Those poor Lamanites

They survived (thrived, really) for 2600 years, but now nobody can even tell you where they are.

In 1830, even before the BoM was published, god certainly seemed to know where the Lamanite were—he called Oliver Cowdery to preach to the Lamanites (D&C 28:8). So, according to god, there were Lamanites in North America—you just had to head west from Missouri.

Throughout most of my life, you almost couldn’t go anywhere in North or South America without bumping into Lamanites. And it wasn’t just North America—you could find Lamanites as far away as New Zeeland. In 1975, the LDS church even published a map of Lamanite distribution in the world. It was color-coded for the population density of the “descendants of Book of Mormon peoples” ( https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/magazine/ensignlp.nfo:o:33f4.jpg).

In October, 1980 conference, Gene R. Cook of the First Quorum of the Seventy stated “My family and I are presently living in South America among the Lamanites—the children of Lehi, the people of the Book of Mormon, a people of great promise.” And of course, until the latest revision, the introduction to the BoM declared the Lamanites to be “the principal ancestors of the American Indians.”

So, up until a very few years ago, everyone seemed to have a clear and simple understanding of who the Lamanites were, and where they could be found. But now…..they’re just “among” the ancestors of indigenous Americans, and they were such a small group that their DNA is diluted beyond recognition.

How are the Lamanites supposed to “blossom as the rose on the mountains” if nobody seems to know who they are?

I have a document that proves up my connection with Israel, so I don't have to sweat it.

I wonder if I can use it in probate court?

No one seems to know who or WHERE they are. Are their descendents in Central American or by the Great Lakes. Of course, if they only lived in the mind of an adulterous pedophile, the descendents all died that day at Carthage Jail with story-telling Joey.