Interpreter Is Trying To Help With “Come, Follow Him”

James Jordan does Lincoln Hoppe doing Martin Harris — Lincoln Hoppe as Martin Harris, in the 2021 Interpreter Foundation theatrical film, “Witnesses.” (Still photo by James Jordan)

The Sunday School and personal study curriculum of the Church for 2025 will be turning in February to the translation of the Book of Mormon and to the Witnesses. Accordingly, the Interpreter Foundation is calling attention to materials that we’ve already prepared on the subject, which should be of use to teachers and students who are following the Come, Follow Me program. We hope that you’ll take a look at them and that you’ll spread the word. And more is coming:

Episode 2: Martin Harris, Witness

“Yesterday our short video discussed Joseph Smith’s friend, scribe, and fellow church leader, Oliver Cowdery, one of the Three Witnesses to The Book of Mormon.

“Today let’s look at another of the Three Witnesses, the one who Joseph Smith knew the longest — Joseph met him while he was still a teen — and the man whose financial support made publication of The Book of Mormon possible: Martin Harris.”

Witnesses of the Book of Mormon—Insights: Martin Harris was one of the earliest supporters of Joseph Smith and the Church. And yet, even after becoming one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, he left the Church—though he returned many years later. Who was this wealthy farmer from upstate New York? This is Episode 2 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. . . . These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. This week we feature Gerrit Dirkmaat, Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. For more information, go to https://witnessesofthebookofmormon.org/. Learn about the documentary movie Undaunted—Witnesses of the Book of Mormon at https://witnessesundaunted.com/.

And many, I think, will also find this helpful: “A Guide to Historic Sites of the Latter-day Restoration: Deepen understanding of the Doctrine and Covenants by exploring the stories and viewing photos of places where sacred events occurred”

LDS Historical Department seer stone — This may be the very seer stone used by the Prophet Joseph Smith for the translation of the Book of Mormon. Photograph by Welden C. Andersen and Richard E. Turley Jr., found on LDS.org. (Courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Still more or less on the topic of this year’s Come, Follow Me curriculum and the recovery of the Book of Mormon: My attention was called today to this 2018 article, which I found both interesting and entertaining: ‘The Surprising Geology of Joseph Smith’s Brown Seer Stone.”

I think that I had probably read it before. But, if so, I had forgotten it. Of course, the idea that Joseph actually used a seer stone will offend some folks — despite the abundant historical evidence for that use and despite the fact that leaders of the Church, including President Russell M. Nelson have openly acknowledged it. And the notion that the earth is more than 6,000 years old will offend many in that group and quite a few others besides.

Deloy Pack, my teacher — M. Deloy Pack, much older than when I had him as a teacher

I’m saddened to learn, belatedly, of the passing of M. Deloy Pack, with whom I studied Akkadian (Babylonian) many years ago when I was an undergraduate at BYU. I didn’t find the language itself especially difficult — of course, much of our reading was of very repetitive liver-omen texts; I thought briefly about starting up a business as a professional oracle specializing in “the implications of folds in sheep-liver lobes for the success or failure of the king’s army” — but the script was a nightmare, the only writing system that I’ve ever studied that really did, even after considerable study and seemingly endless memorization of signs, seem like chicken tracks to me. Reading Akkadian in transliteration was one thing (I was already, by that point, working on my Arabic, and it sometimes proved helpful to have a pretty good understanding of another Semitic language), but I couldn’t read an Akkadian document in the original cuneiform right now if my life depended on it.

Temples everywhere! — The cover art of the fourth volume of “Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days” features temples in Hong Kong; Mexico City; Nuku’alofa, Tonga; São Paulo, Brazil; and, right in the center, Accra, Ghana; . (The image belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but my employment of it here is, I hope, legitimate on the principle of “fair use.”).

But now, alas, it’s time for another trio of depressing entries from the seemingly inexhaustible Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:

“The Church Donates Essentials to Women’s Prison in Ghana: Food Items and Toiletries Gratefully Received”

“Church-supported garden in Alberta grows 16,000 pounds of fresh produce each year for those in need: The Vegetable Garden both feeds the hungry and builds community relationships”

“6 ways the 2024 BYU football team exemplified Church values and the university’s mission: The Cougars achieved success on the field while also mentoring others globally and showing kindness towards opposing teams”

How long, O purposeless, uncaring, and unhearing nothingness, will such abominations be allowed to continue?

Giverny, with colors! — A view of Monet’s garden at Giverny, by Art Anderson (Wikimedia Commons public domain image) Since I have no photographs of Eden or Paradise, this will have to do for now. But it’s pretty obvious that, if religion would just go away, the entire WORLD would be paradise. Imagine!

Finally, just a reminder that there will be a special showing of Six Days in August tonight in Friendswood, Texas, near Houston — I’ve heard, however, that the screening may already be sold out — and that the film’s Brigham Young and Mary Ann Angell Young (aka John Donovan Wilson and Twyla Wilson) will be speaking at a fireside, also in Friendswood, tomorrow (Thursday) night. If you’re in the area, please feel free to drop by. Especially for the fireside (which, I’m fairly certain, is not sold out.) See here for the details, to the extent that I have them.