Accounts of the Liahona

On the morning of their departure from the Valley of Lemuel, Lehi and his family awoke to discover a unique gift from the Lord:¹

And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness. (1 Nephi 16:10)

According to the prophet Alma, this was “the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director—or our fathers called it Liahona,² which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it” (Alma 37:38).³ The Liahona played a key role in helping guide Lehi’s family to the promised land. Thereafter it was kept among the Nephites as a type of sacred relic or national treasure.⁴ The Liahona was so important, in fact, that it was among the items the Lord promised to show unto the Three Witnesses if they were faithful:⁵

Behold, I say unto you, that you must rely upon my word, which if you do with full purpose of heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also of the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim, which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face, and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on the borders of the Red Sea. (D&C 17:1)

As demonstrated below, several historical accounts confirm that the Liahona was indeed shown to the witnesses, as promised in Joseph Smith’s revelation.

John Whitmer’s Account

Writing sometime in the 1830s, John Whitmer included the following detail in his history of the Church:

Permit me here to remark, that David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris, were the three Witnesses, whose names are attached to the Book of Mormon according to the prediction of the Book, who knew and seen, for a surety, into whose presence the angel of God came and showed them the plates, the ball, the directors, etc.⁶

It is unclear precisely where John obtained this information about the witnesses seeing the “ball,” but it presumably came from the Three Witnesses themselves. As David Whitmer’s brother, Oliver Cowdery’s brother-in-law, and one of the Eight Witnesses, John Whitmer would have had insider-access to reports from the Three Witnesses about what transpired in their miraculous vision.

David Whitmer’s Statements

Although each of the Three Witnesses relayed information about their sacred encounter with the angel and the plates, only reported statements made by David Whitmer (the most interviewed of the witnesses) specifically describe the presence of the Liahona as part of their shared visionary experience. Whitmer communicated this information in at least eight different interviews, as reported by seven different individuals.⁷ In several instances, these interviewers reiterated Whitmer’s testimony in slightly different ways on different occasions. All in all, Whitmer’s consistent testimony of the Liahona can be found in at least 13 separate documents, which are listed below in their chronological order. 

Interviewed by Edward Stevenson

• 1877 – “an angel stood before us and on the appearance of a table was laid the plates, Urim & Thummim, ball or director, sword of Laban …”⁸
• 1877 – “a light first appearing which grew brighter until the angel stood before them and placed upon a table before them the plates of gold, also the brass plates, the Urim and Thummim (or interpreters) the ball or compass and the sword of Laban.”⁹

Interviewed by Wilhelm Poulson

• 1878 – “I saw the angel, and I saw the sword of Laban, and the breast-plate, and the Urim and Thummin, and the plates, and the director, and the angel stood before us, and he turned the leaves one by one.”¹⁰

Interviewed by Orson Pratt

• 1878 – “there appeared, as it were, a table, with many records on it, besides the plates of the Book of Mormon; also the sword of Laban, the directors (i.e. the ball which Lehi had) and the interpreters. I saw them just as plain as I see this bed (striking his hand upon the bed beside him)”¹¹
• 1878 – “there appeared as it were, a table with many records or plates upon it, besides the plates of the Book of Mormon, also the sword of Laban, the directors—i.e., the ball which Lehi had, and the interpreters. I saw them just as plain as I see this bed (striking the bed beside him with his hand)”¹²

Interviewed by Kansas City Journal

• 1881 – “In the midst of this light but a few feet from us appeared a table upon which were many golden plates, also the sword of Laban and the directors. I saw them as plain as I see you now”¹³

Interviewed by William H. Kelley

• 1881 – “A table was set before us and on it the records were placed. The records of the Nephites, from which the Book of Mormon was translated, the brass plates, the ball of directors, the sword of Laban and other plates.”¹⁴

Interviewed by George Q. Cannon

• 1884 – “A glorious personage appeared and he showed to them the plates, the sword of Laban, the directors, the Urim and Thummim and other records.”¹⁵
• 1884 – “A glorious personage appeared unto them and exhibited to them the plates, the sword of Laban, the directors which were given to Lehi (called Liahona), the Urim and Thummim, and other records.”¹⁶

Interviewed by E. C. Briggs

• 1884 – “The angel appeared in the light, as near as that young man [within five or six feet]. Between us and the angel there appeared a table, and there lay upon it the sword of Laban, the ball of directors, the record, and interpreters.”¹⁷

Interviewed by Edward Stevenson

• 1886 – “a bright light began to shine around us it grew brighter & brighter until an angel stood before us. A table [was] in front of him on which was the [gold] plates and the other plates, the sword of Laban, ball or compass etc. The plates were shown [to] us [and the] leaves turned over.”¹⁸
• 1886 – “I … did see the angel standing before us, and on a table were the plates, the sword of Laban, and the ball or compass”¹⁹
• 1886 – “a light began to shine around them, and it increased in luster until a heavenly messenger appeared before them, and before him was a table on which was placed the plates of the Book of Mormon, ball and compass, and other things”²⁰

Statements by Other Witnesses

It is unfortunate that we lack documentation of the other two witnesses (Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris) remarking more specifically on the Liahona. Yet it is understandable that their reported statements in this regard are absent.

The first thing to consider is that each of the Three Witnesses likely shared their testimony on more occasions and with greater detail than has been preserved in the extant historical documents. We can’t simply assume that what has been preserved is a fully accurate picture of everything the witnesses ever said about their experience.

It is also apparent that the reported testimonies of the Three Witnesses include varying descriptions of the artifacts, with some items mentioned here and others omitted there. Their individual statements therefore attest not so much to the comprehensiveness of their experience, but to the spontaneity of their thoughts and recollections, reflecting what they personally felt was needful to say in a given context. In some instances, this variation may also reflect the imperfect memory of those reporting these accounts.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, as suggested by the official Testimony of Three Witnesses, their primary commission was to testify of the Book of Mormon itself, it being the keystone of the Restored church of Jesus Christ and the founding revelation upon which it was built. Oliver, in particular, tended to keep his witness focused on the Nephite record, the plates from which it was translated, and the angelic being who appeared to them in the woods.²¹

In contrast, when relaying his testimony, Martin Harris occasionally included details concerning the other artifacts.²² In one instance he declared, “‘I saw the angel of the Lord and I saw the plates and the Urim and Thummim and the sword of Laban, and with these ears,’ pointing to his ears, ‘I heard the voice of the angel.”²³ In another, Martin stated, “Just as sure as you see the sun shining, just as sure am I that I stood in the presence of an angel of God with Joseph Smith, and saw him hold the gold plates in his hands. I also saw the Urim and Thummim, the breastplate, and the sword of Laban.”²⁴

Furthermore, after describing Martin’s testimony of the plates, those who recorded his statements sometimes simply summed up his description of the rest of the Nephite artifacts by saying “&c” (etcetera). According to Joseph Fielding, “Martin Harris … gave me a particular description of the plates of the Urim and Thummim, &c.”²⁵ As reported by Edward Stevenson, “Brother Harris said that the angel stood on the opposite side of the table on which were the plates, the interpreters, &c.”²⁶

Thus, it is quite possible that Martin actually did specifically mention the Liahona in some interviews, but that this detail was simply forgotten, skimmed over, or summarized by those reporting his statements. The same could, of course, be true for Oliver Cowdery. Because many more accounts of David Whitmer’s testimony have been preserved,²⁷ it is somewhat expected that the most complete descriptions of the Nephite artifacts would be found among his statements.

Conclusion

Evaluation of the Liahona’s historical existence should take into account at least the following factors:

1. In D&C 17:1, the Three Witnesses were promised a view of multiple Nephite artifacts, including the Liahona, if they were faithful.

2. In the 1830s, John Whitmer (brother and brother-in-law to two of the Three Witnesses) indicated that they had indeed seen the Liahona as part of their visionary experience.

3. In several interviews recorded by multiple people spanning nearly a decade, David Whitmer directly confirmed that he and the other witnesses saw the Liahona.

4. Martin Harris’s statements include most of the items described in D&C 17:1, and sometimes those reporting his testimony vaguely indicated that, in addition to the plates, Martin witnessed  other unspecified artifacts.   

5. None of the witnesses ever denied seeing the Liahona or indicated that there was any discrepancy in what they were promised in D&C 17:1 and what they saw.

Thus, as far as historical evidence is concerned, there is no compelling reason to believe that the Three Witnesses didn’t see the Liahona and ample reason to believe that they did. As one of several attested Nephite artifacts, the Liahona complicates any theory which posits that Joseph Smith simply fabricated a bogus set of plates to fool the witnesses. This is because it adds one more item that would require additional raw materials, financial resources, knowledge, skills, time, and presumably secrecy to create. As Daniel C. Peterson humorously remarked,

But once we’ve posited a previously unnoticed Deseret Custom Design Metal Foundry operating under Joseph’s management on the outskirts of Palmyra, that industrial concern also needs to produce the breastplate seen by various witnesses, as well as the brass plates, the Urim and Thummim, the sword of Laban, and the Liahona. One wonders how many skilled metallurgists and craftsmen were available in the area at the time, what the local wage scale was, and why nobody ever seems to have reported the noise and the belching smoke of Joseph’s fraud-producing furnaces.²⁸

Thus, along with the other Nephite artifacts, historical accounts attesting to the existence of the Liahona provide evidence in support of Joseph Smith’s revelations, as found in both the Book of Mormon itself and also the Doctrine and Covenants.

Daniel C. Peterson, “Tangible Restoration: The Witnesses and What They Experienced,” Fair Conference, 2006, online at fairlatterdaysaints.org.

Daniel C. Peterson, “Editor’s Introduction: ‘In the Hope That Something Will Stick’: Changing Explanations for the Book of Mormon,” FARMS Review 16, no. 2 (2004): xi–xxxv.

Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witness (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1981), 67–92.

1 Nephi 16:10Mosiah 1:16 Alma 37:38–47D&C 17:1

1 Nephi 16:10

Mosiah 1:16

Alma 37:38–47

D&C 17:1