaries, a few against the many, but the few had on their side the Lord God of heaven, that gave them victory. And there came political liberty and religious liberty with it, all in preparation for the day when a young boy would come forth and would seek and make contact with the Lord and open the doors of heaven again. Following that great manifestation to Joseph Smith came the opening of Cumorah Hill and the speaking of the dead from the dust.

PURPOSES TO BE FULFILLED

(1950s1950, October, Third Session, Spencer W. Kimball, ¶7 • CR90)

I should like to give you a few quotations from some of the early brethren. Joseph Smith said that this work was extremely essential, and he sent Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson out as early as October, 1830. It wasn’t very long after the plates had come out of the Hill Cumorah. In section thirty-two of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord Jesus Christ says of those Lamanite missionaries:

(1950s1950, October, Third Session, Spencer W. Kimball, ¶21 • CR90)

Remember that there were no clouds in the sky, no evidence of rain, and no precedent for the deluge when Noah builded the ark according to commandment. There was no ram in the thicket when Isaac and his father left for Moriah for the sacrifice. Remember there were no towns and cities, no farms and gardens, no homes and storehouses, no blossoming desert in Utah when the persecuted pioneers crossed the plains. And remember that there were no heavenly beings in Palmyra, on the Susquehanna or on Cumorah when the soul-hungry Joseph slipped quietly into the Grove, knelt in prayer on the river bank, and climbed the slopes of the sacred hill.

(1950s1952, October, 3rd Session, Spenser W. Kimball, ¶84 • CR90)

By divine direction, this young man, Joseph Smith, unearthed a sacred record buried centuries ago in the ancient Hill Cumorah. This record contained the revelations of the Lord to the people that lived upon this the American Continent centuries ago. The scriptures in this holy record are among the most profound ever given to any people or in any dispensation. For example, Lehi declared:

(1950s1954, April, Priesthood (Session One), Joesph L. Wirthlin, ¶3 • CR90)

It was my privilege in the month of August to attend the great pageant at Palmyra, and I sat entranced with some forty thousand others at the Hill Cumorah, looking up at that dark hill as the night came on. I heard the Voices of those who took the parts of many prophets, Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Amulek, Ammon, and finally the prophet, Samuel the Lamanite, all prophesying as to the coming of the Savior of the world to them here on this continent.

(1950s1954, October, 4th Session, Spencer W. Kimball, ¶2 • CR90)

Since I firmly believe that the Quiche-Maya Indians of Guatemala are descendants of the Book of Mormon peoples of ancient America, as I believe also that other Indians trace back to the same ancestry, it is but natural for me to regard the lost Quiche-Maya Popol Vuh, which disappeared from among the ancestors of the Quiches many, many years ago, to be the Book of Mormon records. It is evident that they were lost or disappeared when Moroni, the last historian of the Nephite race, hid them in the Hill Cumorah in 421 A.D. A knowledge of the activities of the compilers of the ancient records, their contents, and finally their sudden disappearance was carried down from age to age by the Indians through tradition to the sixteenth century, when at that time a Quiche-Mayan recorded the traditions of his people, according to the late Dr. Morley,

(1950s1955, April, 6th Session, Milton R. Hunter, ¶26 • CR90)

Then let me take you, as I close, to Cumorah. I could pay tribute to the wonderful boys and girls in the missions of the great Northwest. President McMurrin, we are grateful to you for the notable job you have done. I look down at Brother Steed and President Taylor, and I am grateful for the great theater that they have built against the Hill Cumorah. There are stirring things in life, but to stand against that hill, with only the darkness of the night for a curtain, and then have the four trumpeters come out on the top of that hill and play “An Angel from on High"! Then sit through the evenings that attracted 54,000 people to witness the pageant, and then go through four days of testimony in the Sacred Grove!

(1950s1955, October, 7th Session, Adam S. Bennion, ¶59 • CR90)

I have studied this gospel through four universities, and I am so happy to be able to say that the more I have studied, the more wonderful this gospel becomes—so simple, so sublime, so satisfying. I give you my witness I have tried this gospel on, and it works—it works in every situation in life. And finally, I give you my testimony that the witness has come. It has come from Cumorah; it has come from Alaska; it has come from Hawaii; it has come from the hearthstone in my own home. I know as I stand here that God lives and hears and answers prayers. The recipient of answers to those prayers bids you to build richly, to invest in the bonds that never fail—bonds of family, of true, sacred friends, and faith in Almighty God.

(1950s1956, April, 3rd Session, Adam S. Bennion, ¶36 • CR90)

Brothers and sisters, I believe I will take just a minute and digress from our usual policy. You are thrilled this morning with the presence of these young people from the Brigham Young University. Many of them, perhaps all, I do not know, will be heard in a great musical production based on the history of the Mormon Battalion which the Brigham Young University is presenting in Provo the last of this month and June first, second, and third. They call it “Sand in Their Shoes.” Because of the historic significance of this play and the sacrifice and suffering of the brave men and women who made this trek I believe that all members of the Church who can possibly attend that will be highly pleased and well paid for their effort. I have heard it said that in many ways this play will be comparable to the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

(1950s1959, April, 1st Session, Closing, ¶3 • CR90)

Some time ago I was privileged to have a telephone conversation with one of the religion editors for a great national news chain. He was preparing an article that was to precede the showing of the great Hill Cumorah Pageant. He said he wanted to talk with me about what he called think he called it the “intricate” teachings of the Church. When I asked him to explain what he meant, he said, “Well, this baptism for the dead.” So, as I explained to him the teachings of the Church, he said, “Well, your teaching regarding baptism for the dead is like praying souls out of purgatory.” I said, “Well, I suppose the intent may be said to be the same, but there is one distinctive difference. One is scriptural and true, and the other is not.” Then he challenged me to prove from the scriptureshis over the telephoneow we could take this stand.

(1950s1959, April, 4th Session, Harold B. Lee, ¶5 • CR90)

I was especially pleased to be selected to accompany Elder Delbert L. Stapley to organize the Cumorah Stake at Palmyra, New York, the birthplace of the Church. I tell you the Spirit of the Lord and that of the Prophet Joseph was truly there.

(1960s1962, April, 3rd Session, Franklin D. Richards, ¶20 • CR90)

Moroni, preparing to deposit the record in Cumorah, predicted that “… it shall be brought out of darkness unto light, according to the word of God; yea, it shall be brought out of the earth and it shall shine forth out of darkness, and come unto the knowledge of the people; and it shall be done by the power of God.” (Mormon 8:16.) In Mormon, chapter eight, from which this prophecy of Moroni is taken, and in chapter nine is to be found a clear and accurate description of the world in which we now live—a word picture written by a prophet, who by the power of God saw in open vision and made record of us, our times and doings, and of the chastening which awaits us, the inhabitants of this land, if we do not repent and heed the teachings of the restored gospel. Concluding the account of the covenant concerning the record to be preserved and brought forth, the Lord said to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1828: “Behold, there are many things engraven upon the plates of Nephi (speaking of the small plates being substituted for the 116 pages of manuscript lost by Martin Harris) which do throw greater views upon my gospel; …

(1960s1963, April, 4th Session, Marion G. Romney, ¶21 • CR90)

Remember the night of September 21, 1823, when Joseph Smith was visited three times by Moroni, and how the next day Joseph, feeling ill, was sent home to rest. He crossed the fence and fainted. As he regained consciousness, there once more stood Moroni who told him to go to his father and tell him all that had transpired. Why? For many reasons, one of which was that he had told Joseph to go to the Hill Cumorah. Joseph could not in righteousness leave that farm without his father’s permission. That was the law. Generally it was enforced. So to leave the farm and go to the hill Joseph had to obtain the approbation of his father. Upon completion of his account of what had happened, the father told him that this was of God and to obey.

(1960s1966, October, 2nd Session, S. Dilworth Young, ¶26 • CR90)

As we look into the record, we find that after the first visit to the Hill Cumorah, Joseph told the story of the history of the early American inhabitants to his family. His mother wrote: “From this time forth, Joseph continued to receive instructions from the Lord, and we continued to get the children together every evening for the purpose of listening while he gave us a relation of the same. I presume our family presented an aspect as singular as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth-all seated in a circle, father, mother, sons and daughters, and giving the most profound attention to a boy, eighteen years of age. …” This sounds like the first family home evening of this dispensation.

(1960s1967, October, 4th Session, Eldred G. Smith, ¶11 • CR90)

Abraham found God on a tower in Mesopotamia, on a mount in Palestine, and in royal quarters in Egypt. Moses found him on a backside desert; at a red sea; on a mount called Sinai; and in a “burning bush.” Joseph Smith found him in the cool freshness of a primeval forest and on a hill called Cumorah. Peter found him at the Sea of Galilee and on the Mount of Transfiguration.

(1970s1970, April, 6th Session, Spencer W. Kimball, ¶55 • CR90)

When Joseph Smith retired to bed on the night of September 21, 1823, he had no thought (and he had never had a thought) about the Book of Mormon. The matter that concerned him at that moment was his standing with the Lord. This, in prayer and supplication, he sought to determine. While praying, he was visited by Moroni, a personage sent from the presence of God, who told him that “there was a book deposited [in nearby Cumorah], written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the sources from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants; also that there were two stones in silver bows … deposited with the plates; … and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.” (DHC, vol. 1, p. 12.)

(1970s1970, October, 2nd Session, Marion G. Romney, ¶5 • CR90)

I do not believe we should give credence to the highly speculative theories about Book of Mormon geography.

I do not believe that there were two Hill Cumorahs, one in Central America and the other one up in New York, for the convenience of the Prophet Joseph Smith, so that the poor boy would not have to walk clear to Central America to get the gold plates.

I do not believe we can be good Latter-day Saints and question the integrity of Joseph Smith.

I do not believe we can be good Latter-day Saints and question the testimony of the eleven witnesses of the Book of Mormon.

I do not believe you have a testimony of the truth if you question the accuracy of the translation of the Book of Mormon

(1950s1953, April, 5th Session, Mark E. Petersen, ¶37–40 • CR90)

After this government became fully established, and had time to command the respect of all nations, lo! the angel of God from the courts on high descended to earth, and “Cumorah’s lonely hill,” in the State of New York, was made to yield up the golden records to the stripling ordained and chosen of God as the agent to enlighten the world with the words of nations long since extinct, whose ruined cities, towns, forts, and various other works of improvement are left as a striking memento of fallen greatness.

(1850s1853, OH Celebration ¶6 • JD 7:108)

Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill,

(1900s1906, April, 5th Session, Elder George Albert Smith., ¶22 • CR90)

Voices from Cumorah’s hill.”

(1900s1907, April, 3rd Session, Elder Rudger Clawson, ¶46 • CR90)

Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill,

(1910s1910, April, 7th Session, Elder Ben E. Rich., ¶16 • CR90)

An angel from on high, The long, long silence broke; Descending from the sky, These gracious words He spoke—Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill, A sacred record lies concealed.

(1910s1911, October, 7th Session, Elder Charles A. Callis., ¶6 • CR90)

Joseph Smith, by the gift and the power of God, translated the Book of Mormon. What are some of the beautiful truths that the sacred Nephite record teaches? Shining as gems of spiritual truth, these two great heavenly truths stand prominent: The Book of Mormon establishes the truth of the Bible. The Book of Mormon declares that Jesus was and is the Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. A book declaring these two glorious truths is surely entitled to a fair and serious consideration. Compare the difficulties, the trials and persecutions that Joseph Smith suffered, in bringing forth the Book of Mormon, with the treatment and persecution that overtook Wycliffe and Tyndall, who brought forth the Bible in the English language, and the similarity is absolutely startling. The reason for the persecution in both cases is precisely the same, Jesus said, “Search the scriptures: for they are they which testify of me.” Men began to lose faith in God when “Lo, from Cumorah’s lonely hill” was brought forth the Book of Mormon, that declares that Jesus was the Christ, and that men could not gain salvation except in and through and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the devil, knowing the power, knowing the light that was coming into the world, wielded all his powers in fighting that book, and its translator. Joseph Smith gave up his life as a martyr; his life was taken to satisfy the cruel unrighteous demands, and the hatred of those wicked men who persecuted him even to death’s door.

(1910s1911, October, 7th Session, Elder Charles A. Callis., ¶7 • CR90)

“An angel from on high, The long, long silence broke, Descending from the sky, These gracious words he spoke; Lo, in Cumorah’s lonely hill A sacred record lies concealed.

(1920s1920, April, 2nd Session, Elder Charles A. Callis, ¶7 • CR90)

The note now and then occurs in the comments that are made on this great controversy, that: “You have got yet to consider the authenticity and the credibility of the New Testament documents. That is the thing to which I wish to call your attention. Unto Nephi, the first Nephi, were given some very great visions concerning the life and the mission of the Christ, before he came in the flesh; and among other things he saw that the Gentile races upon this North American continent would have the testimony of the Hebrew prophets among them (the Old Testament); and also the testimony of the “Twelve Apostles of the Lamb” (the New Testament). He saw that these books would be mutilated and corrupted; that the Gentiles would go into great darkness and unbelief because of this mutilation of the word of God. Then he saw, in vision, circulating among the people other records, one of which was to be the word of the Lord to the seed of this man Nephi. That other sacred hooks were to be circulated in the land, and these secon books, meaning the Book of Mormon, the record of the Nephite people, and the revelations of God in this new dispensation, clearly recognized in the D&C, and also in the Pearl of Great Price,-these records would establish the truth of the record of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb of God, Hence the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds in its hands, and is commissioned to use these other holy scriptures brought forth in this chosen land, speaking from the dust of “Cumorah’s lonely hill,” for the sleeping nations of the American Continent: and the living word of God in this age, as contained in the revelations found in the D&C and in the Pearl of Great Price, brought forth by the Prophet Joseph Smith, are here to correct the errors of those who would throw out of the reckoning the word of God as found in the record of the “Twelve Apostles of the Lamb,” the New Testament; they are here to affirm, with all the strength that comes from these volumes of witnesses,-this cloud of witnesses-that Jesus i indeed the Christ; that he is the Creator, not only of our own world, but of many worlds. (Hebrews 1:1, 2; St. John 1:1-4). Also that He is the upholding and the sustaining power of all things; that, as pointed out so beautifully in Elder Rulon S. Wells’ remarks. He is the Vital Force, that “quickeneth all things”; also that he is the Intelligence-inspiring Power of God’s universe; also that He is the Love-manifested Power of God’s universe; for the one great thing above all others in the mission of the Christ was to give assurance and demonstration of the Love of God for the inhabitants of the earth. As Jesus himself contemplated this his mission among men, he voiced the assurance that-

(1920s1924, April, 4th Session, Elder Brigham H. Roberts, ¶12 • CR90)

“Lo, in Cumorah’s lonely hill
A sacred record lies concealed.”

(1920s1925, April, 6th Session, Elder Taylor Nelson, ¶4 • CR90)

I rejoice with you, my brethren and sisters, in the testimonies which we have received today. It was inquired of old: “If a man die, shall he live again?” That question has been answered well this morning. I rejoice, and I think you do, in the information given us by our prophet, seer and revelator at the opening of this conference, that Cumorah’s hill is now in the possession of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In standing upon that sacred ground on the one hundredth anniversary, I wished then, and I expressed the thought at our last semi-annual conference, that this property might belong to the Church; because in connection with the Hill Cumorah and the revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith, there has been a flood of information answering that question of old: “If a man die, shall he live again?” What joy must have come into the heart of Job when he was able to exclaim: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

(1920s1928, April, 5th Session, Elder Charles H. Hart, ¶2 • CR90)

A questionnaire was sent out by a bereaved man a score of years ago, to philosophers and scientists, requesting them to state in brief the outstanding reasons which they had for the hope of life after death and for the resurrection of the body. These arguments and reasons given were merely corroborative of the clear revelations from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith in these last days. Our elders of course have strong testimonies, not only of the existence of the spirit after the death of the body, and of the resurrection, but also that Jesus is the Christ—that Jesus is divine. They have all the evidence that the non-Christian Jew had or has that there shall be a Christ. They have all the evidence that the Christian believer has that there has been a Savior and Redeemer. Many of those matters have been very beautifully presented to us today. In addition to all that, there is the scripture that came from Cumorah’s hill, the Book of Mormon, one of the very purposes of which was to testify to Jew and Gentile that Jesus was the Christ. I realize that there isn’t time to refer to some passages of the Book of Mormon in support of this doctrine, or at least to read them. The story and testimony of the Christ as given upon this continent when he appeared to his people as recorded in the Eleventh Chapter, Third Book of Nephi, is a wonderful testimony. I have had the feeling as I read that chapter time and time again, that no man without inspiration ever wrote that story. We have been studying the Book of Mormon in our mission home in Canada during the past year, and after nearly every lesson I could say, and I have said many times: Isn’t that beautiful! Isn’t that wonderful! No man without inspiration could produce those things. And that is my testimony to you here today, that in addition to the testimony of the Book of Mormon we have the testimony in the revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the 76th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants:

(1920s1928, April, 5th Session, Elder Charles H. Hart, ¶3 • CR90)

Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill

(1930s1934, October, 6th Session, Elder Rulon S. Wells, ¶14 • CR90)

Letters and reports continue to come quite regularly from the Palestine-Syrian and the South African missions. Cumorah’s Southern Messenger, the sixteen-page monthly publication of the South African Mission would be a credit to any mission.

(1940s1943, October, 3rd Session, Elder Thomas E. McKay, ¶11 • CR90)

President Smith and my beloved brethren of the priesthood: Hanging in my office are two moving portrayals of the importance of the written word: One is a picture of Mormon working on the gold plates, and the other of Moroni, in his anguished loneliness, about to leave the records in Cumorah’s Hill.

(1970s1970, October, Priesthood (Session Five), Richard L. Evans, ¶1 • CR90)

1971-2007

“… Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. …

(2005, April, Susan W. Tanner, ‘Glad Tidings from Cumorah,’ Ensign, May 2005, ¶ 28)

On September 21, 1823, at the age of 17, he knelt to ask “for forgiveness of [his] sins and follies, and [to receive] a manifestation … of [his] state and standing before [God].”8 As he prayed, a light once again appeared, increasing “until the room was lighter than at noonday.”9 In that light there stood a personage dressed in a robe of “exquisite whiteness.”10 He called Joseph by name and introduced himself as Moroni. He said “that God had a work for [Joseph] to do”11 and told him of an ancient record written on gold plates, which, when translated, became the Book of Mormon. The book contained a record of the fulness of the gospel, as taught to Moroni’s ancestors by Jesus Christ. Joseph was directed to obtain that record, buried near his family’s home in a nearby hill, which is now called Cumorah.

(2003, October, Robert D. Hales, ‘Receiving a Testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ,’ Ensign, November 2003, ¶ 18)

He visited the Hill Cumorah. He visited Nauvoo. He said: “I visited 17 temples. I visited them on the outside but not on the inside.” He went to every temple he could get to. He now looks forward to the day that he will visit them on the inside. That first inside visit, in Chicago, will be in April. He will receive his endowment, and then the next day he and Nancy will be sealed.

(1999, April, Gordon B. Hinckley, ‘Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep,’ Ensign, May 1999, ¶ 10)

Nearby is the Hill Cumorah. From there came the ancient record from which was translated the Book of Mormon. One must accept or reject its divine origin. Weighing of the evidence must lead every man and woman who has read with faith to say, “It is true.”

(1998, April, Gordon B. Hinckleyᶜ, ‘Testimony,’ Ensign, May 1998, ¶ 44)

Although Brother Bean’s methods were a little unorthodox and definitely not compatible with the current approved missionary program of the Church, they were nonetheless effective. The people of Palmyra began begrudgingly to yield and to accept the Beans as the good people they were. In time, they were invited to participate in local churches and to join the civic organizations of the day. They established a branch of the Church and helped acquire the Hill Cumorah and the Martin Harris and Peter Whitmer farms. The “five years or longer” mission to which the prophet had called them stretched to nearly twenty-five years before it concluded. During that time, the attitude of the people of Palmyra had changed from hostility toward the Beans to toleration, then admiration, and finally to love. The power of good lives is truly great.

(1994, April, Marlin K. Jensen, ‘The Power of a Good Life,’ Ensign, May 1994, ¶ 20)

On one occasion, when I was a twelve-year-old deacon, Father asked if I would like to go to the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, and to the Hill Cumorah Pageant near Palmyra, New York. This is where Joseph Smith was led to the golden plates which were later translated into the Book of Mormon. Father also took me to the Sacred Grove, where Joseph Smith had prayed to Heavenly Father and was visited in a vision by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. We prayed together in the grove and expressed our desire to be true and faithful to the priesthood which we held. Father later painted a picture of the place where we had prayed and gave it to me as a reminder of our promises made that day together. It hangs in my office today and serves as a reminder each day of my sacred experience and promises made with my earthly father as well as my Heavenly Father.

(1993, October, Robert D. Hales, ‘How Will Our Children Remember Us?,’ Ensign, November 1993, ¶ 7)

When I prepared to leave Toronto following the concluding dedicatory session, I gazed upward toward heaven, that I might offer a silent prayer of gratitude to God for His watchful care, His bounteous blessings and for “days never to be forgotten.” High above the gleaming white temple, which personifies purity and reflects righteousness, is the gold-leafed statue of the Angel Moroni. I remembered being told that from that height of 105 feet, on a clear day one can see all the way to Cumorah. I noted that in Moroni’s hand was his familiar trumpet. He was gazing homeward—homeward to Cumorah. The beautiful Toronto Temple prepares all who enter to return homeward—homeward to heaven, homeward to family, homeward to God.

(1990, October, Thomas S. Monsonᵇ, ‘Days Never to Be Forgotten,’ Ensign, November 1990, ¶ 51)

When searched, the scriptural truths of the unfolding plan of salvation are both electrifying and subduing. Gratefully pondered, they lead to lyrical expressions, such as in the 1842 litany by the Prophet Joseph Smith: “And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfillment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness … declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book! The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna! … The voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness … declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times!” (D&C 128:20).

(1986, October, Neal A. Maxwell, ‘“God Will Yet Reveal”,’ Ensign, November 1986, ¶ 42)

It was interesting to me to learn from the history of this area that there were three winters in a row when the snowfall was extra heavy, making farming difficult and almost nonproductive, causing the Smith family to move west to upper state New York in the Manchester/Palmyra area, where they hoped to better their condition. This brought Joseph to the Hill Cumorah area, where he needed to be.

(1985, October, Rex C. Reeve, ‘Joseph Smith, the Chosen Instrument,’ Ensign, November 1985, ¶ 28)

Not far from the Sacred Grove is the Hill Cumorah, in which the angel Moroni, an ancient American prophet, had placed in a stone box the golden plates which contained an abridgment of the record of the Lord’s dealings with a people who had lived on the American continent years before.

(1985, October, Rex C. Reeve, ‘Joseph Smith, the Chosen Instrument,’ Ensign, November 1985, ¶ 34)

About when Ammaron hid the sacred records witnessing of God’s introducing His resurrected Son, Jesus Christ, to the Nephites—Constantine convened a council to discuss whether or not God and Christ were of the same substance. As lonely Mormon, whose only music was in his soul, moved toward culminating Cumorah, Bishop Ambrose of Milan instituted hymn singing in church.

(1984, October, Neal A. Maxwell, ‘“Out of Obscurity”,’ Ensign, November 1984, ¶ 18)

Remember, all problems do not keel over as Goliath did before David. All battles do not end as dramatically as the one fought at Cumorah. All miracles are not as immediate as when Joseph Smith blessed the sick on the banks of the Missouri River. But problems do go away, battles are won, and miracles do occur in the lives of us all. In Deuteronomy 7:22 [Deut. 7:22] the Lord described his battle plan for purifying Israel in this way: “And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little.” Victory often does come little by little.

(1982, April, Hugh W. Pinnock, ‘Beginning Again,’ Ensign, May 1982, ¶ 26)

Concluding the record which Moroni would deposit in the Hill Cumorah, which Joseph Smith would bring forth 1,400 years later, Mormon wrote:

(1981, April, Marion G. Romney, ‘The Restoration of Israel to the Lands of Their Inheritance,’ Ensign, May 1981, ¶ 41)

The record revealed the fact that Mormon was the father of Moroni. He was an able military leader in his day, a learned historian, and a great prophet. He lived in America during the last half of the fourth century A.D. The book bears his name because he made a compilation and an abridgment of the then extant historical records. His abridgment constituted most of what Joseph Smith translated from the gold plates, which he received from Moroni, who had deposited them in the Hill Cumorah, located in western New York state, in about A.D. 421.

(1979, April, Marion G. Romneyᵇ, ‘We, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,’ Ensign, May 1979, ¶ 9)

As the fighting neared its end, Mormon gathered the remnant of his forces about a hill which they called Cumorah, located in what is now the western part of the state of New York.

(1978, October, Mark E. Petersen, ‘The Last Words of Moroni,’ Ensign, November 1978, ¶ 8)

Then he spoke of other leaders serving with him in the Nephite army, all of whom had fallen with the forces under their command. He accounted for about a quarter of a million Nephite soldiers killed in that final encounter at Cumorah.

(1978, October, Mark E. Petersen, ‘The Last Words of Moroni,’ Ensign, November 1978, ¶ 14)

When finished with the record, Moroni was to hide it up in that same Hill Cumorah which was their battlefield. It would come forth in modern times as the Book of Mormon, named after Moroni’s father, the historian who compiled it.

(1978, October, Mark E. Petersen, ‘The Last Words of Moroni,’ Ensign, November 1978, ¶ 28)

He made it clear that advance warning is given to us who live today through the very book which he and his father had written and which he was now about to bury in Cumorah. It would be published in our day to give us that warning.

(1978, October, Mark E. Petersen, ‘The Last Words of Moroni,’ Ensign, November 1978, ¶ 41)

There is a section of the scrapbook entitled “Public Communications.” Here we find stories of videotape presentations displayed in our visitors centers entitled “God Bless America”; clippings from 1,075 newspaper articles in the United States dealing with how the Church is celebrating the Bicentennial; pictures of eighty-nine dance festivals featuring dances of the colonial period, the largest having 9,000 participants and playing to between eighty and ninety thousand people. There were pictures of floats sponsored by local Church units in parades in the nation. We have pictures of pageants centered around or incorporating a Bicentennial theme—“This Land of Liberty” in Washington, D.C., and other pageants in Nauvoo, Oakland, Independence, Manti, Cody, Hill Cumorah, and of course “Above All Other Lands” in Salt Lake City. Special billboards told the story of our belief in America. One city even installed a dial telephone number, M-O-R-M-O-N-S. By dialing this number you could get information about our great American family and Church-sponsored events dealing with the Bicentennial.

(1976, October, L. Tom Perry, ‘A Report on the Church’s Participation in America’s Bicentennial Celebration,’ Ensign, November 1976, ¶ 9)

In the western part of the state of New York near Palmyra is a prominent hill known as the “hill Cumorah.” (Morm. 6:6.) On July twenty-fifth of this year, as I stood on the crest of that hill admiring with awe the breathtaking panorama which stretched out before me on every hand, my mind reverted to the events which occurred in that vicinity some twenty-five centuries ago—events which brought to an end the great Jaredite nation.

(1975, October, Marion G. Romney, ‘America’s Destiny,’ Ensign, November 1975, ¶ 15)

As the conflict intensified, all the people who had not been slain—men “with their wives and their children” (Ether 15:15)—gathered about that hill Cumorah (see Ether 15:11).

(1975, October, Marion G. Romney, ‘America’s Destiny,’ Ensign, November 1975, ¶ 17)

Thus perished at the foot of Cumorah the remnant of the once mighty Jaredite nation, of whom the Lord had said, “There shall be none greater … upon all the face of the earth.” (Ether 1:43.)

(1975, October, Marion G. Romney, ‘America’s Destiny,’ Ensign, November 1975, ¶ 25)

As I contemplated this tragic scene from the crest of Cumorah and viewed the beautiful land of the Restoration as it appears today, I cried in my soul, “How could it have happened?”

(1975, October, Marion G. Romney, ‘America’s Destiny,’ Ensign, November 1975, ¶ 26)

“And now,” says Mormon, their historian, “I finish my record concerning the destruction of my people, the Nephites. And it came to pass that we did march forth before the Lamanites … to the land of Cumorah. … And when … we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah, … my people, with their wives and their children, did … behold the armies of the Lamanites marching towards them; and with that awful fear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did they await to receive them.

(1975, October, Marion G. Romney, ‘America’s Destiny,’ Ensign, November 1975, ¶ 36)

“And when they had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people, did behold on the morrow … from the top of the hill Cumorah, [230,000] of my people who were hewn down, …

(1975, October, Marion G. Romney, ‘America’s Destiny,’ Ensign, November 1975, ¶ 39)

“… after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, … the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed.

(1975, October, Marion G. Romney, ‘America’s Destiny,’ Ensign, November 1975, ¶ 48)

You are not too young to gain a testimony and bear it. In a stake conference we called on a young lady to speak. She had just returned from the Hill Cumorah pageant. She bore a fervent testimony. After she finished we called on 17-year-old Gary. He looked surprised when his name was called. He unwound his full six feet and came to the pulpit. His first words were, “I don’t know why the president called on me; I don’t even have a testimony” (referring, evidently, to the testimony borne by the young lady). For several minutes he spoke about seminary, he expressed gratitude for his family, then said: “I know the gospel is true, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

(1974, October, A. Theodore Tuttle, ‘Your Mission Preparation,’ Ensign, November 1974, ¶ 20)

A flashback in my mind recalled to my memory an incident when two business acquaintances entered my office and greeted me with, “You’re a Mormon; tell us, where does the word Mormon come from and what is its meaning?” My response was, “The word Mormon was the name of an ancient prophet of God. He lived on the American continent a few hundred years after the advent of Christ. He had at his disposal a continuous religious and historical record of the people who had migrated to, and lived for hundreds of years on, the American continents. Mormon made an abridgment of these records, which contained the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The record was engraved on gold plates and deposited in a hill known as Cumorah, located in what we now know to be the state of New York. In this latter day, under divine direction, Joseph Smith obtained the plates and translated them by the power of God. This abridgment was titled the Book of Mormon. The meaning of the word, as given by Joseph Smith, is ‘more good.’” (See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 300.) The gentlemen seemed interested, thanked me, and departed without further comment.

(1974, April, John H. Vandenberg, ‘Touchstone of Truth,’ Ensign, May 1974, ¶ 5)

As Joseph was calling upon the Lord in prayer more than three years later, a messenger from the Lord appeared in his room surrounded by light, which light continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday. On this occasion and subsequent appearances, the angel made reference to a book written upon plates of gold that was deposited in the Hill Cumorah in the state of New York, which plates, when translated, became the Book of Mormon, a new scripture, a new and important witness for Christ. On the occasion of the angel’s first appearance he quoted to Joseph various verses and prophecies from the Bible, among which was the second chapter of Joel, from the 28th verse to the last, part of which reads as follows:

(1972, October, Joseph Anderson, ‘Light and Knowledge to the World,’ Ensign, January 1973, ¶ 14)

President Spencer W. Kimball, a man with unique experience in all levels of Church leadership, described the subject that has been on my mind since this speaking assignment came. I apologize to Elder Packer. I realize that I was prompted by the Spirit—I know that he is—and I have found my thoughts going in much the same direction that his went. President Kimball said:

“The burning bushes, the smoking mountains, … the Cumorahs, and the Kirtlands were realities; but they were the exceptions. The great volume of revelation came to Moses and to Joseph and comes to today’s prophet in the less spectacular way—that of deep impressions, without spectacle or glamour or dramatic events.

“Always expecting the spectacular, many will miss entirely the constant flow of revealed communication.” (In Conference Report, Munich Germany Area Conference, 1973, p. 77.)

(1991, October, Graham W. Doxey, ‘The Voice Is Still Small,’ Ensign, November 1991, ¶ 5–7)

The angel Moroni appeared to Joseph twice more during the night, then again in the field and on the hillside the next day, and then every year for the next four years on what we now know as Cumorah’s hill. That first day, Moroni repeated the same message over and over again. Can you liken this to anything you experience? My children sometimes tease me that I tell them the same things over and over again. Don’t be too hard on your parents and leaders when we repeat ourselves. The Lord had Moroni teach a young prophet through repetition. Repetition ingrains gospel principles in our minds and hearts.

(2005, April, Susan W. Tanner, ‘Glad Tidings from Cumorah,’ Ensign, May 2005, ¶ 9)

The unfolding of God’s work often proceeds quietly. For example, whatever the immediate economic reasons the Joseph Smith Sr. family had for moving from New England to upstate New York, they were being led—unawares—to sacred plates, buried in Cumorah’s Hill, waiting to become “another testament of Christ” for “as long as the earth shall stand” (2 Ne. 25:22).

(2003, April, Neal A. Maxwell, ‘Care for the Life of the Soul,’ Ensign, May 2003, ¶ 8)

In this very location on April 6, 1830, there assembled a small group to formally organize The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were believers in the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith that in a grove of trees not many miles from here, on a spring day in the year 1820, he beheld in vision God the Eternal Father and his Son, the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ. There followed in the intervening years visitations of other resurrected heavenly beings. From the soil of Cumorah’s Hill, a few miles to the west of here, Joseph obtained from the angel Moroni the records of a people who anciently inhabited this land; and, through the gift and power of God, he translated that record, now known as the Book of Mormon. A substantial part of that work of translation was accomplished in this Whitmer home.

(1980, April, Spencer W. Kimballᵇ, ‘Introduction to the Proclamation,’ Ensign, May 1980, ¶ 6)

2008-2025

At that moment, I understood how the hand of God our Father, in His immense wisdom, had prepared in His plan a place to bring the young Joseph Smith, putting him in the midst of that religious confusion, because there, in the Hill Cumorah, the precious plates of the Book of Mormon were hidden.

(2016, April, Jairo Mazzagardi, ‘The Sacred Place of Restoration,’ Ensign, May 2016, ¶ 31)

What happened at Cumorah was an important part of the Restoration, as Joseph Smith received the plates which contained the Book of Mormon. This book helps us get closer to Christ than any other book on earth.

(2016, April, Jairo Mazzagardi, ‘The Sacred Place of Restoration,’ Ensign, May 2016, ¶ 48)

In the spring of 1893, Elizabeth went to Salt Lake City to the dedication of the temple. She described her experience: “In there I saw the same picture [that] I had seen in my dream; I think it was [a] colored-glass window. I feel satisfied that if I saw the Hill Cumorah itself, it would not look more real. I feel satisfied that I was shown in a dream a picture of the angel Moroni giving Joseph Smith the [gold] plates.”

(2015, April, Cheryl A. Esplin, ‘Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth,’ Ensign, May 2015, ¶ 24)