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7th Annual BMAF Convention Tour to Mesoamerica – February 19-28, 2010.


Every year for the past 7 years, the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum (BMAF) has sponsored a tour to Book of Mormon lands in Mesoamerica.  Not all the lands and ruined cities may be those mentioned in the Book of Mormon, but the time period (generally Pre-Classic) is what we are interested in.  Even then, many of the ruins we see may date more into the Classic Period (post-Book of Mormon time period) but most of them are built on Pre-Classic structures.
 

Beginning in Guatemala City, the group initially planned to take in a temple session in the Guatemala Temple, but even though we arrived fairly early Saturday morning, the temple was already full with standby waiting till 2:00 p.m.  Many of the standbys and others were milling about on the temple grounds in their Sunday best.  It was thrilling to see the devotion of these Lamanite saints waiting for their turn in the temple.  It is gratifying to note that since the middle 1950’s when LDS missionary work began in earnest in Latin America with only a few, scattered members; there are now millions of faithful members who have the blood of Lehi and Sariah and dozens of temples to support them.  We note that the Indians of North America are essentially dwindling in unbelief, even after years of

programs.

The next day, after a short flight to Flores, Guatemala, we journeyed on a long 3-hour drive to the Usumacinta River, one of two rivers proposed to be the Sidon River of the Book of Mormon.  Taking a narrow riverboat with a sm outboard motor, we traveled to the ruins of Yaxchilán, Mexico; on the west bank of the Usumacinta.  Although most of the city ruins date to after the Book of Mormon period, it is in the proper location to possibly have been the original site of Zarahemla.  Most interesting at this ruin are the incised doorway lintels with glyphs and features of battles and king coronations.

 

That same day we visited the ruins of Bonampak, Mexico, a site some 10 miles west of the Usumacinta River which, until the last five years, was accessible only by a 100-mile long cow path from Palenque, or by small single engine planes landing on a grassy landing strip at the site, or by canoe.  Although there is now a better road from Palenque, we came in via the river, as we were already nearby.  One exciting feature of Bonampak was the stunning murals, still in their original bright colors and discovered not too many years ago, in three rooms in a temple. These murals depicted many scenes of Maya activity, including coronations, sacrifices, and other stately life.  Of great interest to archaeologists, researchers, and LDS visitors is the difference in skin coloration of the many figures; many lighter-skinned people in subjection to darker-skinned ones.

 

During the following days, two more boat trips took us to El Ceibal, where there was an ongoing archaeological dig by the University of Pennsylvania.  Workers had just uncovered a Pre-Classic skeleton.  Then on to Cancuén, another Pre-Classic site, on the east side of the Río Pasión, a tributary of the Usumacinta.  Distance-wise, this could correlate with either the cities of Gideon or Minon of the Book of Mormon.  A short time later, several of the more adventurous participants took a tubing float down an underground river through the Candelaria Caves, a series of interconnected limestone caverns.

 

Some of the most interesting, impressive, direct Book of Mormon related sights were the remains of trench fortifications in numerous places including Finca Valparaiso, just south of Cobán, Guatemala.  Dr. Ric Hauck, LDS archaeologist, has done a lot of work in this area and considers Cobán to be the city of Manti in the Book of Mormon, and these trenches to be some of the fortifications protecting Manti from Lamanite encroachment from the southern highlands.  Dr. Hauck’s most recent work is in the Salamá Valley, some 20 miles farther south, which may correlate with the city of Nephi, originally built by Nephi 1, abandoned by Mosiah 1, reoccupied by Zeniff’s group, finally to become the main city of the Lamanites.  Dr. Hauck showed us his active dig which is producing numerous artifacts of the Pre-Classic period.

 

BMAF tours combine discovery of  Book of Mormon items and areas and also meaningful lectures. We heard presentations by Dr. Ric Hauck, Ryan Williams, Doug Christensen, and Grace Vlam. There is so much to be found in the area that corresponds to Book of Mormon activity and events.  As Elder Ted E. Brewerton has stated, “So far, we haven’t been able to find the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica, but we find plenty of Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon.”  We also want to recognize Ryan Williams for developing this tour specifically for BMAF and for being such an able and affable tour guide and leader.  BMAF officers present were Doug Christensen and Stephen L. Carr.