Beggar's Bread

by Fred W. Anson
Introduction
Anyone who has investigated Mormonism knows how intensively Latter-day Saints will press them to read the Book of Mormon. And no doubt, you’ll be told that the Book of Mormon contains the “fulness of the gospel” and that it’s the “keystone of our religion”. You might even be told that Joseph Smith himself said, “Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none.”

However, they also fail to tell you that very little Mormon doctrine can actually be found in the Book of Mormon – the vast majority is found elsewhere. For example, look at the three common claims that were made in the first paragraph above (the ones in quotes). The first is from another book of LdS Scripture known as “Doctrine & Covenants” (D&C 20:9 and D&C 27:5) and the third is from Joseph Smith’s “History of the Church” (Volume 2, Page 52). Only the second quote is actually from the Book of Mormon – and it’s from the introduction not the central narrative.[1]

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as one Mormon convert noted a couple of years after being baptized into the LdS Church (and while she was on her way back out of the Mormon Church), “They give you the normal stuff to get you in and then once there’s no turning back they teach you the really weird stuff!” Perhaps that’s why in the LdS Church Handbook of Instructions (the manual of standard operating procedures that Mormon clergy are supposed to follow) one must be a member for at least a year before you’ll even be granted a temple recommend Interview so you can be deemed worthy to enter an LdS Temple and go through the endowment ceremony[2] – and I’ve got to tell you that the LdS Temple endowment ceremony certainly is “really weird stuff!”[3]

But that said, one needn’t wait: Not only will this article tell you some of the “weird stuff” that’s not in the Book of Mormon, but it will also show you where to find it for yourself. 

THE CHURCH
– Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ physically appeared to Joseph Smith (aka “The First Vision”).

Where you’ll find it:
The Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith – History 1:16&17
(canonized LdS scripture)
16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction – not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being – just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other – This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
— Joseph Smith

– All other churches and their leaders are in a state of corrupt apostasy (aka “The First Vision”).

Where you’ll find it:
The Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith – History 1:18-20 (canonized LdS scripture)
18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong) – and which I should join.

19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time.
— Joseph Smith

– The Priesthood is necessary in order for men to receive authority to act in the name of God and perform the various duties necessary to carry out the ordinances of the gospel.

Where you’ll find it:
“Priesthood Principles, Handbook 2: Administering the Church”, Chapter 2: Priesthood Principles
(official LdS Church manual)
“Priesthood keys are the authority God has given to priesthood leaders to direct, control, and govern the use of His priesthood on earth. The exercise of priesthood authority is governed by those who hold its keys (see D&C 65:2; 81:2; 124:123). Those who hold priesthood keys have the right to preside over and direct the Church within a jurisdiction.”
— Official LdS Church Manual

A. Theodore Tuttle (President of the First Council of the Seventy), “Priesthood Its Power and Vitality”, Ensign, July 1972, p.119 (official, correlated LdS church periodical)
“In order to gain exaltation a man must obtain, then magnify, the holy priesthood.

For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.

‘They become the elect of God.

‘And therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.

‘And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood. (D&C 84:33 34, 38 39.)”

THE NATURE OF GOD
– God the Father was once a man, on another world (Kolob), and progressed to godhood by following perfectly the commands and precepts of his Father God.

Where you’ll find it:
“The King Follett Sermon”; Ensign, May 1971, p.13
(official LdS Church periodical)
“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make himself visible – I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form – like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man.”
— Joseph Smith

“Sermon in the Grove, June 16, 1844”; History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 473-479
(official LdS Church periodical)
“If Abraham reasoned thus—If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and John discovered that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may suppose that He had a Father also. Where was there ever a son without a father? And where was there ever a father without first being a son? Whenever did a tree or anything spring into existence without a progenitor? And everything comes in this way. Paul says that which is earthly is in the likeness of that which is heavenly, Hence if Jesus had a Father, can we not believe that He had a Father also? I despise the idea of being scared to death at such a doctrine, for the Bible is full of it.

I want you to pay particular attention to what I am saying. Jesus said that the Father wrought precisely in the same way as His Father had done before Him. As the Father had done before. He laid down His life, and took it up the same as His Father had done before. He did as He was sent, to lay down His life and take it up again; and then was committed unto Him the keys, I know it is good reasoning.”
— Joseph Smith

“Gospel Fundamentals”, pp.200-205
(official LdS Church manual)
“…our Father in Heaven was once a man who lived on an earth, the same as we do. He became our Father in Heaven by overcoming problems, just as we have to do on this earth.”
(retrieved 2016-05-18)

“Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young”, p.30
(official LdS Church manual)
“The great architect, manager and superintendent, controller and dictator [absolute ruler] who guides this work is out of sight to our natural eyes. He lives on another world; he is in another state of existence; he has passed the ordeals we are now passing through; he has received an experience, has suffered and enjoyed, and knows all that we know regarding the toils, sufferings, life and death of this mortality, for he has passed through the whole of it, and has received his crown and exaltation and holds the keys and the power of this Kingdom;”
(retrieved 2016-05-18)

“Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young”, p.34
(official LdS Church manual)
“The doctrine that God was once a man and has progressed to become a God is unique to this Church. How do you feel, knowing that God, through His own experience, “knows all that we know regarding the toils [and] sufferings” of mortality?”
(retrieved 2016-05-18)

“Achieving Celestial Marriage Student Manual”, pp. 4-5
(official LdS Church manual)
“God was once a man who, by obedience, advanced to his present state of perfection; through obedience and celestial marriage we may progress to the point where we become like God….God Became God by Obedience to Law….If God became God by obedience to all of the gospel law with the crowning point being the celestial law of marriage, then that’s the only way I can become a god.”

The Pearl of Great Price, Book of Abraham 3:2-3
(canonized LdS scripture)
And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it;

And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

LdS Church Hymnal, Hymn #284, “If You Could Hie to Kolob”, verses 1-2
(official LdS Church hymnal)
If you could hie to Kolob
In the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward
With that same speed to fly,
Do you think that you could ever,
Through all eternity,
Find out the generation
Where Gods began to be?

Or see the grand beginning,
Where space did not extend?
Or view the last creation,
Where Gods and matter end?
Methinks the Spirit whispers,
“No man has found ‘pure space,’
Nor seen the outside curtains,
Where nothing has a place.”

B. H. Roberts (Mormon Seventy and LDS church historian), New Witness for God 1:476
“But if God the Father was not always God, but came to his present exalted position by degrees of progress as indicated in the teachings of the prophet, how has there been a God from all eternity? The answer is that there has been and there now exists an endless line of Gods, stretching back into the eternities.”

Milton R. Hunter (Mormon Seventy), “The Gospel Throughout The Ages”, p.104, 114-15
“Mormon prophets have continuously taught the sublime truth that God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life similar to that through which we are now passing. He became God-an exalted being.” (p.104)

“Yet, if we accept the great law of eternal progression, we must accept the fact that there was a time when Deity was much less powerful than He is today.” (p.114)

“Thus He grew in experience and continued to grow until He attained the status of Godhood.” (p.115)

– God the Father is a person with a body of flesh and bones.

Where you’ll find it:
Doctrine & Covenants 130:22 (canonized LdS scripture)
The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

– The Father, Son and Holy Ghost are separate gods, “one in purpose” only but not one in being.

Where you’ll find it:
True to the Faith (2004), pp.73-74 (official, correlated LdS church manual)
“From the Prophet’s account of the First Vision and from his other teachings, we know that the members of the Godhead are three separate beings. The Father and the Son have tangible bodies of flesh and bones, and the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit (see D&C 130:22).

Although the members of the Godhead are distinct beings with distinct roles, they are one in purpose and doctrine.”

“Godhead”, Gospel Topics (official LdS Church website)
“The Church’s first article of faith states, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” These three beings make up the Godhead. They preside over this world and all other creations of our Father in Heaven.

The Mormon view of the members of the Godhead corresponds in a number of ways with the views of others in the Christian world, but with significant differences. Latter-day Saints pray to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. They acknowledge the Father as the ultimate object of their worship, the Son as Lord and Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as the messenger and revealer of the Father and the Son. But where Latter-day Saints differ from other Christian religions is in their belief that God and Jesus Christ are glorified, physical beings and that each member of the Godhead is a separate being.”

– There are a plurality of gods but we only worship the God of this world, God the Father (aka “Heavenly Father”)

Where you’ll find it:
The Pearl of Great Price, Book of Abraham Chapter 4 (canonized LdS scripture)
Here’s an excerpt:

1 And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth.

2 And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters.

3 And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light.

4 And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was bright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the darkness.

“The King Follett Sermon”; Ensign, April 1971, p.13
(official, correlated LdS church periodical)
“A Council of the Gods. In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it.”
— Joseph Smith

“Sermon in the Grove”; History of the Church 6:474 (official LdS Church History)
“I will preach on the plurality of Gods… I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods.”
— Joseph Smith, “Sermon On Plurality of Gods,” June 16, 1844

“Sermon in the Grove”; History of the Church 6:476 (official LdS Church History)
“The heads of the Gods appointed one God for us…”
— Joseph Smith, “Sermon On Plurality of Gods,” June 16, 1844

“The Bible, a Sealed Book”; Teaching Seminary Preservice Readings Religion 370, 471, and 475, (2004), pp.123–32 (official, correlated LdS church manual)
“The “King Follett Sermon” and the “Sermon in the Grove.” (See History of the Church, 6:302–17; 6:473–79.) These two sermons, one in thought and content, set forth the doctrine of the plurality of Gods and of becoming joint heirs with Christ. They show that man may become as his Maker and reign in celestial exaltation forever.”
— Official LdS Church Manual

“The Pattern of Our Parentage”, Ensign, November 1984 (official, correlated LdS Church periodical)
“Anyone who believes and teaches of God the Father, and accepts the divinity of Christ, and of the Holy Ghost, teaches a plurality of Gods.”
— Boyd K. Packer, LdS Apostle

– God is married and has at least one wife in heaven.

Where you’ll find it:
“Primary 2: Choose the Right”, Lesson 3, “I Am a Child of God” (official, correlated LdS church manual)
“we all lived in heaven with Heavenly Father before we came to this earth. We are his children. That is why we call him Heavenly Father. We also lived with our heavenly mother and all the rest of Heavenly Father’s children. Everyone who has been born on the earth is a child of Heavenly Father.”
— Official LdS Church Manual

LdS Church Hymnal, Hymn #292, “O My Father” verse 3
(official LdS Church hymnal)
I had learned to call thee Father,
Thru thy Spirit from on high,
But, until the key of knowledge
Was restored, I knew not why.
In the heav’ns are parents single?
No, the thought makes reason stare!
Truth is reason; truth eternal
Tells me I’ve a mother there.

Milton R. Hunter (Mormon Seventy), “The Gospel Throughout The Ages”, p.99
“The stupendous truth of the existence of a Heavenly Mother, as well as a Heavenly Father, became established facts in Mormon theology.”

THE CREATION
– God the Father, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith and other sons of the Father did not create the universe and earth out of nothing, but “organized” them from eternally existing matter that pre-existed God the Father.

Where you’ll find it:
“The King Follett Sermon”; Ensign, April 1971, p.13 (official, correlated LdS church periodical)
“You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing, and they will answer, “Doesn’t the Bible say he created the world?” And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos – chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time He had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning and can have no end.”
— Joseph Smith

“Sermon in the Grove”, History of the Church 6:473-479 (canonized LdS scripture)
“The head God organized the heavens and the earth. I defy all the world to refute me. In the beginning the heads of the Gods organized the heavens and the earth.”
— Joseph Smith, “Sermon On Plurality of Gods,” June 16, 1844

MEN CAN BECOME GODS (aka “Exaltation”)
– The Most faithful and worthy Mormons can progress to godhood in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, where they can obtain their own world and with their wife (or wives) procreate spirit children for eternity.

Where you’ll find it:

“The King Follett Sermon”; Ensign, May 1971, p.13 (official, correlated LdS church manual)
“Here, then, is eternal life to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.”
— Joseph Smith

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, 2011, p.83 (official, correlated LdS church manual)
“As man now is, God once was:
“As God now is, man may be.”
— The “Lorenzo Snow Couplet” as quoted in an official LdS Church Manual

“The Bible, a Sealed Book”; Teaching Seminary Preservice Readings Religion 370, 471, and 475, (2004), pp.123–32 (official, correlated LdS church manual)
“The “King Follett Sermon” and the “Sermon in the Grove.” (See History of the Church, 6:302–17; 6:473–79.) These two sermons, one in thought and content, set forth the doctrine of the plurality of Gods and of becoming joint heirs with Christ. They show that man may become as his Maker and reign in celestial exaltation forever.”
— Official LdS Church Manual

LdS Church Hymnal, Hymn #284, “If You Could Hie to Kolob”, verse 3
(official LdS Church hymnal)
The works of God continue,
And worlds and lives abound;
Improvement and progression
Have one eternal round.
There is no end to matter;
There is no end to space;
There is no end to spirit;
There is no end to race.

– The “new and everlasting covenant” of polygamy is necessary for exaltation to godhood.

Where you’ll find it:
Doctrine & Covenants 132:4 (canonized LdS scripture)
“For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant [polygamy]; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.”

– Mormons who are unmarried in this life and do not marry in the next life, cannot be exalted, but will become servant ministering angels to exalted Mormons in the next life.

Where you’ll find it:
Doctrine & Covenants 132:17 (canonized LdS scripture)
“For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever.”

HEAVEN AND HELL
– There are three degrees (or “levels” in plain English) in heaven consisting of:
1. Telestial Kingdom- lowest degree
2. Terrestrial Kingdom – middle degree
3. Celestial Kingdom – highest degree, of which there are also three degrees

Where you’ll find it:
Doctrine & Covenants 76:70-92 (canonized LdS scripture)
70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.

71 And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these are they who are of theterrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the Firstborn who have received the fulness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament.

72 Behold, these are they who died without law;

73 And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh;

74 Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it.

75 These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men.

76 These are they who receive of his glory, but not of his fulness.

77 These are they who receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the fulness of the Father.

78 Wherefore, they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun.

79 These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God.

80 And now this is the end of the vision which we saw of the terrestrial, that the Lord commanded us to write while we were yet in the Spirit.

81 And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament.

82 These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus.

83 These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit.

84 These are they who are thrust down to hell.

85 These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work.

86 These are they who receive not of his fulness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial;

87 And the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial.

88 And also the telestial receive it of the ministering of angels who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for them; for they shall be heirs of salvation.

89 And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding;

90 And no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed it.

91 And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial which excels in all things the glory of the telestial, even in glory, and in power, and in might, and in dominion.

92 And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever . . .”
– – Joseph Smith, A vision given to Joseph Smith the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon, at Hiram, Ohio, February 16, 1832; also see “History of the Church” 1:245-252

– Every human being will find a place in one of the three degrees of glory (or “heaven” in plain English). 

Where you’ll find it:
Joseph Smith, “History of the Church” 1:283 (canonized LdS scripture)
“A man may be saved, after the judgment, in the terrestrial kingdom, or in the telestial kingdom, but he can never see the celestial kingdom of God, without being born of water and the Spirit.”
— Joseph Smith

– The only people not in one of the three degrees of glory will be the Devil and his angels as well as those Mormons who have held the priesthood and become apostate. The latter are referred to as “the sons of perdition” in Mormon doctrine. 

Where you’ll find it: 
Gospel Topics: Hell (official LdS Church website)
“Latter-day revelations speak of hell in at least two ways. First, it is another name for spirit prison, a temporary place in the postmortal world for those who died without a knowledge of the truth or those who were disobedient in mortality. Second, it is the permanent location of Satan and his followers and the sons of perdition, who are not redeemed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Spirit prison is a temporary state in which spirits will be taught the gospel and have the opportunity to repent and accept ordinances of salvation that are performed for them in temples (see D&C 138:30-35). Those who accept the gospel may dwell in paradise until the Resurrection. After they are resurrected and judged, they will receive the degree of glory of which they are worthy. Those who choose not to repent but who are not sons of perdition will remain in spirit prison until the end of the Millennium, when they will be freed from hell and punishment and be resurrected to a telestial glory (see D&C 76:81-85).

Those who are not redeemed by the Atonement are in outer darkness, which is the dwelling place of the devil, his angels, and the sons of perdition (see D&C 29:36-38; 76:28-33). Sons of perdition are those who receive “no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame” (D&C 76:34-35; see also D&C 76:31-33, 36-37). Such individuals will not inherit a place in any kingdom of glory; for them the conditions of hell remain (see D&C 76:38; 88:24, 32).”

Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual, (2000), pp.90–93 (official, correlated LdS church manual)
“The scriptures explain who the sons of perdition are and what their fate will be.
1. Satan and the one-third of the hosts of heaven who followed him became sons of perdition (see D&C 76:25-30; 29:36–38; Revelation 12:7–9; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).
2. Those who in mortality have known the power of God, been made partakers of it, and then later denied the truth and defied God’s power will also be sons of perdition (see D&C 76:31–32).
3. Those who deny the Holy Ghost after having received it and crucify the Savior unto themselves will have no forgiveness and will be sons of perdition (see D&C 76:34–36; Matthew 12:31–32).
4. Sons of perdition will suffer the wrath of God and partake of the second death (see D&C 76:33, 37–38).
Those who become sons of perdition in mortality will be resurrected but will not be redeemed in a kingdom of glory (see D&C 76:38–39, 43–44; 88:24, 32).
5. Only those who become sons of perdition will be able to comprehend the magnitude of the misery of those who inherit such a state (see D&C 76:44–48).”
— Official LdS Church website

– Temples and temple ordinances pertaining to endowments are necessary in order to pass through the veil and enter the presence of God the Father, and consist of temple marriage, new names, secret key words and handshakes that will be used as an identification of the person in the next life.

Where you’ll find it:
Doctrine & Covenants 124:37-48 (canonized LdS scripture)
37 And again, verily I say unto you, how shall your washings be acceptable unto me, except ye perform them in a house which you have built to my name?

38 For, for this cause I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid from before the world was.

39 Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.

40 And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people;

41 For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times.

42 And I will show unto my servant Joseph all things pertaining to this house, and the priesthood thereof, and the place whereon it shall be built.

43 And ye shall build it on the place where you have contemplated building it, for that is the spot which I have chosen for you to build it.

44 If ye labor with all your might, I will consecrate that spot that it shall be made holy.

45 And if my people will hearken unto my voice, and unto the voice of my servants whom I have appointed to lead my people, behold, verily I say unto you, they shall not be moved out of their place.

46 But if they will not hearken to my voice, nor unto the voice of these men whom I have appointed, they shall not be blest, because they pollute mine holy grounds, and mine holy ordinances, and charters, and my holy words which I give unto them.

47 And it shall come to pass that if you build a house unto my name, and do not do the things that I say, I will not perform the oath which I make unto you, neither fulfil the promises which ye expect at my hands, saith the Lord.

48 For instead of blessings, ye, by your own works, bring cursings, wrath, indignation, and judgments upon your own heads, by your follies, and by all your abominations, which you practise before me, saith the Lord.”
— Joseph Smith

LdS Temple Endowment Ceremony: Initiatory Rite
“With this garment, I give you a new name, which you should always remember and which you must keep sacred and never reveal, except at a certain place that will be shown you hereafter.

The name is _________.”
(NOTE: Everyone goes through the temple that day is given the same name such as “Adam”, “Noah”, “Sarah”, “Naomi”, etc.  A database of these names can be found here)

LdS Temple Endowment Ceremony: The Terrestrial World
“THE FIRST TOKEN OF THE MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD

PETER: We will now give unto you the first token of the Melchizedek priesthood, or Sign of the Nail, with its accompanying name, sign, and penalty.

[Peter demonstrates the token.]

We desire all to receive it. All arise.

[All initiates receive the token. Peter then reveals the name, sign, and penalty for this token.]

I will now explain the covenant and obligation of secrecy which are associated with this token, its name, sign, and penalty, which you will be required to take upon yourselves.

If I were receiving the endowment today, either for myself or for the dead, I would repeat in my mind these words, after making the sign, at the same time representing the execution of the penalty:

‘I covenant in the name _________ that I will never reveal the first token of the Melchizedek priesthood, or Sign of the Nail, with its accompanying name, sign, and penalty.’

[Peter leads the initiates in repeating this oath.]

That will do.”

LdS Temple Endowment Ceremony: The Veil
“First Token of the Melchizedek Priesthood

PETER: The Lord then gives the first token of the Melchizedek priesthood, or Sign of the Nail, and asks:

LORD: What is that?

PETER: The first token of the Melchizedek priesthood, or Sign of the Nail.

LORD: Has it a name?

PETER: It has.

LORD: Will you give it to me?

PETER: I will, through the veil.

The person then gives the name of this token, which is _________.”

– Baptisms for the dead must be performed by proxy in this life for those who did not accept the gospel in this life, so that their sins can be forgiven and they can enter the Celestial Kingdom after they accept the Mormon gospel message in the next life.

Where you’ll find it:
Doctrine & Covenants 128:15-16 (canonized LdS scripture)
15 And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers – that they without us cannot be made perfect – neither can we without our dead be made perfect.

16 And now, in relation to the baptism for the dead, I will give you another quotation of Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:29: Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?

Mormon.org Frequently Asked Questions: Why do Mormons perform baptisms for the dead?
(official LdS Church website)
“The Prophet Joseph Smith first taught about the ordinance of baptism for the dead during a funeral sermon in August 1840. He read much of 1 Corinthians 15, including verse 29, and announced that the Lord would permit Church members to be baptized in behalf of their friends and relatives who had departed this life. He told them “the plan of salvation was calculated to save all who were willing to obey the requirements of the law of God” (Journal History of the Church, 15 Aug. 1840).”

THE NATURE OF MAN
– Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother procreated the spirits of every human being that has lived, is now living or will ever live on this earth.

Where you’ll find it:
Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual, (2000), pp.13–15 (official, correlated LdS church manual)
“We lived as spirit children of God in a premortal existence.

1. God is the father of the spirits of all mankind (see Hebrews 12:9; D&C 76:24; Acts 17:29; Romans 8:16).
2. Our spirit bodies are in the form of God’s physical body (see D&C 77:2; Ether 3:6–16).
3. Our instruction and preparation for earth life began in the world of spirits (see D&C 138:56).
4. God gave us agency in the premortal life (see Moses 4:3; D&C 29:36).
5. Many became noble and great in the premortal world (see Abraham 3:22–25; Jeremiah 1:4–6; Alma 13:3–5).”
— Official LdS Church Manual

“Achieving a Celestial Marriage”, p.129
(official, correlated LdS church manual)
“By definition exaltation includes the ability to procreate the family unit throughout eternity. This our Father in heaven has power to do. His marriage partner is our mother in heaven. We are their spirit children, born to them in the bonds of celestial marriage.”
— Official LdS Church Manual

– The spirits procreated by Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother lived with their father on his world as angels in the “pre-existence” before being sent to earth to inhabit human bodies.

Where you’ll find it:
Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual, (2000), pp.13–15
(official, correlated LdS church manual)
“These spirit beings, the offspring of exalted parents, were men and women, appearing in all respects as mortal persons do, excepting only that their spirit bodies were made of a more pure and refined substance than the elements from which mortal bodies are made. (Ether 3:16; D. & C. 131:7–8.)” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 589)

“In the pre-existence we dwelt in the presence of God our Father. When the time arrived for us to be advanced in the scale of our existence and pass through this mundane probation, councils were held and the spirit children were instructed in matters pertaining to conditions in mortal life, and the reason for such an existence. In the former life we were spirits. In order that we should advance and eventually gain the goal of perfection, it was made known that we would receive tabernacles of flesh and bones and have to pass through mortality where we would be tried and proved to see if we, by trial, would prepare ourselves for exaltation. We were made to realize, in the presence of our glorious Father, who had a tangible body of flesh and bones which shone like the sun, that we were, as spirits, far inferior in our station to him” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:57).”
— Official LdS Church Manual

The Guide to the Scriptures: Angels
(official LdS Church website)
“There are two kinds of beings in heaven who are called angels: those who are spirits and those who have bodies of flesh and bone. Angels who are spirits have not yet obtained a body of flesh and bone, or they are spirits who have once had a mortal body and are awaiting resurrection. Angels who have bodies of flesh and bone have either been resurrected from the dead or translated.”

JESUS CHRIST
– Jesus Christ is the brother of Lucifer (Satan), every human being past and present, and the angels.

Where you’ll find it:
“Pearl of Great Price Student Manual – Religion 327”, chapter entitled, “Moses 1:12 – 23 – Satan Commanded Moses to Worship Him”
(official, correlated LdS church manual)
“The importance of not accommodating temptation in the least degree is underlined by the Savior’s example. Did not he recognize the danger when he was on the mountain with his fallen brother, Lucifer, being sorely tempted by that master tempter? [see Matthew 4:1–11 .] He could have opened the door and flirted with danger by saying, ‘All right, Satan, I’ll listen to your proposition. I need not succumb, I need not yield, I need not accept – but I’ll listen.’”
— Official LdS Church Education System Seminaries and Institute of Religion manual
(also see “The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball”, p.163;  and “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball”, pp.107-108)

“Gospel Principles”, pp.17-18 [1997 edition]
(official, correlated LdS church manual)
“Our Father said, ‘Whom shall I send?’ (Abraham 3:27). Two of our brothers offered to help. Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said, ‘Here am I, send me’…” [NOTE: this passage is missing from the current – that is, 2009 – edition]
— Official LdS Church Manual

“Gospel Principles”, pp.17-18 [1997 and 2009 editions]
(official, correlated LdS church manual)
“Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, saying, ‘Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor’ (Moses 4:1).” [1997 and 2009 editions]
— Official LdS Church Manual

“Gospel Principles” p.15 [2009 edition]
(official, correlated LdS church manual)
“After hearing both sons speak, Heavenly Father said, ‘I will send the first.’ (Abraham 3:27).”
— Official LdS Church Manual

Milton R. Hunter (Mormon Seventy), “The Gospel Through the Ages”, p.15
“The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer, son of the morning. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind.”

John A. Widtsoe (Mormon Apostle), “Joseph Smith – Seeker After Truth”, pp.156-157
“In the grand council called to ratify the Father’s plan, a great difference arose. The majority, led by the First Born of the Father, our Elder Brother, Jesus the Christ, was ready to accept the plan with all its conditions. The minority, led by Lucifer, a ‘son of the morning,’ feared the isolation and the pains and ills of earth. For them Lucifer proposed that they should be sent to earth, but that provisions should be made by which they would suffer no pain and would not have to make any sacrifices. All of them would be returned with earthly bodies irrespective of their works on earth. This latter plan seemed desirable that one-third of those present favored it, in direct opposition of God’s plan. Lucifer and his followers were thrown out of the council, and as opponents of God’s plan, became the devil and his angels, who strive ever to tempt men to disobey the laws of God.”

Joseph F. Merrill (Mormon Apostle) “Conference Report”, April 1941, p.49
(official, correlated LdS church periodical)
“According to our teachings, Satan and an army of supporters were cast down to earth from the premortal spirit world. They are spirit brothers of ours, and are real persons having spirit bodies.”

– Jesus Christ made atonement for sins in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Where you’ll find it:
Thomas S. Monson (LdS Prophet), “At Parting”, April 11, 2011 General Conference Address
 (official LdS Church website)
“Now, before we leave today, may I share with you my love for the Savior and for His great atoning sacrifice for us. In three weeks’ time the entire Christian world will be celebrating Easter. I believe that none of us can conceive the full import of what Christ did for us in Gethsemane, but I am grateful every day of my life for His atoning sacrifice in our behalf.”

M. Russell Ballard (LdS Apostle), “The Atonement and the Value of One Soul,” Ensign, May 2004, p.84
(official, correlated LdS church periodical)
“There in the quiet isolation of the Garden of Gethsemane, He knelt among the gnarled olive trees, and in some incredible way that none of us can fully comprehend, the Savior took upon Himself the sins of the world. Even though His life was pure and free of sin, He paid the ultimate penalty for sin – yours, mine, and everyone who has ever lived. His mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish were so great they caused Him to bleed from every pore (see Luke 22:44; D&C 19:18). And yet Jesus suffered willingly so that we might all have the opportunity to be washed clean – through having faith in Him, repenting of our sins, being baptized by proper priesthood authority, receiving the purifying gift of the Holy Ghost by confirmation, and accepting all other essential ordinances. Without the Atonement of the Lord, none of these blessings would be available to us, and we could not become worthy and prepared to return to dwell in the presence of God.”

Ezra Taft Benson (LdS Prophet), “Five Marks of the Divinity of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, Dec 2001, p.8
(official, correlated LdS church periodical)
“It was in Gethsemane where Jesus took on Himself the sins of the world, in Gethsemane where His pain was equivalent to the cumulative burden of all men, in Gethsemane where He descended below all things so that all could repent and come to Him. The mortal mind fails to fathom, the tongue cannot express, the pen of man cannot describe the breadth, the depth, or height of the suffering of our Lord – nor His infinite love for us. Yet there are those who arrogantly declare the most pernicious heresy, that the blood which extruded from the physical body of our Lord on that night had no efficacy for the redemption of man. They would have you believe the only significance to Gethsemane was that Jesus made His decision there to go to the cross. They say that any suffering Jesus endured was only personal, not redemptive for the whole human race. I know of no heresy more destructive to faith than this, for the individual who so accepts this delusion is beguiled to believe that he can achieve exaltation on the basis of his own merit, intelligence, and personal effort. Never forget … that ‘it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do’ (2 Ne. 25:23).”

CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY
The significance of these missing doctrines is magnified when you realize that they are the key tenets of modern Latter-day Saint theology.  For example, no investigator of the Mormon Church can escape the importance and significance of the First Vision – after all, LdS Missionaries are told to memorize it and mention it frequently in their conversations with those that they’re proselytizing.[4]  And as former LdS Prophet and President, Gordon B. Hinckley noted well in his Fall 2002 LdS Church General Conference address: 

“Our whole strength rests on the validity of that [First] vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens. I knew a so-called intellectual who said the Church was trapped by its own history. My response was that without that history we have nothing. The truth of that unique, singular, and remarkable event [The First Vision] is the pivotal substance of our faith.”
— “The Marvelous Foundation Of Our Faith”, General Conference, October 2002

And in relation to the Book of Mormon, as Theologian Rob Bowman of The Institute for Religious Research notes regarding the First Vision: 

“A Mormon might say that the Book of Mormon does not refer to it because it had not yet happened. But I would point out that in LDS mythology the First Vision is the most important event in history after the resurrection of Christ, and the Book of Mormon contains supposed prophecies about future events — including the Anthon transcript incident. One would think it would prophesy the event that initiated the Restoration.”
(Comment on the “Evangelicals Discussing Mormonism” Facebook page Monday, June 30, 2014 at 6:58am note: membership in group required to view content) 

Further, as we noted in “A Documented History of Joseph Smith’s First Vision” the LdS Church didn’t even publish the First Vision account that Mr. Hinckley and Mormon Missionaries depend so heavily on until March 15, 1842 – nearly twelve years after the publication of the Book of Mormon – and even then, it wasn’t canonized as a part of LdS Scripture until  October 10, 1880, over 50-years after Joseph Smith brought the Book of Mormon and his new religion forth.[5]

And the other “Missing In Action” Book of Mormon doctrines that we’ve addressed here, while perhaps not as vital as the First Vision, are still critical to modern Latter-day Saint theology. Simply put, take them away and Mormonism ceases being the unique, one-of-a-kind religion that is it and becomes irrelevant.  That will be the topic of our next article where we’ll then demonstrate how the Book of Mormon actually contradicts these unique Mormon doctrines and, instead, teaching something surprisingly – perhaps even shockingly – different. 

NOTES
[1] Oh by the way, we got all those quotes from chapter 5 of “Preach My Gospel” the LdS Church’s official training manual for it’s missionaries.

[2] From “Church Handbook of Instructions, Handbook 1: Stake Presidents and Bishops”, 2010 Edition, p.12
“A waiting period of at least one full year after confirmation is required before a worthy adult may be endowed. When issuing temple recommends for new members to be endowed, priesthood leaders ensure that the date that the endowment will be received is at least one full year from the member’s date of confirmation, not from the date of baptism. Only the First Presidency may authorize exceptions”

[3] Please don’t take the author’s word for it, watch it yourself by clicking here (hidden camera video of the entire LdS Temple endowment Ceremony) or here (full transcript of the entire LdS Temple endowment ceremony).

[4] From “Preach My Gospel” pp.31–46, which is the LdS Church’s official missionary training manual:
“Memorize Joseph Smith—History 1:16–17
Memorize Joseph Smith’s description of seeing the Father and the Son (Joseph Smith—History 1:16–17), and always be ready to describe the First Vision using his own words. Do not rush through it. Bear sincere testimony that you know it is true. Do not hesitate to explain how you came to know of its truth. Invite your companion to do so as well.”

[5] The First Vision was canonized as part of the LdS scripture known as “The Pearl of Great Price”:

“The Pearl of Great Price is a selection of choice materials touching many significant aspects of the faith and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These items were translated and produced by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and most were published in the Church periodicals of his day.

The first collection of materials carrying the title Pearl of Great Price was made in 1851 by Elder Franklin D. Richards, then a member of the Council of the Twelve and president of the British Mission. Its purpose was to make more readily accessible some important articles that had had limited circulation in the time of Joseph Smith. As Church membership increased throughout Europe and America, there was a need to make these items available. The Pearl of Great Price received wide use and subsequently became a standard work of the Church by action of the First Presidency and the general conference in Salt Lake City on October 10, 1880.”
(Introduction to The Pearl of Great Price)

Acknowledgement:
The author would like to acknowledge the following internet web page – which this article was inspired by, based on, and built from: “Current Mormon Doctrines Not Found in the Book of Mormon”.

(Note: this article was slightly expanded and revised by the author on September 13, 2014)