Have you considered that a similar account of killing, even a much more serious account, is given the in the Old Testament? After the 10 commandments were given through Moses...

1 Samuel 15:1 SAMUEL also said unto Saul, ...hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

2 Nephi 31:5 And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!
6 And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water?
7 Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.

When Jesus was with his Apostles, they had him for their guide. He was a member of the Godhead, and it was a very special thing for him to be in their midst. After he was resurrected, they bestowed the gift of the Holy Ghost upon each other as is recorded in the Book of Acts, and the Holy Ghost became their guide. Even so, the second comforter (Jesus Christ) was promised to those who believe and hunger and thirst after righteousness:

The Second Comforter
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Three 1838-39, p.150
The other Comforter spoken of is a subject of great interest, and perhaps understood by few of this generation. After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted.

When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter, from the 12th to the 27th verses.

Because of Jesus Christ's suffering in the garden of Gethsemane and his death on the cross, He suffered FOR us, in behalf of us, and this counted in the eyes of the Father. Jesus suffered vicariously for us, and so we see that it is a legitimate thing, to perform something vicariously, for even Christ did this for all who would believe on Him. He suffered the pains of hell so that we might not suffer.

D&C 19:16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink--
19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

Those under the authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have to give an account of their transactions to those who direct them in the priesthood; hence the elders give an account to presidents of conferences; and presidents of conferences to presidents of nations. Those presidents and the seventies give an account to the twelve apostles; the twelve to the First Presidency; and they to Joseph, from whom they, and the twelve, received their priesthood. This will include the arrangements of the last dispensation. Joseph delivers his authority to Peter, who held the keys before him, and delivered them to him; and Peter to Moses and Elias, who endowed him with this authority on the Mount; and they to those from whom they received them. And thus the world's affairs will be regulated and put right, the restitution of all things be accomplished, and the kingdom of God be ushered in. The earth will be delivered from under the curse, resume its paradisiacal glory, and all things pertaining to its restoration be fulfilled.
(John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, p.216)

Abraham 3:28 And the second [Lucifer] was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.

These will never get a body of flesh and bone. Their body is of spirit only. They/We received our spirit bodies from our Heavenly Parents in in the Premortal Existence.

Lehi taught that it was not possible, so we have a prophet in the Book of Mormon that testified to these things.

2 Nephi 2:23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

There is not a lot said about the 144,000, except what is contained in D&C 77:11

With language such as this, there is no true latter-day saint who can stand idly by, and watch our nation succomb to humanism, atheism, and godless socialism and eventually communism. We must stand up for what is right. We must be religious and faithful. We should be as Captain Moroni was, and be counted.

I am personally motivated to speak on subjects pertaining to the scriptures. To address the theories of science in a scientific way is inappropriate for me to do so, for I am not a scientist. But to state my opinions/beliefs on them is fully appropriate, for that is any individuals right of free speech, and the ability of any child of God with the help of His Spirit to do learn truth and discover error.

Evolution is NOT a scientific fact, it is a THEORY. Creationism is a fact, although many would call it a theory. Whenever belief or faith in an idea/theory comes into play, it becomes religion.

Now, there is a Book of Mormon scripture that teaches that there was no death in the world before the Fall of Adam. Here it is:

2 Nephi 2:22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

If we utilize the revelations that Jesus Christ gave to us through His prophets that He called in this last dispensation, the message is clear: Marriage is ordained of God!

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

See http://www.lds.org/en/4_Official_ Church_Policy/Proclamation.html for a complete transcription of this important revelation and statement.

The Bible and Book of Mormon teaches of marriage by the many good examples of the prophets who wrote the records. They were married men.

The Doctrine and Covenants 131 teaches unmistakeably the absolute importance of marriage in the temple of God. It is the very key to exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom.

Nephi had a vision of the world from the beginning to the end. Here is a small sample of the vision which occupies four chapters in the Book of Mormon. 1 Nephi 11:32 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record.

33 And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.

34 And after he was slain I saw the multitudes of the earth, that they were gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb; for thus were the twelve called by the angel of the Lord.

Alma 46:13 And [Captain Moroni] fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land--

14 For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church.

15 And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come.

16 And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians, and the freedom of the land might be favored.

In the days of Moroni, we have no record that others were also calling themselves Christian. But today we have hundreds of very different denominations calling themselves Christians. The title Christian is what it is. It falls where it falls. It most certainly should fall upon the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which bears His name, and which was restored personally by Him to this earth, when He personally called Joseph Smith to be His prophet, and later sent His angels to instruct him, and give him the priesthood and other revelations.

If these things are true, then is not the title Christian appropriate for this people? If there is One Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:5) as Paul taught, then which one is it?

Why is this question brought up about the Book of Mormon so often? Why are not the words of the prophets able to stand on their own with the support of the Spirit of God? Do we need to know where the city in which they preached existed, in order to know that the words they preached are true? Why is it important to know where the city is that they were in?

The only thing that these kind of questions mean, is that you have doubt as to the authenticity of the record itself. As if authenticity would make it true. The Bible is not true because Jerusalem can be found today! It is true because it is the words of prophets! If the Book of Mormon were a fabrication of Joseph Smith, and he had made a trip to South America to get the names of real cities there (as they are named now), and had included this in the record, would that cause you to believe in it? I believe that even so, you would still have your doubts as you have now, because you are doubting not because of archeology, but because of what it means to accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God. It means becoming a Mormon, and that is a difficult thought, isn't it?

The real question is: How do we come to a knowledge of the truth so that we do not be

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth? (2 Timothy 3:7)

It has got to be through the Spirit, and not by the methods of man. This is how we come to a knowledge of the truth. Prayer. Revelation. The witness of the Holy Ghost, which I can truthfully say, has witnessed to my soul on numerous occasion, that the Book of Mormon is true.

The RLDS church emerged during the 1850s from the conflict and schism that arose in Mormonism after the June 27, 1844, murder of Joseph Smith, Jr., its founding prophet. The RLDS are the Latter-day Saints who did not follow the Quorum of 12 Apostles to Utah. They condemned polygamy, and believed that Joseph Smith had nothing to do with it. In short, they blamed Brigham Young and apostacized from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

They rejected many of the doctrines as well, and took a wait and see posture towards salvation for the dead (temple), the Book of Abraham, and the Word of Wisdom (no coffee, alcohol, tobacco, etc.) They continued to use the Book of Mormon in their faith.

My parents tell me the same thing your parents told you. But we know that it is much nearer than when your parents thought it was near. We have the Year 2000 "logic" on our side... :)

Jesus taught in parables to protect rebellious people from being condemned too quickly, and only those who were spiritually in tune could understand his parables. If he taught openly, and "proved" his doctrines and teachings plainly to an unreceptive audience, they would stand condemned, because their hearts were not right. Jesus taught us that we are not to cast pearls before swine, indicating that there is a time and a place for sharing of spiritual things. If we take the Book of Mormon to the intellectual boxing ring, we have lost the whole match, because it can't be properly shared that way. People must come to the Lord on his terms, namely, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. If the promise in Moroni is true, how can a person who has been convinced intellectually by proof, kneel down and thank his Lord for a conversion that never took place?

Signs follow them that believe.

Ether 4:18 Therefore, repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and believe in my gospel, and be baptized in my name; for he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned; and signs shall follow them that believe in my name.

Recall that there is missionary work taking place in a major way in the Spirit World right now. It has been ever since the initial visit of Jesus Christ to the Spirits in Prison immediately after His death on the cross. (see 1 Peter 3:18-22, 4:6)

A modern day prophet, Joseph F. Smith pondered on this scripture and received a revelation / vision, which is now recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants 138:

D&C 138:12 And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality;

D&C 138:18 While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful;

D&C 138:30 30 But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.

D&C 138:32 Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.

D&C 138:33 These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands,

D&C 138:34 And all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Alma 12:31 Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good-- (see Gen 3:22)

It should not be so strange an idea to anyone who believes in the Bible that there is more than one being as God. In Genesis where it speaks of the creation, God uses a plural pronoun in reference to Himself: Us. He says:

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

This is such a powerful doctrine, and truth. Yet so many pass it over as if not to even comprehend it. But just think about it! We are man and are made in the image of Them!

38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies--because of the praise of the world?

On the day the Church was organized, the Lord gave a revelation, too often overlooked, that he expects members of the Church to "give heed unto all his words and commandments which" the Prophet and President "shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me;
"For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith." (D&C 21:4-5.)
(Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, October 1966, p.123)

2 Nephi 25:19 For according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Ezekiel 37:16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions:

As a youth, I was troubled by them from time to time, even Joseph Smith was troubled by them at the time when he was about to pray to God.

Joseph Smith History 1:15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction--not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being--just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. 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!

And so we see how satan tried to scare Joseph Smith away from praying to God. They obviously knew who he was and tried to thwart him. But Joseph had faith and exerted all his powers to call upon God for help. He was delivered.

There is no need to question His existence just because we can't understand His origins. His existence is proven by the very existence of this world, etc. The Book of Mormon prophet Alma was confronted with an individual, Korihor, who rationalized that there was no God, and he told Korihor this:

Alma 30:44 ...ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

We know from the scriptures that God created this world through His Son, Jesus Christ. (see Ephesians 3:9) But Jesus Christ had help. Who helped? Abraham 4 has an account of the creation of this world, in which it says Abraham 4:1 AND then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth. Jesus Christ brought others with Him to organize and create the world.

There will come a time when all these things shall be made known in all their details. It is the near future.

God preserved and prepared Enoch's people in the midst of awful and enveloping evil, and, reassuringly, he has promised his people in our own time that though "great tribulations shall be among the children of men, ... my people will I preserve. (Moses 7:6].) (Neal A. Maxwell, Of One Heart, p.6)

It was centuries later that Sodom was destroyed by fire and brimstone. And so we see that these things take time.

In our own day we are counseled by the Brethren to do everything necessary to become converted. Whether or not this is a spectacular event or not is a function of our own faith. Miracles still happen today, and I would say that if all the revelations and visions of the faithful people in the church were published today, that it would be overwhelming and "spectacular." The reason we do not hear so much about them, is that these sacred things are not to be noised about (casting pearls before swine, as Jesus taught) except under the most sacred circumstances.

The Book of Mormon teaches that conversion takes place over time. A mighty change of heart is a function of our own faith. Alma 5:12 And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.
Alma 5:14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

Do the Brethren of the Church teach this today? Yes they do. All we need to do is go to the www.lds.org web site, and search through the General Conference proceedings and read what they have been teaching even this past year!

The following Apostles and Prophets have taught us concerning the importance of getting this mighty change of heart:
President Gordon B. Hinckley"
Elder Thomas Monson
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
Elder Robert D. Hales

Certainly he was not advocating that we only read the Book of Mormon, indeed, he worked on a retranslation of the Bible AFTER the Book of Mormon translation. He knew of the importance of all scripture. He also knew as I knew the continuing principle of revelation. God has always spoken to mankind through prophets (Amos 3:7). It will never stop unless there is no faith in the world. But it continues today. Who knows, but the revelations that the prophets of today receive will also become a book of canonized scripture to some future generations? I believe they will, just as these ancient revelations we have now which have stood the test of time have become our scriptures today. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (Articles of Faith 9)

The first question is, what were these doing in heaven, who once had a place there (...neither was their place found any more in heaven...) ?

They were the family of God, and they rebelled against God, and were judged and cast out, just like we will be judged and "cast out" after this life if we rebel against the Lord in this the time of our probation.

1 Nephi 10:21 Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever.

Alma 42:4 And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God.

Alma 34:31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.
Alma 34:32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

In the thousands of years that predated Jesus Christ, the prophets knew of Him. The prophet Ether in the Jaredite nation knew of Him, and wrote:

Ether 2:12 Behold, [America]is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.

What this means, is that the Church of Jesus Christ was in existence even before He was born to this earth. The churches that pre-date the one that Christ set up personally with Apostles, were led by a prophet who had the help of others. The Book of Mormon identifies some of these as High Priests:

There was a temple in the days of Jesus Christ, and we know that it was a sacred place, because He drove out the money changers and thieves from the entry ways, and called it the "house of my Father." We don't know a lot of the details about the temple from the New Testament, do we? This absence of information is no different today: the temple ordinances and ceremony, etc. are not contained in the canon of scripture. Why not? Because they are sacred and not for the general use of the church or world. They are reserved for the temple only. It has always been so.

Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The earth will most definitely be ready at that day, when satan will be bound.

2 Nephi 29:13 And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.

14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever.

Many even in the Church have rested the Book of Mormon, and do not study it, and do not give heed to the many teachings and warnings contained in it.

D&C 84:54 And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received--

55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.

7 Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.

One of the reasons that Jesus Christ was the Father, was because He did the will of the Father, always. That makes Him represent His Father very perfectly. When we accept Christ and follow Him into the waters of baptism, we become the children of Christ, and take upon us His name. That makes Him our Father too.

It is not so much WHAT the symbol is, as much as the Lord chose it. It represents the Son of God, and many of these symbols such as cross, blood, sacrifice could be repulsive objects if we did not understand the great love of God and His Son for us, and these things help the faithful remember Him / Them. The brazen snake that Moses raised up was taught to them by Moses to represent Christ. And so it was.

Alma 33:18 But behold, this is not all; these are not the only ones who have spoken concerning the Son of God.

19 Behold, he was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live.

20 But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that