Does SeN really want Gemli to learn about the plates?
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 9:49 pm
In my long-time mental summary from years of primary, Joseph Smith got the plates, put them in a box and when he moved, he sneaked them in a barrel of beans, and then it's hazy, they were translated out of view, setting on a table wrapped in something -- or something. At some point they were shown to a few people.
But the truth is, even after Smith had gotten the plates, they were more often then not fully out of his possession. He got them in September of 1827 and kept them in the house. He moved in October, hiding the plates in the barrel of beans. But they'd moved in with Emma's dad, who refused to have a secret item in his house. And so Joseph hides them in the woods, where they were left disrespectfully buried until June of 1829, when he and Emma moved to David Whitmer's house in Feyette New York. Were they hidden in a barrel of beans again for the journey? Well, it's a bit awkward given the controversy, and since everyone has had expectations managed over the last nearly two years, Joseph leaves them in the forest and heads for New York without the headache. At some point, Moroni sneaks into the forest, gets the plates, and then flies to New York and hides the plates somewhere in David Whitmer's backyard.
Now things happen fast. John Welch dates the three witnesses events to June 23, 1829, and then the eight, and then by the end of June, the plates are returned to Moroni.
So here is what Gemli is to understand for specifically, the three witness events. Moroni had just whisked the plates through the air from Pennsylvania to New York, from a forest where they'd been abandoned for 2 years, to David Whitmer's backyard. And now David, Oliver, and Joseph head out to another forest -- a forest in New York -- so that the initiates can see the plates. Moroni sneaks into Whitmer's backyard in broad daylight but is not detected, gets the plates, steals a small wooden table from one of the locals, and heads to the forest to cap off the path of the three sojourners. There he sets up the table with plates set open upon it for the three to see. Then he packs up and goes somewhere, and then returns and sets everything up again for Martin Harris and Joseph Smith. After that, Moroni returns the table, puts the plates back in Whitmer's backyard, and scrams.
Joseph, Emma, and the Whitmer's travel to Palmyra. It's not said how they got the plates from Whitmer's backyard to Palmyra. And here, probably another forest area, is where the eight witnesses "hefted" the covered plates.
But the truth is, even after Smith had gotten the plates, they were more often then not fully out of his possession. He got them in September of 1827 and kept them in the house. He moved in October, hiding the plates in the barrel of beans. But they'd moved in with Emma's dad, who refused to have a secret item in his house. And so Joseph hides them in the woods, where they were left disrespectfully buried until June of 1829, when he and Emma moved to David Whitmer's house in Feyette New York. Were they hidden in a barrel of beans again for the journey? Well, it's a bit awkward given the controversy, and since everyone has had expectations managed over the last nearly two years, Joseph leaves them in the forest and heads for New York without the headache. At some point, Moroni sneaks into the forest, gets the plates, and then flies to New York and hides the plates somewhere in David Whitmer's backyard.
Now things happen fast. John Welch dates the three witnesses events to June 23, 1829, and then the eight, and then by the end of June, the plates are returned to Moroni.
So here is what Gemli is to understand for specifically, the three witness events. Moroni had just whisked the plates through the air from Pennsylvania to New York, from a forest where they'd been abandoned for 2 years, to David Whitmer's backyard. And now David, Oliver, and Joseph head out to another forest -- a forest in New York -- so that the initiates can see the plates. Moroni sneaks into Whitmer's backyard in broad daylight but is not detected, gets the plates, steals a small wooden table from one of the locals, and heads to the forest to cap off the path of the three sojourners. There he sets up the table with plates set open upon it for the three to see. Then he packs up and goes somewhere, and then returns and sets everything up again for Martin Harris and Joseph Smith. After that, Moroni returns the table, puts the plates back in Whitmer's backyard, and scrams.
Joseph, Emma, and the Whitmer's travel to Palmyra. It's not said how they got the plates from Whitmer's backyard to Palmyra. And here, probably another forest area, is where the eight witnesses "hefted" the covered plates.