What is So Difficult in Following the Scriptural Record?

Despite the clear and concise descriptions of the Land of Promise given us by Mormon, we still find that theorists not only ignore that all-important descriptive information, but create their own layouts without so much as a reason why they are so different from the Nephite record. Take as an example, the famed Mormon Directions of John L. Sorenosn in claiming that the Land of Promise, though so clearly listed as running south to north, he has determined Mormon really meant east to west, and so matches his Mesoamerican model.
    Another disagreement is: Delbert Curtis, Phyllis Carol Olive, and W. Vincent Coon, who claim that Moroni, when finished with the record in 421 AD, buried the record in the Hill Cumorah—except that Moroni never told us what he did with the record. While we know that Mormon hid the bulk of the records in the Hill Cumorah (Mormon 6:6), regarding the Nephi plates entrusted to Moroni, we only know that “I will write and hide up the records in the earth; and whither I go it mattereth not” (Mormon 8:4). Thus, where he hid them and exactly when is not known! He does not say he buried the records in the Hill Cumorah!

Map of the Heartland for the Book of Mormon Land of Promise

Another example is a map of the Land of Promise in North America. While there are numerous things wrong with this map that do not match the scriptural record, here are just a few:
•  The map does not have Bountiful adjoining the West Sea, yet Mormon tell us that “the Land Bountiful ran from the east to the west sea” (Alma 22:33, emphasis added).
• The map does not have the Land of Nephi nearly surrounded by water. In fact, it is not anywhere near the five seas shown on the map. However, Mormon tells us that “the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water” (Alma 22:32, emphasis added).
• The map does not show a Land of Desolation, yet Mormon tells us that “Bountiful…bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed…thus the land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful” (Alma 22:29-31, emphasis added).
• The map does not show the Land of  Nephi running from the Seat East to the Sea West; however, speaking of the Land of Nephi, Mormon tells us the Lamanite king “sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west, and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west” (Mormon 22:27).
• The map shows four seas in the north, north of the Land of Bountiful and the Land of Zarahemla; however, Helaman tells that when the Nephites moved into the Land Northward, “they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the Sea South to the Sea North, from the sea west to the sea east (Helaman 3:8). According to the map, this doesn’t make any sense, and the entire land of the Nephites was south of all the seas.
• The map shows the Land of Nephi bordering on the Land of Bountiful; however, Mormon tells us that the Land of Nephi had a common border with the Land of Zarahemla, separated only by a narrow strip of wilderness from the Sea East to the Sea West (Alma 22:27).
• The map shows that the Land of Bountiful does not run to the Sea East; however, Mormon tell us that the Land of Bountiful

Showing location of the theorists’ view regarding the placement of their North Country 

• The map shows a major land area called North Country; however, no such land is described in the scriptural record. No North Country is mentioned in Mosiah or Alma, and in Helaman the term North Country refers to the Land of Bountiful, and the term is not used to indicate a land, but the overall area to the north of a fortified line (Helaman 4:7). Mormon makes this clear when he states: “they did frighten my armies; therefore they would not fight, and they began to retreat towards the north countries, obviously referring to lands and cities in the north (Mormon 2:3).
• In addition, this North Country is not north of the Land of Zarahemla and would barely be considered north of Bountiful.
• The map does not show or list any Land Northward; however, Mormon tells us that the Land Northward was separated by a line between the Land of Desolation and the Land of Bountiful (Alma 22:
• The map shows the Land of Nephi far from any water source that could be called a sea; yet Mormon tells us that “The land of Nephi did run in a straight course from the east sea to the west (Alma 50:8)—thus, the Land of bordered the Sea East. Mormon also states: “…fortifying the line between the Nephites and the Lamanites, between the land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi, from the west sea…(Alma 50:11), showing that the Land of Nephi also bordered the Sea West, thus running from sea to sea, as did the narrow strip of wilderness that separated the Land of Nephi from the Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:27).

Map showing the theorists’ placement of the Narrow Strip of Wilderness, which they claim is the Ohio River (however, a River is not a Wilderness)

• The map shows that the border between the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla was an extremely short distance, making the major border there between the Land of Nephi and the Land of Bountiful; however, Mormon tells us that the narrow strip of wilderness that ran between the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla ran from the Sea East to the Sea West (Alma 22:27).
• The map does not show a land to the north of the Land of Bountiful; however, Mormon clearly states that “the Nephites possessed all the land northward, yea, even all the land which was northward of the land Bountiful, according to their pleasure” (Alma 50:11).

Another map, showing the same basic placement of the lands in North America, though this one shows an enormous size of the Land of Nephi, yet still having no West Sea

It should be noted in this map, the theorist has deliberately extended the width of the Mississippi River in order to claim it is a sea. However, even as a sea, it does not fit being on the borders of the Land of Nephi. In addition, note how the upper part of the Mississippi River has been minimized with the Ohio and the Missouri rivers in order to emphasize the additional size of the lower Mississippi and try to create a head for it where the Ohio joins the Mississippi. All of this to distinguish the lower Mississippi so it could be called a sea.
    It is amazing to what lengths theorists will go in trying to alter or even ignore the scriptural record and the many descriptions given us by Nephi, Jacob, Mormon and Moroni. Some people just find it difficult to following the record and want to create something else so they can further their own opinions and beliefs.