Moroni, by Elder Glen L. Rudd — 1997
The Prophet Moroni, by Elder Glen L. Rudd, January 1997
Some years ago, a famous football player named Dale approached Morris Poole to buy a little truck. Morris was a car salesman and a good member of the Church who lived in LIve Oak, Florida. Before Dale left, Morris asked him, “What do you know about Moroni?” “Moroni who?” asked Dale. Morris responded, “I don’t know — he doesn’t have a last name.” “I don’t want to know about anyone who doesn’t’ have a last name!” said Dale. However, the next night, Morris approached Dale and told him about Moroni and the Church. In three weeks, Dale was baptized and has been a faithful leader in the Church for the last 25 years.
What do you know about Moroni? Out of my office window, I can see the temple and the Angel Moroni on top of the temple. Two or three million others also see his likeness on this and other temples. In reading the Book of Mormon, we learn much of Moroni and his unusual life and writings. He was a prophet, a warrior, a scribe, and many other things. He recorded that he had been visited by the Savior and the Three Nephites. And we know that he lived on for 36 or 37 years after all the Nephites were salin, including his father. After he finished his writings, he hid the plates. We know nothing of his years of loneliness. We know he died, but not how or when. Then he resurrected, and after over 1400 years, he appeared at the bedside of the boy prophet Joseph Smith.
Moroni, living in the 5th century, was the last living witness in the Meridian of Time who testified that he had seen the resurrected Christ. He is also the most recent person who has lived and died on the earth who is known to have been resurrected.
Moroni is resurrected When the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith in 1823, he was a resurrected being. Joseph Smith was asked the question in a newspaper interview, “How, and where did you obtain the Book of Mormon?” Joseph answered “Moroni, the person who deposited the plates from whence the Book of Mormon was translated, in a hill in Manchester, Ontario County, New York, being dead, and raised again therefrom, appeared unto me, and told me where they were, and gave me directions how to obtain them.”
Moroni becomes an important witness of the reality of the resurrection. In one way, he is very unique. His resurrection confirms the fact that resurrection did not happen only in the year A.D. 34 and then cease. Moroni, who lived four centuries later, was also resurrected. It was indeed fortunate for Moroni that he was a man of action. He had to keep on moving and probably did not stay in one place very long. Instead, he explains: “Wherefore I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of my own life.” Just preceding this statement, he remarks that he had observed the wars among the Lamanites. His “wanderings” then were probably not from day to day, but from situation to situation, or from season to season. He never mentions food or shelter. Evidently he had mastered those problems. It is certain he knew the bow and arrow, the ax, the sling, the spear, and snare, how to sow and how to reap. He could have had horses and boats and would doubtless have known how to hunt, swim, and fish.
How many times could he have been nursed from sickness or accident or warned of danger by the Three Nephites, those disciples who were privileged to remain on the earth and not taste death? “But behold my father and I have seen them and they have ministered unto us.” (Mormon 8:11) He tells us: “And then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine language, concerning these things.” (Ether 12:39)
Those who have seen Moroni in a dream or in person:
- Joseph Smith
- Oliver Cowdery — excommunicated and out of the Church for 10 years. Baptized again. Died at age 43, strong in his testimony.
- David Whitmer — excommunicated and died out of the Church in his 80’s.
- Martin Harris — not disfellowshipped or excommunicated. Rebaptized, died strong in his testimony in Cache Valley, in his 80’s.
- Emma Smith — no church action take against her. She stayed in Nauvoo as the Church moved west.
- Mary Whitmer — mother of David Whitmer. She was overly busy serving the brethren who came to the Whitmer home to organize the Church. As she went out to milk a cow, Moroni appeared to her and showed her the plates.
- Luke Johnson — an original apostle and later a bishop. He was excommunicated but was later rebaptized and came west with the first pioneer group.
- Lucy Harris — first wife of Martin Harris. She was a serious problem as she was always hunting for the plates. One day she was digging and saw a black snake that hissed at her. She ran back to the home and ceased looking for the plates from that point on. In 1831, Martin made a settlement and left her. He later married the daughter of John Young.
- Zera Pulsipher — a Seventy, a high priest, and later a patriarch.
- W. W. Phelps — was cut off from the Church twice, but came back both times. Moved west with the Saints.
- John P. Greene — a brother-in-law to Brigham Young. He received a copy of the Book of Mormon from Samuel Smith, Joseph’s brother, and later gave the book to Brigham.
- Rhoda Young — Brigham Young’s sister, married to John P. Greene.
- John Taylor — As a young man, he saw Moroni.
- Harrison Burgess — member of Zion’s Camp, a Seventy, and a bishop in Pine Valley.
- Oliver Granger — Moroni prayed with him (see Doctrine and Covenants 117)
- Heber C. Kimball — shortly before he died, Moroni appeared to him and told him his work was complete on the earth.
Some interesting things and events that many of us do not know about Moroni:
- I once read that Moroni had appeared to Joseph Smith 22 times. I cannot verify that statement or find where I read it.
- Moroni held the Melchizedek Priesthood. Refer to Gospel Kingdom by John Taylor, page 140.
- Moroni understood by the power of the Holy Ghost. Evidence and reason, along with revelation, tell us that he had complied with al the ordinances of the gospel, including celestial marriage. This is a statement by Sidney Sperry in the Improvement Era of April 1953.
- Fifteen of our Latter-day Saint hymns refer to or are about Moroni.
- Moroni dedicated several temple sites.
- St. George Temple — The prophet Brigham Young made a trip to the Rio Virgin Valley in southern Utah in 1861 and there prophesied: “There will yet be built between these volcanic ridges a city with spires, towers,and steeples, with homes containing many inhabitants.” The head of that valley is where St. George now stands. Ten years later Brigham Young designated the place for the temple. Men complained that the ground was boggy, and that it would be a poor place for a firm foundation. “We will make a foundation!” Brigham replied. Later on, while plowing and scraping where the foundation was to be, they found a spring of water. The brethren then wanted to move the foundation line twelve feet to the south, so that the spring of water would be on the outside of the temple. “Not so,” replied President Young. “We will wall it up and leave it here for some future use, but we will not move the foundation. This spot was dedicated by the Nephites. They could not build the temple, but we can and will build it for them.” To this day the water from that very spring is running through a drain properly built.
- Manti Temple — At the dedication of the site for the Manti Utah Temple, the following incident was reported: “At a conference held in Ephraim, Sanpete County, June 25th, 1875, nearly all the speakers expressed their feelings to have a temple built in Sanpete. At 4 pm that day, President Brigham Young said: ‘The temple should be built on Manti stone quarry.’ Early on the morning of April 25, 1877, President young asked Brother Warren S. Snow to go with him to the temple hill. Brother Snow reported, ‘We two were alone, and President Young took me to the spot where the temple was to stand. We went to the southeast corner and President Young said, ‘Here is the spot where the prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can’t move it from this spot. If you and I are the only persons that come here at high noon today, we will dedicate this ground.’ “
- Other temple sites — On January 26, 1881, Father William McBride, patriarch from Richfield on the Sevier River, spoke at a prayer meeting held in St. George. He recalled many experiences from the Nauvoo period, quoting the prophet Joseph Smith on several issues. Father McBride then spoke of the route the old Nephites took traveling to Cumorah from the south and southwest, and of having to bury their treasures as they journeyed and finally burying the records and precious things in the Hill Cumorah. The patriarch spoke of Moroni dedicating the temple site of what we now call St. George, Nauvoo, Jackson County, Kirtland, and others we know not of as yet.
- Moroni, the guardian angel of America — Elder Orson Hyde, a member of the Council of the Twelve who served under the leadership of three latter-day prophets (Presidents Smith, Young, and Taylor) add a new dimension to our understanding of Moroni’s activities prior to his dealings with the prophet Joseph Smith. Elder Hyde taught that Moroni was the “guardian angel of America”. In the Salt Lake Tabernacle on the morning of the 4th of July, 1854, the theme was Americanism and patriotism. Elder Hyde spoke of the American Revolution and the many battles won, when even the odds were so overwhelming against victory. Elder Hyde then posed the question: “By whose power victory so often perched on our banner?” Answering his own question, he continued: “It was by the agency of that same angel of God that appeared unto Joseph Smith, and revealed to him the history of the early inhabitants of this country. This same angel presides over the destiny of America, and feels a lively interest in all our doings. He was in the camp of George Washington, and by an invisible hand, led on our fathers to conquest and victory; and all this to open and prepare the way for the Church and Kingdom of God to be established on the Western Hemisphere, for the redemption of Israel and the salvation of the world. This same angel was with Columbus and gave him deep impressions, by dreams and by visions, respecting this New World. The angel of God helped him, was with him on the stormy deep, calmed the troubled elements, and guided his frail vessel to the desired haven. Under the guardianship of this ame angel, or Prince of America, has the United States grown, increased, and flourished, like the sturdy oak by the rivers of water.” Elder Hyde reminded his audience of the high regard that our Father in Heaven has for the Americas. He then soberly reminded his hearers that our country was not without its excesses and would consequently be punished for them. Finally, in regard to Moroni’s protective role with the America, Orson Hyde said: “When justice is satisfied, and the blood of martyrs atoned for, the guardian angel of America will return to his station, resume his charge, and restore the Constitution of our country to the respect and veneration of the people, for it was given by the inspiration of our God.”
- Elder Sterling W. Sill wrote the following: “As we look up to Moroni’s statue on the temple top, what a thrilling challenge we may get by remembering his warning and his testimony written for our benefit (Moroni 10:4). What a tremendous promise, and how important it is that we learn its truth for ourselves. What value could one place on such a testimony? Moroni had talked with the resurrected Jesus fact to face. He knew the everlasting decrees of God concerning this land. He knew at first hand the requirements of our eternal exaltation. Then he finished the book and hid it in the hill around which the last of his people had been destroyed, and whose bones now covered its surface. It was to this same hill that he was to return fourteen centuries later to make known to us the record’s hiding place. In bidding us a temporary farewell, he said he was going to rest in the paradise of God. Then there followed a long silence of 14 centuries. For 1402 years we heard nothing more, until on the night of September 21, 1823, this same man, now resurrected and glorified, appeared in the bedroom of Joseph Smith, and Joseph tried to describe him as he then appeared, but he said that description was impossible. His civilization came to an end in the year 384 A.D. when his entire people were exterminated save only himself. He said. ‘My father hath been slain as well as all my kinfolk and I have not friends nor whither to go…therefore I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of my own life.’ He was spared by God to finish the record and make it available for our use. However, he did not close the record until 421 A.D. Therefore, for 37 years, what must have been long and lonely years after the death of his father, and the destruction of his people, Moroni lived on alone until approximately age 80, hiding from his enemies, seeking his food where he could, and working as his circumstances would permit, to complete the great scriptural volume which bears the name of his father Mormon. In closing this record and the dispensation that it described, he said, ‘I soon go to rest in the paradise of God until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the eternal judge of the quick and the dead.’ ” (Moroni 10:34)
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