I brought up our friend Daniel and his statements on the PBS special.
The fellow on the other end said he had never heard of Daniel, but to my amazement, sent these two links:
A Treasured Testament by Russell Nelson
“Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing.
and a 1977 ensign article, By the Gift and Power of God
“Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light. And in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear and under it was the interpretation in English.
My question to folks like Daniel, who seem to be close to the editors of the manuals and curriculum:
Now that the online missionaries are pushing the same translation story as you did on the PBS special, when will they start showing the kids an image with smith's face buried in a hat when they talk about the translation of the Book of Mormon?