What all Book of Mormon geography enthusiasts miss are the prophecies that are tied to the land. The main one says that a New Jerusalem would be setup before the Book of Mormon came forth (see sub-page New Jerusalem Already Here further down). Therefore:
Whichever government is on Book of Mormon land IS the government of the New Jerusalem.
If you believe Guatemala is Book of Mormon land, then you believe the government of Guatemala is the government of the New Jerusalem. We know that the center of Book of Mormon land was western New York and the government over it began with Colonial America and now reaches across all states of the Republic.
Mormons ignore this fact and replace it with statements of intent by Joe and later “prophets.” An example of this is Phyllis Carol Olive who is revising her model to be more closely related to our Western New York model but then throwing it under the bus when it comes to the prophecy of the New Jerusalem:
Now, if the New Jerusalem is to be built in “this land,” as prophesied in Ether 13:8, and we know by modern revelation that the New Jerusalem is to be built in the western borders of Missouri, (Doctrine and Covenants 84:3) then – this land – this promised land, must be America, the homeland of both the Nephites and Jaredites, so proclaimed by both old and modern prophets (Phyllis Carol Olive website).
As was stated in other places, all Book of Mormon land prophecies were fulfilled in Colonial America which excludes Missouri, Utah, Guatemala, Baja, Malay, etc.
This geography confirms the obvious: http://www.inspiredconstitution.org/books.html
RONALD REAGAN – SHINING CITY
I’ve spoken of the SHINING CITY all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city BUILT ON ROCKS stronger than oceans, wind-swept, GOD-BLESSED, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and PEACE, A CITY with free ports that hummed with COMMERCE and creativity… (Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address to the Nation, January 1, 1989)
Fact: A New Jerusalem would be built on Book of Mormon lands.
Fact: Joseph proclaimed Independence, Missouri as the center place of the New Jerusalem.
Dilemma: How do modelers reconcile what Joseph said if their models do not include the land of Independence, Missouri where the New Jerusalem would be—on BoM lands?
Answer: They can’t.
The Promised Land
Nephi’s vision in 1 Nephi 13 describes the Promised Land clearly:
- Gentiles are moved by the Spirit of God to come to the Promised Land (v.13)
- They leave lands of captivity (v.13)
- Many multitudes come (v.14)
- The Indians are scattered by them (v.14)
- They are white with fair skin (v.15)
- They buy the Promised Land (v.15)
- They humble themselves before God (v.16; see also Great Awakening)
- The Spirit of God is with them (v.16)
- Their mother countries come to battle against them (v.17)
- They come on the waters and on the land (v.17)
- The Gentiles are delivered from all nations (v.19; see also Peace of Paris 1783)
- The Gentiles stumble because plain and precious things are removed from the Bible (v.29)
Summation
This describes early American Colonial History, particularly the War of 1812 (Star-Spangled Banner) and encompasses Western New York perfectly. It excludes areas not involved in that conflict – Mesoamerica, S. America, Baja, Malay, Africa, Mexico, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Utah, California, Colorado, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Iowa, etc.
Verdict
The New Jerusalem prophecy was already fulfilled with Colonial America.
Sorenson acknowledges that Book of Mormon prophecy says the New Jerusalem will be built on Book of Mormon land, specifically, the Land Northward, by a Narrow Neck, which can’t be Independence, Missouri; nor can it be near purported Narrow Necks in Mexico; the LDS Church has no intentions of moving its headquarters to Mexico.
Were “this land” taken in a narrow (“literal”) sense as that where the Nephites and Jaredites of the record lived, the New Jerusalem would have to be near the narrow neck of land, but there is no LDS expectation of anything like that. The alternative is that Moroni, or Ether, is here speaking in general terms of the whole continent, [how could it not] which accommodates the prophecies in the Doctrine and Covenants (Sorenson, A Source Book, p. 312).