My Journey to Learn about the True Promised Land

 

Over the past ten years, I have been led on a journey which took me totally by surprise.  This journey strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon more than anything else in the world. I have read and studied this book from cover to cover countless times from 1981 to present day, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that it is “Another testament of Jesus Christ. What took me a step further in my testimony was the journey as to where the Book of Mormon lands are located. 

A view of the Nauvoo Temple from Zarahemla

2005: Fifteen years ago, my two oldest daughters attended college in Alabama: one at Auburn University and the other in Montgomery, Alabama (Huntington College). Many times we would drive up to visit them there which took 3 to 3 ½ hours each way. Driving back and forth presented a lot of time to think and ponder. Sometimes the Spirit would impress upon my mind interesting information. One of those being about some of the early people who lived in Alabama before the Europeans arrived.  I would see in my mind men running with girded loins and bare chests in and out of the wooded areas as I drove by.  I never really thought much of it until later on.

2014: During this year I started finding and watching some videos about the Heartland Model talking about Promised Land from The Book of Mormon being in the United States. This was an interesting idea as all I’ve heard was that the Book of Mormon lands were in Central America.  I never understood all of that information and it was confusing to me especially with the idea of having two Hill Cumorahs.  How can there be two Hill Cumorahs? There is no way to me that Moroni could drag all of those plates, sword of Laban and the Liahona from Central America to New York State. There must be more to all of this.

2015: With several weddings to attend in Utah, my family and I stumbled on a conference at the UVU Conference Center in Orem in April which promoted the Heartland Model. I know that nothing happens by accident and as I attended the conference I felt that I was being taught some Book of Mormon truths. After pondering the Heartland Model for ten years I felt that I really knew the people of the Book of Mormon and where they lived. I bought and read an interesting book called Prophesies and Promises by Bruce H. Porter and Rod Meldrum which explained the whole Heartland Model in a very simple and easy to understand manner.

May 2020: After finding the Zarahemla site on Facebook, I contacted the site manager and asked if they were in need of volunteers to help with their expedition in August of 2020. We were planning a trip back east anyway, but had not made final plans. I was overjoyed to find that my services would be greatly appreciated and planned to meet this group in August in Nauvoo to help with writing their blog.

August 2020: My experience in Nauvoo, Illinois and Montrose, Iowa was a highlight of my life. The Lord was with us the whole way and we were able to learn about some of the point places of the Book of Mormon:

·         Both the families of Lehi and Mulek crossed the Atlantic Ocean

·         The place of Lehi’s Landing is Florida, near Pensacola.

·         The place of Mulek’s Landing is the Great Lakes Area

·         The Land of Nephi covers all the Tennessee and surrounding areas.

·         The River Sidon is the Mississippi River

·         The battle fought in Alma 2 between Amlici and Alma  was near Montrose Iowa and Nauvoo Illinois.

·         The Land of Zarahemla stretched from Nauvoo, Illinois to Montrose Iowa.

·         The Hopewell culture in the United States are the Book Of Mormon Nephites

·         The only Hill Cumorah is in New York State

·         The early Native American people living in the East, came from the East.

·         The United States of America is the Promised Land of the Book of Mormon

 Through these spiritual experiences and visiting areas on the Eastern side of the United States, my testimony of the Book of Mormon has been strengthened tenfold. I am learning more every time we study and read. I know the United States is the covenant Promised Land the Lord has guided the people of Jared, Lehi’s family and Mulek, the son of Zedekiah to live.  It is our beautiful United States and we should recognize how blessed we are to live in the Promised Land.

Riding the Mississippi River

 Our third day on the Expedition (August 5^th) was spent on the Mississippi River.  We were with our Heartland Research Group on the boat “Truth” along with sonar equipment (using a sound ping sent to the bottom and coming back as a picture) expert Don Cummings. He was onboard to take more pictures of the bottom of the river.  

This time we had Don Blum and his diver brother and cousin with us. We were hoping for a human eye’s view from our two divers exploring the river bottom near where the crossing could have occurred over 2,000 years ago. This crossing is recorded in Alma chapter 2 in the Book of Mormon during the war between the Lamanites and Nephites. Finding this crossing would connect the ancient account to the geography on digital maps.

 

Two thousand years ago, even 200 years ago, the Mississippi River was crossable by foot at the harvest time of the year. Sitting on that boat it was hard to believe anyone could cross by foot but we tried to visualize what could have happened from our vantage point.   Before the Keokuk Dam was built in 1913, the rapids on the Mississippi River (called the Des Moines Rapids) were 12 miles long but only three feet deep. Since 1913, the river had risen 18 feet and that area of the Keokuk bend was difficult to imagine anyone crossing by foot. Gone are the little islands shown on a late 1800 map. Gone are the areas which could have been crossed so long ago.

 From the boat outing the day before, Don Cummings along with Mike Baker found three key areas where this crossing could have occurred. The first is called Sandusky and with the sonar scans, it was the most likely place for our divers to explore. The nature of the limestone as a horizontal ledge at the Keokuk Gorge at Sandusky would have been much shallower before the dam was built.

We also had Don Blum with us who has over 40 years experience as an explosive expert for a good part of the Mississippi River.  Before he even got on the boat he talked about the dangers of diving down into the Mississippi.  According to many divers, the Mississippi river is the most dangerous body of water to scuba dive into. It’s murky with very limited visibility and has whirlpools that catch divers who can lose their sense of direction. Then there are the leftover grappling hooks from past fishing excursions which can grab onto arms or legs and not let go. There are also many large logs which are hard to see with 150 pound catfish, snapping turtles and snakes swimming around, all creating a most dangerous place to dive.

Then we learned about Don’s experience blasting rock on the Mississippi River and how the Keokuk Gorge area, which have layers of limestone and is one of the hardest rocks ever blasted in his 39 years of blasting. Once blasted into pieces, these boulders called “riprap” are used to protect the banks of many rivers from erosion. From the Missouri River to the Moline River in Illinois to the end of the Mississippi river in New Orleans, barges of riprap are sent down the river to be used as protection from disintegrating river banks.

Our time on the river was an adventure as the wind blew and the waves pushed against the boat. It was time for the divers to go down to see if they could find that limestone ridge. Once in the water, the visibility under the water was just too difficult to see anything.  Even with underwater headlights, it was too dangerous to go any farther.  It was a great disappointment to us all, but there was nothing we could do.

With this experience now behind us, our divers will get another chance to go again in the future. Using 3D sonar and more powerful lights, the chances will be better to pinpoint a location to search and find the original banks of the river.  We will find better visibility and another time of the year would be better with little waves and no wind.  We will look forward to another excursion to ride down the Mississippi River and find the ancient crossing.

Mounds of History

 If you have ever traveled the eastern side of the country from Alabama to Michigan, you might have seen large areas of fields or woods that have mounds of dirt covered with grass that stand over 15 feet high. Some are not that high, but smaller mounds in wooded areas.  If you have been lucky enough to find these cherished burial grounds of an ancient people, you should call yourself very blessed.

  There are some places on earth that are so sacred, you cannot take a picture of it nor tell others of your experience.  They don’t fully understand what you have felt and many times make fun of what they don’t understand. Our visit to the Nauvoo Ancient Mounds on Tuesday’s (August 5^th) excursion was a sacred one. It was life changing.

 

Walking along these burial grounds, one can feel a sacredness not matched in most places. Two thousand years ago the early ancestors of today’s Native Americans lived there along the banks of the Mississippi River. Roaming around these mounds, gives most people a feeling of serenity and peacefulness. It is believed that these mounds are a part of the Hopewell culture of 550 BC to 400 AD and are like “grave stone marker” that we would use today. Some believe this ancient mound area is the famous Hill Amnihu from The Book of Mormon’s Alma, Chapter 2.  I’m one of those believers.

 

When the care takers, Jennice and Wilson Curlee first started to clean up the area of the Nauvoo Ancient Mounds, it was discovered that some of the mounds had been looted and disrupted, leaving the mound partially open. There is a special ceremony to restore these mounds and the Curlees were able to organize enough people to replace these open mounds.

 

 First, the mound was cleaned for the dirt to be filled. A special material is laid in the spot for the soil. Then soil is brought by dump truck and piled close by to use for the fill. Then bucket by bucket in a bucket brigade, people placed the soil to recover the mound.

 

With much study and research, this special place along the Mississippi River was discovered to have many burial mounds. The early pioneer Saints of 1839, who settled there, leveled some of those mounds without knowing who was buried there before their arrival. There are many more mounds which have been discovered on the hill top of the Nauvoo Ancient Mounds since then and are kept safe with cemetery status from the State of Illinois.

Close to the Mississippi river where they laid Joseph and Hyrum Smith’s body along with their parents and Emma Smith, was discovered a Nephite burial ground. There are mound sights all along the Mississippi river on the Illinois side in Albany, East Dubuque at Granmercy Park and at the Little Maquoketa River Mounds State Preserve.

 

 There is one special burial mound which was discovered back in 1834. During the months of May and June of 1834 Joseph Smith led more than 200 men on a trek called Zion’s Camp from Kirtland, Ohio to Clay County, Missouri. It was an unsuccessful attempt to regain land from which the early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were expelled by non-member settlers. It was on June 3^rd while passing through west-central Illinois

 near Griggsville, that some bones were uncovered from a mound.  Through personal revelation and inspiration, Joseph Smith identified these bones belonging to a white Lamanite and chieftain-warrior named Zelph. It was also told that he was a “thick set man of God”. There was a sharp arrowhead stuck in his side near his ribs. According to the story, one of his thigh bones was broken apparently by a stone flung from a sling while in battle years before his death. He was killed in the battle during the last great struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites.

There is so much history living in these mounds. Peoples’ lives were lived with families in times of peace and in war. There is so much we don’t know about those who lived so long ago, but we can revere these burial grounds. One day we will meet those who lived in this area and they will have wonderful stories to tell.

The Curlees continue to treat the mounds with reverence and hope to preserve the entire site of the hill for the future.  They believe that this ridge or hill outside of Nauvoo is the ancient Hill Amnihu as mentioned in Alma chapter 2, and that the mounds and ancient fortification are located on that hill. Visitors are welcome to walk through the land and see the mounds located about 2 miles north of Nauvoo on Sycamore Haven Drive and feel for yourself about this sacred place.

 Nauvoo Mounds