MORMON AS A YOUTH by Dr. Jerry Ainsworth

[Hemidakota]

E-mail received yesterday:

Since there are only six paragraphs that refer to Mormon’s youth in the Book of Mormon, it is a real challenge to gain a lot of insight into those early years. I have therefore taken the liberty of expanding on, indeed speculating about a few of the statements made in those brief paragraphs about Mormon’s childhood.

During Mormon’s youth the person in charge of the Nephite records was Ammaron. It was he who instructed Mormon to complete the large plates of Nephi, when he turned twenty four years old. While giving this directive Ammaron told Mormon the following:

“Therefore, when ye are about twenty and four years old I would that ye should remember the things that ye have observed concerning this people; and when ye are that age go to the land Antum, unto a hill which shall be called Shim; and there have I deposited unto the Lord all the sacred engravings concerning this people.” (Mormon 1:3)

The records Ammaron is referring to are those of the Nephite nation, therefore the people he is referring to in this directive are the Nephite people. The key word in this directive is the term “have.” Mormon is ten years old when given this charge and he is told to write the things “ye have observed,” not things you will observe in the future. This implies to me that Mormon was already aware of things going on in the Nephite nation even though he was but ten years and did not live among the Nephites. (see Mormon 1:6)

Another revealing part of this verse is how Ammaron refers to the Nephite people, as they were related to Mormon. He says, “…I would that ye should remember the things that ye have observed concerning this people.”

Ammaron does not refer to the Nephites as your people, but “this people.” Although Mormon was a direct descendant of Nephi, he was not at this time considered part of the Nephite nation. He was a foreigner, (living in the land northward). Ammaron therefore refers to the Nephite nation as “this people.”

Mormon 1:6 he tells us that at the age of eleven, his father carried him “into the land southward, even into the land of Zarahemla.” This statement implies to me that Mormon lived in the land northward, outside the land of Zarahemla. Ammaron’s statement appears to imply that this was not Mormon’s first visit to the land of Zarahemla, as at the age of ten, he was told to remember the “things that ye have seen,” not things that you will see in the future.

For many years I have believed that Mormon’s family were traders by profession. I believe that for three reasons:

1. I believe that Mormon’s home was the city of Teotihuacan. This ancient city was the trading capital of Mesoamerica during this time period, and it was from this trade, that the city garnered both financial and political power over the region.

2. Mormon Sr. toured his son around the land of Zarahemla for four years, assumedly leaving the remainder of his family in Teotihuacan for that time period. My father was a barber, and as such, did not have the funds to travel with one child, while leaving the rest of the family on their own for four years. I assume Mormon’s father was better off financially.

3. In AD 380 Mormon moved the complete Nephite library from the hill Shim to the hill Cumorah, a significant distance. Since Brigham Young states there were enough plates in the hill Cumorah to fill “many wagons loads,” I assume moving them this great distance would have presented a significant challenge. This is especially true since the plates were made of gold and there were Lamanites and robbers throughout the land at that time.

Since the Book of Mormon people did not have use of the wheel, these records had to be carried by people and/or animals, which creates a problem, “How do you do this without putting the records at risk from the Lamanites and robbers. One way to circumvent this challenge would be to secrete the records among the contents of a large trading caravan. This is what I suspect Mormon did.

It appears to me that Mormon Senior was a trader and as such had taken his son, Mormon Jr. on caravans, when trading goods in the land of Zarahemla. This is why Ammaron told Mormon Jr. to remember the things which “ye have seen, even though he was only ten years old at the time.

This may also give additional meaning to the statement made by Ammaron in Mormon 1:2, were he tells Mormon, “…I perceive thou art a sober child, and art quick to observe.”

Since it was incumbent on Ammaron to stay appraised of what was happening in the Nephite nation, (he was the Nephite historian at this time), it would make sense for him to travel to Zarahemla also, to keep tabs on this people.

If I am correct in this observation, this speculation, then Mormon 1:2 takes on a more expansive meaning. Ammaron makes the observation that Mormon is a sober child and quick to observe. In the past, when reading the term “sober,” I have always assumed that Ammaron meant humble, simple or well-balanced. Now I consider the possibility that what Ammaron was referring to actually did have to do with the consumption of alcohol.

If Ammaron was traveling to the land Zarahemla periodically, possibly in the Mormon trading caravan, one of the things he certainly would have observed, would have been the drinking of alcoholic beverages. From historical documents I know that it was common for those who were the carriers on the caravans, as well as others, to consume alcoholic beverages, and to frequently get drunk. Under some conditions this could be done for health reasons, or propholactically.

Under such conditions, the statement from Ammaron, that Mormon was a “sober child,” may take on a different, or possibly expanded meaning. It should also be remembered that the Lord had no prohibition against drinking of alcoholic beverages during Biblical times, nor in Book of Mormon times. Indeed, it was the Lord who changed water into wine.

There was a prohibition against drunkenness, but not against drinking. In other words, it was alright to drink alcoholic beverages and under certain circumstances, such as traveling through a desolate land, it may be desirable over the drinking of the water that was available. It was therefore incumbent on the individual to consume this beverage prudently, and stay sober. Under these circumstances, Ammaron’s observation about Mormon, “thou art a sober child,” may mean just that, he was a child who did not drink at all, or if so, not to access.

It appears that Mormon’s trip to Zarahemla at the age of ten, may not have been his first visit to that land.

[Wingnut]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[MrNirom]

Though this does not deal with Mormon as a youth.. it expands on his methods.

Mormon's Editorial Method and Meta-Message

by Brant A. Gardner (August 2008)

[Hemidakota]

Just received that e-mail this morning....thanks.

[justamere10]

Just received that e-mail this morning....thanks.

Your quote was from the Mormon Sites monthly newsletter that Jerry Ainsworth contributes to each month. It's a free newsletter, you can subscribe to it at Mormon Sites - rising from the dust.... Dr. Ainsworth also participates on the LDS1.org discussion board at http://www.lds1.org