Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where can I purchase a copy of Mapping the Book of Mormon?

Hard Bound copies are available on this web site, also from MormonMemorabilia.com and Amazon.com.  The Book Table in Logan, Utah also carries the books.

Where can I purchase a copy of Mormon Names in Maya Stone?

Soft Bound copies are available on this web site, also from MormonMemorabilia.com and
Amazon.com.  The Book Table in Logan, Utah also carries the books.

Where can I purchase a copy of Mormon Key to Maya Code?

Only available in electronic copies from this web site in  PDF, Epub, and Mobi formats for Computers, Ipads, and Kindles, respectively.

Where can I purchase a copy of Mormon Footprint in Mesoamerica?

Only available in electronic copies from this web site in  PDF, Epub, and Mobi formats for Computers, Ipads, and Kindles, respectively.

Where is the Sidon River?

Answer: There are two Sidon Rivers mentioned in the Book of Mormon – the Pantaleon (Zacayán), just on the east edge of the town Zarahemla, and the Michatoya, further east 40 miles bordering on the South Wilderness with Manti near the headwaters. For further information, click here.

Where is the “narrow neck of land”?

Answer: It is nothing more than a bridge that crosses the Samalá River on the road between Retalhuleu and Mazatenango near the city of San Sebastián, Guatemala. At one time it may have been a natural, lava bridge, but by the time the Pedro de Alvarado and his army arrived, it was a narrow wooden ridge.
For further information, click here.

Where is the original hill Cumorah?

Answer: It is the ancient hilltop city of Qumarkah (meaning “rotten bones”) which was the capitol of the Quiché nation when Alvarado arrived with his swords, fire, and smallpox. The Spaniards changed the name to the Aztec form, Utatlán, meaning “by the reeds”. The ruins are still called Utatlán and the city on the plains at the foot of the hill to the east is now Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala.
For further information, click here.

How did the plates get to Up-State New York?

The last we have been told is that all the records were stored in the original Hill Cumorah except “these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni” (Mormon 6:6). The situation may have changed, as Moroni was still writing in 421 AD, some 36 years later.

The items that were transported to upstate New York included the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim, the breastplate, and the golden plates that were later translated by the gift and power of God and became our beloved Book of Mormon. Then there is the sealed portion that contains the vision of the brother of Jared of the history of the earth from the beginning to the end (Ether 4:1-5). The location is uncertain for the Liahona and the Brass Plates of Laban, which contain the Old Testament up through Lehi’s departure from Jerusalem.

As for how these materials were transferred from the battlefield at K’umarkáj to the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York, there are three options available. Moroni hauled them there, the three remaining Nephite Disciples may have assisted, and the third option is that the Good Lord used whatever other method He desired. The contents would be a very heavy load and most of the lands from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego were inhabited at that time, so it is not likely that Moroni carried them by himself.

Whenever another, original, Hill Cumorah is mentioned, some question the possibility, saying that Joseph Smith saw the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York open up in a miraculous manner and reveal its wagon loads of records (Journal of Discourses 19:38).

The response to that argument here is that once the spiritual realm is entered, the Lord can put on a display of whatever special effects He wants. The Master Physicist who created “worlds without number” is not bound by the puny curriculum of human universities. In this special effects show, the words written along the blade of Laban’s sword changed from time to time to communicate special messages. Did Laban’s sword maker construct a sword of such fine steel that it could periodically change the words written across its blade? Of course not! In short, the show that was presented to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery has no binding relevance as to the location of any of the noted objects and records, either before or after the presentation.