Not long ago we received a series of comments from a reader of this blog. His comments were too extensive to place in our Q&A section so we are answering them in this complete article.
• It is useless in putting much time and effort into trying to figure out where Hagoth's boat went,
This was not a boat, but “an exceedingly large ship” (Alma 63:5). And where it went is critically important or Mormon would not have mentioned it in his abridgement.
• Or figure out where the narrow neck of land is located.
This was a critical feature that Mormon describes in enough detail for us to know its importance. No claim to a Land of Promise can be made without pointing out its geographical shape (then and now) as part of that landscape. This narrow neck and the narrow passage was essential in the strategy of several events in the scriptural record, including Teancum heading off Morianton, in the borders of the Land Desolation near the Narrow Neck of Land (Alma 50:27)
• Or know where the river Sidon is located and in which direction it flowed.
Mormon makes this quite clear as we have stated many times. As an example we know that its source was in the narrow strip of wilderness north of the Land of Nephi and south of the Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:27), and that it flowed northward past the Land of Zarahemla, making it a north-flowing river. In addition, for the idea that most Heartland theorists have about the Mississippi River being the Sidon River, and that its head or source was at the confluence with the Ohio River
(Alma 50:27).
• Nor do we have any specific geographic features within the Land of Promise.
We know that Lehi landed along the west coast of the Land of Promise, which by definition was “and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore” (Alma 22:28). We know there was a narrow neck between the Land Southward and the Land Northward, and the only land connected to keep the Land Southward from being completely surrounded by water” (Alma 22:32); that there was a narrow pass or passage that led evidently through this narrow neck as it went from the Land Southward into the Land Northward (Alma 52:9; Mormon 2:29), and ran by the sea on the east and on the west (Alma 50:34). The point is, any choice of a Land of Promise, in any land setting, such as the heartland and Great Lakes areas, must have these features!
• Nor do we know where most things are.
Because we don’t know where they are, that does not mean they did not and do not exist. Once again, while we may not know where they are, these geographical features Mormon describes certainly disqualify any claim that does not have them specifically included and in keeping with Mormon’s descriptions of these areas.
• We do know that Joseph Smith would have known where Lehi landed from the comments and instruction given him by Moroni.
Joseph being instructed by the Angel Moroni
Joseph indicated what Moroni taught him. He said: "I was also informed concerning the aboriginal inhabitants of this country and shown who they were, and from whence they came; a brief sketch of their origin, progress, civilization, laws, governments, of their righteousness and iniquity, and the blessings of God being finally withdrawn from them as a people, was made known unto me." Signed, Joseph Smith Jr., (Wentworth Letter 1842 p4). Note that there is no mention of where Lehi landed, or anything about the physical location of the Land of Promise, though he listed several things Moroni taught him.
• We only know for sure, by revelation from God, where the Hill Cumorah is—New York:
The unnamed hill in western New York, later called the hill Cumorah by members from the information in the Book of Mormon, along with several other names (Mormon Hill, Gold Bible Hill, Inspiration Point) given to it by others. Keep in mind, that the Church has never endorsed any geographical site other than the Western Hemisphere, and has made it abundantly clear that it does not endorse any particular view of Book of Mormon geography. It should also keep in mind that in his account in the Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith refers to the hill where the plates were buried, but never calls it by any name. In the Doctrine and Covenants the name “Cumorah” only appears one time, in an 1842 epistle written by Joseph Smith: 'And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from “Cumorah” (D&C 128:20). No other uses of “Cumorah” has been found in any other of Joseph Smith's personal writings.
• And Zelph's mound which is in Illinois.
Zelph was a white Lamanite and warrior. The burial hill known today as Zelph’s Mound, only shows that some of Lehi’s descendants made their way northward in Hagoth’s ships, into Central and Mesoamerica, and eventually to North America, as we have pointed out numerous times in this blog.
• Where the plains of the Nephites are: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Joseph Smith, in a personal letter to his wife Emma, while on
the Zion’s Camp journey, reminisced about being upon the plains of the
Nephites. This was not a testimony, nor a 
declaration
on his part to the Church or to anyone but his wife. The term plains of the Nephites is not a term
from the Book of Mormon, but one Joseph Smith used to describe to his wife the
territory over which they were traveling, the comparatively flat plains of the
Midwest.
• Early missionaries were sent only to New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri with some crossing into Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Joseph Smith never sent a single missionary to Mexico, Central or South America and no prophet sent any LDS missionaries to Mexico, Central or South America for 45 years.”
Early apostle Parley P. Pratt, who served missions in the United States and Great Britain, was among the first Mormon missionaries to preach in Chile, landing in Valparaiso in November, 1851, 21 years after the formation of the Church when there was still great violence in the western countries of that land. No missionaries had earlier been sent because of the wars of Independence being fought in South America.
In addition, during this foment, Pratt contemplated his mission to Chile, for one fact overrode caution: the Lehi voyage—that transoceanic journey recounted in the Book of Mormon, had landed, he believed, in Chile, and he wanted to take the gospel back to Lehi's descendants. Unfortunately, Pratt was unable to make an impression on the Chileans for the country’s traditional religion was fully protected by the government. In fact, since 1833 the Catholic Church had been in full partnership with the state, and the Chilean conservatives liked it that way—they had no intention of letting another religion into their country. Consequently, the Church withdrew their missionaries from the area, which was not reopened until l923. However, they were one of the early areas missionaries had been sent other than Great Britain.
(See the next post, “Let’s Keep the Facts and Discard Opinions –Part II,” for more on the factual basis and not the opinions suggested by theorists).
Parley's mission was no small thing! He dedicated that land to receive missionaries and the fulness of the Gospel at a future date. The letter he wrote to brother Brigham stated that 90 per cent of the populace was of the blood of Lehi. Read his autobiography if you have not. I believe his mission was to dedicate the land much the same as Orson Hyde dedicated the land of Israel. Neither made converts. But both Apostolic missions were of extreme importance in my view.
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