As I sat at the dinner table in the Longfellow
estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which served as the mission home to the
Massachusetts Boston Mission, and while President Ballif was announcing the
first assignments to the new group of elders that I was apart, I prayed that if
it was the Lord’s will that I could serve outside the confines of Boston, at
least in a area a little less hectic, it would be much appreciated. When the
President read my name and announced that my
first area would be Guilford, Maine, I was happy and whispered a silent
thank-you. I had no idea where Guilford was, but all that matter was it sounded
small and uncomplicated, and for this I was excited.
I enjoyed Maine. It’s unlike any of the
other New England State both in its culture and landscape. For the short amount
of time that I served in this state, I learned fast that it was brimming with
good, down to earth folks.
Wilford Woodruff discovered the same thing.
He served in the Fox Islands and baptized numerous individuals. In fact, the
Fox Islands were part of my first district (We had a huge district, in fact, my
area took in 1/3 of the state. It sounds big, but trust me, there was very
little population. I’m sure there were more moose than people).
Maine was good to me, and has always been
good to the Church. What did Brigham Young request from the Governor of the
State?
A) That he encourages people in the
state to move to Nauvoo to start a new life
B) That the Church be permitted to
double its missionary force in the State
C) That he trade Maine lobster for green
Jello and Funeral potatoes.
D) That the Church could settle in the
state as its end destination, rather than the unknown confines of the west
Yesterday’s answer:
1.
(B) It was believed that Sidney Rigdon copied the
transcript in 1829.
Before you read the story, think
about this one. First off, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon did not know each
other in 1829, in fact Sidney Rigdon had not yet learned about the Church. That
wouldn’t happen until December 1830. Finally, the Book of Mormon wasn’t
released to the public until March 1830.
It is recorded in the American Cyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica, that I, David Whitmer, have denied my testimony as one of the three witnesses to the divinity of the Book of Mormon; and that the other two witnesses, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris, denied their testimony to that Book. I will say once more to all mankind, that I have never at any time denied that testimony or any part thereof. I also testify to the world, that neither Oliver Cowdery or Martin Harris ever at any time denied their testimony. They both died reaffirming the truth of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon. I was present at the death bed of Oliver Cowdery, and his last words were, “Brother David, be true to your testimony to the Book of Mormon.” He died here in Richmond, Mo., on March 3rd, 1850. Many witnesses yet live in Richmond, who will testify to the truth of these facts, as well as to the good character of Oliver Cowdery.
The very powers
of darkness have combined against the Book of Mormon, to prove that it is not
the word of God, and this should go to prove to men of spiritual understanding,
that the Book is true. . . .
Besides other
false statements that are in the two encyclopedias above mentioned is the old
story of the Spaulding manuscript. That is, that one Solomon Spaulding who died
in Amity, Penn., in 1816, had written a romance, the scene of which was among
the ancient Indians who lived in this country. That Spaulding died before he
published his romance, and that Sidney Rigdon got hold of the manuscript in a
printing office and copied it; that subsequently the manuscript was returned to
Solomon Spaulding; That thirteen years after the death of Spaulding, in 1829,
Rigdon became associated with Joseph Smith, who read the Spaulding manuscript
from behind a blanket to Oliver Cowdery, his amanuensis, who wrote it down.
Hence the origin of the Book of Mormon. This is what I claimed by the enemies
of the book: Satan had to concoct some plan to account for the origin of that
book.
I will say that
all who desire to investigate the Spaulding manuscript story will not be
obliged to go very far before they will see the entire falsity of that claim. I
testify to the world that I am an eye-witness to the translation of the greater
part of the Book of Mormon. Part of it was translated in my father’s house in
Fayette, Seneca County, N.Y. . . .
When the
Spaulding story was made known to believers in the book, they called for the
Spaulding manuscript, but it could not be found; but recently, thanks to the
Lord, the original manuscript has been found and identified. It has been placed
in the library of Oberlin college, Oberlin, Ohio, for public inspection. All who
has doubts about it being the original Spaulding manuscript, can satisfy
themselves by visiting Oberlin and examining the proofs.
The manuscript is
in the hands of those who are not believers in the Book of Mormon. They have
kindly allowed the believers in the book to publish a copy of the manuscript,
with the proofs that it is the manuscript of Solomon Spaulding. There is no
similarity whatever between it and the Book of Mormon. Anyone who investigates
this question will see that the Spaulding manuscript story is a fabrication
concocted by the enemies of the Book of Mormon, in order to account for the
origin of that book.
Neither Joseph
Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris or myself ever met Sidney Rigdon until
after the Book of Mormon was in print. I know this of my own personal
knowledge, being with Joseph Smith, in Seneca County, N.Y., in the winter of
1830, when Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge came from Kirtland, Ohio, to see
Joseph Smith, and where Rigdon and Partridge saw Joseph Smith for the first
time in their lives.
The Spaulding
manuscript story is a myth; there being no direct testimony on record in regard
to Rigdon’s connection with the manuscript of Solomon Spaulding.
Unpublished Revelations of the Prophets and Presidents of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Vol. II (Salt Lake City, Utah: Collier’s
Publishing Company, 1993), 124-26
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