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The rock of revelation
Church founder Joseph Smith said he translated the Book of Mormon, the faith’s foundational scripture, “by the gift and power of God.”
That simple statement spurs complex questions — and a recently released Q&A from the church attempts to answer some of them.
Here are key takeaways from this new webpage:
• Unlike modern academics, Smith didn’t complete this task with the help of reference books. For starters, he said the writings on the gold plates he unearthed were in an unknown ancient language so there were no helpful texts.
“He could not translate the text by conventional means,” the webpage states. “...The text of the Book of Mormon came by revelation.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Characters that purport to show writings etched on gold plates, from which Joseph Smith said he translated the Book of Mormon.
• It appears Smith used spectacle-like “interpreters” he said he found with the plates, along with a small brown “seer stone” he had used in earlier searches for buried treasure.
“According to eyewitness sources, Joseph sometimes used the interpreters or spectacles to translate. Other firsthand sources suggest he sometimes translated with a single seer stone,” the page explains. “These objects could apparently be used interchangeably and worked in much the same way, and Joseph seems to have used them both at different times. … Eyewitness accounts show that in some instances Joseph Smith looked at a seer stone in a hat to translate, but in other cases he looked through the interpreters at the plates.”
• Smith and his associates used the term “Urim and Thummim,” referred to in the Old Testament, to describe these translation tools.
“The early Saints,” the Q&A says, “sometimes referred to both the interpreters buried with the plates and Joseph’s seer stone as Urim and Thummim.”
(Rick Bowmer | AP) A picture of the seer stone that Joseph Smith had. Eyewitness sources have said that he used this rock, at least partly, in the translation of the Book of Mormon.
• Thanks to deeper historical research, expect to see more Latter-day Saint artwork that depicts Smith translating via a seer stone.
“Many early church members were familiar with Joseph’s use of seer stones. But for much of the 20th century, published accounts of the translation relied on sources that focused mainly on the interpreters buried with the plates. Memory of the seer stones faded … and artists and narrators depicted the translation based on this partial understanding of early church history. In recent decades, the church has worked to provide carefully researched and more complete historical accounts of church history. This expanded understanding helps artists more accurately depict the miraculous story of the Book of Mormon’s translation, portraying the use of the seer stone as well as the interpreters.”
The church released photographs of this revelatory rock in 2015.
The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: The hidden story of a notable pioneer
(FamilySearch) Capt. James Brown Jr., who first settled Ogden, was a Latter-day Saint polygamist who participated in the faith's temple rites. New research shows he had Black ancestry.
Two historians discuss the implications of a recent DNA discovery: Ogden’s pioneering first settler was the first known Latter-day Saint polygamist with Black ancestry. He also enjoyed temple privileges at a time when the church prevented those of African descent from holding the priesthood or entering temples.
Listen to the podcast. Read the story.
Bonus • The latest crossover episode of the “Mormon Land” and “Mormons in Media” podcasts dissects a new dating show, “The Altar,” which “pokes fun at the stereotypes of Provo dating culture.”
More new stakes in ... you guessed it
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) A children's choir sings during a special conference in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
• A new week must mean new stakes in the Democratic Republic of Congo — or so it seems.
The church is expanding so rapidly in the Central African nation that it keeps creating more of these regional clusters of congregations.
The capital of Kinshasa, for instance, just welcomed its third new stake this year, independent researcher Matt Martinich reports at ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com, upping the total tally in the city 17.
“New wards have been created in Kinshasa on nearly a weekly basis thus far in 2025,” Martinich writes, “and there currently are three stakes in the city that appear likely to divide in the immediate future.”
Kolwezi also added a stake, giving the Democratic Republic of Congo 40 stakes overall.
Elsewhere, Martinich notes, the Philippines gained its 134th stake and Papua New Guinea its sixth.
Temple treat
As construction continues on the church’s temple in Birmingham, England, a favorite Latter-day Saint treat is about to arrive in the city as well.
A British couple plan to open the United Kingdom’s first “dirty soda” shop — Slurp Birmingham — next month, Birmingham Live reports.
“I have no idea if this idea will be a success, and I’m kind of prepared for it to be a flop, but I guess you always regret the risks you didn’t take,” Ronja Nylander says in an Instagram video. “...In all honesty I’m pretty scared and this is a big risk, but we are trusting in Allah’s plan.”
Farm frenzy
Australia’s Financial Review explores the buying binge the church has been on after the Utah-based faith scooped up four large farms Down Under in recent months for a price tag approaching $500 million.
Some Australians, the story notes, worry about the church’s agricultural acquisitions.
“It is totally unacceptable that a foreign entity,” a grain producer executive tells the newspaper, “...should be allowed to accumulate significant volumes of farmland and cannibalize Australia’s food-producing capacity.”
This newsletter has previously documented these purchases.
From The Tribune
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU's Provo campus.
• How the church’s deep subsidies set Brigham Young University apart from other religious schools.
• Pop star David Archuleta, a former Latter-day Saint, says his new extended play release, “Earthly Delights,” celebrates “the things that people tell you you’re going to hell for.”
• It’s unreal, Tribune guest columnist Eli McCann writes, how much we care about our Latter-day Saint reality TV stars.