Joseph Smith

A Simple Story About a Pickup Truck

So this—this is my pickup truck. I bet you didn’t expect to see that in a conference, right?

It was my father’s. I inherited it from him, and in case you don’t notice, it’s really old—like, it’s older than some of the people sitting in the audience here. And many of the plastic parts on it were broken and damaged by the sun.

In fact, when I touched the tail light, my finger went all the way through the plastic lens because it was so corroded by the sun.

Trying to Fix What Was Broken

So I decided I wanted to fix it up and make the truck just a little bit nicer. So I tried to replace all of the plastic parts on it, and I replaced—it was going really well—and I would replace most of them until I tried to replace the air vents.

This is the “after” picture, not the before. I didn’t think to take a “before” picture. I mean, the before picture was just kind of a square hole—that is what it was.

So when I tried to replace those air vents, I looked for the parts, and I discovered there were no parts in the United States. Didn’t exist—too old.

Turning to the Internet for Answers

So I had to order parts from Malaysia and wait for them to come, and it took a whole month. And so I finally got them, and with excitement I went down to my truck, and I realized I didn’t know how to put it in. I had no idea.

So where did I go to get the answers? YouTube, right? YouTube has the answer to everything related to car repairs.

So I looked at YouTube, and I found a video that explained exactly how to do it. And what it said is you could take a couple of butter knives, and there’s like a button on the ends of these vents, and all you have to do is put the butter knives in on each end and press it in, and it’ll just slip right into the hole.

And I thought, like, well, that sounds pretty easy—I’ll do that.

When Internet Advice Goes Wrong

Okay, and so I put the knives on each end, and I pushed in.

And the vent completely collapsed and fell apart.

So I went back to YouTube, and I looked around again, and I found a different video. And this new video started by saying, contrary to what some other videos claim, you can’t simply bend the parts and slip them in—you have to take the dashboard apart.

So I had to buy new parts from Malaysia, wait for them to be shipped to me, and try again. And this time, it did work.

Not Everything Online Is True

So why am I telling you this story?

Well, it’s to illustrate that not everything we learn on the internet is true. In our mind, we say, of course I know that—but in our heart and in our soul, sometimes we’re afraid that the things we read on the internet might be true.

And we occasionally panic when we read things that go against our beliefs. And the fear that it could possibly be true can sometimes shake our faith—we stop listening, we stop exploring, we simply take it as fact.

When People Encounter Church History Online

Every day I get emails from people saying they just learned something about the church on the internet, and they wonder why they didn’t know it before. And they often assume the church has hidden it from them.

For example, I’ve seen several people on TikTok and YouTube who are very upset that there’s a claim that Joseph Smith used the Nephite breastplate, known as—or often referred to as—the Urim and Thummim when he started translating the Book of Mormon, but later shifted to using a small, dark-colored stone called the seer stone.

And in 1870, in talking about the Book of Mormon translation, Emma Smith said,

“Now the first part that my husband translated was translated by use of the Urim and Thummim, and that was the part Martin Harris lost. After that, he used a small stone, not exactly black, but was rather dark in color.”

The Question Critics Raise

Well, I’ve been told the church has hidden this fact for many years.

One prominent church critic—who was discussed earlier in an earlier presentation—brings up this issue seven times in his booklet. Clearly he thought it was important, if not devastating. Perhaps it was a smoking gun.

So what happened? Why did the church hide this for so long?

The Information Was Never Hidden

Well, the answer is—they didn’t.

The information has been around and accessible for a long time. Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and Emma Smith all spoke about it. Their quotes can easily be found on this matter using Google.

You can even read about it in the anti–Latter-day Saint book Mormonism Unvailed, written in 1834, which can also be found online.

Where This Has Been Published

It has been published in several places:

• the 1930 History of the Church, volume 1, page 128;
• March 1974 New Era magazine;
• September 1974 Friend magazine;
• September 1977 Ensign magazine;
• January 1988; July 1993;
• January 2013;
• October 2015—
• and it’s discussed on the Church of Jesus Christ website in the Gospel Topics section.

The 1993 Ensign article was written by—this, the writer might be somewhat obscure to you—his name was Russell M. Nelson.

So clearly, this information can easily be found and is not hidden.

“Lazy Learners” and Common Criticisms

It is the ease of finding examples like this that can bring up the admittedly disliked moniker of “lazy learners.”

When I brought up this example recently, the response I got back was that we only mentioned it eight times in 40-plus years, and the paintings about the translation didn’t show it exactly that way, so that proves the Church was trying to hide it.

Well, it clearly isn’t a secret. It was in Church magazines—but admittedly, it also isn’t taught in most Church Sunday School classes.

Why Isn’t This Taught in Sunday School?

If it’s not a secret, why don’t we teach it in Sunday School?

Well, first, Joseph Smith was questioned several times on translation, and he would simply repeat the phrase that it had been done by the gift and power of God. And one time he added, “It is not intended to tell the world all the particulars of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.”

So it is not Joseph Smith—it is other witnesses who talk about the method of translation. Joseph Smith obviously didn’t think the method was very important.

A Historical Detail, Not a Doctrinal Issue

Secondly, exactly how the Book of Mormon is translated is not really relevant to our living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is simply a historical detail.

Whether that detail is right or wrong does not change the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And in our Sunday School classes, we’re really not a Sunday School class of historical details—we try to teach Sunday School classes to help people better follow Jesus Christ and improve their lives.

Critics and the Focus on Method

It seems that critics don’t like the method of the Book of Mormon translation, but they ignore the results.

Or, if he used the right method, the Church failed to tell us about it—and the proof is the illustration from the Book of Mormon that doesn’t show the stone.

But he did use the method that’s in the illustration—he just didn’t use it for the whole book.

Plus, illustrations are not meant to be photographs and are seldom historically accurate.

A Note on Illustrations

Feel free to go to your local community college—I happen to know a community college really well, I work at one—and have a conversation with the art teacher there about it.

Or you could type it into ChatGPT—and I tried that—and it comes back that no, illustrations are not generally historically accurate.

The “Stone” Criticism

In a recent discussion I had on this topic, it occurred to me that the critics were complaining that to aid in the translation, Joseph Smith may have used a stone he found.

I should say he may have used the stone that he found instead of, as they previously believed, two stones found by a previous prophet.

So to summarize this: two stones from a different prophet are okay, but one stone from Joseph Smith proves the Church is false.

A Story About Perspective

The attitude of the critics on this topic reminds me of a situation I heard from a man during a priesthood meeting discussion.

He said that after he had been married for a few years, he decided he did not like his wife. They were not getting along. He thought she was overly critical of him and thought it was a mistake that he’d ever married her.

But before he divorced her, someone—and I believe, if I remember right, it was actually his attorney—told him to start a daily journal.

Learning to See the Good

And each day, he should write down one good thing about his wife—one good thing she had done or said or that he noticed.

And he said the first week it was almost an impossible task. He didn’t notice anything worthwhile, but he dutifully wrote down some small things that she did.

She did wash the dishes, and she prepared lunches for the children.

A Change of Heart

And as he did this daily, it became easier and easier to see the good things that she was doing and to recognize what a wonderful person she was.

One day, while he was away at work, his wife found his journal. And she didn’t say anything—she decided it was a good idea, so she started her own journal.

And they are now happily married, and they’re the best of friends, and they still keep their journals.

Seeing Only the Negative

Sometimes I think the critics, just like this man, could see no good in his wife. Critics sometimes can see no good in the Church.

Everything—even innocent behavior from members of the Church—must have some nefarious motive.

But when you only look for the bad, you only find the bad. When you look for the good, you find the good far exceeds any negative things you struggle with, and you live a much happier life.

The Reality of the Book of Mormon

So, okay—the method of translation is certainly interesting to discuss, but as I said before, it really is simply a historical detail.

No matter what the translation method is, we have a Book of Mormon. It’s a tangible object. It’s real.

And you can’t simply explain it away. As you read it, you recognize the miracle of that book.

The Influence of Online Voices

Online influencers simply want clicks on their online videos—we heard about that today—and the more outrageous the claim, the more clicks you get and the more money they make.

And they often make sure each claim is as controversial as possible to maximize the clicks. Notice the bloody ax gratuitously included in this slide to increase interest.

To many people, it seems that a random person on TikTok is more authoritative than any real historians or scholars, and must be believed if they can make a good video.

The Rise of the “Citizen Journalist”

The citizen journalist has become the harbinger of truth, even when that person may be simply repeating old, long-ago refuted rumors and old anti-Mormon books.

Elder Russell M. Ballard has said,

“Beware of those who speak and publish in opposition to God’s true prophets and who actively proselytize others. They rely on sophistry to deceive and entice others to their views. They set themselves up for a light unto the world, and they may get gain and praise to the world.”

FAIR’s Role and Approach

So FAIR is here to provide basic information and facts related to many of these topics.

We’ve often been dismissed by the critics—”oh, they simply engage in ad hominem attacks!” I hear. But when I ask, “where?” (and I have asked) the critics haven’t been able to find examples.

That’s because we go to great lengths to talk about the arguments and not the people.

Staying Focused on Arguments, Not People

That’s not to say we’re perfect at it. There have been occasions when we’ve grown frustrated with people making absurd claims without evidence, and I have questioned the honesty of the author or podcaster.

But it’s always in context of the facts, and it’s never simply a dismissal based on who they are.

FAIR is here to cut through the propaganda, the repeating of rumors, and the arguments that would often not make it through a freshman English writing class.

Improving the Quality of Discussion

Now, before anyone jumps on me for that statement, there are also apologetic writings defending the Church that would also not pass that bar.

I have seen that in arguments related to Book of Mormon geography, race in the priesthood, and plural marriage.

All I can say is I hope the arguments get better on both sides, actually.

Global Impact of FAIR

But FAIR is here to strengthen testimonies. We recently had a donor who paid for a few people to travel to Europe for some conferences and firesides.

In Salzburg, we met a sister who had traveled all the way from Hungary to read our talks or to see our talks. She was frustrated that because of the language barrier it wasn’t available to many of her fellow Hungarians.

In Bulgaria, I met a man from Turkey who had many questions that were preventing him from joining the Church. He found FAIR, found his answers, and was baptized.

The Growing Need for Resources

But we have a problem. FAIR is honestly made up of simply a few volunteers, backed up by several outsiders willing to give their expertise at our conferences.

People ask us to respond to questions, videos, and websites. We have a 10,000-page website that needs to be updated.

We have people who want us to do firesides or conferences in other areas.

The Challenge of Keeping Up

So far, we’ve relied on faith and small donations to get us through.

As technology has become more and more complicated, we find that we need more resources to keep up.

Without people donating to us, we wouldn’t be able to keep up. So far, FAIR has been operating on a budget that’s less than the salary of one of the podcasters who attacks the Church.

A Call for Support

Now granted, he’s one of the more famous podcasters—but his salary is more than our entire budget.

How can we hope to keep up?

Let me share with you this clip given by Elder Pearson at a previous FAIR conference:

“Independent voices are needed in reaching out to those among us who are struggling to find and sustain faith, and in responding to those who unfairly criticize, misrepresent, distort, and demean the Church, its history, doctrine, and leadership. More needs to be done to increase awareness of, access to, and confidence in these independent, trusted resources by Latter-day Saints and seekers of truth. These are valued, trusted resources, and they need more support. They need more financial support, among other things, given the enormity of the challenge. Good people of faith are going to have to think about what they want to use their resources to put against, and FAIR Mormon cannot possibly engage at the level they’re capable of without more financial resources.”

A Final Note on Support

Okay, of course you’d expect a donation ad from me—but it’s true.

And he spoke also about—he also included other organizations that are represented at the conference here in his talk.

Teaching a New Generation

So each year I finish my semester teaching students in accounting who are easily completing their homework—they understand the principles I’m teaching them.

Then the new semester starts, and a new group of students stare blankly at me and act as if they’ve never heard the subject matter before. That’s because they haven’t heard it before, and I have to start over and teach the new class the same information from the very beginning.

Gospel Learning Works the Same Way

The same is true with gospel learning and for evaluating critical arguments.

Each generation is a new group of students learning again why the gospel is true. And I hear it over and over again where people will have a question, and people will respond with, “Oh, that old thing—that’s already been discussed.”

No, it hasn’t been discussed—not with a new generation. It’s only been discussed with us older folks, I guess.

Key Differences in How People Learn

But there are a couple of differences with my students and with people with gospel questions and such.

First, even though I’m giving my students new information they have not heard before, it is really rare for them to say that since they haven’t heard it before, I must have been hiding it.

Secondly, unlike my students who typically go to class to learn from me, those struggling with gospel questions quickly turn to the internet and follow whosoever has a good video, regardless of their qualifications.

Where People Turn in a Faith Crisis

They’ve done studies with people who have a crisis of faith—do they first turn to the Church or their loved ones?

No. They usually first go to the internet and do their own research, not realizing that many of the online sources are not trustworthy.

I’m saddened when I see people leave the Church because of what they read or see on these deceptive websites.

The Danger of Misinformation

How would you feel if you left the Church and then found out you were lied to by the person who is telling you the Church was lying?

So how do you avoid being led astray?

Start with Trusted Sources

First, focus on using trusted sources.

Your first trusted source is the Church and professional Church historians. From there, you can expand your circle to include BYU Studies and other faithful resources like FAIR, Interpreter, and Scripture Central.

In all of that, be careful of anyone who claims to know more than the Church or claims that the Church has been deceived—that is a sure indication that something is wrong.

Your Personal Receptiveness to Truth

Then we have the issue of your personal receptiveness to the true truth.

1. Are you spending excessive time on social media,
2. getting angry with everyone—even in defense of the gospel? Anger will drive away the Spirit and leave you susceptible to doubts.
3. Are you involved in any behavior that’s not in keeping with the commandments—
4. or maybe you have not broken any of the commandments, but you would like to and spend lots of time thinking about it?

What Are You Surrounding Yourself With?

On the other hand:

• are you spending your time attending church,
• studying scriptures,
• listening to uplifting talks and music?

Are you engaged in:

• service,
• visiting the temple, and
• seeking the Lord’s guidance in prayer?

In short, with whom and what are you surrounding yourself?

Staying Focused on the Core Question

It’s easy to get sidetracked on various criticisms of the Church.

Most of these issues we run into on social media or on the internet are simply distractions.

I can say that because most questions really come down to the question about the Book of Mormon.

The Central Truth Claim

If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.

If he was a prophet, then the priesthood keys that the Lord said would never be taken again from the earth are still here, held by President Russell M. Nelson.

And this is the Church of Jesus Christ today.

A Common Criticism: Archaeology and the Book of Mormon

Let me give you an example of a criticism that repeatedly comes up—but research provides answers for.

Archaeology—doesn’t archaeology prove the Book of Mormon as false?

Well, in 2019, Matt Roper, building on previous work done by archaeologist Dr. John Clark, examined many books claiming to prove the Book of Mormon false through archaeology.

Examining the Evidence

He presented his results in a FAIR conference such as this one, and he identified every archaeological evidence listed against it. Then, he produced the following list of 200 items.

Matt then looked at modern archaeology and found the claims that were supposed to prove the Book of Mormon false are now supported by archaeological evidence.

Where there is no archaeological evidence, he used red. Where there’s accepted archaeological evidence, he used green. And where there is evidence but still disagreement on it—or uncertainty on it—he used blue.

What the Data Shows

The Book of Mormon was written in 1830, but in 2019, 81% of the things that were supposed to prove the Book of Mormon was a fake are either confirmed to be true or trending in the direction to be true.

Had Joseph Smith used the archaeological beliefs of his day to author the Book of Mormon, it would have been wrong.

Instead, people criticized the book for more than 190 years for things we now know to be true.

Why Old Criticisms Persist

Unfortunately, on the internet, they’re still repeating a lot of those old claims.

To me, this shows if you have questions, in faith, answers will come. They may not come right away—as some of these criticisms have gone on for 190 years—but they do come.

Scholarship and Discipleship

We do not talk about these things much in church. Knowing this information does not change our behavior.

The Church is trying to make us disciples of Jesus Christ and not necessarily scholars.

Being a scholar does not make you a better person—but if you want to study scholarship, the information is there. FAIR, Interpreter, Scripture Central, and other organizations are there to help you with those intellectual reasons to stay.

Counsel from President Nelson

In April Conference 2022, President Russell M. Nelson gave a talk on spiritual momentum. He said we should learn about God and how He works.

He also said we should pray always and study our scriptures.

And then in a 2022 devotional, President Nelson said that:

“If you have questions—and I hope you do—seek answers with a fervent desire to believe. Learn all you can about the gospel, and be sure to turn to truth-filled sources for guidance.”

Seeking Truth from the Right Sources

As you go through your life, you will hear good things and bad things about the Church—that is the nature of social media, and that’s the nature of the internet.

But know that I have spent many years reading criticisms of the Church. My testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel is stronger today than it has ever been.

Anchored in Jesus Christ

My anchor is Jesus Christ and the book that testifies of Him—the Book of Mormon.

Living the principle is not always easy, but if we do, we will be blessed.

When Loved Ones Leave the Church

So one more thought—what do we do if we have family or friends who leave the Church, or people who study the gospel and don’t join?

My experience says you should love them.

You do not try to convince them they’re wrong—I’m sure you’ve seen how well that works in politics. It doesn’t.

Responding with Love and Patience

• You wait for them.
• You answer their questions as they come up, and
• You hold on to what you know.

Remember, life is eternal, so change may come for them sometime later—perhaps not even in this life.

We are eternal beings in temporal bodies, but we can still hold on to the truthfulness of the gospel.

Love Without Agreement

To love others, we do not have to agree with them.

We can know it is true, and we can love our neighbor and our family as Jesus commanded us to do.

Final Encouragement

So I want to point out one more thing—in the Church Gospel Library app, if you pull up your Gospel Library app, they’ve created a new section to give additional guidance to you if you’re struggling with questions yourself or if you’re trying to help someone struggling with questions.

What you don’t want to do is get angry with them or drive them away—you want to love them, listen to them, and trust in the Lord.

Testimony

I know that Jesus is the Christ. He is my Savior. He loves us and wants the best for us.

He’s given us the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and this is His Church.

And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.