I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God.
I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
Three men declared that they had seen and touched the gold plates from which Joseph Smith declared that he had translated The Book of Mormon, and that they did this in the presence of an angel.
"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.
Oliver Cowdery
David Whitmer
Martin Harris"
Eight men, including Hyrum Smith who gave his life as a martyr in corroboration of the credibility of his testimony, declared that they had seen and touched the gold plates from which Joseph Smith declared that he had translated The Book of Mormon.
"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.
Christian Whitmer
Jacob Whitmer
Peter Whitmer, Jun.
John Whitmer
Hiram Page
Joseph Smith, Sen.
Hyrum Smith
Samuel H. Smith"
At Izapa, Mexico, there are many rock carvings, known as stelae. One of them in particular, stela 5, uncovered in 1941, contains carvings depicting many similarities with Lehi’s and Nephi’s vision of the tree of life.
(1) We can see that the central feature of this carving is a tree, which is consistent with the tree of life seen in the vision recorded by Nephi.
(2) We can count that the tree has 12 roots. Although this is not mentioned in Nephi’s record of the vision, the writings of Nephi’s brother, Jacob, in the allegory of the olive trees, feature roots that symbolically represent the covenants of the Lord with the 12 tribes of Israel.
(3) We can see waves of water, which is consistent with the river seen in the vision recorded by Nephi.
(4) We can see a series of dots on that water, which is consistent with how you might artistically indicate impurity, or filthiness, in the water. This is consistent with what Nephi called “the filthiness of the water” (1 Nephi 15:27.)
(5) There is a line leading to the tree, which is consistent with the path and the iron rod seen in the vision. And there is a person walking along that path, as described in the vision.
(6) There are several pyramid buildings beside the river. This is consistent with “the large and spacious building” that Nephi recorded.
(7) There is a figure of a person reaching out for the tree, and he is blindfolded. This is consistent with what Nephi calls
“the mists of darkness [which] are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes … of the children of men….”
(1 Ne. 12:17)
(8) There are figures of two men with their backs turned to the tree. This is consistent with Laman and Lemuel who are recorded in the vision as having no interest in the tree.
(9) There is an older man leaning toward a fire, which may well be a sacrificial fire or an altar of incense. This is consistent with a priestly leader such as Lehi. I will call him Lehi.
(10) Behind Lehi is a woman, which is consistent with Lehi’s wife Sariah who was also in the vision. The Biblical name name Sarah, of which Sariah is a variant, means “princess.” Some scholars say that the headdress carved on the woman on stela 5 may be indicative of a princess, thus suggesting the name Sariah.
(11) There is a kingly figure (Nephi) being supported by another person (Sam) who is holding a parasol over the head of the first person. This is consistent with Nephi and Sam who were both in the vision; Nephi later becoming the king of the Nephites and Sam being his supporter.
(12) Above and close to the head of Lehi, there appears to be some sort of creature with its teeth showing. But there are no teeth mentioned in the vision recorded by Nephi, so why are teeth significant?
To answer this, we need to go to the Old Testament and learn a bit of the Hebrew language. In Judges chapter 15 we read about Samson’s battle with the Philistines in a place called Lehi. It seems that this place was later named Lehi because of what Samson did here. In this place Samson used the jawbone of a donkey as a weapon to kill a thousand men. (See Judges 15:9-17). The reason that this place was subsequently named “Lehi” is because “Lehi” is the Hebrew word for jawbone.
So basically we can see Lehi’s name written above his head on the carving of stela 5.
There is disagreement about the origin and meaning of the word Utah. It is variously thought to have originated from either Apache, Navajo or Ute Indians. But apparently the Ute Indians don't refer to themselves by the name of Utes. Rather "Ute" is the name that was given to the Ute Indians by other people, and that name was likely applied to the Ute Indians because they lived "high up in the mountains."
The meaning ascribed to the Apache word “yuttahih” is "one who is higher up."
Despite different views of its origin and meaning, one concept appears consistently throughout the various meanings ascribed to the word Utah, and that is the concept of being "higher up."
And why is Utah "higher up"? Because of the Rocky Mountains.
The meaning of Utah is therefore "The top of the mountains."
Why is that significant? Because of the Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah 2:2.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
But regardless of the meaning of the word “Utah,” Utah’s official website, www.utah.gov, says:
Utah's peaks, on average, are the tallest in the country. That is, if you average the elevations of the tallest peaks in each of Utah's counties and compare that number with the average elevations of the tallest peaks in each county of every other state, you will find that Utah's peaks will be an average of 11,222 feet taller. Now that's tall!
And it is not just the surrounding mountains that are way up there. The lowest point of land within Salt Lake City is 1,280 metres above sea level. In contrast, the summit of Mt Coot-tha (in Brisbane, Australia) is less than 300 metres above sea level. So Salt Lake City is about a kilometre higher above sea level than the highest point in Brisbane. And that is before you even get into the mountains that surround Salt Lake City!
So, whether or not one accepts that the word Utah means “the top of the mountains, Utah clearly is “the top of the mountains.”
And the establishment of the temple, which has inscribed on it the words “House of the Lord,” in Salt Lake City, is a literal fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah.
The following information is taken from an article in the Ensign magazine of October 1979.
“… as early as 1851, Mariano Eduardo de Rivero, director of Lima’s National Museum, and his associate, Juan Diego de Tschudi, asserted that there were two kinds of ancient Peruvian writing: “The one and surely the most ancient consisted of certain hieroglyphic characters; the other of knots made with strings of various colors. The hieroglyphs, very different from the Mexican ones, were sculpted in stone or engraved in metal.” (Antiquidades Peruanas, Vienna: Imprenta Imperial de la Corte y del Estado, 1851, vol. 5, p. 101.)
….
[A] beautiful silver scroll, dating from approximately 400 A.D., was discovered in Bethany in 1968, inscribed in Greek and Coptic….
One of the tiniest engraved tablets … is [a] gold wafer measuring one-sixteenth of an inch thick and under two inches in length (1 5/8″ by 1 1/16″). Discovered in 1920 near the headwaters of the Tigris, it has been identified as the Tablet of Shalmaneser III, and comes from Kalat Shergat, the ancient city of Assur in modern Iraq. The tablet itself has not been dated, but Shalmaneser reigned about 842 B.C.(Oriental Institute, University of Chicago Museum, Chicago.) ….
The Plates of Darius I, ruler of Persia from 518–515 B.C., are the closest parallel to the Book of Mormon yet discovered. Two tablets, one of gold and one of silver, were placed in each stone box to be buried at the four corners of his palace. …. They were discovered by an archaeological team in 1938. (National Archaeological Museum, Tehran, Iran.)
[A] gold disc, the only completely authenticated piece of New World writing on metal, was exhumed by a 1950s expedition at Chichen Itza on the Yucatan peninsula. Found in the sacred well at the site, it has a Mayan inscription around the edges….
Among the records discovered at Qumran near the Dead Sea in 1952 were two rolled copper scrolls, once riveted together but now separated. The brittle oxidized copper, dating from the second century B.C., was carefully sawed into longitudinal strips in Manchester, England, then reassembled and deciphered. They catalogue a still-buried treasure of gold, silver, coins, earthen and metal vessels, and various offerings worth several million dollars at today’s prices. (National Museum, Amman, Jordan.)"
And the list now goes on. But in Joseph Smith’s time, writing on metal was unheard of.