Another from the Rabbi's book
Dvorah and I learned as valuable a lesson as Naomi from this incident, one that had been expressed about a century earlier by the Haffetz Hayyim, a great Eastern European rabbinic scholar. He once taught: “When people are preparing a telegram, notice how carefully they consider each word before they put it down. That is how catch! we must be when we speak.”
Quoting from this 1996 book by Rabbi Joseph Tellushkin
Over the past decade, whenever I have lectured throughout the country on “Words That Hurt, Words That Heal: How to Choose Words Wisely and Well,”
I’ve asked my listeners if they can go for twenty four hours Without saying any unkind words about, or to, anybody. Invariably, a minority raise their hands signifying yes, some people laugh, A favorite story I read once is about a teacher (American or Brit~) in China teaching Chinese children. Getting warmed up for class, looked out the window, saw pigeons in the distance.
He asked young girl, are those your father's pigeons?
She said, "Can't tell. It's too far away."
What I draw from this is the observation that we are often, too often, making definitive judgements on people,
Shortly before the prophet Joseph Smith had completed the translation of the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ and Angel Moroni testified that the translation of the book was correct. Never in the history of the world has such a wonderful event happened in relation to a book.
A few years ago an apostle told me, ′′ If an Indian book was found to hold or support the Book of Mormon, it would be a discovery of enormous significance."
Such a book exists; even more so, I will present quotes from four indigenous books produced during the American colonial period containing material similar to that found in the Book of Mormon. Indian writers add testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon.
Ixtlílxochitl, an Indian prince who lived in the Valley of Mexico, wrote a book containing the story of his ancestors from the time of his arrival in America to the arrival of the Spanish. He wrote it based on documents inherited from his ancestors; thus, the book Ixtlílxochitl's Works is a Lamanite version of the history of ancient Americans, while the Book of Mormon represents the nefite version.
The two books have numerous things in common, and each verifies each other. For example, the Book of Mormon declares that ancient America was first populated by a group of colonizers called ′′ Jareditas ", who came from the Tower of Babel. Ixtlílxochitl also declares that the first settlers of America after the flood came ′′ from a very high tower ′′ that is, the Tower of Babel.
Let's see how similar the stories are when comparing them:
"... Jared came from the great tower with his brother and their families, and with some others and their families, in the time when the Lord confused the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they would be scattered throughout the surface of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered." (Et. 1:33.)
Ixtlilxochitl, the Indian writer, writes:
"... and... men multiplying made a very high tower, to protect themselves in it when the second world was destroyed.
When things were at their best, their language was changed and as they couldn't understand each other they went to different parts of the world." (Jobs by Ixtlilxochitl, quoted in Mllton R. Hunter and Thomas Stuart Ferguson, ′′ Ancient America and the Book of Mormon-The Ancient America and the Book of Mormon -, 1950, p. 1950 24.)
Making other additional comparisons between the Book of Mormon and the records or works of Ixtlxochitl, I will quote from the Jaredite writings:
"... and the Lord pityed Jared; therefore he did not confuse Jared's language.
... and the Lord had compassion on his friends and their families too, and they were not confused." (Eter 1:35, 37.)
Then the Lord guided the colony of Jared through a valley to the seashore and on ships made them reach America, the land to which He declared as ′′ a region that is favoured over all regions of the earth ′′ (Eter 1:42).
The story of Ixtlilxochitl compares to it declares:
"... and the Toltecas, who were like seven companions with their wives, and understood in the same language among them, came to these parts having crossed first lands and seas, living in caves, suffering from serious hardships, until they came to this land, which they found good and fertile to inhabit." (Ixtlilxochitl, pp.). 24-25.)
Both texts, the Book of Mormon and the Works of Ixtlilxochitl, declare that two other groups of colonizers migrated from the Old World to America.
The first of these groups came from Jerusalem in the year 600 BC. by J. C., and later they divided into two so-called Nephites and Lamanites. The latter had dark or tan complexion, just like American Indians.
The other group, the Mulekites, left Jerusalem in 586 BC. from J.C. and then mixed up with the Nephites.
The Book of Mormon speaks of Nephites as ′′ white and extremely beautiful and delightable ′′ (2 Nephi 5:21).
Ixtlilxochitl, talking about that group of colonizers he calls toltecas, says:
′′ These kings were high stature, and white and barbados, similar to the Spanish..." (Ixtlilxochitl, p.). 240.)
Shortly after Don Pedro de Alvarado and his hosts conquered Guatemala, ' more or less in 1526, the Indians of those lands wrote four books: Annals of the cackchiquels, Title of the Lords of Totonicapán, Popol Vuh and Annals of The Xahil.
All these books bear additional testimony from the Book of Mormon.
Each of them agrees with Ixtlilxochitl's Works, and all verify the Book of Mormon, which declares that ancient Americans came from across the sea, that a ship was built in a place called Abundance, under the direction of Nephi, the youngest of the four brothers who left Jerusalem with their father Lehi. Under Nephi's direction, the colonizers came to America on that boat.
In Annals of the Xahil we read:
′′ How shall we cross the sea, oh, our younger brother ' they said. And we replied ' We'll cross it on the boats. ' Then we enter the boats... and sail east and get there." (Annals of the Xahil, translation and notes by George Raymond, Miguel Angel Asturias and J. M. Gonzáles Mendoza, University Editorial, Mexico, 1946.)
The Quiche Indians who wrote Totonicapan declared that they were ′′ descendants of Israel, of the same tongue and the same customs... They were the sons of Abraham and Jacob." (Title of the Lords of Totonicapan, p.) 170.)
The Book of Mormon makes a similar statement. The Nephites, Lamanites and Mulekites came from Jerusalem and they were also descendants of Israel, that is, sons of Abraham and Jacob.
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The book of ′′ Totonicapán ′′ claims that the Lord gave the leader of this ancient group a ′′ present called Girón Golgal ", which guided the ancestors of the Indians across the ocean to their new land.
This gift is comparable to the instrument called Liahona, which was given to Lehi by the Lord to serve as a compass to guide his people from Jerusalem to America. (See 1 Nephi 16:10; 18:12; D. and C. 17:1.)
It is significant to note that Ixtlilxochitl describes the terrible storms that occurred in America at the time of Christ's crucifixion, which confirms the account of the Book of Mormon. Quote to Ixtlilxochitl:
"... the sun and the moon overshadowed, the earth trembled, the rocks broke and many other things and signs happened. This happened in the year of El Calli... which adjusting it to our account comes to be the same time when Christ, our Lord, suffered; and they say it happened during the first days of the year." (Ixtlilxochitl, p.). 190.)
It is important to highlight that in the account of the Book of Mormon also the great storms occurred exactly at the same time when Christ was crucified and during the first days of the year. (See 3 Nephi 8:5-19.)
After this terrible storm and three days of darkness, the Nephites gathered around the temple, in the country of Abundance. There they heard a voice that spoke to them three times from the skies, but they could not understand it; the third time they perceived it saying:
′′ Behold my beloved Son, in whom I please, in whom I have glorified my name: to him hear ′′ (3 Nephi 11:7).
They all looked up to the sky and saw a man descending in a white tunic (3 Nephi 11:8). The wine, and standing in the midst of them, said, "... behold I am Jesus Christ of whom the prophets testified that would come into the world ′′ (3 Nephi 11:10).
Over the next few months He appeared to the Nephites many times, giving them the priesthood and teaching them his gospel.
So impressive was the influence of the resurrected Lord over ancient Americans, that when the Spaniards arrived they found all Indian tribes through the western hemisphere longingly worshipping their memory. During the American colonial period, traditions were found everywhere that spoke of a white and bearded God who visited the ancestors of Indians in ancient America.
- brother Acevedo is a professor of elementary school and courses higher studies of history and geography at the Catholic University of Chile, plus he is first advisor in the presidency of the LloLleo Dos branch. Chile Mission -. Santiago Sur (Liahona January 1981 ′′ Evidence of the Book of Mormon ", page 44-47).
