239 Fun Facts About Book of Mormon

What is the name of Lehi's wife, the mother of Nephi and his brothers?

Sariah, Lehi's wife, complains bitterly when her sons are long away fetching the brass plates, then testifies that her husband is truly a prophet when they return (1 Nephi 5).

What are most of the fifteen books within the Book of Mormon named after?

Prophets who kept the records give most of the fifteen books their names, from First Nephi to Moroni; Ether is the odd one out in time, the story of a people who arrived centuries before Lehi.

Which two older brothers repeatedly threaten Nephi's life on the journey?

Laman and Lemuel, Lehi's eldest sons, resent a younger brother who 'thinks to rule over us'; after their father dies they plot to kill Nephi outright, and he flees into the wilderness with all who will follow.

On their second attempt, what do Nephi and his brothers offer Laban for his record?

Their family's gold and silver: Laban wanted the treasure but not the trade, so he threw the brothers out and sent servants to kill them, and they fled, leaving it all behind (1 Nephi 3:22-26).

Which line does Nephi speak in 1 Nephi 3:7?

'I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded' is Nephi's answer when Lehi sends his sons back for Laban's record; his older brothers had just complained that it was 'a hard thing'.

What was the Liahona, found outside Lehi's tent one morning?

A brass ball with two spindles, 'of curious workmanship': one spindle pointed the way the family should travel through the wilderness, and the Church's international magazine is named after it.

In Lehi's dream, what does the multitude cling to as they press through the mist of darkness?

A rod of iron runs along the river bank to the tree with the white fruit (1 Nephi 8); those who never grasp it lose their way in the mist, and Nephi later tells his brothers the rod is the word of God.

What name did Lehi's family give the sea where Nephi built his ship?

Irreantum, which Nephi says means 'many waters' (1 Nephi 17:5); camped on its shore, he made bellows from animal skins and smelted ore into tools before he could begin the ship.

Which prophet's writings does Nephi copy at length in 2 Nephi chapters 12 through 24?

Isaiah: 2 Nephi 12–24 reproduces Isaiah chapters 2–14 from the brass plates, and Nephi says his soul delights in the words of Isaiah (2 Nephi 25:5).

Which book bridges the small plates of Nephi and the abridged history that follows them?

Words of Mormon is an editor's aside: writing centuries later, with his people nearly destroyed, Mormon explains that he found the small plates among the records and added them to his own abridgment.

Which record-keeper opens his single-chapter book with a 'wrestle' before God while hunting in the forest?

Enos, son of Jacob, prayed all day and into the night while hunting before hearing that his sins were forgiven (Enos 1:2–5); his son Jarom took the plates after him.

In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin's crowd was too large to hear him inside the temple, so he spoke from what?

A tower was built because the crowd overflowed the temple walls (Mosiah 2:7); even then not everyone could hear, so Benjamin had his words written down and sent out among the people.

Which prophet was burned to death after preaching to King Noah and his priests?

One priest, Alma the Elder, believed him and went on to baptize followers in secret at the Waters of Mormon. Mosiah 17 says he sealed 'the truth of his words by his death'.

Alma the Younger was trying to destroy the church with which companions when an angel stopped them?

The sons of Mosiah: the king's four sons were with Alma when the angel struck him helpless, and all five then travelled the land trying to repair the injuries they had done to the church.

In the Book of Mormon, how did Ammon, tending King Lamoni's flocks, fight off the raiders at the waters of Sebus?

Cutting off their arms with his sword as they raised their clubs; the other servants carried the severed arms to the king as proof, and six raiders fell to Ammon's sling.

In the Book of Mormon, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies covenanted never to take part in war again and did what with their weapons?

Buried them: having covenanted not to fight, they later moved to Nephite lands as the 'people of Ammon', and their sons, who had never taken the oath, became Helaman's young army.

How many 'stripling' sons of the people of Ammon marched to war under Helaman?

2,000 young men marched under Helaman (Alma 53:22); their mothers had taught them that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them, and though many were wounded, none died in battle.

In Ammonihah, the lawyer Zeezrom offers Amulek how many onties of silver to deny the existence of God?

Six onties of silver (Alma 11:22). Alma 11 lays out the Nephite money system first, and an onti was the largest silver piece, 'as great as them all'. Zeezrom later repented and was healed by Alma.

In Alma 32, Alma compares the word of God to what for the Zoramite poor?

A seed (Alma 32:28): Alma was speaking on a hill to people barred from the synagogues they had built because of their coarse clothing, and told them to plant the word and see whether it swells.

Moroni, made chief captain at just twenty-five, gave his men what edge over Zerahemnah's Lamanite army?

Body armor: Moroni's men wore breastplates, arm-shields and head-plates, while most of Zerahemnah's far larger army fought nearly naked and was 'exceedingly afraid' at the sight (Alma 43:19-21).

Captain Moroni made the 'title of liberty' by writing his rallying words on what?

A piece of his torn coat (Alma 46:12): Moroni rent his coat and wrote 'In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children', then fastened it to a pole.

In the Book of Mormon's Book of Helaman, the secret criminal band that plagues the Nephites takes its name from which man?

Gadianton took over the band Kishkumen had formed after murdering a chief judge, promising its members power if they put him in the judgment seat; when the plot failed he led them into the wilderness.

Where did Samuel the Lamanite stand to preach after the Nephites refused to let him through the gates?

On the wall of Zarahemla (Helaman 13:4): the people threw stones and shot arrows at him but could not hit him. He is unusual in the book as a Lamanite prophet preaching to Nephites.

Samuel the Lamanite gave which sign for Christ's death?

Three days of darkness, from Christ's death until he rose, with thunder, earthquakes and broken rocks (Helaman 14:20-21); 3 Nephi 8 reports a darkness so thick that no candle or fire could be lit.

In 3 Nephi, the resurrected Christ appears to a multitude gathered around the temple in which land?

The land Bountiful (3 Nephi 11:1), where survivors of the great destruction had gathered at the temple; Christ tells them they are the 'other sheep' he spoke of in the Gospel of John.

In 3 Nephi 11, what power does Christ give Nephi and eleven other disciples?

To baptize: Christ gave the twelve the exact words to say, told them to immerse each convert, and added that there should be no more disputes among them about how it is done (3 Nephi 11:21-28; 12:1).

About how many Nephite dead does Mormon 6 count, listing commanders fallen 'with their ten thousand each'?

230,000: Mormon counts twenty-three commanders, himself and his son among them, whose ten thousands each fell, and says only twenty-four of his people stood with him the next day.

Mormon 9:32 says the record was written in characters called what, 'handed down and altered by us'?

Reformed Egyptian (Mormon 9:32). Nephi earlier says he wrote in 'the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians' (1 Nephi 1:2); no script of that name is known outside the book.

The Book of Ether tells of the Jaredites, who left the Old World at the time of which biblical event?

The Tower of Babel: Jared's family left 'at the time the Lord confounded the language' (Ether 1:33), after his brother prayed that their own speech be spared, and crossed the sea in eight sealed barges.

What were the brother of Jared's sixteen stones meant to do?

Light the barges: the vessels were built 'tight like unto a dish', with no windows or fire allowed, so he smelted sixteen stones, two for each, and saw the Lord's finger as it touched them.

Joseph Smith said the unnamed brother of Jared was really called Mahonri what?

Moriancumer: Smith is said to have blessed a baby in Ohio with the name Mahonri Moriancumer and told the father it was the brother of Jared's; in Ether, Moriancumer appears only as a place name.

In Moroni 10:4, God's answer on whether the Book of Mormon is true comes 'by the power of the' what?

Holy Ghost: Moroni 10:4 promises that whoever asks God 'with a sincere heart, with real intent' will be shown the truth that way, and the book's modern introduction repeats the invitation to every reader.

Unlike the Three Witnesses, the Eight Witnesses said they had done what with the golden plates?

Handled and hefted them: the Eight said Joseph Smith showed them the plates and they handled the leaves, while the Three described an angel laying the plates before them and God's voice vouching for the translation.

What does Joseph Smith's history say happened on September 22, 1827?

He was given the plates, four years to the day after he said the angel first showed him the spot; his wife waited with a friend's carriage while he climbed the hill, and they were home by breakfast.

Which scribe took the first 116 manuscript pages home to Palmyra in 1828, after which they vanished?

Martin Harris begged to show the pages to his doubting wife, Lucy; Smith refused twice before giving in, Harris showed them around more widely than he had sworn to, and they were never seen again.

In 2017 the LDS Church paid a reported $35 million for which Book of Mormon artifact?

The printer's manuscript, the copy made for the typesetter and kept by Oliver Cowdery, was bought from the Community of Christ; it is nearly complete, while most of the original was later ruined by water.

The Eight Witnesses all came from which two families?

The Smiths and the Whitmers: Joseph's father and two brothers, four Whitmer brothers, and Hiram Page, a Whitmer brother-in-law; one sceptic joked he could not feel more satisfied 'if the entire Whitmer family had testified'.

Which Palmyra printer, who had first refused the job, published the 1830 first edition of the Book of Mormon?

E. B. Grandin first turned the book down as a likely fraud and a financial risk, then took it on, at 23, once he saw it would be printed elsewhere anyway, demanding $3,000 as security.

How many copies of the Book of Mormon were in the 1830 first print run?

5,000 copies for $3,000, an ambitious order for a village shop with one hand-operated press, taken on by a 23-year-old printer.

Which apostle divided the Book of Mormon into its modern shorter chapters and verses in 1879?

Orson Pratt cut up the long original chapters for the 1879 edition and gave it true numbered verses and footnotes, a layout every later Latter-day Saint edition has kept.

The Book of Mormon's 1982 subtitle calls it 'Another' what 'of Jesus Christ'?

Testament: apostle Boyd K. Packer announced 'Another Testament of Jesus Christ' at the church's October 1982 conference, casting the book as a companion to the Old and New Testaments.

Into which language was the Book of Mormon first translated, in 1851?

Danish: Erastus Snow's Scandinavian Mission printed Peter Olsen Hansen's translation in 1851, a year ahead of French, German, Italian and Welsh versions that other missions had begun at the same time.

Christ's sermon at the temple in 3 Nephi 12 to 14 closely parallels which New Testament sermon?

The Sermon on the Mount: 3 Nephi 12 opens with the Beatitudes, 'blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me', and follows Matthew 5 to 7 closely, with Christ adding that the law is now fulfilled in him.

In the musical The Book of Mormon, the two missionaries are sent to preach in a remote village in which African country?

Uganda: the villagers the two elders meet are too busy with famine, AIDS and a brutal local warlord to care about the newcomers' message.

Which actor originated the role of Elder Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon in 2011?

Josh Gad, who went on to voice Olaf in Frozen, originated Elder Cunningham; Andrew Rannells played Elder Price opposite him, and both were nominated for the same Tony, which neither won.

In 3 Nephi 28, what unspoken wish does Christ grant three of his Nephite disciples?

To live until his return: the three did not dare say it aloud, but Christ told them they would never taste death, as John had wished before them, while the other nine would come to him at seventy-two.

Which actress won the 2011 Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical as Nabulungi in The Book of Mormon?

Nikki M. James took the show's only acting Tony that night: its two leading men were both nominated for Best Actor in a Musical and lost to Norbert Leo Butz of Catch Me If You Can.

Where was the seventeen-year-old Joseph Smith when he said the angel Moroni first appeared in 1823?

His bedroom: Smith said the angel stood in the air by his bed three times before dawn, repeating the same message, and came once more the next day as he headed home exhausted from the fields.

The hill where Joseph Smith said the plates lay is near Palmyra but just over the line in which county?

Ontario County: Smith's own history places the hill 'convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario county', and says he levered up a large stone near its top to find the plates lying in a stone box.

Once Oliver Cowdery became scribe in April 1829, Joseph Smith dictated nearly all the Book of Mormon in about how long?

Three months: almost all of the present text was dictated between April and June 1829, and Emma Smith insisted her husband had no manuscript or book to read from as he spoke.

What did Smith often place a seer stone inside to darken it while dictating?

A hat: Smith would put the seer stone in a hat and bury his face in it to exclude the light, as Emma Smith and David Whitmer both described for the later stages of the dictation.

Where did Book of Mormon dictation resume after the 116 pages were lost?

In what is now Mosiah, on the most widely held reconstruction: Smith did not retranslate the lost opening, and the small plates of Nephi were dictated last to fill the gap.

Which relative of Joseph Smith, remembered as the church's first missionary, sometimes scribed for him in early 1829?

Samuel Smith took some dictation alongside Emma in months when little got written; in 1830 he set out with copies of the finished book, and one of them reached Brigham Young.

The Book of Mormon went on sale in Palmyra days before which event?

The church was organized on April 6, 1830, less than two weeks after the book was first advertised for sale, so the printed book was on sale before the church built on it formally existed.

Which historian's 1945 biography No Man Knows My History is credited with discrediting the Spalding manuscript theory?

Fawn M. Brodie argued in No Man Knows My History that Smith wrote the book himself, and after it few scholars defended the idea that he had reworked an unpublished Solomon Spalding novel.

Which 1823 book arguing that American Indians descended from Israel is often suggested as an influence on the Book of Mormon?

View of the Hebrews, by Vermont pastor Ethan Smith, argued that American Indians were the Lost Ten Tribes; no direct link has been shown, and the Book of Mormon does not make its own peoples the lost tribes.

Scholar William Davis compared Abinadi's trial and burning to the martyrdom of Faithful in which English classic?

The Pilgrim's Progress: John Bunyan's Faithful is tried and put to death at Vanity Fair, and Davis argued that the Abinadi story reworks the scene's pattern without copying it.

Which author dismissed the Book of Mormon as 'chloroform in print'?

Mark Twain wrote it in Roughing It, having carried a copy away from Utah, and added that if Joseph Smith composed the book, 'the act was a miracle; keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate'.

Jacob 5's long allegory of the tame and wild olive trees is quoted from which prophet?

Zenos: Jacob 5:1 introduces 'the words of the prophet Zenos', a brass-plates prophet unknown to the Bible, whose allegory of the Lord of the vineyard grafting wild branches runs 77 verses.

Which run of books is described as originating from the small plates?

First Nephi through Omni come from the small plates: first-person books running from about 600 BC to about 130 BC, before Mormon's abridgment of the large plates takes over at Mosiah.

3 Nephi 24 and 25 reproduce the last two chapters of which Old Testament book?

Malachi: 3 Nephi 24–25 give Malachi 3–4, which Christ says the Father commanded him to deliver because the Nephites lacked them, Lehi having left Jerusalem before Malachi wrote.

Which two unknown animals does the Book of Ether list beside elephants as especially useful to man?

Cureloms and cumoms appear only in Ether 9:19, ranked with the elephants as 'more especially' useful to man; the text never says what kind of animal either one was.

Joseph Smith told his apostles in 1841 that the Book of Mormon was 'the' what 'of our religion'?

Keystone: Smith called the book 'the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion', and a later church president argued that the faith therefore stands or falls with it.

Which church president, serving 1985-1994, especially pushed the Book of Mormon as central?

Ezra Taft Benson, president 1985–1994, who said in 1986 that the church remained under the 1832 condemnation (Doctrine and Covenants 84) for treating the book lightly.

Which of Lehi's sons, his last-born in the wilderness, receives the blessing in 2 Nephi 3?

Joseph, Lehi's 'last-born... in the wilderness of mine afflictions' (2 Nephi 3:1), receives a blessing foretelling a latter-day seer also named Joseph who would bring forth Lehi's record.

In which city was the second edition of the Book of Mormon printed, in 1837?

Kirtland, Ohio: the 1837 second edition was printed there with hundreds of grammatical changes; the third followed for Nauvoo in 1840, restoring readings from the original manuscript, and a British edition in 1841.

Which rival claimant to lead the church after Joseph Smith's death said he translated the buried Voree Plates?

James Strang produced a letter said to be from Smith naming him successor, then published a translation of three metal plates he reported unearthing at Voree, Wisconsin, as Smith had done with the golden plates.

After Ammon defends the royal flocks, King Lamoni decides that he must really be whom?

The Great Spirit: hearing that Ammon could not be killed, Lamoni said 'this is more than a man' and feared he had come to punish him for executing servants; Ammon replied that he was only a man.

Many Latter-day Saint apologists place the Book of Mormon's events in which region under a 'limited geography' model?

Mesoamerica: the limited geography model favoured by apologists such as John L. Sorenson confines the story to a small region there, while a rival 'Heartland' movement insists it happened inside the present-day United States.

Which animal, absent from the Americas in Book of Mormon times, does the narrative nonetheless mention?

Horses appear in the narrative, though the fossil record has them dying out in the Americas about 10,000 years ago and returning only with the Spanish, which is why critics list them among the book's anachronisms.

Which archaeological site did John L. Sorenson say resembles the city of Zarahemla?

Mainstream scholars generally call such parallels 'parallelomania'.

The Book of Mormon's introduction once called the Lamanites 'the principal ancestors' of American Indians and now calls them what?

'Among the ancestors' replaced 'the principal ancestors of the American Indians' in the 2000s, after DNA studies pointed to Asian origins for Native Americans.

How did King Benjamin tell his people he had supported himself during his reign?

By manual labor: Benjamin said he had labored with his own hands so that his people would not be 'laden with taxes', and had sought neither gold nor silver from them (Mosiah 2:12-14).

Where did Joseph Smith seal the entire original Book of Mormon manuscript in October 1841?

The cornerstone of the Nauvoo House kept it for four decades; when Emma Smith's second husband, Lewis Bidamon, opened the stone, water seepage had destroyed most of the manuscript.

What does Lamoni's father offer Ammon in exchange for his life after Ammon overpowers him?

Half his kingdom: disarmed and expecting to die, the old king offered up to that much, and was astonished when Ammon asked only that his brothers be freed and that Lamoni keep his own kingdom.

What did the Zoramites call the high stand from which each worshipper recited the same prayer?

Rameumptom, 'the holy stand' (Alma 31:21): each Zoramite climbed it once a week to recite the same set prayer thanking God for electing them, which appalled Alma's missionaries.

Which son of Jared became the first king of the Jaredites?

Orihah: every son of the brother of Jared refused the crown, and so did all of Jared's sons but him (Ether 6:25-27), after the brother of Jared had warned that a king 'leadeth into captivity'.

Which two brothers were encircled by fire in a Lamanite prison in Helaman 5?

Nephi and Lehi, sons of Helaman: in the prison in the land of Nephi they were encircled by fire that did not burn them, and about three hundred Lamanites who saw it were converted (Helaman 5:23–49).

Which anti-Christ in the Book of Jacob was struck down after demanding a sign?

Sherem, who denied that Christ would come and demanded a sign of Jacob; he was struck to the earth, confessed before the people that he had lied, and died (Jacob 7).

In Alma 19, what did the servant Abish do when King Lamoni's household lay as dead?

Gathered the neighbors: Abish, secretly converted years before through her father's vision, ran from house to house hoping the sight would convert them; when the crowd quarrelled, she raised the queen by the hand.

In 3 Nephi 17, whom does Jesus bless one by one before angels come down and encircle them with fire?

The little children: Jesus wept, blessed them one at a time and told the crowd to 'behold your little ones', and the people saw angels descend and circle the children with fire (3 Nephi 17:21-24).

Relatives who lifted the golden plates in 1827 said they touched them only how?

Wrapped in cloth: William Smith said the family felt the plates' shape through their covering, and Emma Smith said she traced their edges through a linen tablecloth and heard the leaves rustle, though she never saw them.

What name did Lehi give the river flowing into the Red Sea by his first camp?

Laman: Lehi named the river for one of his sons, wishing he would be 'like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness', and named the valley beside it for another (1 Nephi 2:8-10).

What color was the seer stone Smith found while digging a neighbor's well?

Chocolate brown: the egg-sized stone, which Smith found in 1822 while helping to dig a well, stayed out of public view until the church published photographs of it in August 2015.

What nickname did western New York earn for its repeated religious revivals?

The burned-over district: revivalist Charles Grandison Finney, who preached there from 1825 to 1835, wrote of finding 'a burnt district', a region so often swept by revivals that it seemed scorched.

Which brother did Joseph Smith say the angel told him to bring in 1824, only for him to die first?

Alvin, the eldest brother, was named as the 'right person' but died in November 1823, two months after the first visit, urging Joseph on his deathbed to do all he could to obtain the record.

Where, by his mother's account, did Joseph Smith first hide the plates on the night he retrieved them?

In a hollow log: Lucy Mack Smith wrote that he hid them in a decayed birch log about three miles from home, then took a well-digging job in Macedon to earn money for a lockable chest.

Which injury did Smith say he suffered fighting off three attackers while carrying the plates home?

A dislocated thumb, in his mother's history: he knocked down each of three attackers in turn while running through the woods with the plates under his arm and arrived home with the thumb out of joint.

In what were the plates hidden when the Smiths moved to Harmony, Pennsylvania, in late 1827?

A barrel of beans: the plates were nailed up in a box and set inside a cask topped up with beans for security; his mother wrote that a mob of fifty men then resolved to follow him and take them, but broke up quarrelling over a captain.

According to Smith's mother, what frightened Lucy Harris off from digging for the plates?

A large black snake, in Lucy Mack Smith's history: Lucy Harris had searched the house, grounds and woods after Smith refused to show her the plates, and fled when the snake hissed at her.

Roughly how many words long is the Book of Mormon?

About 270,000 words, dictated a phrase at a time: Smith would speak a string of words, wait for the scribe to confirm they were written down, and go on to the next.

In an 1859 interview, what did one of the Book of Mormon's earliest witnesses say bound the plates together?

Three silver rings, he told Tiffany's Monthly, binding plates seven by eight inches and about four inches thick when stacked, so that they 'would open like a book'.

In Brigham Young's retelling, what hung in the cave where Joseph Smith returned the plates?

The Sword of Laban hung there on the first visit, Young said in 1877, and on a second lay unsheathed across the plates on a table, in a room stacked with 'many wagon loads' of other records.

What did King Benjamin's people covenant to take upon themselves at the end of his sermon?

The name of Christ: after the people cried that they had no more disposition to do evil, Benjamin told them to 'take upon you the name of Christ' and be called his children (Mosiah 5:7–8).

1 Nephi 4:13 says it is better one man perish than a nation should what?

Dwindle and perish in unbelief: the Spirit's argument overcomes Nephi's horror at killing the drunken Laban, since without Laban's record his people would lose the law of Moses (1 Nephi 4:10–16).

What does Lehi see upon a rock in 1 Nephi 1, before his vision of God?

A pillar of fire: as Lehi prayed for his people, 'there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him' (1 Nephi 1:6); he then saw God on his throne and received a book.

Where did Cowdery say he and Smith baptized each other after John the Baptist ordained them?

The Susquehanna River: Smith said the pair had gone into the woods to pray about baptism, a question their work had raised, and that he baptized Cowdery first before Cowdery baptized him.

Which church newspaper did Oliver Cowdery launch as its first editor in October 1834?

Messenger and Advocate: it succeeded the church's first paper, The Evening and the Morning Star, whose Missouri printing office a mob had destroyed the year before.

Which Nephite king escaped Lamanite bondage by getting the guards drunk, in Mosiah 22?

Limhi: on Gideon's plan his people sent tribute wine to the Lamanite guards, and while the guards slept drunk the whole people slipped out by a back pass toward Zarahemla (Mosiah 22:7–11).

Which Columbia College classical scholar was shown copied characters from the plates in 1828?

Charles Anthon: Smith's emissary said the professor vouched for the characters, then tore up his certificate on hearing an angel was involved; Anthon wrote in 1834 that the story of his endorsement was false.

Which forger sold LDS leaders a fake transcript of the golden plates' characters in 1980?

Mark Hofmann, whose forged transcript fooled church leaders in 1980; his frauds unravelled after he killed two people with pipe bombs in October 1985, and he pleaded guilty in 1987.

Which newspaper was owned by the printer of the 1830 Book of Mormon?

The Wayne Sentinel: in June 1829 it printed the book's title page 'as a curiosity' and said most people thought the affair an imposition, months before its owner, who had first turned the job down, agreed to print it.

What did chief compositor John H. Gilbert find missing from the manuscript he typeset?

Any punctuation: the manuscript had almost none, so Gilbert persuaded Hyrum Smith to leave pages with him overnight and marked the stops and capitals at home before setting the type.

Which Palmyra weekly printed pirated extracts of the Book of Mormon before the book went on sale?

The Palmyra Reflector: its editor, writing as 'Obadiah Dogberry', had his paper run off on the same press and lifted the proof sheets in January 1830, stopping only after Smith confronted him over the copyright.

How did the wicked King Noah die, according to Mosiah 19?

Burned to death by his own men: Noah had ordered them to abandon their wives and children to the Lamanites, and when he forbade them to go back they turned on him, as the prophet he had burned foretold (Mosiah 19:11–20).

Geologically, what kind of landform is the hill Cumorah in Manchester, New York?

A drumlin: geologists say Ice Age glaciers moulded the hill, which is why it shares its long, streamlined shape with so many neighbours in western New York's drumlin field.

Which church president oversaw the purchase of the hill Cumorah in the 1920s?

Heber J. Grant: the church finished buying the hill in 1928, and Grant himself came to dedicate the monument on its summit in July 1935.

What derogatory nickname did local non-members give Cumorah?

Gold Bible Hill, a jibe at the 'gold bible' Smith claimed to have dug from it; neighbours also called it Mormon Hill.

What broke on a hunt, leaving Lehi's family hungry until Nephi carved a wooden replacement?

His steel bow: when it snapped, Nephi's brothers and even Lehi complained, so he made a bow from wood and an arrow from a straight stick and asked his father where to hunt (1 Nephi 16:18–23).

Which science-fiction author was asked to write a new Hill Cumorah Pageant script in 1988?

Orson Scott Card, the Latter-day Saint author of Ender's Game, was told to make the show accessible to young adults who did not read scripture, and cut about 40 minutes from it.

Which Latter-day Saint celebrity paused a touring musical in 1997 to play Samuel the Lamanite at the Hill Cumorah Pageant?

Donny Osmond left his starring role in the touring Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that summer to join the pageant's cast of hundreds alongside his own family.

In Lehi's dream, where do the finely dressed people stand who mock those eating the fruit?

A great and spacious building: it stood 'as it were in the air' across the river, and the pointing fingers of the crowd inside shamed some who had tasted the fruit into wandering off (1 Nephi 8:26–28).

Lehi teaches in 2 Nephi 2:25 that 'men are, that they might have' what?

Joy: Lehi reasons that had Adam never fallen, he and Eve 'would have had no children' and would have stayed innocent, 'having no joy, for they knew no misery' (2 Nephi 2:22–25).

In Helaman 5:12, a father urges his sons to build their foundation on 'the rock of our' what?

Redeemer: built on Christ, the verse promises, the devil's 'mighty winds' and 'shafts in the whirlwind' will have no power to drag them down, because that rock is 'a sure foundation' (Helaman 5:12).

Why did Joseph Smith say he would not retranslate the lost 116 pages?

The stolen text might be altered: a revelation warned that enemies would change the words and claim a second version contradicted the first, so Smith filled the gap from another part of the plates.

Which servant of Laban swore an oath to join Lehi's family in the wilderness?

Zoram held the keys to Laban's treasury; fooled by Nephi's disguise, he followed him outside the city walls, where Nephi seized him and promised he would live as a free man (1 Nephi 4:20–35).

Whose family did Lehi's sons bring out of Jerusalem on their second return trip?

Ishmael's family: the Lord told Lehi his sons would need wives in the promised land, so they went back for Ishmael's household, and his daughters married them on the journey (1 Nephi 7:1–5; 16:7).

What did Nephi's family live on during their eight years in the wilderness?

Raw meat: the Lord had told them not to make much fire and promised to make their food sweet uncooked, and Nephi says the women still nursed their children and grew as strong as the men (1 Nephi 17:2, 12).

What did Nephi's rebellious older brothers do to him during the ocean voyage?

Tied him up: with Nephi bound, the family's compass stopped working and a storm drove the ship back for four days, until his brothers, afraid of drowning, loosed his swollen wrists and ankles (1 Nephi 18:11–15).

To which brother did Nephi pass the small plates and record?

Jacob, his younger brother, whom Nephi commanded to write only the most precious things on the small plates (Jacob 1:1–4); Grant Hardy speculates Nephi's own sons may have been swayed by Laman and Lemuel.

In Ether 12:27, the Lord says he gives people weakness so that they may be what?

Humble: the verse goes on to promise that for those who humble themselves and have faith, 'then will I make weak things become strong unto them' (Ether 12:27).

How did Mormon arrange the site of the Nephites' last battle?

Wrote to the Lamanite king: Mormon asked leave to gather his people at a hill of his choosing, the king granted it, and the Nephites assembled there for what he knew would be their last struggle (Mormon 6:2–6).

Which Maya scholar wrote in 1973 that no non-Mormon archaeologist backs the book's history?

Michael Coe wrote it in the Mormon journal Dialogue, in an essay called 'Mormons and Archaeology: An Outside View', adding that quite a few Mormon archaeologists shared their colleagues' doubts.

What happened to the Lamanite chief Zerahemnah when he lunged at Captain Moroni instead of swearing peace?

A soldier scalped him: one of Moroni's men broke Zerahemnah's sword at the hilt, took off his scalp, then held it up on his sword point and warned the Lamanites they would fall the same way (Alma 44:12–14).

What freed Alma and Amulek from the prison in Ammonihah?

An earthquake toppled the walls: after many days of bonds, hunger and blows, Alma cried out for strength, the pair broke their cords, and the falling prison killed everyone inside but them (Alma 14:22–28).

Which would-be king, rejected by the people's vote, did Alma kill in single combat?

Amlici had his followers crown him anyway and led them to war; they joined the Lamanites, marking their foreheads red like them, and Alma killed him sword to sword in the battle that followed (Alma 2–3).

Which anti-Christ lost his power of speech after debating Alma?

Korihor, who demanded a sign and was struck dumb (Alma 30:49–50); reduced to begging, he was later trampled to death among the Zoramites.

Which three sons received Alma's final counsel?

Helaman, Shiblon and Corianton, in Alma 36–42: Helaman receives the records, Shiblon brief praise, and Corianton the famous rebuke for abandoning his ministry to chase the harlot Isabel.

Which chief judge received Moroni's furious letter accusing the government of neglecting the army?

Pahoran: in Alma 60 Moroni threatens to march on Zarahemla, and Pahoran replies in Alma 61 that king-men have driven him from the judgment seat, so Moroni joins him to retake the capital.

What was the name of the king-men leader killed when Moroni marched on Zarahemla?

Pachus was the king the dissenters who seized Zarahemla had appointed; he died in the battle, and those of his men who still refused to defend their country were tried and put to death (Alma 62:6–9).

To whom did the captain who raised the title of liberty hand his armies on retiring?

Moronihah was Captain Moroni's own son: with the long war over, Moroni handed him the armies and went home to spend the rest of his days in peace, dying only a few years later (Alma 62:43; 63:3).

How did Teancum kill King Amalickiah in his camp?

With a javelin: Teancum crept into the Lamanite camp by night and 'put a javelin to his heart' as Amalickiah slept, on the last night of the 25th year of the judges (Alma 51:33–34).

Which brother of Amalickiah did Teancum also assassinate, at the cost of his own life?

Ammoron had taken the Lamanite throne after his brother; Teancum, blaming the pair for the long war, went over the city wall by night and killed him too, but the dying king woke his guards (Alma 62:35–36).

How did Amalickiah dispose of the Lamanite commander Lehonti after uniting their armies?

Had him quietly poisoned: a servant gave Lehonti 'poison by degrees' until he died (Alma 47:18); Amalickiah then had the Lamanite king stabbed, blamed the king's own servants and married the queen to take the throne.

What oath did Amalickiah swear against Captain Moroni?

To drink his blood: after Moroni's fortified cities repulsed his first invasion, Amalickiah 'did curse God, and also Moroni, swearing with an oath that he would drink his blood' (Alma 49:27).

What biblical name did Smith give the 'interpreters' that he said were found with the plates?

The Urim and Thummim: Smith described two stones set in silver bows and fastened to a breastplate, named for the high priest's oracle in Exodus; the book itself never uses the name, only 'interpreters'.

Which book covers nearly three centuries after Christ's visit, from an age of peace to new division?

Fourth Nephi does it in a single chapter: the people hold all things in common with no 'manner of -ites' among them, until pride and costly clothing divide them again.

In Mosiah 3:19, King Benjamin says 'the natural man is' what 'to God'?

An enemy: Benjamin says it stays that way unless a person yields to the Holy Spirit, 'putteth off the natural man' and becomes like a child submitting to its father (Mosiah 3:19).

What does the Book of Mormon say linked its northern region to its southern one?

A narrow neck of land: Alma 22:32 says water nearly surrounded the southern lands apart from this 'small neck', and the Jaredites built a great city beside it 'where the sea divides the land' (Ether 10:20).

Whose son does the Book of Mormon say Mulek was?

King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah: Helaman 8:21 says all his sons were slain by the Babylonians 'except it were Mulek', who reached the New World and founded the people of Zarahemla.

Which last Jaredite king lived out his final nine moons among the people of Zarahemla?

Coriantumr, the last king of a nation destroyed by civil war, was found by the people of Zarahemla and stayed with them until he died; a large engraved stone told his story (Omni 1:20–22).

What drove the Jaredite barges across the ocean for 344 days?

A furious wind 'did never cease to blow towards the promised land'; mountain waves buried the sealed barges again and again, and the people sang praises day and night until they landed (Ether 6:5–12).

What word does Ether 2:3 give as the Jaredites' name for the honeybee?

Deseret: Latter-day Saint settlers took the word for their proposed State of Deseret in 1849, and the beehive it stood for still sits on Utah's state seal.

Which Nephite led a colony back to the land of Nephi and became its king?

Zeniff, first sent to spy on the Lamanites, saw 'that which was good among them' and argued for a treaty; calling himself 'over-zealous', he won land from their king, who meant to enslave his people (Mosiah 9:1–10).

Which Jaredite commander's beheading at the hill Ramah ended a war that had killed two million men?

Shiz had sworn to avenge his brother and fought on until only two men were left standing; he fainted from loss of blood, and the last king, resting on his sword, struck off his head (Ether 15:29–30).

Which sculptor made the gilded Moroni statue dedicated on the hill Cumorah in 1935?

Torleif Knaphus, a Norwegian-born sculptor, set his Moroni facing north; in 1976 it was turned west so that drivers on the nearby highway could see it. The Moroni on the Salt Lake Temple is Cyrus Dallin's.

In a letter preserved in Moroni 8, Mormon calls which practice 'solemn mockery before God'?

Infant baptism: Mormon writes that little children 'are not capable of committing sin' and are 'alive in Christ', so baptizing them denies the mercy already theirs (Moroni 8:8–12).

Why does Moroni say he wandered alone after the Nephites fell?

He would not deny Christ: the Lamanites were killing every Nephite who refused, so Moroni kept moving 'for the safety of mine own life' and wrote his last pages over 420 years after Christ's birth (Moroni 1:2–3; 10:1).

By what does Alma 37:6 say 'are great things brought to pass'?

Small and simple things: Alma is handing his son the sacred records and argues that plain writings like these had already brought thousands of Lamanites to repentance (Alma 37:6–9).

In 3 Nephi, what awaited believers on a set day if the sign of Christ's birth failed?

Execution: unbelievers had set a day to put to death all who still believed; Nephi prayed all that day and was told the sign would come that night, and when it did the plotters fell to the earth, their plan undone (3 Nephi 1:9–17).

In Helaman 3, Nephite migrants short of timber became expert builders in which material?

Cement: with timber scarce in the land northward, the settlers lived in tents and cement houses, let young trees grow for future building and had timber shipped in (Helaman 3:7–10).

From whom did King Benjamin receive the small plates of Nephi?

Amaleki had no children, and his brother had left with the party that went back to the land of Nephi, so he gave the small plates to King Benjamin, whom he knew to be a just man (Omni 1:25, 30).

Which priest of King Noah believed the prophet the king condemned, then fled and founded a church?

Alma the Elder pleaded for the prophet's life, was driven out and hunted by the king's servants, and wrote down the prophet's words in hiding before baptizing believers of his own (Mosiah 17:2–4; 18).

At which Broadway theatre did The Book of Mormon open on March 24, 2011?

The Eugene O'Neill Theatre on West 49th Street: the producers had planned an off-Broadway run for summer 2010, then chose to open straight on Broadway, saying the writers work best when the stakes are highest.

The villagers' welcome song 'Hasa Diga Eebowai' parodies which Disney anthem?

Hakuna Matata: like The Lion King's carefree motto, the villagers' phrase is offered as a cure for every trouble, until the elders learn that it is a curse aimed at God.

Which of Lopez's earlier co-writers was separated from the project after arguing with Trey Parker?

Jeff Marx, Lopez's earlier songwriting partner, felt he was not getting enough creative control and left after an argument with Parker; he has said the two camps 'split up and made a deal'.

In which Book of Mormon musical number do the trainee elders learn where they will serve?

'Two by Two': the training centre sends the elders out in pairs, and Price, sure he is destined for greatness, is dismayed by both his posting and his partner, the compulsive fibber Cunningham.

Which off-Broadway theatre, the birthplace of Avenue Q, staged The Book of Mormon's first full reading in 2008?

The Vineyard Theatre hosted the February 2008 reading, after which the writers, who had paid for years of workshops themselves and toyed with making an animated film, committed to a stage show.

Which Act Two duet pairs Elder Cunningham with Nabulungi?

'Baptize Me': her baptism by Cunningham is staged like a bashful first romance, and the rest of her village joins the church along with her.

Which Act Two solo does Elder Price sing as he sets off to confront the warlord?

'I Believe': Price reaffirms his faith doctrine by doctrine, down to God living on a planet called Kolob, and walks into the General's camp to convert him, only to be dragged away.

Where does Elder Price pray to be sent for his mission?

Orlando, Florida: Price is sure enough prayer will get him there, and when the shock of his real posting makes him quit, he dreams he has arrived, only for the dream to turn into Hell.

Who is Nabulungi's father in the musical?

Mafala Hatimbi welcomes the two missionaries to the village and leads its bitter welcome song; after the General murders a villager, he orders his daughter Nabulungi to stay locked indoors.

Which Act One number does district leader Elder McKinley sing to the newly arrived elders?

'Turn It Off': McKinley's advice to the anxious newcomers is to suppress every upsetting thought; the showpiece earned Rory O'Malley a Tony nomination for the role.

Which figures personify Cunningham's conscience in 'Making Things Up Again'?

Hobbits, Uhura, Darth Vader and Yoda appear as Cunningham's conscience alongside his father, Joseph Smith and Moroni, scolding him for mixing science fiction into scripture.

In The Book of Mormon musical's final scene, what scripture do the newly converted villagers preach?

The Book of Arnold: Elder Arnold Cunningham's embroidered teachings become the villagers' own scripture, and they set out as missionaries themselves in a reprise of the opening number.

Which place does Nabulungi imagine as a paradise in her Act One solo?

Salt Lake City: moved by Price's promise of an earthly paradise, Nabulungi longs to take the whole village there in 'Sal Tlay Ka Siti', the name as she has heard it.

How did Matt Stone famously describe The Book of Mormon musical?

'An atheist's love letter to religion' was Stone's description; the church's own response said the show 'may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening' but the scripture 'will change people's lives forever'.

Who co-directed the Broadway production with Trey Parker and also choreographed it?

Casey Nicholaw joined in August 2010 as choreographer and co-director after the director of the early workshops left, and shared the 2011 Tony for Best Direction of a Musical with Parker.

Which future Dear Evan Hansen star played Elder Cunningham on Broadway in 2014?

Ben Platt first played Elder Cunningham in the Chicago company from December 2012, then took the part to Broadway for a year from January 2014, before Dear Evan Hansen made his name.

In which city, in the state where Parker and Stone grew up, did The Book of Mormon's first national tour launch?

Denver: Parker and Stone grew up in Colorado and met as students at its university in Boulder, and the tour began previews there in August 2012 before its official opening in Los Angeles.

At which West End theatre did The Book of Mormon open in March 2013?

The Prince of Wales Theatre: a week before the official opening, the London cast gave a gala performance there that raised £200,000 for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.

In which city did The Book of Mormon's first non-English production open in January 2017?

Stockholm, where a Swedish-language staging opened at the Chinateatern; Oslo followed that September, in a Norwegian version that won its translator, Are Kalvø, the Hedda Award for best stage text.

Which future star of the TV series Atlanta originated the General on Broadway in 2011?

Brian Tyree Henry knew the city long before he played the rapper Paper Boi: he had gone to Morehouse College in Atlanta as a business student and turned to acting there.

Which slogan did the LDS Church run in playbill ads for The Book of Mormon musical?

'The book is always better' ran beside 'You've seen the play, now read the book': rather than protest, the church bought ad space in the show's own programmes.

Which broadcaster streamed the entire Book of Mormon cast album free a week before its release?

NPR put the whole recording online as a 'First Listen' in May 2011; after the show's Tony wins the album climbed into the top three of the Billboard 200.

In 2011 The Book of Mormon's cast album charted higher than any Broadway recording since which 1969 number one?

Hair spent 13 weeks at number one in 1969; after the 2011 Tony broadcast The Book of Mormon's album leapt to number three, the first Broadway cast recording in the top ten since.

Who played Elder Price in the original West End cast of 2013?

Gavin Creel and Jared Gertner had led the first US tour as Price and Cunningham in 2012 and moved to London together; Creel won the 2014 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Which O. J. Simpson defence lawyer turns up in Hell in 'Spooky Mormon Hell Dream'?

Johnnie Cochran appears among the damned beside Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler, condemned in the song for getting his famous client acquitted.

At which university did Josh Gad and Rory O'Malley become friends as students?

Carnegie Mellon University: the two drama classmates were both Tony-nominated for the show in 2011, and both lost on the night it was named Best Musical.

Which Hamilton role did Rory O'Malley, Broadway's first Elder McKinley, take over in April 2016?

King George III: O'Malley replaced Jonathan Groff as the king, played the part on Broadway until January 2017 and then took it on the national tour.

Which 2023 musical won The Book of Mormon's choreographer his second Tony, this time for the dancing?

Some Like It Hot won him the 2023 Tony for Best Choreography, his first win since sharing the directing award for The Book of Mormon, after nominations for Aladdin, Mean Girls and The Prom.

Robert Lopez became the first person to win which set of awards more than once each?

EGOT: The Book of Mormon brought Lopez two Tonys and a Grammy, his 2014 Oscar for 'Let It Go' completed the set, and a second Oscar in 2018 made him the first to win all four twice.

Which of these shows did The Book of Mormon beat to the 2011 Tony Award for Best Musical?

Sister Act had Whoopi Goldberg, the star of the 1992 film, among its producers; she had even joined its London cast, this time as the Mother Superior.

In The Book of Mormon musical's opening number 'Hello!', what method are the trainee missionaries practising?

Door-to-door conversion: to a chorus of doorbell chimes, the elders take turns delivering their pitch at the Missionary Training Center, with the devout Kevin Price leading the demonstration.

Which producer urged South Park's creators to see Avenue Q in 2003, the night they met Robert Lopez?

Scott Rudin, in New York with the pair to discuss Team America: World Police, thought its marionettes resembled Avenue Q's puppets; he went on to produce The Book of Mormon himself.

The musical's warlord takes his name from a real commander in which country's civil war?

Liberia: the show's warlord extends the nom de guerre of Joshua Milton Blahyi, the Liberian civil-war commander known as 'General Butt Naked', who led fighters into battle unclothed.

In which song does Elder Price's lesson on Joseph Smith turn into a tribute to himself?

'All-American Prophet': moments after the number, the General arrives and kills a protesting villager, and the shock sends the self-assured Price off to demand a transfer.

Which American Idol finalist played Nabulungi in the Chicago company and later on Broadway?

Syesha Mercado, third on American Idol's seventh season, joined the Chicago cast late, replacing another actress during rehearsals, and reprised the role on Broadway in 2014.

In South Park's 2003 episode 'All About Mormons', which boy is invited to dinner by the town's new Mormon family?

Stan: his visits with the family frame a musical retelling of Joseph Smith's story, a scene Trey Parker based on being invited to Family Home Evening by his first girlfriend, who was Mormon.

According to Joseph Smith's own history, what held the golden plates beneath a large rounded rock on the hillside?

A stone box, he said, had been made by cementing stones together, with the plates resting on two more stones laid crossways inside.

What name is given to the part of the golden plates that Joseph Smith said held a revelation he could not translate?

The sealed portion is said to hold a revelation running from the beginning of the world to its end, and many Latter-day Saints expect it to be translated in a future age.

Which piece of ancient armour did Joseph Smith say was buried on the hill alongside the golden plates?

A breastplate, Smith said, came home with him a few days after the plates, and his mother claimed to have felt its shape through a thin cloth.

Who rode with Joseph Smith to the hill on the night he took the plates, kneeling in prayer nearby?

His wife, Emma, stayed behind with the horse and carriage while he walked on alone, and days later she rode a stray horse to warn him that treasure seekers were hunting the plates.

According to Joseph Smith, what desire made the angel bar him from taking the plates on his first visit in 1823?

To obtain riches was the temptation he confessed to, and he said it cost him four years of return visits before he was trusted with the record.

In which New York town did Joseph Smith and his scribe finish translating the golden plates in the summer of 1829?

Fayette became the translators' base in June 1829, after unwanted attention from neighbours in Pennsylvania drove them out, and the work was finished there early the next month.

Where in the family home did Joseph Smith bury the locked chest when villagers planned to break in for the plates?

Under the hearth was only a stopgap: fearing discovery, Smith next moved the chest beneath the floorboards of a nearby log house that was being used as a cooper's shop.

What were the golden plates wrapped in as Joseph Smith carried them home through the woods under his arm?

A linen frock was their only cover as he left the road to avoid an ambush, and he still reported being set upon by three men before he reached the house.

Which in-law of Joseph Smith ordered the hidden plates out of his Pennsylvania house after being refused a look?

Isaac Hale had taken the young couple in for a time, and once he banished the concealed objects Smith told friends the plates were hidden in the nearby woods.

Which gold-copper alloy of the ancient Americas have Latter-day Saint writers proposed as the metal of the plates?

Tumbaga weighs less than pure gold, which would square the plates' golden look with reports that one person could lift and carry the whole stack.

On first searching the plates of brass, Lehi found they began with the books of which biblical figure?

Moses and his five books came first, followed by a record of the Jews and a genealogy in which Lehi discovered his own descent from Joseph of Egypt.

Which prophet's record filled the twenty-four gold plates that a lost search party found among ruins and bones?

Ether watched his own people destroy themselves, and his account reached later readers only as one short book condensed by Mormon's son.

Which record did Mormon add whole and unabridged after finding it among the archives handed to him?

The small plates of Nephi pleased Mormon for their prophecies of Christ, so he set them beside his own work instead of condensing them, and they became the opening six books.

According to Nephi, what were his larger, fuller set of plates mainly meant to record about his people?

Kings, wars and contentions went on the large plates, while a second set was kept for the ministry, a split Nephi says he was commanded to make without being told the reason.

Latter-day Saints see which 1828 mishap as the 'wise purpose' behind Nephi keeping two overlapping sets of plates?

The lost 116 pages covered the same early history as Nephi's second record, so Joseph Smith translated that record in their place instead of dictating the missing part again.

In Mosiah 8, what title is given to a person commanded to translate ancient records by a gift from God?

A seer, the king is told, is a revelator and a prophet as well, and no one can hold a greater gift short of the power of God itself.

Which land was the lost search party actually looking for when it stumbled on the twenty-four gold plates?

Zarahemla was where the forty-three searchers hoped to find help for a people in bondage; instead they came upon a land covered with bones and ruined buildings.

What does the Book of Mormon itself call the two stones King Mosiah used to translate the twenty-four gold plates?

Interpreters were two stones fastened into the rims of a bow, and Mosiah handed them on together with the plates to the next keeper of the records.

Which prophet, a contemporary of Lehi in Jerusalem, had many of his prophecies engraved on the plates of brass?

Jeremiah was still preaching in the city when the family left, and Nephi later reminds his brothers that the prophet had been thrown into prison there.

Besides condensing the large plates, what did Mormon weave through his record, by the church's own explanation?

Many commentaries break into the history in Mormon's own voice, and he also carried the story past the end of his sources into the wars of his own lifetime.

Which brother of Nephi believed his words from the start and was promised a joint inheritance in Lehi's final blessing?

Sam was told his descendants would be numbered with his younger brother's, and that he would be blessed all his days.

What were Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah secretly doing when an angel stopped them?

Trying to destroy the church was a strange start for five young men who went on to become its most devoted preachers.

Which curious Nephite built large ships and launched them into the west sea, some never to be heard of again?

Hagoth's first ship came back for more passengers, but after it sailed north a second time its people were never heard of again and were presumed drowned.

How did the prophet Abinadi slip back among King Noah's people two years after first fleeing for his life?

In disguise he went unrecognised at first, yet the very first words he speaks quote the Lord addressing him by his own name.

Which Nephite strongman chased the wicked King Noah to the top of a lookout by the temple, sword in hand?

Gideon held back only because the cornered king caught sight of an invading Lamanite army and pleaded to be spared so the people could flee.

Which large, strong preacher taught that priests should be popular and paid, then killed an old man who argued back?

Nehor was taken to the top of the hill Manti and executed, but only after admitting that what he had taught was contrary to the word of God.

Which son of Mosiah was jailed in Middoni, then freed to go and teach the king over all the Lamanite lands?

Aaron and his companions suffered in prison until his brother and a friendly local king won their release, after which they were fed and clothed.

Which harlot in the land of Siron drew one of Alma's sons away from his missionary work?

Isabel is one of very few women the Book of Mormon names, and Alma tells his son that she had stolen away the hearts of many.

Which assassin murdered a chief judge on the judgment seat, then was stabbed by a servant while stalking a later one?

Kishkumen fell dead without a groan, the record says, undone by a servant who had gone out by night and learned of the plot.

Which leader of King Noah's fugitive priests was made a ruler by the Lamanites and persecuted Alma's people?

Amulon answered to the Lamanite king, yet he set taskmasters over the believers and even had his own children torment theirs.

The Book of Mormon's title page, taken from the plates, addresses the Lamanites and which two other groups?

Jew and Gentile alike are meant to be convinced by the record, and the same page warns that any faults in it are the mistakes of men.

According to Mormon 9, which language would the writers have used had their plates been large enough?

Hebrew, the writer says, would have left no imperfection in the record, though he admits his people's form of that language had changed over the centuries too.

Why was Mormon commanded to keep the sacred records out of Lamanite hands before the last battle?

They would destroy them, Mormon writes, so he hid the whole archive in a hill and handed only a few plates to his son.

Which word did the keeper of the records use for the ten-year-old Mormon, alongside 'quick to observe'?

Sober is a word Mormon also applies to himself at fifteen, the age at which he says he was visited by the Lord.

What does Mormon say prompted him to attach an extra set of plates to his record?

A whisper of the Spirit was all he had to go on: he admits he does not know all things and trusts that the Lord knows what is to come.

In Third Nephi, how does Mormon say the plates carrying his abridgment came into being?

He made them by hand, and in the next breath explains his name: he was called after the land where the first church among his people was founded.

Which record keeper told the ten-year-old Mormon where the sacred plates were hidden and when to fetch them?

Ammaron had just hidden the records away himself, and told the boy to wait until he was a grown man before taking up the plates of Nephi and adding what he had seen.

What did Mormon say he recorded fully on the plates of Nephi but held back from his own plates?

His people's wickedness had been before his eyes, he says, ever since he was old enough to observe the ways of man, and he chose to spare his readers the full account.

In Mormon 8, what does Mormon's son say he lacks, being alone, that keeps him from making more plates?

Ore was beyond the reach of a lone survivor whose father and kinsfolk had all been killed, and he adds that he has no friends and nowhere to go.

On which hill in the land Antum were the Nephite records buried before Mormon dug them up as an adult?

Shim held the whole Nephite archive: Mormon first took only the plates of Nephi, then cleared out the rest when enemy armies were about to overrun the land.

Which Nephite ruler, who worked with his own hands to spare his people taxes, taught that serving others is serving God?

King Benjamin opened the same address by insisting he was no more than a mortal man, as subject to weakness of body and mind as anyone listening.

Which group assured their leader that God would deliver them, citing what their mothers had taught?

The stripling warriors had never fought before, yet their commander reports with joy that not one of them fell in the battle that followed.

Who fell down in fear, telling the Lord he had not known the Lord had flesh and blood?

The brother of Jared was told in reply that no one had ever come before the Lord with such exceeding faith, and was then shown far more than a finger.

Which Lamanite king prayed that he would give away all his sins to know God, then fell as if dead?

Lamoni's father had first offered to give up all he possessed, even his kingdom, in exchange for the joy he had just been taught about.

Which chief judge urged his two sons to build on the rock of their Redeemer so no storm could drag them down?

Helaman had named the two boys after the first ancestors to leave Jerusalem, so that their own names would remind them to do good.

Which companion of Alma told the Zoramites that this life is the time to prepare to meet God?

Amulek pressed the point by begging his hearers not to procrastinate the day of their repentance, since no labour can be performed once the night comes.

Which missionary, rebuked by a brother for boasting, answered that the only boast was in God's strength?

Ammon called himself nothing and weak in his own strength, then pointed to the thousands of Lamanite converts as the miracle he was really rejoicing over.

Who cried out to the people of Ammonihah that he was guilty and that the two accused preachers were spotless?

Zeezrom had led the questioning against the pair, and for changing sides he was reviled, spat upon and cast out of the city.

Which Lamanite commander told Captain Moroni that armour and cunning, not God, had won the battle?

Zerahemnah refused to swear an oath of peace he expected to break, rushed at his captor with a sword, and lost his scalp to a Nephite soldier.

Which robber chief wrote to the governor of the Nephites praising his firmness, then demanded their cities and lands?

Giddianhi offered the Nephites partnership instead of slavery if they joined his secret society, and swore to wipe them out the next month if they refused.