The Nephite and Lamanite nation had believers in Christ, and they too prophesied and preached and testified of Him! Nephi said, nearly 600 years before Jesus Christ was even born into the world:

2 Ne. 25: 26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

There is no reason that Jesus can not be both the Son of God, and God. He is a member of the Godhead, He is God, but he _does_ have a Father. There are three in the Godhead.

D&C 130: 22 The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

The Book of Mormon prophets teach of the divinity of Jesus Christ. Abinadi was one of the great ones, and he taught this:

Mosiah 15:1 AND now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.

2 And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son-

3 The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son-

4 And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.

5 And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.

6 And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

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.

8 And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men-

9 Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.

Jesus commanded us to be as He is, and Father in Heaven. Why would He issue such a commandment if it were not possible? Consider His words to the Nephites:

3 Ne. 12: 48 Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

One of the most obvious is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Why do we have these four versions of the same events in the Bible, and why are there some differences between these accounts? It is because different prophets write what the Spirit inspires them to write, and there are many similarities between these four books, even much verbatim.

Why is it when the Book of Mormon has some writings in it that are similar to those found in the Bible, that people might assume that Joseph Smith copied from the Bible? Did Matthew copy from Mark, or Luke from John? If any concern exists for the Book of Mormon writings being "copied" then there should be concern for the Bible as well. As for me, I have no concerns because it is obvious that the Lord repeats Himself to the various prophets. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and should be repeating Himself.

Alma chapter 40 is very different however, in what seems like 99% of the content and language when compared to 1 Corinthians 15, and there are many doctrines of the resurrection that are touched upon by Alma that are not necessarily covered in 1 Corinthians 15 by Paul. For example, we learn of what happens after death and before the resurrection:

Alma 40:11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection-Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.

12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

13 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil-for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house-and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

14 Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.

23 The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.

How can one love one's wife and children, and not defend them from an enemy? Self defense is honorable. The Lord revealed to the Nephite prophets that is was so:

Alma 43: 47 And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed. Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion.

It is a commandment to defend our families. The little ones, and our wives, should not be left to the mercy of an enemy. It is for these reasons that we fight. It is noble and honorable, even though it is sad for the enemy. The nephites felt this way about it:

Alma 48: 23 Now, they were sorry to take up arms against the Lamanites, because they did not delight in the shedding of blood; yea, and this was not all-they were sorry to be the means of sending so many of their brethren out of this world into an eternal world, unprepared to meet their God.

24 Nevertheless, they could not suffer to lay down their lives, that their wives and their children should be massacred by the barbarous cruelty of those who were once their brethren, yea, and had dissented from their church, and had left them and had gone to destroy them by joining the Lamanites.

25 Yea, they could not bear that their brethren should rejoice over the blood of the Nephites, so long as there were any who should keep the commandments of God, for the promise of the Lord was, if they should keep his commandments they should prosper in the land.

The responsibility for decision on whether to be involved in a war rests upon individuals on both sides. For example, I have heard that in WW II some of the Germans fighting for Hitler were Christians. But it would be better to die or be imprisoned than to fight a murderous war for a murderous dictator. People must take responsibility for answering to God as well. The Nephites were told by their prophet that they are only justified in defending their own lands, and not to take an offense.

3 Ne. 3: 20 Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands.

21 But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands.

Whether you need to be baptized again depends only on whether you had your name removed from the records of the Church. Most likely, you need only start attending again, but ask your Bishop. Look up his phone number in the white pages under Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Meet with him, and he can help you understand what steps you may need to take before you begin partaking the Sacrament again, if any, and then you can begin again renewing your covenants you originally made with Jesus Christ at your Baptism.

Some of the Book of Mormon prophets have spoken about Baptism, and what we must do when we are baptized:

Moro. 8: 25 And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;

26 And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.

2 Ne. 31: 13 13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism- yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

14 But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me.

15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.

16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.

17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

About your being a woman and being called of the Lord's Spirit, I have no doubt. Serve people in whatever capacity you feel inspired. You state correct that only men can hold the priesthood of God, for that was ordained before the foundations of the world, just as it was ordained that only women could bear children. The unique roles of man and woman in this life were set up by the Lord (see Proclamation on the Family). However, just because you can not hold the priesthood by name, if you marry in the Church you could hug your husband, and that would be holding the priesthood :-)

Seriously, you can be a minister for the Lord at any time. It's missionary work! You can teach, preach, and guide the children of Heavenly Father as much as you desire. The Book of Mormon has an account of a Lamanite woman named Abish, who was converted to the Lord among the faithless Lamanites. She recognized a missionary opportunity, and was extremely instrumental in getting the masses out to see the conversion of their King, Lamoni.

Alma 19: 16 16 And it came to pass that they did call on the name of the Lord, in their might, even until they had all fallen to the earth, save it were one of the Lamanitish women, whose name was Abish, she having been converted unto the Lord for many years, on account of a remarkable vision of her father-

Read more about Abish...

We can do much good in the world. What if a man was unsatisfied with the Priesthood and wanted to be a mother and bear children? Is that a correct desire if the Lord didn't design it that way? You have desires to serve the Lord, to teach and minister to others, and that is a great desire. He allows it. Don't let the fact that the Priesthood responsibilities lay at the feet of men get you down. You have enough responsibilities as a woman, potentially a mother, even more, already!

Also, I am not sure what Bible version you are reading, but in the King James version Paul actually says women should be silent in the Church (I'm not sure what he meant...):

1 Cor. 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God. It teaches of how Christ gave his authority to the Nephites:

3 Nephi 11:15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:

17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.

18 And it came to pass that he spake unto Nephi (for Nephi was among the multitude) and he commanded him that he should come forth.

19 And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet.

20 And the Lord commanded him that he should arise. And he arose and stood before him.

21 And the Lord said unto him: I give unto you power that ye shall baptize this people when I am again ascended into heaven.

22 And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you.

23 Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them-Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.

24 And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying:

25 Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

26 And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water.

We can see that unless the Apostles got the authority from Jesus Christ directly, they had no power to administer in the ordinances of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith, the first Apostle of these last days, received his Priesthood authority directly from Jesus Christ through the ministration of his angels, even John the Baptist, and Peter, James, and John. Resurrected beings, who bestowed the Priesthood by the laying on of hands, and then commanding Joseph to do the same.

JOSEPH SMITH-HISTORY 68 We still continued the work of translation, when, in the ensuing month (May, 1829), we on a certain day went into the woods to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, that we found mentioned in the translation of the plates. While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us, saying:

69 Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.

70 He said this Aaronic Priesthood had not the power of laying on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, but that this should be conferred on us hereafter; and he commanded us to go and be baptized, and gave us directions that I should baptize Oliver Cowdery, and that afterwards he should baptize me.

71 Accordingly we went and were baptized. I baptized him first, and afterwards he baptized me- after which I laid my hands upon his head and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood, and afterwards he laid his hands on me and ordained me to the same Priesthood- for so we were commanded.*

72 The messenger who visited us on this occasion and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament, and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which Priesthood, he said, would in due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first Elder of the Church, and he (Oliver Cowdery) the second. It was on the fifteenth day of May, 1829, that we were ordained under the hand of this messenger, and baptized.

73 Immediately on our coming up out of the water after we had been baptized, we experienced great and glorious blessings from our Heavenly Father. No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, than the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many things which should shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when, standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and many other things connected with the Church, and this generation of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in the God of our salvation.

We learn from the modern records and revelations pertaining to the details that are not to be found specifically in the biblical record. That's OK. The Lord works through modern prophets. He has always worked through prophets. He has said:

Alma 40:9 Therefore, there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a space between the time of death and the resurrection. And now, concerning this space of time, what becometh of the souls of men is the thing which I have inquired diligently of the Lord to know; and this is the thing of which I do know.

10 And when the time cometh when all shall rise, then shall they know that God knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man.

11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection-Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.

12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

13 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil-for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house-and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

14 Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.

You can read the entire account of this revelation at the LDS.ORG web site by clicking here.

That's what happens immediately after we die. We go to the Spirit World and await resurrection. This is not the final judgement. The final judgement described in the Book of Revelation (New Testament) happens after our resurrection when we are brought before God to be judged of all our works, whether they be good or evil.

Mosiah 27: 14 And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.

The Book of Mormon prophet Ether spoke of what the American Continent became after the waters of the flood receded off of the face of it: A Choice Land! A separate land! ...with conditions placed upon it relating to faith and service in Christ.

Ether 13:2 For behold, [the Jaredites] rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof;

3 And that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord.

4 Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land.

So if the land of America and Africa were originally one land mass, then it can be understood that those rivers were accessible to Adam and Eve, and their posterity. The Lord will join them together again as revealed in the following revelation:

D&C 133:17 For behold, the Lord God hath sent forth the angel crying through the midst of heaven, saying: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight, for the hour of his coming is nigh-

18 When the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father's name written on their foreheads.

19 Wherefore, prepare ye for the coming of the Bridegroom; go ye, go ye out to meet him.

20 For behold, he shall stand upon the mount of Olivet, and upon the mighty ocean, even the great deep, and upon the islands of the sea, and upon the land of Zion.

21 And he shall utter his voice out of Zion, and he shall speak from Jerusalem, and his voice shall be heard among all people;

22 And it shall be a voice as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, which shall break down the mountains, and the valleys shall not be found.

23 He shall command the great deep, and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the islands shall become one land;

24 And the land of Jerusalem and the land of Zion shall be turned back into their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided.

25 And the Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh.

Some scientists see the rate of the so- called "Continental Drift" as 1 cm to 10 cm per year, or less than four inches! ...and so this "drift" has been taking place according to them for 600 million years. The Lord has done and will do, however, a major acceleration of this "drift" when he melts the earth with a fervent heat before He reigns personally upon the earth. What suposedly takes millions of years can be accomplished in a "day" with the Lord.

2 Pet. 3: 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

3 Ne. 26: 3 And [Jesus] did expound all things (to the multitude of Nephites), even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory-yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away;

Lehi and Sariah had four sons, and possibly four or more daughters. They had two more sons in the wilderness before they passed on after arriving in the Promised land. They may have had more daughters in the wilderness too. Easily, they had 10 or more kids before getting on the boat.

They brought along Ishmael and his family, and possibly this family had enough children to match and provide wives and husbands for the children of Lehi and Sariah. Possibly they had more kids in the wilderness too. If the Lord planned it, it was so.

It would not be unreasonable to think that there was a potential of 20 children to start. These potential 20 had children in the wilderness for 10 years before they ever built the boat, and before they arrived in the Promised land. Lets say that there were 10 families (the children of Lehi and Ishmael) having children by the time they arrived in the promised land. Some obviously had children in the wilderness as well. But let's start small with 10 families.

If these families each had 10 kids, and after 15 years their firstborns began to be married, then in another 15 years, the children would all be married and having their own children. So, after only 30 years we have 100 families having each 10 kids.

After another 30 years, these 100 families having 10 kids each have grown to 1000 families having 10 kids each, or a population of 10,000. Some will have died already, but not too many. 60 years, a population of 10,000. As the 1000 families have 10 kids each, then after 30 more years there could be 10,000 families having children at these old fashioned high population rates. Some great grandparents will be dieing, but they are still few. In 30 more years we have 100,000 families, having kids, and after 30 more years we have 1,000,000 families having kids, and so on, this number of families grows by 10 times every 30 years. The population does not grow by the same rate, because of the passing away of generations past. However, the current generation exceeds the population of the dieing generation by 100 times. So a 1% reduction factor needs to be applied to any growth. This is practically negligible.

After only 150 years, the population could have grown to over 1,000,000 families. After 180 years, it could have grown to 10,000,000 families. After 210 years it could have grown to 100,000,000 families, which would exceed todays US population. If we subtract for deaths the 1% factor, then that's a million people who died, but then instead of 100,000,000, we have 99,000,000 families, and that's about the same... What could it have been after 600 years? (a BIG number!)

Is there any doubt a huge nation could have come from Lehi in so short a time? Not to me. The possibility is there.

See Matthew 17:19

Not all in the Church are of perfect faith, that is true, but the will of the Lord is also operative concerning these things. Sometimes the Lord constrains. A good example of this is in the Book of Mormon, where Alma and Amulek witnessed the martyrdom of faithful saints at the hands of murderous chief judges in their government. Amulek wanted to use the power of God to save the innocent women and children from the flames, but Alma was constrained of the Lord to not do that:

Alma 14:10 And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.

11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

Then the judge said: 15 Behold, ye see that ye had not power to save those who had been cast into the fire; neither has God saved them because they were of thy faith. And the judge smote them again upon their cheeks, and asked: What say ye for yourselves?

Alma was obedient to the will of the Lord. That is why he was the prophet. They DID have the power to save those people, but Alma was more obeident to what the Spirit directed at that time.

Later, when those Chief judges of the Land threw Alma and Amulek into prison, naked, and tortured them for many many days, the Lord delievered them in a miraculous way:

Alma 14:23 And it came to pass after they had thus suffered for many days, (and it was on the twelfth day, in the tenth month, *in the tenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi) that the chief judge over the land of Ammonihah and many of their teachers and their lawyers went in unto the prison where Alma and Amulek were bound with cords.

24 And the chief judge stood before them, and smote them again, and said unto them: If ye have the power of God deliver yourselves from these bands, and then we will believe that the Lord will destroy this people according to your words.

25 And it came to pass that they all went forth and smote them, saying the same words, even until the last; and when the last had spoken unto them the power of God was upon Alma and Amulek, and they rose and stood upon their feet.

26 And Alma cried, saying: How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound; and when the people saw this, they began to flee, for the fear of destruction had come upon them.

27 And it came to pass that so great was their fear that they fell to the earth, and did not obtain the outer door of the prison; and the earth shook mightily, and the walls of the prison were rent in twain, so that they fell to the earth; and the chief judge, and the lawyers, and priests, and teachers, who smote upon Alma and Amulek, were slain by the fall thereof.

28 And Alma and Amulek came forth out of the prison, and they were not hurt; for the Lord had granted unto them power, according to their faith which was in Christ. And they straightway came forth out of the prison; and they were loosed from their bands; and the prison had fallen to the earth, and every soul within the walls thereof, save it were Alma and Amulek, was slain; and they straightway came forth into the city.

29 Now the people having heard a great noise came running together by multitudes to know the cause of it; and when they saw Alma and Amulek coming forth out of the prison, and the walls thereof had fallen to the earth, they were struck with great fear, and fled from the presence of Alma and Amulek even as a goat fleeth with her young from two lions; and thus they did flee from the presence of Alma and Amulek.

In other place and time, the Lord was merciful to the wicked rulers, and an army who had similarly cast Nephi and Lehi into prison, but they were all converted. I guess it is because the Lord knows their hearts...

Read about Nephi and Lehi's miraculous escape from prison

1 Nephi 13:12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and awrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.

This man was Columbus, he was led by the Lord. It had been 2000 years since the Lamanite's fathers left Jerusalem. Their first father, Lehi, was not a Jew, but was of the House of Israel by the son Joseph, even of Manasseh. Ishmael who also went with Lehi's family into the wilderness, was of Ephraim. They lived in the Jerusalem vicinity, but they also knew Egyptian.

Alma 10: 3 And Aminadi was a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren.

Joseph Smith the prophet was able to put the Book of Mormon into the language in which he was familiar. He was familiar with and was a student of the Bible. It would seem appropriate that he would use the language of the day. I wonder what the Book of Mormon reads like in the 80+ languages that it is currently translated into. I am sure it reads similar to the vocabulary and style of the Latter- day Saint in each of those countries in which it was translated.

The Nephites did not speak Old English. They spoke Hebrew and Egyptian, and wrote on their metal plates with a reformed Egyptian writing.

Mormon 9:30 Behold, I speak unto you as though I spake from the dead; for I know that ye shall have my words.

31 Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.

32 And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.

33 And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record.

34 But the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; and because that none other people knoweth our language, therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof.

Moroni 7:41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

42 Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.

43 And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.

44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail-

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

There are no writings in the Book of Mormon which are biblical also, that are false. This is the important thing to remember, that although there may be some technical issues on a word here or there as some modern scholars may see it, the gospel message still comes through loud and clear, and people should not be straining at gnats and swallowing camels. The Bible and the Book of Mormon together are the word of God, as is. The Lord has said so.

D&C 42: 12 And again, the elders, priests and teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the fulness of the gospel.

If the Lord says that the fulness of His gospel is in these books, then there is no issue. The Book of Mormon prophets knew thousands of years ago that the Gentiles would mock at the Book of Mormon. They knew of their own weaknesses in writing, and felt that they might not be effective. They worried about it, but the Lord reassured, and it is the pattern of the Lord to work through the weak and imperfect things of the world. He always has, and it is a sign to those that believe:

Ether 12:23 And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;

24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.

25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.

In the Book Jesus the Christ, the Apostle James Talmage stated:

...[Jesus], not being thirty years old, could not have assumed the right or privilege of a teacher without contravening established customs.

It was tradition and custom of Jerusalem and the Jewish Sanhedrin, etc. Nothing more. But it was not the Lord's timetable, because we have a record of Jesus when He was only 12 years old, being about His Father's business, and in the temple giving answers to doctors and lawyers as would a teacher. They were astonished at Him!

Luke 2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

The Book of Mormon also teaches of how young people can go out and preach. It does not seem to matter what age. Joseph Smith was 14 years old when he began to make known his calling and vision. Mormon was only 15 when he went out among the Nephite people and preached as the prophet that he was.

Mormon 1:13 But wickedness did prevail upon the face of the whole land, insomuch that the Lord did take away his beloved disciples, and the work of miracles and of healing did cease because of the iniquity of the people.

14 And there were no gifts from the Lord, and the Holy Ghost did not come upon any, because of their wickedness and unbelief.

15 And I, *being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus.

16 And I did endeavor to preach unto this people, but my mouth was shut, and I was forbidden that I should preach unto them; for behold they had wilfully rebelled against their God; and the beloved disciples were taken away out of the land, because of their iniquity.

The Lord is no respector of persons, and He does not favor the Tribe of Manasseh any more than the Tribe of Ephraim. Indeed, they are all pretty much the same: the Lord's covenant people. It should be noted that Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh, and Ishmael (father of the other family which inter-married with Lehi's family) was a descendant of Ephraim. This means that both of these tribes are accounted for completely in the Lamanite posterity. They are completely mixed. If the Lamanite is also Ephraim, what does this say about the current leadership in the Church who is also primarily Ephraim? It means they are pretty much one in the same, from the same tribe. It means that people can wear two hats. One can be a Lamanite and be of Ephraim. One can be of Ephraim and be a Gentile by geographic association. One can be a pure Gentile (no Israel genealogy) and get adopted into the House of Israel.

It is the House of Israel who will build the New Jerusalem, comprised of the remnant, and many of the House of Israel who shall come, as well as the Gentiles who convert (which seems to be a small number...). These three groups are mentioned by the resurrected Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi, 22,23 and more especially in 3 Nephi 22:23 .

It seems to be a Mormon Myth that the "American Indian" will build the New Jerusalem. It has real no basis in fact in the scriptures, and seems to place current Church leadership in a kind of lame duck status. There is some talk of a Lamanite prophet who will take over, but this also is a misinterpretation of a scripture which pertains to Joseph Smith in the Book of Mormon. The myth would place most in current membership in the Lord's Kingdom in a lame duck status. It makes no gospel sense.