com
The Atlantic Ocean
Christopher Columbus
The Pilgrims
Other Colonists
The Bible
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1 Nephi 13:10
1Nephi 13:12
1 Nephi 13:13
1 Nephi 13:14-15
1Nephi 13:17-19
1 Nephi 13:20-23
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Story of Forefathers Visit
Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the Church, recounted a vision in which many of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence appeared to him and asked that their baptisms and temple work be
performed for them in the St. George Temple. On 6 September 1877 President Woodruff recorded:
The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they,
'You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been
done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we . . . Remained true to it
and were faithful to God.' These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited
on me for two days and two nights. I thought it very singular, that notwithstanding so much work had
been done, and yet nothing had been done for them. The thought never entered my heart, from the fact,
I suppose, that heretofore our minds were reaching after our more immediate friends and relatives. I
straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McAllister to baptize me for the
signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all,
including John Wesley, Columbus, and others. I then baptized him for every President of the United
States, except three; and when their cause is just, somebody will do the work for them.
Teaching our children to be patriotic, to know and understand the Constitution as the source
of their freedoms, and to be willing to sacrifice to maintain their liberty is akin to hoisting our
own Title of Liberty.
“In that sacred volume of scripture, the book of Mormon, we note the great and prolonged
struggle for liberty. We also note the complacency of the people and their frequent
willingness to give up their liberty for the promises of a would-be provider.
“The record reveals that a man ‘of cunning device...and...many flattering words,’...sought...’to
destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them....’ (Alma 46:10.)
“Then Moroni, the chief commander of the armies, dramatically’...rent his coat; and he took a
piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our
peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.
“’...(and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed
mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren,...’ (See ibid., 46:12-
13.)
“This great general, Moroni, like the prophets whose words are recorded in the Book of
Mormon spoke of the Americas as a chosen land—the land of liberty. He led the people in
battle who were willing to fight to ‘maintain their liberty.’
“And the record states:’...that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower
which was in all the land,...and thus Moroni planted the standard of liberty among the
Nephites.’ (Ibid., 46:36.)...
“While this incident occurred some seventy years B.C., the struggle went on through one
thousand years covered by this sacred Book of Mormon record. In fact, the struggle for
liberty is a continuing one—it is with us in a very real sense today right here on this choice
land of the Americas” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1962, pp. 14-15).”