Why don't members talk about the prophet Mormon and his son Moroni?

[AliiiDS]

I've been a member of the church for about 6-7 months now, I've attended every Sunday service since I've joined and to my knowledge no one has ever really mentioned the prophet Mormon or his son Moroni- ya know the guys who actually wrote the book of Mormon on the set of gold plates and buried them into the Earth just before they both died

during Sunday services and conferences someone always mentions Joseph smith and President Thomas S Monson and Jesus Christ but no one ever seems to talk about Mormon and Moroni

When someone stands up to bear their testimony in front of everyone , they always say things like "I bear testimony that this church is true, I know President Thomas S Monson is the living day prophet, I know the book of Mormon is true, I know Joseph Smith restored the true church, I know Jesus Christ is our lord and saviour"

no one ever says something like "I know the prophet Mormon and his son Moroni both wrote our holy scriptures on the golden plates and buried them before they died, I know that a long time after their deaths, Joseph Smith dug them up and translated them"

no one ever says that- why not?

to be fair, Mormon and Moroni have both been mentioned during some lessons and priesthoods but only briefly on occasion, the members of the chapel that I attend have shown me many movies produced by the church- most of them are about the life of Joseph Smith and the early years of the church and about Jesus Christ and when he visited America. I have never ever seen a movie about the life of Mormon.

I swear, while I've been apart of the church, no one has ever mentioned Mormon or Moroni during a Sunday talk or testimony- ever!

it seems to me these guys don't get nearly enough mention and credit that they deserve

Edited June 17, 2012 by AliiiDS

[JesusParadox]

As far as testimony meeting, you could say the same thing about most Prophets. Why are they never mentioned? Truth is, no other prophets are as important to your testimony as Joseph Smith Jr and the current Prophet. A testimony of JS is so important because he started the restoration. A testimony of the current prophet is important because we need to follow his counsel.

[LinuxGal]

As far as testimony meeting, you could say the same thing about most Prophets. Why are they never mentioned? Truth is, no other prophets are as important to your testimony as Joseph Smith Jr and the current Prophet. A testimony of JS is so important because he started the restoration. A testimony of the current prophet is important because we need to follow his counsel.

Perhaps they are given short shrift because Mormon said things like "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things..." which we also read in 1 Cor. 13. A sort of repeat performance, as it were. And Moroni basically repeated the apostle Paul's dissertation on the fruits of the spirit we find in 1 Corinthians 12.

[volgadon]

no one ever says something like "I know the prophet Mormon and his son Moroni both wrote our holy scriptures on the golden plates and buried them before they died, I know that a long time after their deaths, Joseph Smith dug them up and translated them"

no one ever says that- why not?

Well, why haven't you?

[annewandering]

Not to be nitpicky. Much. They did not write the Book of Mormon. They wrote some of it. They abridged a lot of it. They did not even come close to writing it all. Did you, mistakenly, understand that they did?

Only one of them buried the plates in a stone vault.

I have to say, though that I do love these two men. Amazing people. And they are not the only ones. A few years ago I 'discovered' Helaman, after a missionary pointed him to me. And what about Alma? So many! Oh and how could I forget King Benjamin! I even named a son after him. It would be a great meeting to discuss them all. On the other hand we can anytime we want and we can certainly read about what they taught.

Edited June 17, 2012 by annewandering

[pam]

Not to mention that Nephi wrote quite a bit of it as well.

I have to go with MasterOrator. While there are many who contributed to the writing of the Book of Mormon and the abridgement, it really comes down to Joseph Smith and his translation of the Book of Mormon and restoration of the gospel.

[annewandering]

One nice thing about the op posting this question, for me, is that I have stopped and thought about the prophets in the Book of Mormon. So many amazing men of faith. It reminds me of how much I love them all and how grateful I am for what they believed, taught, lived and wrote.

[skalenfehl]

There is SO much spiritual and temporal knowledge that Nephi shares in his two books. What he wrote and how he wrote it was no coincidence. If anyone truly desires to come unto Christ, Nephi teaches us precisely how and wraps it up succinctly in his final chapters.

Mormon and Moroni both were also amazing men who following in Nephi's footsteps, but were divinely inspired to include from hundreds upon hundreds of plates of history the writings contained in the books of Mosiah, Alma and Helaman. They are literally showing the Gentiles today, especially in the church how to avoid the pitfalls that destroyed their civilizations. Moroni was loud and clear about this when he abridged the book of Ether:

Ether 8:23 Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.

The more I ponder the Books of Mosiah, Alma and Helaman, the more the following quote impacts my mind:

"...the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Ne. 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time."--President Ezra Taft Benson

Is it any wonder that we in the church study the Book of Mormon not only every four years, but more specifically during each election year? Coincidence? I hope America wakes up. It's not so much a country of liberty anymore as it is a corporation of greed and corruption.

[Magen_Avot]

My ward would be so lucky to have even "one" testimony that hinged on Jesus Christ, the church and/or (Joseph Smith, BoM) let alone any number of other prophets found in the scriptures.

There are leaders in my ward that would "outlaw" stating a testimony of the church if they could.

But as testimonies go,... It is nice to hear any testimony that is sensitive to the spirit rather than someones idea of a needed lesson for the ward... or worse.

I usually settle for anything coherant.

[Guest]

I've been a member of the church for about 6-7 months now, I've attended every Sunday service since I've joined and to my knowledge no one has ever really mentioned the prophet Mormon or his son Moroni- ya know the guys who actually wrote the book of Mormon on the set of gold plates and buried them into the Earth just before they both died

during Sunday services and conferences someone always mentions Joseph smith and President Thomas S Monson and Jesus Christ but no one ever seems to talk about Mormon and Moroni

When someone stands up to bear their testimony in front of everyone , they always say things like "I bear testimony that this church is true, I know President Thomas S Monson is the living day prophet, I know the book of Mormon is true, I know Joseph Smith restored the true church, I know Jesus Christ is our lord and saviour"

no one ever says something like "I know the prophet Mormon and his son Moroni both wrote our holy scriptures on the golden plates and buried them before they died, I know that a long time after their deaths, Joseph Smith dug them up and translated them"

no one ever says that- why not?

to be fair, Mormon and Moroni have both been mentioned during some lessons and priesthoods but only briefly on occasion, the members of the chapel that I attend have shown me many movies produced by the church- most of them are about the life of Joseph Smith and the early years of the church and about Jesus Christ and when he visited America. I have never ever seen a movie about the life of Mormon.

I swear, while I've been apart of the church, no one has ever mentioned Mormon or Moroni during a Sunday talk or testimony- ever!

it seems to me these guys don't get nearly enough mention and credit that they deserve

I don't know about your ward, but in our ward, most of the talks and testimonies mention the Book of MORMON.

And Moroni stands on top of most (if not all) LDS Temples.

Edited June 19, 2012 by anatess

[Vort]

When someone stands up to bear their testimony in front of everyone , they always say things like "I bear testimony that this church is true, I know President Thomas S Monson is the living day prophet, I know the book of Mormon is true, I know Joseph Smith restored the true church, I know Jesus Christ is our lord and saviour"

no one ever says something like "I know the prophet Mormon and his son Moroni both wrote our holy scriptures on the golden plates and buried them before they died, I know that a long time after their deaths, Joseph Smith dug them up and translated them"

no one ever says that- why not?

Because it's saying the same thing, but talking about Joseph Smith puts the focus where it belongs: on the latter-day restoration and the prophet of that restoration.

For what it's worth, I have heard people bear testimony of the prophetic mission and labor of Mormon and Moroni several times. And as a minor matter of correction, Joseph did not "dig up the plates and translate them". Rather, he uncovered the plates at the behest of Moroni, but was not allowed to take them. He did not physically receive the plates until four years later, at which point he was given them by Moroni. When he had finished, he returned them to Moroni. So Joseph Smith actually received the plates from an angel, to whom he returned them when finished.

(Thanks for the conversation. Lots of work to do today.)

[FunkyTown]

And notice how nobody ever bears their testimony that, "I know that Jonah was swallowed by a whale" or "I know that Moses led the Jews out of bondage."

Yeesh! You'd think there's a giant conspiracy not to talk about them.

Or... Y'know... That modern prophets generally are seen as more directly relevant to the lives of these people.

[Guest Doctrine]

Not to be nitpicky. Much. They did not write the Book of Mormon. They wrote some of it. They abridged a lot of it. They did not even come close to writing it all. Did you, mistakenly, understand that they did?

Not to nitpick but mormon did write on the golden plates for his abridgement exept the books of 1 nephi thru omni and mormon chapter 8 thru moroni.

Also just being funny.

[BenRaines]

I bet there will be more when the course material is about the Book of Mormon.

I wish we heard more about Job and his trials and about Moses and learning to delegate.

Ben Raines

[annewandering]

Not to nitpick but mormon did write on the golden plates for his abridgement exept the books of 1 nephi thru omni and mormon chapter 8 thru moroni.

Also just being funny.

Writing on is not writing. When a person is said to write something we generally assume that he is the original author.

If a person copies a poem for his g/f he hasnt written the poem even though he wrote it on a piece of paper.

[Vort]

Writing on is not writing. When a person is said to write something we generally assume that he is the original author.

If a person copies a poem for his g/f he hasnt written the poem even though he wrote it on a piece of paper.

But of course, for the most part, Mormon did write the Book of Mormon. He quoted verbatim extensively from Nephi's small plates (probably didn't even transcribe them, but just physically inserted them into his abridgment), and he quoted a little bit from Zeniff and from Alma and a few others. But for the most part, he synthesized and retold the history.

If I read a bunch of history books and then write up a report about the historical period involved, I might be abridging the history, but I am the author of my report. Mormon is in the same position.

[annewandering]

But of course, for the most part, Mormon did write the Book of Mormon. He quoted verbatim extensively from Nephi's small plates (probably didn't even transcribe them, but just physically inserted them into his abridgment), and he quoted a little bit from Zeniff and from Alma and a few others. But for the most part, he synthesized and retold the history.

If I read a bunch of history books and then write up a report about the historical period involved, I might be abridging the history, but I am the author of my report. Mormon is in the same position.

I disagree. He abridged a lot of things but that is not being the original writer. In the same vein do you consider that John wrote most of the Bible?

[Vort]

I disagree. He abridged a lot of things but that is not being the original writer. In the same vein do you consider that John wrote most of the Bible?

I don't understand how that's remotely similar. It sounds like you are suggesting that John personally collected the gospels and epistles that we have in the New Testament. I have never heard such a thing, but if that's what you're suggesting, it's a completely different matter. Transcribing a letter that Paul wrote doesn't make it any less Paul's letter, but recounting a history in your own words that was originally written by some unnamed king or prophet does not mean said king or prophet is the "real" author.

Mormon authored the Book of Mormon, with the exception of the small plates and a few well-marked passages taken verbatim from other kings or prophets (e.g. Zeniff and Alma). If you disagree, please tell me who you think should be awarded primary authorship of the work.

[annewandering]

there is no primary authorship. Nephi wrote some, Alma wrote some, Mosiah wrote some, Heleman wrote some etc.

John abridged quite a few books same as Mormon and Moroni did. Mormon and Moroni did not collect various writings. Those writings were kept together from the time of Lehi and added on as time passed.

I suspect this is pointless to argue. You believe abridgments are original works and I dont. (Isnt cool how the Readers Digest is the author of so many books?)

[Vort]

there is no primary authorship. Nephi wrote some, Alma wrote some, Mosiah wrote some, Heleman wrote some etc.

John abridged quite a few books same as Mormon and Moroni did. Mormon and Moroni did not collect various writings. Those writings were kept together from the time of Lehi and added on as time passed.

I suspect this is pointless to argue. You believe abridgments are original works and I dont. (Isnt cool how the Readers Digest is the author of so many books?)

anne, this simply is not so. Reader's Digest takes the actual words, phrases, and sentences of various authors. It does not generate any new content in the "digested" stories it presents. This is much different from Mormon, who actually tells the story in his own words. In other words, Mormon is the author, the storyteller, and not merely the editor (though he is that, too).

You are right that Nephi wrote a significant portion at the beginning, and that his brother and his brother's descendents wrote increasingly smaller portions after. But once you hit the Words of Mormon, that is no longer the case. You have two chapters written by Zeniff, one by Alma, and various snippets of quotations. But the presentation of the narrative along with most of the commentary is pure Mormon.

[Guest Doctrine]

I was just being funny about anne being a nitpicker, so I started to nitpick the nitpick.

any ways I love the Book Of Mormon and I am happy we are studying it this year.