1. Doctrine and Covenants 20 The Book of Mormon ANOTHER TESTAMENT OF JESUS CHRIST

2. Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:1

3. “Today is April 6. We know by revelation that today is the actual and accurate date of the Savior’s birth. April 6 also is the day on which The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. On this special and sacred Sabbath day, I declare my witness that Jesus the Christ is our Redeemer. He lives and will cleanse, heal, guide, protect, and strengthen us.” David A. Bednar, April 2014 Gen. Conf.

4. Birth of Jesus Christ– 1BC Savior Begins Ministry– 30 AD Resurrection of Savior– 33 1 st Vision???– 1820 Organization of Church – 1830 D&C 21 received– 1830 Cornerstone for Nauvoo Temple laid– 1841 Cornerstone for Salt Lake Temple laid– 1853 St. George Temple Dedicated– 1877 Angel Moroni put on Salt Lake Temple– 1892 Salt Lake Temple Dedicated– 1893 Conference Center Announced– 1996 Palmyra Temple Dedicated– 2000

5.  20 revelations of the the Doctrine and Covenants were received here.  The testimony of the Three witnesses was signed here.  They needed 3-9 people to meet New York’s legal requirement for incorporating a religious society. They chose to have six: Joseph Smith (24)Oliver Cowdery (23) Hyrum Smith (30) Peter Whitmer Jr. (20) Samuel Smith (22) David Whitmer (25) Peter Whitmer Home in Fayette, New York.

6.  The Church was organized by vote.  Joseph and Oliver were sustained as the presiding Elders of the Church.  The sacrament was administered.  By laying on of hands, Joseph bestowed the Gift of the Holy Ghost on the new members, and confirmed them as members of the Church.  D&C 21 was received.  Several people were baptized, including Joseph’s parents.

7. Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 (two prophecies) Doctrine and Covenants 20:6-7 Doctrine and Covenants 20:8 Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-8 looking for prophecies

8. Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 “After it was truly manifested unto this first elder [Joseph Smith] that he had received a remission of his sins” Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-8 looking for prophecies

9. Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 “After it was truly manifested unto this first elder [Joseph Smith] that he had received a remission of his sins” The First Vision Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-8 looking for prophecies

10. Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 “After it was truly manifested unto this first elder [Joseph Smith] that he had received a remission of his sins” The First Vision Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 Joseph Smith “was entangled again in the vanities of the world” Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-8 looking for prophecies

11. Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 “After it was truly manifested unto this first elder [Joseph Smith] that he had received a remission of his sins” The First Vision Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 Joseph Smith “was entangled again in the vanities of the world” 1820–1823: “I was left to all kinds of temptations; and … I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature” (JS—H 1:28).JS—H 1:28 Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-8 looking for prophecies

12. Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 “After it was truly manifested unto this first elder [Joseph Smith] that he had received a remission of his sins” The First Vision Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 Joseph Smith “was entangled again in the vanities of the world” 1820–1823: “I was left to all kinds of temptations; and … I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature” (JS—H 1:28).JS—H 1:28 Doctrine and Covenants 20:6-7 “God ministered unto him by an holy angel” Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-8 looking for prophecies

13. Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 “After it was truly manifested unto this first elder [Joseph Smith] that he had received a remission of his sins” The First Vision Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 Joseph Smith “was entangled again in the vanities of the world” 1820–1823: “I was left to all kinds of temptations; and … I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature” (JS—H 1:28).JS—H 1:28 Doctrine and Covenants 20:6-7 “God ministered unto him by an holy angel” The angel Moroni Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-8 looking for prophecies

14. Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 “After it was truly manifested unto this first elder [Joseph Smith] that he had received a remission of his sins” The First Vision Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 Joseph Smith “was entangled again in the vanities of the world” 1820–1823: “I was left to all kinds of temptations; and … I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature” (JS—H 1:28).JS—H 1:28 Doctrine and Covenants 20:6-7 “God ministered unto him by an holy angel” The angel Moroni Doctrine and Covenants 20:8 “And gave him power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon” Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-8 looking for prophecies

15. Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 “After it was truly manifested unto this first elder [Joseph Smith] that he had received a remission of his sins” The First Vision Doctrine and Covenants 20:5 Joseph Smith “was entangled again in the vanities of the world” 1820–1823: “I was left to all kinds of temptations; and … I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature” (JS—H 1:28).JS—H 1:28 Doctrine and Covenants 20:6-7 “God ministered unto him by an holy angel” The angel Moroni Doctrine and Covenants 20:8 “And gave him power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon” The Urim and Thummim Read Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-8 looking for prophecies

16. “In (D&C 20), the Lord devotes several verses to summarizing the vital truths which the Book of Mormon teaches. (See vs. 17–36.) It speaks of God, the creation of man, the Fall, the Atonement, the ascension of Christ into heaven, prophets, faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, endurance, prayer, justification and sanctification through grace, and loving and serving God” (President Benson, “A New Witness for Christ,” Ensign, Nov. 1984, 7). Doctrine and Covenants 20:8-36

17. God The Creation The Fall The Atonement Prophets Faith Repentance Baptism The Holy Ghost Enduring to the End Prayer Grace The Love of God Find a great verse in the Book of Mormon that teaches… The Book of Mormon ANOTHER TESTAMENT OF JESUS CHRIST

18. Scan Doctrine and Covenants 20:17, 29, 30, 31, 35 and mark the phrase “we know that…” Do YOU know that….  God lives (verse 17).verse 17  We are created in the image and likeness of God (verse 18).verse 18  God gave His Only Begotten Son (verses 21–25).verses 21–25  All who believe, are baptized, and endure in faith may be saved (verses 21–25).verses 21–25  The Holy Ghost testifies of the Father and the Son (verse 27).verse 27  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost work together to prepare us for eternal life (verses 17–28).verses 17–28 Doctrine and Covenants 20:8-36

19.  Write a history of ancient Tibet covering a period from 600 B.C. to 450 A.D. (Why ancient Tibet? Because you know no more about Tibet than Joseph Smith knew about ancient America).  Your history must be written on the basis of what you now know (there was no library that held information for Joseph Smith).  Your history must be 531 pages  Your history must be over 300,000 words.

20.  Other than a few grammatical corrections, you must have no changes in the text.  You must describe the history of two cultures, including their religious, economic, political, and social cultures and institutions – even the names of their coins.  Change your style of writing many times (Many ancient authors contributed to the Book of Mormon, each with his own writing voice).

21.  You must write fifty-four chapters dealing with wars, twenty-one chapters about history, fifty-five chapters on visions and prophecies, twenty-one chapters on the ministry of Christ.  Your record must agree meticulously with the Bible.

22.  Include authentic modes of travel; description of clothing, crops, mourning customs, and types of government.  You must invent 280 new names that will stand up under scrutiny.  You will have to properly use similes, metaphors, narrations, exposition, descriptions, oratories and parables.  You must invite the ablest scholars and experts to examine the text and try to expose every flaw in it – and fail.

23.  The book must not contain any absurd or contradictory statements.  Many theories and ideas as to its origin must arise and they must all fail.  You must claim that your knowledge came from divine origin, and this claim must increase to the point where it becomes the only logical explanation.

24.  For the next 20 years you must watch those that follow you be persecuted, driven, beaten, tortured, starved, frozen and killed.  Tens of thousands must undergo the most extreme hardships just because they believe your claims concerning ancient Tibet.  You must gain no wealth from your work, but many times lose all that you have.  After 20 years of this, give your own life in a very savage and brutal manner, for your testimony concerning your history book.

25.  Over the next 200 years, over 1 mission competent salesman must be so sold on your book that they gladly give up two or more years of their lives and use their own money to take it to all parts of the world.

26.  Start right now and produce this record which covers 1,000 years of history, doing it, not in the peaceful atmosphere of your community, but under the most trying of circumstances.  Please have your book completed (and talk a friend into mortgaging $60,000 on his home and farm to raise money to have it printed)  You have 80 days to finish your work.

27. Maybe it’s not true – maybe Joseph Just wrote it???

28. Joseph Smith’s Education

29. His mother recalled that, even into his late teens, “he seemed much less inclined to the perusal of books than any of the rest of our children.” His wife Emma reports that Joseph “could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well worded letter, let alone dictate a book like the Book of Mormon. … During no part of it did Joseph Smith have any [manuscripts] or book of any kind from which to read or dictate except the metallic plates which I knew he had.”

30. “I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired; for, when acting as his scribe, he would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read back to him. For one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible.”

31. Word Print Analysis

32. Researcher John Hilton and non-LDS colleagues at Berkeley first used a variety of control tests with non-disputed authors (e.g. works by Mark Twain) in an effort to demonstrate the persistence of wordprints and to demonstrate that wordprints were not obliterated by translation. Hilton concluded that, if wordprinting is a valid technique, then this analysis suggests that it is "statistically indefensible" to claim that Joseph, Oliver, or Solomon Spaulding wrote the 30,000 words in the Book of Mormon attributed to Nephi and Alma. There is a roughly 1 in 15 trillion chance of Nephi and Alma having the same author.

33. “The Book of Mormon will change your life. It will fortify you against the evils of our day. It will bring a spirituality into your life that no other book will. It will be the most important book you will read in preparation for a mission and for life. A young (person) who knows and loves the Book of Mormon, who has read it several times, who has a abiding testimony of its truthfulness, and who applies its teachings will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and will be a mighty tool in the hands of the Lord” (Pres. Benson, C.R., April 1986, 56). Doctrine and Covenants 20:8-36

34. Doctrine and Covenants 20 The Book of Mormon ANOTHER TESTAMENT OF JESUS CHRIST