1
I know Mormonism to be the truth; and believe the Church to have been established by divine direction; I have complete faith in it.
2
In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us.
3
¶ Now, the first part my husband translated, was translated by the use of Urim and Thummim, and that was the part that Martin Harris lost.
4
After that he used a small stone, not exactly black, but was rather a dark color.
5
¶ When my husband was translating the Book of Mormon, I wrote a part of it, as he dictated each sentence, word for word,
6
And when he came to proper names he could not pronounce, or long words, he spelled them out, and while I was writing them,
7
If I made any mistake in spelling, he would stop me and correct my spelling although it was impossible for him to see how I was writing them down at the time.
8
Even the word Sarah he could not pronounce at first, but had to spell it, and I would pronounce it for him.
9
¶ When he stopped for any purpose at any time he would, when he commenced again, begin where he left off without any hesitation,
10
And one time while he was translating, he stopped suddenly, pale as a sheet, and said: Emma, did Jerusalem have walls around it?
11
When I answered: Yes, he replied: Oh! I was afraid I had been deceived.
12
He had such a limited knowledge of history at that time that he did not even know that Jerusalem was surrounded by walls.
13
¶ The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen tablecloth, which I had given him to fold them in.
14
I once felt of the plates as they thus lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape.
15
They seemed to be pliable like thick paper and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book.
16
¶ My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity; I have not the slightest doubt of it.
17
I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired;
18
For, when acting as his scribe, your father would dictate to me hour after hour;
19
And when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he could at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him.
20
This was a usual thing for him to do.
21
It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this; and, for one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible.