As we look at our family trees, stretching back centuries, we might feel a connection to the names and want to understand the stories of our ancestors. We are related to every person on our family trees, as far as the trees are accurate. But our DNA tells a different, more selective story where most of our ancestors are, genetically speaking, complete strangers.

If we took an ancestral DNA test we might have expected to see the Italian ancestry from a 4th-great-grandmother, but it’s not there. Is she really not a great-grandmother? Was there a family secret? Not necessarily. The truth lies in the imperfection of DNA testing but also in the mathematics of genetic inheritance, which is the focus of this article.

##### The 50/50 Split: A Shuffle Every Time

It all starts simply enough. We inherit 50% of our DNA from our mothers and 50% from our fathers. This genetic information is contained in the autosomal chromosomes (pairs 1-22).

Parents’ DNA can be thought as two full decks of cards. To make each new deck they each shuffled their deck and handed a child half of their cards. The child’s genome is this new, unique deck. This process of shuffling (called recombination) and passing on only half is repeated every single generation. That might seem like someone will end up with some DNA from all ancestors, even a minuscule amount, but the randomness of genetics has profound consequences.

##### The Disappearing Ancestor

Because each person inherits half their DNA from each parent, the genetic contribution of any single ancestor gets diluted very quickly. With each generation back, the amount of DNA from a specific ancestor is halved.

Let’s look at how rapidly this dilution happens:

| Generation | Ancestor Title | Number of Potential Ancestors | Average DNA Contribution |
|————|———————–|——————————–|—————————|
| 1 | Parent | 2 | 50% |
| 2 | Grandparent | 4 | 25% |
| 3 | Great-Grandparent | 8 | 12.5% |
| 4 | 2nd Great-Grandparent | 16 | 6.25% |
| 5 | 3rd Great-Grandparent | 32 | 3.125% |
| 6 | 4th Great-Grandparent | 64 | 1.563% |
| 7 | 5th Great-Grandparent | 128 | 0.781% |
| 8 | 6th Great-Grandparent | 256 | 0.391% |
| 9 | 7th Great-Grandparent | 512 | 0.195% |
| 10 | 8th Great-Grandparent | 1,024 | 0.098% |
| 11 | 9th Great-Grandparent | 2,048 | 0.049% |
| 12 | 10th Great-Grandparent| 4,096 | 0.024% |

By the time someone traces back to their 10th great-grandparent (12 generations back), **less than 0.03% of their DNA, on average, comes from any individual in that generation**. Because recombination is random, it quickly becomes possible—and eventually a near certainty—that people inherit zero DNA from a specific distant ancestor. Billions of people are on our family trees, but not a single gene from most ancestors made it into our personal deck of cards, as will be explained.

##### The Ancestor Explosion

This is where it gets truly mind-boggling. Let’s do some quick math. Each person has 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, and so on. The number of potential ancestors doubles each generation, as was shown in the table.

What happens if we go back 50 generations, to around the year 800 AD? The number of theoretical ancestors someone has 50 generations ago is 2^50, which is **over 1.1 quadrillion people**. That number presents a problem: it’s vastly more people than have ever lived on Earth.

The answer to the potential number of ancestors and the real number of ancestors is described by a concept called **pedigree collapse**. Our family trees aren’t perfectly branching trees at all. As we go back in time, the branches start to fold back in on themselves as close or distant cousins had children together, which was unavoidable in smaller, more isolated populations and is still unavoidable in larger populations over time [1]. Historically in Europe, people married and/or had children with maybe 3rd to 5th cousins, on average. That is not a concern socially or genetically. The amount of potentially shared DNA between 5th cousins, for example, is miniscule. Currently in Western societies people have children with more distantly related ancestors [2], but there are still countries and cultures where significant proportions of the population have consanguineous (2nd cousins or closer) marriages.[3] This results in all people having the same ancestors many, many times over in different branches of our trees and people being much more closely and recently related than expected.[1]

##### Genealogical vs. Genetic Ancestors: A Distinction

This brings us to the core idea. We must distinguish between two types of ancestors:

1. **Genealogical Ancestors**: Every direct line person on our complete and accurate family tree.
2. **Genetic Ancestors**: The subset of those genealogical ancestors from whom we inherited a detectable segment of DNA.

While our genealogical trees branches out into the millions, those trees are constantly being pruned by the random 50/50 shuffle of inheritance.

Let’s go back to that 50th generation where mathematically we could have up to 1.1 quadrillion unique ancestors. Estimates of the world population in about 800 AD are somewhere **between 200 and 300 million people**; thus, it’s not possible to have a quadrillion ancestors about 1250 years ago. Due to pedigree collapse, a conservative estimate might be around **50 million unique genealogical ancestors** 50 generations back. But how many of our ancestors gave us DNA?

On average, we inherit (1/2)^50 or about 8.88×10^-16 or 0.0000000000000888% of our DNA from any given 50th generation ancestor. If this math is extrapolated out, genetic models estimate that we likely have DNA from only 100,000 to 200,000 of our 50th generation ancestors.

Think about that. Out of 50 million ancestors living around 1250 years ago, we carry the direct genetic legacy of, at most, 200,000. That is many people but it means **we have no traceable DNA from over 99.6%** of our ancestors from that era. They are ghosts in our genome. As we go further back, the percent of ancestors we share no DNA with approaches 100%.

##### What This Means for Us

This isn’t just a thought experiment; it has real-world implications.

– **DNA Tests**: It explains why siblings can have different ethnicity estimates. Siblings both inherit different, randomly shuffled decks of cards from their parents. Theoretically, it’s even possible, but extremely unlikely, for siblings to share no DNA! It also explains why that Italian 4th-great-grandmother might not show up—the tiny segment of DNA someone inherited from her may have been lost in the shuffles over even a few generation.
– **Famous Ancestors**: As an example, most or all people with any European ancestry should be able to trace their family tree back to Charlemagne (who lived about 50 generations or 1250 years ago). That does not mean family trees showing that connection are correct, however, because there are too many missing records to make the genealogies accurate for most or even all people over that many years. However, genealogically, this connection should exist for essentially all people alive today who have any European ancestry. But the chance that they have any of Charlemagne’s actual DNA is practically zero. All people with European ancestry might be his genealogical descendants, but are unlikely to carry his genes.
– **Our Shared Humanity**: This process of pedigree collapse and the genetic lottery means we are all profoundly interconnected. If we go back enough generations, everyone alive today shares a common ancestor. That’s maybe as recently as 2,000 years ago [4]. What does that mean? It means that within the last 3,000 years it’s highly likely a set of parents lived who are the ancestors or all people alive today. That makes us all distant cousins, sharing a small pool of genetic ancestors who passed their legacy on to the present day.

So appreciate all your ancestors but remember that we are the result of an epic genetic lottery, a unique combination of DNA passed down through a very select few.

1. Ralph, P. and Coop, G., 2013. The geography of recent genetic ancestry across Europe. PLoS biology, 11(5), p.e1001555.
2. B.W. Domingue, J. Fletcher, D. Conley, & J.D. Boardman, Genetic and educational assortative mating among US adults, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111 (22) 7996-8000, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1321426111 (2014).
3. Hamamy H. Consanguineous marriages : Preconception consultation in primary health care settings. J Community Genet. 2012;3(3):185-192. doi:10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y
4. Rohde DLT, Olson S, Chang JT (2004) Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans. Nature 431: 562–566.

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith

# Your Whale, Your Jail

(The footnote numbering is messed up. They go in order, so 64 in text is 1 in the references list and so forth).

As you read the scriptures, do you live any of the stories in them? Do you move with Ruth away from your homeland?[^1] Do you spend time in the temple with Anna waiting for the coming Messiah?[^2] Do you weep with Mary at a tomb?[^3] Do you open your home with Lydia to church visitors?[^4] Do you follow the Lord’s commands with Nephi?[^5] Do you have a mighty conversion with Zeezrom?[^6] Do you walk on water with Peter?[^7] Do you defend your people and keep a sacred record with Mormon?[^8]

Who are you in the scriptures?

Are you Sariah, who gave up a comfortable life[^9] to follow the commandments of God? Sariah did not have the same miraculous manifestations as her husband Lehi, who had visions, but she had her own spiritual experiences and powerful witness. Sariah testified: “Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them… and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them.”[^10] Although she had times of hunger[^11], danger[^12], burden[^13], and travail[^14], there were blessings of food, safety, strength[^15], and comfort. Through trials, Sariah offered gratitude and received peace.[^16] She, with her family – after many years of effort (and the Lord loves effort\!)[^17] – received a promised land.[^18] Are you someone who, while not experiencing miraculous visions, follows the commandments of God? Are you someone who presses forward, with steadfastness in Christ until you reach your promised land?[^19] Are you someone like Sariah who stays by the tree of life to abide in the love of God and partake of that desirable, joyful, and sanctifying fruit, hoping, praying, and beckoning that loved ones will come stay by the tree?[^20] Are you someone’s goodly parent?[^21] Are you Sariah?

Or are you Abish, who had a quiet but firm belief in God?[^22] When there was an opportunity to share a miraculous experience with others, Abish courageously opened her mouth to testify of the Lord. Her determined and well-intentioned testimony did not turn out as hoped,[^23] but through the Lord’s tender mercies and bounteous power, everything was alright in the end. I like to think Abish became one of those powerful, nurturing, testifying mothers who raised faithful sons. When these sons fought with the faith their mothers taught them, they were miraculously protected in battle.[^24] Are you someone who has a quiet, but firm and courageous belief in God? Are you someone blessed with tender mercies and miracles?[^25] Are you Abish?

Or are you Samuel? God called Samuel to teach an unfriendly people.[^26] He received great power and protection as he taught of the coming Savior.[^27] Samuel testified: “For this intent have I come…that ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name. And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits.”[^28] Samuel’s teachings might remind us of President Nelson’s: “In a coming day, Jesus Christ will return to the earth as the millennial Messiah…. I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. I call upon you to help gather scattered Israel and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord. I call upon you to talk of Christ, testify of Christ, have faith in Christ, and rejoice in Christ\!”[^29] Samuel talked, testified, had faith in, and rejoiced in Christ. The Lord protected him from the stones and arrows of the angry Nephites.[^30] Pres. Nelson shared an experience where he similarly was protected by the Lord: “When Wendy and I were on assignment in a distant land, armed robbers put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger. But the gun did not fire.”[^31] Have you, like Samuel and Pres. Nelson, testified and taught of the coming of Jesus Christ? Have you also seen times of miraculous protection? Are you Samuel?

Or are you the nameless, but prepared young man with bread and fish?[^32] When many people were hungry for the words of Christ and for bread, this anonymous young man quietly gave his ‘widow’s mite’[^33] to the Savior. The Son of God turned this humble consecration of a little food into a feast for thousands.[^34] Do you, like this anonymous boy, give the Savior what you have and allow Him to turn it into something miraculous? Are you one of the “weak and simple”[^35] of the world? Do you offer your weakness or from your weakness to the Savior and then watch in reverence as He turns them into strengths?[^36] Are you the prepared young man who humbly consecrates all you have to the Savior?

Are you Emma? The Lord called Emma an elect lady.[^37] Are you one of God’s elect?[^38] Emma, like Sariah, did not see all the miraculous manifestations her husband had. The Lord counseled her: “Murmur not because of the things which thou hast not seen, for they are withheld from thee and from the world, which is wisdom in me in a time to come.”[^39] Emma believed, although she had not seen, and was blessed because of her faith.[^40] Are you also one of the Lord’s blessed because you believe, although you have not seen? Emma also filled the church with sacred music, helping the saints pray to God through righteous song.[^41] Do you fill your home and the ears of others with melodious prayers to our Eternal Father through music? Or have you been called to minister to others? The Lord called Emma to be, “a comfort unto my servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., thy husband, in his afflictions, with consoling words, in the spirit of meekness.”[^42] Think how important this calling was\! The Lord called Emma to have the same role as a member of the Godhead – the Holy Ghost, Who is the Comforter.[^43] Do you, like Emma, comfort others as the Holy Ghost does? Is your sacred ministry one of peace and comfort?[^44] Are you Emma?

Or are you Jonah?[^45] Jonah was a prophet in ancient Israel called to preach repentance to his people’s most feared enemy – the Assyrians in Nineveh. Instead of obeying, Jonah did what many people do when faced with an overwhelming and potentially dangerous situation; he attempted to flee as far as possible, boarding a ship heading in the opposite direction. This did not turn out to be a relaxing Mediterranean cruise. Faced with a violent storm threatening to sink the ship, Jonah recognized his disobedience was the cause and urged the sailors to throw him into the sea as a sacrifice. Reluctantly they did so and the storm started to clear. But Jonah’s story didn’t end in a watery death. The Lord appointed a great fish or a whale to swallow Jonah. While that might seem like a worse situation, because the Lord needed him in Nineveh, Jonah’s story did not end as food for a sea creature. From inside the whale, Jonah cried out in humble repentance: “I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.”[^46] It’s important that Jonah’s turn again to the Lord included a longing for the temple. After three days and nights the whale deposited him onto dry land.?

Given a second chance, Jonah obeyed God’s command and went to Nineveh. He prophesied that in forty days, the city would be overthrown. To his astonishment, the people of Nineveh, from the king to the commoner, believed his message. They fasted, expressed contrition, and turned from their sins. Seeing their repentance, God spared the city from destruction.?

This is a story of the Lord’s marvellous mercy offered to those who repent – Jonah and his enemies the Assyrians. God is no respecter of persons.[^47] Have you run away from the Lord or a responsibility, only to turn again to God in repentance? Do you feel, like Jonah, in the midst of a tempestuous ocean and storm, which might be of your own doing? What is your storm? Is it sin? Is it a chronic disease? Is it getting rejected for a job? Is it dwelling in the darkness of depression? Is it contention with a loved one? Is it a festering anger?

Perhaps you even feel swallowed up and trapped inside a whale. Maybe your whale is a lost job. Maybe it’s a broken leg or broken dream.[^48] Jonah’s whale, though a trial, turned out to be a form of the Lord’s protection. Elder Gong taught, “Some of our greatest life lessons come from things we would never choose.”[^49] Jonah did not choose the whale[^50], but it taught and brought him salvation. Not all trials are whales, but do you recognize the whales that come from God to save you? When you are trapped inside your heaven-sent whale, does your heart turn towards the Lord and His temple?

God delivers protecting whales to us as a representation and manifestation of the Savior’s delivering Atonement. Jonah spent three days in darkness, followed by deliverance. These captive three days in the whale and then liberating deliverance from the whale were symbolic of our Savior’s death and resurrection. Jonah, after repentance and salvation, went on to preach repentance and salvation. Jonah’s experience in the sea teaches us of the power of God to deliver us. It was not the whale that saved Jonah, it was the Lord, Who with mighty power, delivered him from the storms of sin. In Mosiah we read of a people who: “were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God…. And it came to pass that he did deliver them, and he did show forth his mighty power unto them, and great were their rejoicings.”[^51]

The Lord offers us deliverance in various forms. Sometimes it’s power to escape,[^52] sometimes it’s power to endure,[^53] sometimes it’s a parted sea,[^54] sometimes it’s a whale. Elder Cook taught, “As we turn to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, He rescues us from the storms of life through His Atonement in accordance with the Father’s plan.”[^55] Do you recognize how the Lord saves you from storms and in storms? Do you see your trials as protecting or strengthening you? Do you recognize your whale? Do you rejoice when the Lord delivers you? Are you Jonah?

Or are you Joseph, who had many miraculous experiences? A young Joseph perceived a blinding light from a pillar of fire. Where some people might remain blind, Joseph saw the loving Father and Son in the pillar of fire.[^56] He heard Them. He hearkened to Them. While few have dramatic experiences like Joseph, do you see the glorious light of the Lord in your lives? Do you see and hear the Father and Son through the Spirit and through the words of prophets?[^57]

Joseph was, at a young age, called by God to do difficult things. Later in his life, under false accusations, Joseph ended up in a cramped, freezing, ironically named Liberty Jail. This place of suffering became a temple of learning to the incarcerated prophet Joseph Smith. The Lord comforted him with these words: “Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes…. know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?”[^58]

Are we greater than Christ? He descended below[^59] the depths of our experiences and sufferings to lift us up. Do you have a sacred ‘Liberty Jail’ where you learned deeply of Christ’s loving Atonement? Are you Joseph?

We all pass through difficult times in life. We live in a time of great uncertainty and worry. There is upheaval, turmoil, and widespread contention. There is darkness and confusion but there can be bursting, radiant lights in our lives. These lights might be brief flashes or they might continually go before us as a pillar of fire,[^60] but they provide light, protection, and hope to us\!

I invite you to recognize your whales and your jails in life. I testify that even if you run away, the Lord has a whale ready to deliver you. He sends whales to deliver your fleeing loved ones. The Lord offers experience and overcoming through your jails, which are trials that ultimately serve to protect and strengthen. Make a record of what you learn about salvation and the Atonement from these whales and jails.[^61] All things we pass through will give us experience and be for our good as we are faithful. You have a loving Father and Savior Who offer you a promised land, Who offer you tender mercies and miracles, Who offer protection and power, Who turn your weakness into strength, Who comfort, Who send whales, and Who turn incarcerating trials into liberating and sanctifying temple experiences. Have patience, have hope\! I testify of the Savior, Who sends whales and frees us from jails.[^62] Believe in Christ and carry on in the light of the High Priest of good things to come\![^63] In the name of Jesus Christ, amen\!

[^1]: [Ruth 1](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/ruth/1?lang=eng)

[^2]: [Luke 2:36-38](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/luke/2?lang=eng&id=p36-p38#p36)

[^3]: [John 20:11](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/john/20?lang=eng&id=p11#p11)

[^4]: [Acts 16:14-15](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/acts/16?lang=eng&id=p14-p15#p14)

[^5]: 1 Nephi 3:7

[^6]: Alma 15:1-12

[^7]: Matt. 14:22-23

[^8]: Mormon 1

[^9]: 1 Nephi 3:22-25

[^10]: [1 Nephi 5:8](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/5?lang=eng&id=p8#p8)

[^11]: 1 Nephi 16:21

[^12]: 1 Nephi 17:12

[^13]: 1 Nephi 17:1

[^14]: 1 Nephi 16:25 1 Nephi 18:17-18

[^15]: 1 Nephi 17:2-3

[^16]: 1 Nephi 5:9

[^17]: [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/14jones?lang=eng](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/14jones?lang=eng)

[^18]: 1 Nephi 18:23

[^19]: 2 Nephi 31:20

[^20]: While 1 Nephi 8 only mentions Lehi beckoning to his family, Sariah also wanted her children to choose the Lord and come to the tree.

[^21]: 1 Nephi 1:1. Stake primary children and youth sang “We’ll Bring the World His Truth”. This was a reference to that song, which was sung right before my talk.

[^22]: [Alma 19:16](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/19?lang=eng&id=p16#p16)

[^23]: [Alma 19:17-22](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/19?lang=eng&id=p17-p22#p17); Alma 19:28

[^24]: Alma 56:48; Stake primary children and youth sang “We’ll Bring the World His Truth”. This was also a reference to that song, which was sung right before my talk.

[^25]: [Alma 19:28-29](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/19?lang=eng&id=p28-p29#p28); Abish saw all the contention and wanted to rectify it. When she grabbed the hand of the queen, the queen stood up and powerfully testified of Jesus Christ.

[^26]: Helaman 13:2-3

[^27]: Helaman 16:2

[^28]: [Helaman 14:11-13](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/hel/14?lang=eng&id=p11-p13#p11)

[^29]: [Nelson, October 2024](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/57nelson?lang=eng&id=p_paXFQ#p_paXFQ)

[^30]: Helaman 16:2

[^31]: [Nelson, October 2024](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/57nelson?lang=eng&id=p_oQgxD#p_oQgxD)

[^32]: John 6:9-13

[^33]: Luke 21:1-4

[^34]: John 6:9-14

[^35]: D\&C 1:23

[^36]: Ether 12:27

[^37]: Doctrine & Covenants 25:3

[^38]: Doctrine & Covenants 35:20

[^39]: D\&C 25:4

[^40]: John 20:29

[^41]: D\&C 25:11-12

[^42]: D\&C 25:5

[^43]: Moroni 8:26

[^44]: Moroni entrusted Joseph with the golden plates only after Emma married him, highlighting the sacred role and steadying anchor she was for Joseph. Emma worked with her husband Joseph to bring forth the Book of Mormon, the restored gospel of Christ, and the restored church of Jesus Christ. This was an important role that shows the importance of people yoked together and with the Savior to bring forth the Lord’s gospel and church.

[^45]: See the [Book of Jonah](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/jonah?lang=eng)

[^46]: Jonah 2:4

[^47]: Acts 10:34

[^48]: What we want and what our Father wants for us is not always the same. Many times our Father wants something much better for us than we do. We do not always understand why things happen, but in hindsight, we can have perspective of how the Lord offered us something better than we hoped for ourselves. An example of this is Lehi’s family. They left Jerusalem. They gave up many riches. But the Lord had something much grander planned for their family. They had many trials and conflicts, but started a civilization that lasted about 1000 years.

[^49]: Gong, April 2025 General Conference

[^50]: The whale also did not chew(s) Jonah.

[^51]: Mosiah 23:23-24

[^52]: Mosiah 24:16-20

[^53]: Mosiah 24:15; 2 Nephi 31:20

[^54]: Exodus 14:22

[^55]: April 2025 General Conference

[^56]: Joseph Smith \- History 1:16-17

[^57]: [Doctrine & Covenants 18:36](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/18?lang=eng&id=p36#p36); Doctrine & Covenants 35:21

[^58]: [Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng&id=7-8#6); [Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-8](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/122?lang=eng&id=7-8#6)

[^59]: Doctrine & Covenants 122:8

[^60]: Exodus 13:21-22

[^61]: In 2025 unit conferences President Jonathan Pritt invited stake members to make a record of their ministry. Write down what they learned of Christ and taught of Christ. This is a reference to that invitation.

[^62]: Luke 4:18

[^63]: Hebrews 9:11. See also [Holland, October 1999](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1999/10/an-high-priest-of-good-things-to-come?lang=eng)

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith

In the Book of Mormon, we encounter a group of devoted Nephite missionaries. Through their dedicated sacrifice, unwavering faith, and loving service, these missionaries helped many Lamanites develop a profound belief in Jesus Christ. Ammon¹ used powerful imagery to describe the change the repentant Lamanites experienced: “They were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, [God] has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love.”²

Ammon’s friend Alma used similar imagery to describe his sins: “As I was thus…harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ…. As my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.”³

Alma recognized the everlasting chains of death and darkness surrounding him; he then remembered his father’s teachings of Jesus Christ and reached out to God in repentance. In return, fully surrounding and filling light and joy replaced the darkness: “Now, behold…I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!”⁴

A common word in these experiences described by Ammon and Alma is encircled. Circles are shapes without beginning or end — their shape is everlasting. These men taught the contrast between an everlasting circle formed by chains of darkness, destruction, and death and an everlasting circle of light, salvation, and life. Satan desires to bind us in everlasting misery and death. He offers the circle of destruction and despair. Our Father offers a sacred circle of matchless love and safety. He offers everlasting life and joy because He is merciful and loving. Our Father invites all His children to come as we are and to become much more than we were. This becoming more than we were comes through faith in Christ and repentance.

President Nelson invited us to “experience the strengthening power of daily repentance.”⁵ We can think of daily repentance as a form of a sacred circle. When we sin, we turn or circle away from God and face darkness. Repentance involves turning away from darkness back to God into the marvelous light of Christ. As we repent each day, we choose which circle we want to surround us – one of fear and darkness or one of peace and light. Just as God saved the Lamanites and Alma from an encircling darkness, as we repent, He saves us and encircles us with the matchless bounty of His love.

We might not always feel God’s surrounding matchless love, but God covenanted with those of us who have been baptized and confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that we can always have His Spirit to be with us. His encompassing Spirit comes as we turn to Him in repentance. Most of the time, the encircling presence of God comes in a still, small way that is usually subtle, but powerful. God’s power does not depend on our recognizing His presence. One of the challenges of life is learning to see Him and recognize His surrounding marvelous light. Many factors, including some outside our control – the noise of the world, mental or physical health challenges, school, work, general busy-ness – can be distractions and make it harder to see God’s light. We can counteract this, as Elder Stevenson taught, by: standing in holy places, standing with holy people, testifying of holy truths, and taking time to listen to the Holy Spirit.⁶

As we do those acts of holiness, God will give us peace, power, and protection. He will surround and fill us with marvelous light and joy through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.⁷

Another symbolic sacred circle in the gospel is much broader in scope than the personal encircling protection offered by God as we repent. Nephi stated, “the course of the Lord is one eternal round”⁸. This eternal round is a circle formed through covenants⁹. Covenants bind us to our Father and Jesus Christ. They securely anchor us to Them, keeping us attached to Their firm foundation.

Jesus said, “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life.”¹⁰ From Nephi we learn more about this key covenant-focused doctrine of Christ: “For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.”¹¹ Our sins are remitted through the fiery cleansing of the Spirit. This is a peaceful, joyful cleaning rather than a painful one. Forgiveness removes pain and weight, providing healing and light.

Nephi continued: “And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life…. And now,… I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay…. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”¹²

The narrow gate is formed by the ordinances and covenants of baptism and confirmation. After that covenant gate is a narrow path leading to eternal life. This path is formed through additional covenants, most of which are entered into in temples. There is benefit to viewing this covenant path as a circle. We lived with God before we were born. Our Father’s desire for us is to return to Him. We will grow and learn along the way, but God wants us to end up where we started, living in His presence¹³. Our lives should be circular as we return to God, bound to Him through covenants¹⁴.

This does not mean God wants us to run around in circles throughout life. In the popular show called Bluey, there is an episode where the sisters Bluey and Bingo have different flavors of ice cream. They want to share with each other, but to make it fair they decide to lick one another’s ice cream at the same time. Rather than being successful, they end up spinning around and around in circles. When they finally come to a stop, their ice creams are completely melted! Both were trying to share with each other, but their spinning in circles got them nowhere. That fruitless (or ice creamless), if well-intentioned, spinning is not what our Father and Jesus Christ want for us; the Lord’s eternal round for us is a narrow path back to His loving arms.

This leads to the final sacred circle, which is the one formed by an embrace. Embrace comes from Latin words meaning “in arms”. In an embrace we are surrounded by someone’s arms. The circle of an embrace involves closeness and touch. An embrace can provide comfort and a measure of healing.

In the focal point of the Book of Mormon, the resurrected Savior Jesus Christ appeared to people gathered at a temple. Jesus invited all there to see and touch Him. All saw, felt, and knew He was the resurrected Lord¹⁵. While not recorded, I also like to think Jesus offered an embrace to those in particular need – offering the comforting sacred circle of His arms.

Later, after teaching, Jesus saw the rapturous faith of those listening and was filled with compassion¹⁶. He asked, “Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are…afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy…. And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted…and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.”¹⁷

Following these miraculous healings, Jesus called all the children to Him. As he viewed the precious children, He was filled with such joy that He wept¹⁸. He touched and maybe even embraced each child, offering a blessing. All there “saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.”¹⁹ A sacred circle surrounded the children by fire and ministering angels.

These are powerful, yet tender experiences. They demonstrate the character of Christ and our Father – personal, encircling, deep, purifying, and healing love. I hope you understand and feel this love, even when it comes in what seem like smaller, subtle ways. Our Savior’s love for us is close and personal. Jesus did not just bless, cleanse, and heal those in the Book of Mormon from afar. He could have healed them where they were. Instead, He called the sick and afflicted to come unto Him. King Benjamin, the Christ-like, compassionate ruler, asked, “Are we not all beggars?”²⁰ Are we not all sick or afflicted in some manner? The Savior invites each of us to come unto Him to receive the blessing of personal healing. While this might not be a physical healing, the Savior offers all of us healing through the Atonement. It is my hope and prayer that each of us here will gain knowledge through personal experiences with God, and that each will receive healing in this life through His power manifest in the Comforter.

We might not have Jesus physically with us now, but all can receive a witness that He is the Christ through the power of the Spirit. All can receive sanctifying healing through His Atoning power in our lives through the Comforter. When you feel the Spirit, you are encircled by the marvelous light of God; you are in God’s warm and healing embrace. God’s embrace comforts but He also lifts us up to be better than we were.

We each need healing throughout this life. We also all receive the promise of future healing in a Heavenly setting. As John the Revelator taught, there will be a time when those who live with God will receive the healing touch of a tender hand: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.”²¹

That is one of the most loving, caring, and beautiful promises in the scriptures – God will wipe all tears away from the eyes of those who are with Him. This is our Father’s and Savior’s love for us! There is no hurt They cannot heal, there is no wrong They cannot right, and there is no sorrow They cannot remove as we return to Them in faithful, hopeful repentance.

I hope all here receive the gentle wiping of tears today and hope for the future day when God, with a gentle touch and a warm, loving embrace, will personally and tenderly wipe all your tears away.

Primary children sing:

A long time ago in a beautiful place,
Children were gathered ’round Jesus.
He blessed and taught as they felt of His love.
Each saw the tears on His face.
The love that He felt for His little ones
I know He feels for me.
I did not touch Him or sit on His knee,
Yet, Jesus is real to me.

Now I am here in a beautiful place,
Learning the teachings of Jesus.
Parents and teachers will help guide the way,
Lighting my path ev’ry day.
Wrapped in the arms of my Savior’s love,
I feel His gentle touch.
Living each day, I will follow His way,
Home to my Father above.

I know He lives!
I will follow faithfully.
My heart I give to Him.
I know that my Savior loves me.²²

It is my witness that Jesus loves you. Jesus Christ offers protection, power, and peace through sacred circles. He offers the encircling protection of angels. He offers the binding, encircling, protective power of covenants. He invites you to return back where you started, living in the presence of our Eternal Father. The Savior invites you to be encircled about in the arms of the matchless bounty of His love. There is no greater safety or comfort than in that promised Heavenly embrace. Of this I testify in the sacred, encircling, comforting, and loving name of Jesus Christ, amen.

1. Ammon, reflecting on the miraculous conversions, expressed immense joy over the divine power he saw manifest among the Lamanites. Ammon testified: “My joy is carried away…for [God] has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.”
2. Alma 26:15
3. Alma 36:17-18
4. Alma 36:19-20
5. Russell M. Nelson, April 2019
6. Stevenson, Oct. 2023
7. This symbolism of surrounding darkness being dispelled by encircling light is similar to an experience Elisha had with the armies of Syria. Elisha visited a small city called Dothan, which was likely situated not far from Nazareth. The king of Syria, hearing that Elisha was in Dothan, “sent…a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when [Elisha’s] servant…was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And [Elisha’s] servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And [Elisha] answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17-20) The city was compassed, or circled, about in darkness by the enemy army. This army threatened destruction. Elisha’s servant feared, but he could not see what Elisha saw. Elisha saw they were encircled by a larger heavenly army. Elisha, his servant, and the people in Dothan were saved by the miraculous power of God. 

An experience the brothers Nephi and Lehi had can serve as an example of the protection God offers as we turn to Him. Nephi and Lehi were in prison because they taught about Jesus Christ. A group of men came into the prison to kill the brothers. They stopped and feared when they saw that “Nephi and Lehi were encircled about as if by fire.” Nephi and Lehi also saw that the fire protected them and took courage. We are not likely to clearly see such a dramatic heavenly protection like this in our lives, but we all receive important sacred experiences as we turn to God in repentance.
8. 1 Nephi 10:19
9. The truths of God can also be encompassed into a circle. The tool of the V-shaped compass is used to draw perfect circles. It’s not a coincidence that temple-related symbolism includes the compass. Circles are also an interesting shape because of the principle of isoperimetric inequality (see footnote 14).
10. Matt. 7:14
11. 2 Nephi 31:17-20
12. ibid.
13. There we can not only live with Him, but also live like He does as joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
14. Circles are basic shapes that have several interesting properties. One is that they are perfectly symmetrical. Any line you draw through the center point of a circle creates two identical halves. Another has the technical term isoperimetric inequality. What this means is that if you have a constant line length and turn it into a closed perimeter, a circle is the shape that encloses the largest area.
15.  3 Nephi 11:13-17
16. 3 Nephi 17:5-6
17. 3 Nephi 17:7,9
18. 3 Nephi 17:20-21
19. 3 Nephi 17:24
20. Mosiah 4:19
21. Revelation 21:3-4
22. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/music/songs/i-know-that-my-savior-loves-me?lang=eng

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith

Brothers and Sisters, it’s good to be with you this evening. Thank you for being here, for sacrificing and consecrating time, effort, and energy. It’s starting to get late; some of you are tired and ready to go home. A story from the New Testament might be appropriate for the situation.

The Apostle Paul was a tireless champion of Christ. As a special witness of Christ, he preached of the resurrected Lord and His gospel in whatever situation he was in. Paul was a powerful preacher who was also, on occasion, long-winded.

Paul was busy traveling, teaching the good news of Christ, and organizing the church wherever he went. One Sunday, disciples of Christ held a church meeting with Paul presiding. They were in a city called Alexandria Troas, which was on the west coast of modern day Turkey. Needing to get an early start on a journey the next day, what did Paul do? Did he keep the meeting short? We read that Paul preached “and continued his speech until midnight.” One of those at the long meeting was a young man. Of him we read: “And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus [yu-tichus], being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.”^[1]

Eutychus, understandably, dozed off while Paul taught long into the night. This normally would not be a problem but he sat on a window ledge on one of the upper floors. The reduced muscle tone with sleep combined with elevation and gravity resulted in the fall and demise of Eutychus. It can be said that Paul bored this young man to death.

We get a glimpse of Paul’s character during this situation. Paul rushed down, embraced the fallen young man, and raised Eutychus from the dead. Many might have taken this as a sign to stop preaching but Paul then went back up, broke bread, likely as part of the ordinance of the sacrament, and “talked a long while, even till break of day.” Paul wasn’t one to let a little thing like death and bringing someone back to life get in the way of a good sermon. Paul’s actions towards Eutychus were a sermon about the love and power of God. In the early morning Paul left and the people there “brought the young man [back home] alive, and were not a little comforted”, which is perhaps one of the greatest understatements in the scriptures. Maybe they were partially relieved the meeting was finally over but also comforted by witnessing the miraculous healing power of God.^[2]

There are many reasons why Paul preached for so long. One of the most important is that Paul was a visiting authority who had to instruct and organize the church. Paul had one week and maybe only one sacrament meeting to teach and organize the church in that city. So he taught, day and night, without ceasing. Yes, Paul was long-winded but he was an unflinching and unfailing witness of Christ. He set an example of witnessing of Christ even when weary and tirelessly testifying of truth.

Tonight I will not speak as long as Paul, but will, like Paul, testify of Christ. I will not be offended if you, like Eutychus, fall asleep but I am grateful none of you are sitting far above the ground. If you do fall asleep, where better to do so than here in a chapel where you can rest in the Lord?

Pres. Nelson powerfully taught at General Conference how we can overcome the world and find the Lord’s rest, which is not just sleeping during a church meeting. He quoted the Savior: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”^[3]

Biologically, rest and sleep are important. Rest rejuvenates. It refreshes weary minds and muscles. Rest can assuage anxieties, temper troubles, and soften sorrows. Sleep is particularly powerful. We spend approximately 1/3 of our lives sleeping. When I was younger I thought sleep was a waste of time. Without fatigue and sleep I could do so much more in a day! Now that I better understand the purpose of sleep, I am grateful for it. Sleep has important benefits, including helping us improve physical health. Sleep helps wounds heal. Sleep is an important time where our muscles not only relax but also our brains can process the information, thoughts, and emotions of the day, thus being important for maintaining cognitive and emotional health. Importantly, sleep also is a time when fluid within and around our brains essentially takes out the trash generated by our brains each day. Rather than being a waste of time, sleep is one of the most important parts of our daily routine! Too little or too much sleep can be detrimental to health.

I recognize that many of you receive less sleep than you hope to do. Little or big children can disrupt your sleep. The cares and concerns of the world hang heavy. You might on sleepless nights, with Shakespeare’s Hamlet, run through a long internal monologue, longing “to sleep, perchance to dream.”^[4] You might look in the mirror and think the bags under your eyes could have their own zip code. I don’t have much to say to this other than you are not alone. Jesus Christ is intimately aware of you and loves you. As Elder Holland said, “Christ knows better than all others that the trials of life can be very deep and we are not shallow people if we struggle with them.”^[5] The Savior offers rest even through trials like sleeplessness.

While the rest unto our souls the Savior promised is not the physical sleep we need each day, both have restorative powers.

Pres. Nelson taught what this rest of the Lord is:

“You can overcome the spiritually and emotionally exhausting plagues of the world, including arrogance, pride, anger, immorality, hatred, greed, jealousy, and fear. Despite the distractions and distortions that swirl around us, you can find true rest—meaning relief and peace—even amid your most vexing problems….”^[6]

The rest the Lord offers is like the Living Water offered to the woman of Samaria – a spiritual sustenance and redemptive restoration of faith, hope, and peace. The rest of the Lord is the power of relief and peace even when surrounded by the commotion of “the spiritually and emotionally exhausting plagues of the world.” The rest offered is overcoming “the intensity, uncertainty, and anguish of this world.” The apostle Paul, who was clearly good at inducing rest, invited the Hebrews to “labour therefore to enter into [the Lord’s] rest.”^[7] He pleaded, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”^[8] The rest of the Lord is therefore also in part the glory of God. It is His power and His presence. His power and glory are restful and comforting. His glory sanctifies us, purging us of impurities and turning us into glorious beings. It is this power that gives assurance amid animosity, peace through trials, and faith instead of fear.

We can receive this rest through covenants and striving to keep God’s commandments, as Pres. Nelson taught.

“My plea to you…is to find rest from the intensity, uncertainty, and anguish of this world by overcoming the world through your covenants with God. Let Him know through your prayers and your actions that you are serious about overcoming the world. Ask Him to enlighten your mind and send the help you need. Each day, record the thoughts that come to you as you pray; then follow through diligently. Spend more time in the temple, and seek to understand how the temple teaches you to rise above this fallen world…. As you let God prevail in your life, I promise you greater peace, confidence, joy, and yes, rest.”^[9]

The rest of the Lord in this sense has little to do with physical activity or inactivity. It does not mean taking a break from work; the rest of the Lord means doing a different kind of work. It requires, as Isaiah said, putting off doing our own pleasure or works to assist in the Lord’s work^[10]. The Lord’s work is fulfilling, rewarding, and uplifting, especially as we serve out of a love for God and His children. It is restful even if sometimes physically and emotionally tiring.

Again, God’s rest requires work! It requires us, as we sang, to awake and arise. The great prophet and teacher, Jacob, pleaded, “O my brethren, hearken unto my words; arouse the faculties of your souls; shake yourselves that ye may awake from the slumber of death; and loose yourselves from the pains of hell.”^[11] The prophet Isaiah also preached using this theme: “Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion”^[12]. Nephi, in his beautiful psalm, similarly pleaded, “Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul”^[13]. Lehi pleaded with his wayward sons: “Arise from the dust, my sons, and be men”^[14].

Again Lehi pleaded with his sons, “Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust”^[15]. We don’t just sleep and dream of our mansion above^[16]. We need to get up, rub the sleep from our eyes, cleanse ourselves, and get ready for the dawn of a new day of repentance and righteousness. We should then be ready to greet and serve with the Son of God, who is the light of the world. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you…For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”^[17] Through repentance in the name of Christ, we need to remove the bonds and darkness of sin and step into the light, where we are yoked in an enlightening work with the Savior. As we do this, we array ourselves in the protection of personal righteousness. These beautiful, protective, and powerful garments or armor of righteousness are our covenants with God and faithfulness to those covenants.

There is much work to be done. We are asked to help hasten the Lord’s work. Pres. Nelson said, “you may be thinking this sounds more like hard spiritual work than rest. But here is the grand truth: while the world insists that power, possessions, popularity, and pleasures of the flesh bring happiness, they do not! They cannot! What they do produce is nothing but a hollow substitute for ‘the blessed and happy state of those [who] keep the commandments of God.’ The truth is that it is much more exhausting to seek happiness where you can never find it! However, when you yoke yourself to Jesus Christ and do the spiritual work required to overcome the world, He, and He alone, does have the power to lift you above the pull of this world.”

I feel it important to state that we are not asked to do more, work harder, or run faster than we have strength. The rest of the Lord can include a break from our labors, as Paul taught: “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [on the seventh day] did from his.”^[18] We all need to take a break from time to time. Relaxation, recreation, and rest are important. We are not asked to do everything for everyone. What we are asked to do is come unto Christ, keep our focus on the Savior and His work as we walk towards Him and invite others to join with us. The Lord loves effort!

God has promised those who labor diligently in their faith will obtain the rest of the Lord – the “greater peace, confidence, and joy” Pres. Nelson spoke about. They will also eventually obtain an audience at the throne of grace and partake of the mercy of God. Those who receive this rest also receive the glory of God, making the works of God their works forevermore. They become joint-heirs with Christ.^[19]

Brothers and sisters, the time is far spent. Before too many of you follow Eutychus’s example, it is time to end my address. I hope tonight has been a spiritual feast and rest where you received both spiritual nourishment and rejuvenation. As we depart tonight I invite you to ponder on how you can follow the invitations of Pres. Nelson and more fully enter into the rest of the Lord each day as you awaken and turn your attention to God. It is my solemn witness that God loves you and has an important work for you. He invites you to join in hastening the work of salvation on both sides of the veil. As you more fully join in this work, you will receive greater peace, confidence, joy, and rest. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith

The following post is intended to add to the essay about the Book of Mormon and DNA studies [1]. Some of what I wrote is covered in that article but the rest is supplemental. My hope is that this article offers additional information about the complexities of DNA and genealogy.

There are various comments and criticisms of the Book of Mormon based on what DNA supposedly does or does not show with some people essentially saying whole genome analyses show there is no Lehite DNA in the Americas. This post addresses that issue but also hopefully offers broader insights into family history and genetics. It will likely change over time as I continue to refine and add to it.

Generations and numbers

Each generation is about 25 years on average. In 1,000 years, this works out to approximately 40 generations. To calculate the number of direct line ancestors someone has, we can start at the individual and work backwards: one person has two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, and so on. This works out to a simple exponential formula: 2ⁿ, where n = the number of generations. So in 40 generations (or about 1000 years), someone should have 2⁴⁰ direct line ancestors. That works out to roughly 1.1 trillion (1.0995116 x 10¹²) 40th generation ancestors for each person alive today. That by itself and not multiplying out by each person alive today, is about 10 times the total number of humans estimated to have ever lived over hundreds of thousands or millions of years [2]. About 1,000 years ago, various estimates put the world population at 250 to 300 million people [3]. This means that for the mathematics to work out people have many common ancestors in their family trees.

Geneticists clarify this. “Branches of your family tree don’t consistently diverge,” [Dr. Adam] Rutherford says. Instead “they begin to loop back into each other.” As a result, many of your ancestors occupy multiple slots in your family tree. For example, “your great-great-great-great-great-grandmother might have also been your great-great-great-great-aunt,” he explains [4].

In an analysis of a large family tree including 13 million verified individuals [5], a team of scientists made a number of discoveries that support the previous quote. One of those was that (for at least those of European ancestry), from about 1650 to 1850, people on average married 4th cousins. By 1950 it had changed to 7th cousins on average. Some people married closer cousins and others married people who were “unrelated” (but everyone is related, as we’ll see). Humans share about 99.9% of their DNA. 1st cousins share about 12.5% of DNA (there is a range to this; some share more and some share less), 2nd cousins share about 3% of DNA, and 3rd or more distant cousins <1% [6]. [As an aside, this means that there is no genetic risk above the general population for abnormalities in the children of 3rd cousins. In practice there is essentially no risk for 2nd cousins and only a slightly elevated risk of adverse genetic outcomes in the children of 1st cousins.]

For much of history (if we can extrapolate from the research based largely on European ancestry), people had children with relatives. It is still the case, just at a more extended distance. This is why family trees “loop back on each other” [4].

Ancestry, genes, and relationships

Scientists estimate the dates for the hypothetical individuals who are called “Mitochondrial Eve” and “Y-chromosomal Adam” at about 200,000 and 237,000 to 581,000 years ago, respectively [7]. However, our most recent common ancestor mathematically must be more recent than that. Humans only need to go back a few thousand years to all be related to one another.

Here’s the abstract of an article with the calculations:

“One model, designed for simplicity and theoretical insight, yields explicit mathematical results through a probabilistic analysis. A more elaborate second model, designed to capture historical population dynamics in a more realistic way, is analysed computationally through Monte Carlo simulations. These analyses suggest that the genealogies of all living humans overlap in remarkable ways in the recent past. In particular, the [most recent common ancestor (MRCA)] of all present-day humans lived just a few thousand years ago in these models. Moreover, among all individuals living more than just a few thousand years earlier than the MRCA, each present-day human has exactly the same set of genealogical ancestors.” (emphasis added, [8])

The interpretation of this is that every person on earth has a common ancestor who lived around 1000 BC[E], or even more recently. The following quote from an article geared towards lay audiences references that paper and expands on it.

“The consequence of humanity being ‘incredibly inbred’ is that we are all related much more closely than our intuition suggests, Rutherford says. Take, for instance, the last person from whom everyone on the planet today is descended. In 2004 mathematical modeling and computer simulations by a group of statisticians led by Douglas Rohde, then at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, indicated that our most recent common ancestor probably lived no earlier than 1400 B.C. and possibly as recently as A.D. 55. In the time of Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti, someone from whom we are all descended was likely alive somewhere in the world.

“Go back a bit further, and you reach a date when our family trees share not just one ancestor in common but every ancestor in common. At this date, called the genetic isopoint, the family trees of any two people on the earth now, no matter how distantly related they seem, trace back to the same set of individuals. “If you were alive at the genetic isopoint, then you are the ancestor of either everyone alive today or no one alive today,” Rutherford says. Humans left Africa and began dispersing throughout the world at least 120,000 years ago, but the genetic isopoint occurred much more recently—somewhere between 5300 and 2200 B.C., according to Rohde’s calculations.”[4; see also 8]

This means that some thousands of years ago, everyone alive then who has any living descendants now is an ancestor of everyone living today (“If you were alive at the genetic isopoint, then you are the ancestor of either everyone alive today or no one alive today”). Biological genetic evidence doesn’t really allow us to pinpoint when our common ancestors lived but based on the mathematics of genetics and ancestry, it’s clear people are all related to each other much more recently than hundreds of thousands of years ago.

The genetic isopoint has implications for the scriptural “Adam” and “Eve”. It also applies to the “House of Israel” (or tribes of Israel, including the lost 10 tribes) and how they can be scattered among all nations. It has implications for the Lamanites and modern Native Americans.

Let’s first look at Europe. Using these same estimates, everyone who has European ancestry is related to every European in about the 10th century AD who has any living descendants. This is so short because it’s a relatively constrained geographical area but as quoted above, it only takes up to a few more thousand years to get back to common ancestors for the entire world. How this works is that someone like Charlemagne (or other concurrent member of royalty), from whom many people try to claim descendancy, is the ancestor of every living person with European ancestry. Documenting that tie into Charlemagne’s line is the challenge – most people just don’t have records that reliably go that far back in time (and most people claiming they do are mistaken). However, a lack of records (even genetic) does not mean there is no relation.

Below is a summary of the “ancestry” of my DNA. It’s most similar to people from northern and north central Europe. That matches the family history records but it is also misleading. Based on the analyses in the Rohde, Olson, and Chang (2004) article [8] and others, if we could go back 1000 years, I am related to everyone in Europe who currently has any living descendants. One of the issues will be discussed later but it has to do with disappearing DNA from ancestors.

Now let’s jump over to the Americas. Applying this to Lehi means that if he has any living descendants (e.g., among modern Native Americans), then all people today with Native American ancestry are related to him, based on how many generations have passed (about 104) and based on the mathematics and genetics referenced above. This does not make Lehi the chief ancestor of Native Americans but it does make him (and Ishmael, Zoram, Mulek, the Jaredites, etc.) among the ancestors. As far as we know, the “primary” ancestors of Native Americans came via Asia. Again, because of how the mathematics of ancestors works out, all Native Americans can literally be “Lamanites”, just like all people in the world can literally be related to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (there are possibly some people who are not but the mathematics of genetics indicates the vast majority of people should be).

Genetic Testing of Ancestry

Because of the random reshuffling of genes in each successive generation, some of your ancestors contribute disproportionately to your genome, while others contribute nothing at all. According to calculations by geneticist Graham Coop of the University of California, Davis, you carry genes from fewer than half of your forebears from 11 generations back [4].

That people can be related but share no DNA is called genetic drift or what I call disappearing DNA. Some estimates show that up to 10% of 3rd cousins share no DNA [9]. No DNA test can find matches for missing DNA, although mathematical models for estimating relatedness, especially when looking multi-generationally, are possible. What DNA testing cannot do reliably is show relationships beyond 5th or 6th cousins [9]. Even after 2nd cousins it can be difficult [10].

This means that even if we knew what genetic signature to look for (what was Lehi’s DNA?), it’s likely that many, even most, Native Americans today, while descended from him, would have no DNA from him. They are descendants but might not look like it genetically. This is not unique in the Americas, this is true for all of us. We do not have genetic material from most of our ancestors (fewer than half, 11 generations back and beyond that even less) so whole lines of ancestors will not show up in our DNA. That is one reason why my DNA ancestry map is localized largely to northern and north central Europe. The other is because finding DNA matches beyond 5th – 6th cousins becomes difficult to not possible with current technology.

Now a comment about availability of DNA samples. Some of what I have been referencing about DNA and ancestry was covered in book called “A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived” by the geneticist Adam Rutherford. At one point in the book he mentions, in passing, Native American DNA studies: “The genetics of Native Americans are poorly understood, and there are no specific tribal markers in DNA” [11]. There is a lot of historical and current distrust by many Native Americans over DNA and other medically-related research (based in part on some egregious abuses in the past). As time goes on, scientists will be able to collect more and more representative DNA samples. This will require careful and thoughtful research. It requires outreach and support to historically medically marginalized and abused populations. Doing so will start to provide more complete pictures of DNA. However, the issue of disappearing DNA (genetic drift) and the fact that everyone today is related to the same people who lived some thousands of years ago, make DNA work incomplete until it can demonstrate what the mathematics of ancestry shows. Humans share about 99.9% of their DNA but we do not have the technology to verify the mathematical models showing that everyone is descended from the same people who lived several thousand years ago.

Conclusion

The Book of Mormon peoples existed. If any living Native American is related to any of them, how the mathematics and genetics work, it is accurate to say, “All/most Native Americans are descendants of Lehi”. They are descendants of many other people too — principally, those who crossed over from Asia tens of thousands of years ago — but mathematically are also all descendants of Lehi.

Based on the existing limited DNA data and the other factors addressed above, making any sort of conclusion (e.g., “no Israelite DNA in Native Americans”), is short-sighted. What this means is existing Native American DNA studies cannot be used to “prove” or “disprove” anything about the Book of Mormon, ancestry, and DNA.

Finally, DNA and ancestry is much more complex than most people realize. This fact is particularly condemning of people who try to use DNA for racist purposes (e.g., claim superiority of one “race” over another). As Dr. Rutherford pointed out:

Ancestry is complex and poorly understood. Indigeneity is similarly complex and requires nuance and thought. Admixture is the norm, migration is continuous, and no people is pure [12].

Dr. Adam Rutherford, Twitter, Dec. 16, 2020

Again, as useful as DNA studies can be, trying to understand ancestry is complicated and everyone alive today is related to everyone alive several thousands of years ago [13]. Add to this the fact that we do not share DNA with many of our direct line ancestors, which means that ancient “Israelite” DNA might never show up in Native Americans even with direct “Lamanite” ancestry.

It also means that we, as the scriptures and modern prophets teach us, are all one family. We are God’s children. He loves us and wants us to love Him and all of His other children. If we can recognize that we are all related, hopefully we will start to treat one another with more kindness, patience, understanding, and love.

References

1. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/book-of-mormon-and-dna-studies?lang=eng
2. Kaneda, Toshiko, and Carl HaubHow Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth? Population Reference Bureau 05/18/2021 https://www.prb.org/articles/how-many-people-have-ever-lived-on-earth/
3. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/international-programs/historical-est-worldpop.html
4. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-are-all-more-closely-related-than-we-commonly-think/
5. Kaplanis, Joanna et al. “Quantitative analysis of population-scale family trees with millions of relatives.” Science (New York, N.Y.) vol. 360,6385 (2018): 171-175. doi:10.1126/science.aam9309
6. https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA_statistics
7. See a summary here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_recent_common_ancestor
8. Rohde DL, Olson S, Chang JT. Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans. Nature. 2004;431(7008):562-566. doi:10.1038/nature02842
9. https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA_statistics
10. M. Sun, N.A. Sheehan, et al., “On the Use of Dense SNP Marker Data for the Identification of Distant Relative Pairs.” Theoretical Population Biology, 107 (February 2016): 14-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tpb.2015.10.002
11. Rutherford, Adam. A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes. United States: The Experiment, 2017, p. 155.
12. https://twitter.com/adamrutherford/status/1339196867129843714
13. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/30/how-to-argue-with-a-racist-adam-rutherford-review (note that there is an inaccuracy in that article about the date of the isopoint, which should be closer to 3,400 BC than 3,400 years ago)

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith

At the end of his masterful sermon, the Book of Mormon prophet and political leader Benjamin counseled his people: “And now…remember, and perish not.”

Remembering is complex, requiring at least five steps for success. We first have to perceive — see, hear, smell, touch, taste, or feel — something. Then as we pay attention, we can start learning. Learned information is stored for later use. Memories are not stored like pictures or videos. Learned information is stored more like a puzzle in pieces that we reconstruct each time we remember. This use of stored information occurs through a process of retrieval or recall. When recalling learned information, we typically rebuild the memory puzzle differently and even incorrectly because memory is imperfect. Remembering requires successfully going through each step — perceiving, attending, learning, storing, and retrieving.

Remembering can be challenging not only because of all the steps to form and recall memories but also because the brain’s natural state is forgetting, not remembering. Our brains actively forget much of what we experience because most is not important to our survival. Memories also fade passively with time and disuse. The imperfection and impermanence of memory need not distress us; forgetting is only a problem when we forget what we need to remember, such as what bills to pay or how to get home from the store.

Everyone has flawed memory but except for those who have severe neurological disorders, all can improve memory by first paying more careful attention to what we want to remember. Better attention leads to better learning and better remembering. We can also improve memory by actively and more frequently recalling what we hope to remember. This might be why terms referring to remembering appear 227 times in the Book of Mormon — frequent reminders can help us remember. While references to remembering are common in the Book of Mormon, what is more important is what we are encouraged to remember.

I will focus on two applications of the word remember. The first is paying attention and then having intention to remember for the future. The second is commentary on the Lord’s memory, power to forget, and power to help us forget.

Remembering to remember

Paying attention and then having intention to remember is a future-focused memory called remembering to remember.

One example comes from Helaman, who taught his sons the words of past prophets so they would attend and act: “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation…which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”

We then learn that Helaman’s sons remembered to remember; They “did remember his words; and therefore they went forth, keeping the commandments of God, to teach the word of God among all the people of Nephi.” They paid attention, learned, recalled, and acted. This is like Pres. Nelson’s counsel to hearken: “Hearken…means ‘to listen with the intent to obey.’ To hearken means to ‘hear Him’—to hear what the Savior says and then to heed His counsel…. As we seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ, our efforts to hear Him need to be ever more intentional. It takes conscious and consistent effort to fill our daily lives with His words, His teachings, His truths.”

“Remember, remember” is a call to hearken and change our future behavior.

The Lord remembers and forgets

A second use of remembering in the Book of Mormon instructs us of the Lord’s memory. Understanding His memory helps us change our behavior. The Lord remembers His covenant children collectively and individually: “I [will] not forget thee, O house of Israel.” We are regularly reminded that the Lord always remembers covenants He makes with His children. Elder Christofferson said in General Conference, “God will indeed honor His covenants and promises to each of us. We need not worry about that.” God has perfect memory and is perfectly trustworthy.

The Lord has a miraculous memory but He also has the power to forget. Elder Holland taught: “We all have some habits or flaws or personal history that could keep us from complete spiritual immersion in this work. But God is our Father and is exceptionally good at forgiving and forgetting sins we have forsaken, perhaps because we give Him so much practice in doing so.” Elder Gong offered clarification about what God’s ability to forget means: “When we repent, when we confess and forsake our sins, the Lord says He remembers them no more. It is not that He forgets; rather, in a remarkable way, it seems He chooses not to remember them, nor need we.”

By repenting of sins great or small, God forgives and chooses to remember our sins no more. He blesses us with sanctifying forgetfulness through our repentance and through the Atonement of Christ. Alma the younger testified of how remembering the Savior’s grace helped him repent and receive healing forgetfulness: “As I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world…. And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.” Alma remembered no more the pain and trauma of his sins through the power of the Atonement. Sanctifying forgetting helps us step out of the darkness and wounds of the past and into the light and healing of God.

Our wounds can be healed through the wounds of the Savior Jesus Christ. His atoning sacrifice is so important to remember that the signs of it are ‘written’ in His resurrected body. Through Isaiah the Lord testified: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” Christ’s hands are a reminder of His power to forgive and forget; through them, we are offered healing and forgetfulness.

All repentance “includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness.” We need to repent when we sin but repentance involves more than just forsaking sin and seeking forgiveness. We can repent daily as we turn from our natural forgetfulness by turning towards God. Pres. Nelson recently invited us to, “Experience the joy of daily repentance!” Part of the joyful act of repentance is remembering our Father and worshiping Him daily. Each day we can repent by seeking God, striving to follow the example of Jesus Christ, and holding and keeping the covenants we receive from Them.

The healing power of repentance is magnified by partaking of the sacrament. The sacrament is a priesthood ordinance that includes sanctified symbols of Christ’s Atonement – His blood and body. The sacrament helps us overcome sins and shortcomings as we renew all our covenants with God. As you participate in the ordinance of the sacrament I invite you to reflect upon your covenants with God. In covenants there are safety and peace. When we always remember the Savior, which we promise to do during the ordinance of the sacrament, we change step by step to become more like Him through the enabling power of His Atonement.

As we remember the Lord, keep His commandments, and repent, He will help us forget the pains of our sins and heal our wounds. Elder Renlund taught: “When we sincerely repent, no spiritual scar remains.” The Lord in turn will no longer remember our transgressions: “He who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.” He who notices and remembers each fallen sparrow will remember our own sinful falls no more. That’s a beautiful, hopeful promise!

I’m reminded of a sacred experience years ago. I stood in a hospital room watching a geriatrician examine a silver haired older woman. This lovely woman was a widow, had dementia, and was cared for by a daughter; the woman was frustrated by a world she struggled to understand and the daughter was frustrated by the physical and emotional drain of caregiving. We could see the anxiety and strain both were under. The older woman kept asking if someone would sing a specific song but none of us knew it. As he examined her, the geriatrician asked if she knew the lyrics or tune. The woman, memory weakened by a terrible disease, couldn’t recall it and we couldn’t sing an unknown song. At the end of the visit, the physician wanted to fulfill her request for a song – to help her be calm and happy; to let her know he cared for her. He asked what song she wanted. This time she asked if he could sing Amazing Grace. The physician reached out, gently held her hand, looked her in the eyes as he sat before her, and sang to her.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind but now I see.

This woman, lost in a labyrinth of disease, for a moment was found. That day my blind eyes opened to the healing power of a kind touch and simple song from a good Samaritan. I felt heaven draw near in a hospital room in North Carolina. I saw what it might be like to sit before the Savior and receive His redemptive, loving grasp as He sings us a song of redeeming love.

My invitation is that you hearken to the commandments and invitations from God’s authorized servants. I invite you to repent by remembering God and seeking the Savior’s offered healing hands and amazing grace. As you do this, you can remember your pains no more. This sanctifying and healing forgetting comes through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I testify of the Lord’s miraculous power to both forgive and forget as we remember Him and repent.

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith

In Doctrine and Covenants 76 Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon record an expansive vision of the Plan of Salvation. Specifically, knowledge and clarification regarding life after this mortal life are provided.

Starting in verse 98, we read a description of those who will qualify for telestial glory. First, in verse 89 we learn of the glory of the telestial kingdom: “the glory of the telestial…surpasses all understanding” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:89). This context is important. We learn that this kingdom is better than we can imagine. A stricter reading would be that it surpassed the understanding of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon but I’m hesitant to say any other people understand better than they did so it’s a safe assumption to write that it is better than we can imagine.

Back to verse 98 and onward. Specifically, verses 111 and 112: “For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared; And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:111-112).

Those in the telestial kingdom receive great rewards (unimaginably good) according to their works. We can make an inference from these verses. That inference is that those in higher kingdoms do not receive rewards according to their works, or at least do not in the same way. Those in the terrestrial and celestial kingdoms partake of the goodness and grace of God and Christ.

Of those who receive terrestrial glory we read: “These are they who receive of his glory, but not of his fulness. These are they who receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the fulness of the Father. Wherefore, they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun. These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:76-79; emphasis added).

These individuals receive of God’s glory as the moon receiving the light of the sun. They receive of Christ’s elevating grace but do not partake of His fulness.

Of those receiving celestial glory: “These are they who are just men [and women] made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood. These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:69-70).

Not only are those receiving celestial glory justified, they are fully sanctified through the Atonement of Christ. They entered into and remained faithful to the new covenant.

An analogy is seeing this life as a test (this is based on the general tradition of educational systems in the United States of America). Before we take the test we have multiple options.

1. People can agree to do certain things (receive covenants and hold true to them) and have our promised grade be 100%. That’s not because of what they did but because of the Atonement and grace of Christ. Yes, they have to do certain things but the reward is much greater than what they deserve. The reward will be all the Father has.
2. Or, people can strive to be good but not fully partake of the covenants. The Savior will curve our grade up higher to a B, which is great but not perfect. The reward will be incomprehensible but does not allow us to partake of all the Father has.
3. Or, people do whatever they want to do and can get a C or lower on the test and still receive an unimaginatively good reward. There are dominions and mansions. The rewards for those in the lowest group depend on what someone did — did someone lie and cheat or commit mass genocide? Works are most important for the telestial realm with different levels of rewards like the varying brightness of the stars (unaided human eye from an earth frame of reference). The qualification for this kingdom and glory came by choosing to follow God’s plan and come to earth.

What people do during this life will determine what type of telestial glory they receive. What Christ did during this life determines the celestial (and to a lesser extent, the terrestrial) glory people receive. This isn’t to say that works are not important for celestial and terrestrial glories — they are very important — but in those glories the Atonement provides a curve. Those in the telestial glory are mostly left to their own strength. For those who fully partake of covenants and strive to be true to them (celestial), the blessings are what the Savior has. These are they who will become like the Son of God. These are they who fully partake of celestial grace.

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith

Foreward: This topic has been addressed by others (e.g., [1-3]). I only looked up and started skimming through the other essays or articles on this topic after writing most of this post. I’m not trying to offer anything new. This is merely my own non-specific commentary (meaning I’m not replying to anyone specifically) on Book of Mormon populations.

In the Book of Mormon we read of three groups of people: Nephites, Mulekites, and Jaredites. The Jaredites left what is now called the Middle East somewhere around 2000 BC (there’s uncertainty around that timing — they realistically could have left as late as 1000 BC but 2000 BC is likely closer to the truth). They travelled an unknown direction to what we now call the Americas. Where they landed and lived is unknown but the best speculation is in the Mesoamerican area. Wherever they were in the Americas, they would have lived with others who peopled the Americas. 

Side note: The first people who lived in the Americas started arriving about 20 thousand years ago (this date is controversial). There was recent evidence suggesting people might have arrived here 130,000 years ago but it’s been heavily criticized (e.g., [4,5]). Dating the arrival of ancient people into other locations is challenging. There is considerable uncertainty when “modern humans” were first living outside Africa. A 2018 paper in Science provided evidence modern humans were living outside Africa about 180,000 years ago, which is much earlier than previously believed [6]. This uncertainty about dates doesn’t mean what we know is widely wrong, it just means there is a lot we do not know about early human history. There’s a lot we don’t know about modern human history, for that matter.

Eventually the Jaredite people collapsed as a civilization due to political in-fighting, wars, and natural events. It’s possible they were also at least partially culturally integrated into surrounding civilizations, thus ending as a people. There is some speculation by members of The Church of Latter-day Saints that the Jaredites were or were at least affiliated with what we call the Olmec people, in part because the dates of the civilization match the timeline of the Jaredites (starting circa 1600 BC [again, there are many unknowns about when ancient civilizations started] and collapsing around 400 BC) as well as the scope of the Jaredites (they were “a great nation”, Ether 1:43). Who they were or where they lived is less important than the spiritual lessons offered by their brief history we have (that was interpreted with editorial commentary by men who lived at least 1000 years later).

Remnants of the Jaredite civilization were found by the other main group of individuals recorded in the Book of Mormon — the Mulekites. The Mulekites left Jerusalem around the time of its seige in 589 BC and its destruction around 587/586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar II. At least portions of the Mulekites merged with the Nephites and Lamanites years after they reached the Americas.

All of this leads to the purpose of this post. Lehi lived circa 645 – 575 BC (we don’t know how old he was when he left Jerusalem and don’t know how old he was when he died). While we don’t know how large his group was when they reached the Americas, we can estimate it was likely in the range of 25-50 people (Lehi’s family plus Ishmael’s family). For our purposes we’ll assume 30 people. From that group we read this account: “And now, behold, two hundred years had passed away, and the people of Nephi had waxed strong in the land…. And they were scattered upon much of the face of the land, and the Lamanites also. And they were exceedingly more numerous than were they of the Nephites;… And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the Nephites, to battle…. And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land, and became exceedingly rich.” (Jarom 1:5-8). What little record we have about the early years of the Nephite people come from a record focused almost exclusively on prophesyings and revelations. (Words of Mormon 1:6) This makes estimating population sizes challenging.

Populations generally grow exponentially. This can account for rapid growth over generations. Limiting factors include food supply, land supply, water supply, disease, conflict, technological limitations, and natural disasters. As such, the carrying capacity of an area is generally larger than the current population in an area. This is because societal effects limit potential growth. The general upper limit of potential human population exponential growth is about 0.1 (that’s a gross 10% rate of change per year; [7]) That’s clearly not realistic with human populations but is an estimated upper limit. The reality of net population growth is discussed more below. Here’s an example of exponential growth before we get into data about growth rates.

An exponential growth formula looks like this: y = a(1 + r)^x. With 30 people reaching the Americas, 200 years later with a 10% rate of change, there would be 5,697,158,294 Nephites and Lamanites. That’s obviously not feasible. In modern industrial times the population of the earth has had growth rates as high as 2-3% [8]. Rates that high during Nephite times with an ideal set of circumstances would be conceivable but unlikely. Our world currently has just over a 1% growth rate. This is largely because families are smaller than they were 60 years ago.

3% growth would be about 11,000 descendents of Lehi in 200 years, 2% growth would yield about 1600, and 1% would be about 220. In Jarom we read about the Nephites being “scattered upon much of the face of the land”. That doesn’t mean there were a lot of Nephites, it just means they had spread out. We don’t know how large an area is “much of the face of the land.” Assuming it means large geographic areas is reading more into the record than what it says. The Nephites continued to multiply (that’s exponential growth). There were, however, “exceedingly more [Lamanites] than…Nephites”. Let’s go over ancient population growth rates before cycling back to the Book of Mormon people.

Estimates put growth rates in ancient prehistoric Australia at 0.04% [9,10]. That rate would result in about 33 Nephites and Lamanites 200 years later. That’s not a likely number given the record in the Book of Mormon. In fact, while that is true as an average over thousands of years, growth accelerated starting about 5000 years ago, likely tied to climate changes [9]. In ancient prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies, the growth rate has been estimated to be as high as 0.4% for short periods of time [11]. Again, the 0.04% rate is true over thousands of years. There will be considerable variation within shorter time epochs [11] and within localized regions and peoples. Applying large-scale population growth rates to an individual family (that becomes a small society) is invalid. I will, however, continue down this path as we work nearer the truth.

If we look at ancient Greece, we see rates around 0.25 to 0.45% during the centuries before Christ [12]. Similar rates around 0.4% are reported for ancient Palestine [13]. Using a 0.4% growth rate, we have 67 Nephites and Lamanites after 200 years. Even by the end of the Book of Mormon 1000 years later, there would only be about 1,600 Nephites and Lamanites. Again, that’s net population growth including loss to war, famine, political turmoil, and catastrophic events. That’s also applying population-level statistics to individual families and groups of people. It’s like assuming an individual’s (or family’s intelligence) based on the average. That person might have average intelligence but she might have superior or limited intelligence. Group level statistics do not tell us about individuals. This can be true for societies. In essence, the peak population can be drastically higher than predicted. All this being said, we see something supporting population level growth rates in the Book of Mormon — higher peak population but then after a societal collapse, essentially no Nephites. We could run the statistical model for the Nephites or the Jaredites and maybe get a result matching the 0.4% expected growth rate. However, some people dismiss the Book of Mormon as having unrealistic populations, in part because it doesn’t seem to match what they believe population growth rates should be. Therefore, they believe it’s not true. However, whatever we think about it, the Book of Mormon is true. Its veracity is independent from our beliefs about it; meaning, whether or not we have a witness of the truth of the Book of Mormon, it is true regardless. It is our responsibility to receive a witness of its truth. This is something I’ve received from God. Given this, there are three explanations for Book of Mormon population growth: 1) the descendants of Lehi had higher population growth rates than the expected 0.4%, 2) there were other unnamed people (but hinted at) the Lamanites and Nephites merged with, or 3) a combination of those points.

I already mentioned applying population-level growth rates to individuals, families, and even cultures can be misleading or invalid. Here’s why. Lehi and Sariah had at least 8 children who lived to adulthood (Laman, Lemuel, Sam, Nephi, Jacob, Joseph, plus “sisters”). Add in potential others from Ishmael’s family who were not the daughters marrying Lehi’s sons, and we have the 30 people I used as an estimate. We know a number of Book of Mormon people over the years had multiple children (e.g., Mosiah). This is in part because they were descendents of Israel. They placed great value on children. Because of this, it’s highly likely this small group of people had a higher fertility rate than broader societies at the time. We see this within modern times. In the U.S. the average number of children per family with children is about 1.9 [14]. However, Utah, a state with a high percent of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was an outlier at 2.2 in the 2000 Census. If we look at Latter-day Saints, we see an average of 3.4 children per family [15]. That number is lower than it used to be. There were higher infant mortality rates in the past but it’s possible for families and societies to have high fertility rates for extended periods (“extended” being up to hundreds of years). What would the population of the U.S. be if its fertility and growth rates were as high as than among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Higher than it is now.

We don’t know how large the Nephite population was 200 years after Lehi left Jerusalem or really at any point in the Book of Mormon. We have some counts of groups (armies) but don’t know if those are exact numbers, estimates, or exaggerations. Nephite and Lamanite population likely wasn’t large after 200 years (e.g., 11,000 with a high 3% growth rate), at least according to a limited definition as direct descendents of Lehi and relative to populations today. Additionally, we know the terms Nephites and Lamanites were cultural, religious, and political terms (see 2 Nephi 5:9; Doctrine & Covenants 10:48) and thus often did not constitute genealogy (some discussion in [16]). Essentially anyone who wasn’t a Nephite was a Lamanite. People could become Nephites or Lamanites. Sometimes there was distinction (e.g., Anti-Nephi-Lehies) but it wasn’t always that clear. There are hints there were others (e.g., many more Lamanites than Nephites) but we also need to understand the purpose of the Book of Mormon.

It is a history of a people (with commentary about some other groups) but it’s primarily a sacred record that testifies of Jesus Christ. This is an unsatisfactory answer to many people but it’s the reality of the situation. This does not mean there is no utility of the Book of Mormon outside spiritual matters but we can’t get hung up on what we think should be in the Book of Mormon. We also shouldn’t get hung up on perceived discrepancies between what we know or think we know through current scientific methods and what we think we know about the Book of Mormon.

Again, the purpose of the Book of Mormon is to invite people to Christ. Discussions about population, such as this one, are not ultimately important (but can be interesting). What’s ultimately important are the covenants we make with our Heavenly Father, our faithfulness to those covenants, and the manifestations of the grace of Jesus Christ in our lives.

So how do we explain Book of Mormon populations? This is a challenge because we never know populations in the Book of Mormon. However, what is most likely is high growth rate plus mixing with existing groups in the Americas.

References

1. Nephi’s Descendants? Historical Demography and the Book of Mormon
2. Question: Are the large population counts described in the Book of Mormon during the final battle at the Hill Cumorah accurate?
3. How Could So Many People Have Died at the Battle of Cumorah?
4. Critics attack study that rewrote human arrival in Americas
5. A New Study Says Humans Were in America 130,000 Years Ago
6. Hershkovitz, I., Weber, G. W., Quam, R., Duval, M., Grün, R., Kinsley, L., … & Arsuaga, J. L. (2018). The earliest modern humans outside Africa. Science, 359(6374), 456-459.
7. Stutz, A. J. (2014). Modeling the pre-industrial roots of modern super-exponential population growth. PloS one, 9(8).
8. World Population Growth
9. Johnson, C. N., & Brook, B. W. (2011). Reconstructing the dynamics of ancient human populations from radiocarbon dates: 10000 years of population growth in Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278(1725), 3748-3754
10. Zahid, H. J., Robinson, E., & Kelly, R. L. (2016). Agriculture, population growth, and statistical analysis of the radiocarbon record. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(4), 931-935.
11. Bettinger, R. L. (2016). Prehistoric hunter–gatherer population growth rates rival those of agriculturalists. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(4), 812-814.
12. Scheidel, W. (2003). The Greek Demographic Expansion: Models and Comparisons. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 123, 120-140. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3246263
13. Pastor, Jack (2013). Land and Economy in Ancient Palestine. Routledge. p. 7
14. Table ST-F1-2000. Average Number of Children Per Family and Per Family With Children, by State: 2000 Census
15. Mormons more likely to marry, have more children than other U.S. religious groups
16. Book of Mormon Peoples

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith

There is a lovely road that runs northeast from Mesa, Arizona into the mountains. These mountains are tree-covered and jagged, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs hundreds of miles into them, to a small mountain city called Payson; and from there you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Arizona. About you there are trees and rocks and you may hear the forlorn crying of the red-tailed hawk. Beneath your feet is the Mogollon Rim, a 200 mile wide cliff rising sharply from the desert valleys. It is upon this cliff you can look down from forests of pine onto the red and gray rocks that are softened by rich greens and browns. It is lovely beyond any telling of it. If you look off the rim before the dawn, you can look down at the darkened valleys. The sun first lights the mountain tops. The valleys are filled with darkness but the dawn’s light will come, just as it has for millions of years. The sun then reaches part of the valley, leaving part in darkness. The light will come there too, just as it has for millions of years. Eventually the light of the sun chases away all the darkness of night.¹Extensive quoting with paraphrasing from Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country, Chapter 1

After rising out of the valley, you can contemplate the vastness of creation upon this wind-swept plateau. You can marvel at the beauty of the earth — mighty mountains, towering trees, and whispering wind. You can marvel at rising from dark desert valleys into the sunlit mountains. This elevation gain comes from traveling a twisting trail up away from dark valleys towards sunlit mountaintops. Without knowing the destination it is easy to doubt the journey. Why does this road turn here instead of going straight there? Wouldn’t it be faster and shorter to head straight up? What might seem fastest is not always safest. Engineers designed the road to provide safety while traveling. We too, can travel twisting roads in life. Prophets talk of strait and narrow roads. If we pay attention, most of the time the reference is to a strait — S – T – R – A – I – T — rather than straight — S – T – R – A – I – G – H – T — road. The first strait means narrow. The second straight means without turns. Our safest road through life to return to the Savior, who is the light of the world, might twist and turn; some of the turns might even appear to move us away from our destination.

This year [2020] we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s enlightening vision of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Pres. Nelson asked us to prepare for the upcoming General Conference by immersing ourselves in the light of the restored gospel of Christ. Pres. Nelson wrote: “The time to act is now. This is a hinge point in the history of the Church, and your part is vital.”² https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/my-2020-invitation-to-you-share-the-message-of-the-restoration-of-the-saviors-gospel?lang=eng We are in the midst of a hinge point — an adjusting turn — in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is neither a course-correction nor an unplanned deviation. This turn is part of an exalting, covenant path. This hinge point will provide safety as it elevates us from darkened valleys into God’s everlasting light. The Lord doesn’t want us to wait in dark valleys until His light eventually reaches us, He wants us to rise into His light. We are to act and not wait to be acted upon. We are to seek additional light and knowledge and not just wait for it.

It is no coincidence that we study the illuminating Book of Mormon as a church this year [2020]. Alma the Younger was one of the great Book of Mormon prophets. He was a rebellious son of the prophet Alma, who previously served a wicked king but was converted to the Lord. Alma the Younger also was converted under miraculous circumstances through faith in Jesus Christ. All conversion, all repentance and forgiveness, is a miracle even if the circumstances seem less noteworthy than Alma’s. Alma repented and became a great church and political leader. He later gave up the accolades of the world to serve full-time as missionary and prophet. One mission brought him to people who had established an apostate church. The members of this church denied the coming of Christ. They set themselves up as lights to the world rather than basking in the light of Christ. They coveted riches and cast out the poor.

It was among these poor and cast-off that Alma and his missionary companions found people who were willing to listen. “They began to have success among the poor class of people; for behold, they were cast out of the synagogues because of the coarseness of their apparel…therefore they were poor as to things of the world; and also they were poor in heart.”³Alma 32:2-3

These humble people gathered to hear the words of a prophet. They said to Alma, “[the priests] have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have no place to worship our God; and behold, what shall we do?”⁴Alma 32:5 When Alma heard this, he turned to them to teach them in their humility. Alma said, “I behold that ye are lowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye. Behold thy brother hath said, What shall we do?—for we are cast out of our synagogues, that we cannot worship our God. Behold I say unto you, do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God save it be in your synagogues only? And moreover, I would ask, do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once in a week?”⁵Alma 32:8-11

There is a lesson here as we continue to learn what worship means as part of a home-centered church. Worshiping God is not just once a week, two hours on Sundays; it can occur in our homes throughout the week. We can worship God when we live as disciples of Christ, ministering as He did. We worship Heavenly Father when we pray and when we study the words of ancient and modern prophets. As we always remember the Savior, we can always have His Spirit to be with us.⁶Doctrine & Covenants 20:77 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/20.75-84?lang=eng#p77 With our lives and homes built on a Christ-centered foundation, we then come to church to be strengthened together as we partake of the sacrament, participate in lessons, and serve one another. We then minister to others as the Savior would — caring for them, helping them feel the Spirit and the love of Christ, and inviting them to receive ordinances.

As we minister to others, we nourish their faith and our faith. As faith is nourished, it will grow into a tree of everlasting life, as Alma taught.⁷See Alma 32:28-43 This tree, as Lehi saw, is found at the end of a strait and narrow road.⁸1 Nephi 8:20-21 It is at the tree we partake of God’s loving grace and worship Him. It is at and by that radiant tree that we are filled with an eternal light. Lehi saw in his vision one tree of life. Alma taught that each person needs to plant and nourish a seed of faith that will grow into a tree of life: “If ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life. But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.”⁹Alma 32:40-41 Lehi saw an iron rod representing the word of God. Alma compared the word to a seed of faith. As we hold to that rod, as we plant and nourish that seed, we gain access to a tree of life and can partake of the fruit. We each need to plant and nourish our own tree of life. We plant and nourish the seed but God gives us the tree and fruit. He blesses us with His Spirit and His love.

We can nourish this seed of faith as we regularly pray in our fields, in the wildernesses of our lives, in our homes, our church buildings, our closets, and our hearts. As we do so, we will be filled with the Holy Ghost. Having the Spirit of God in our hearts and homes is necessary for us to arise from the dark valleys of life and bask in the Savior’s light. Pres. Eyring encouraged us to “never delay an impression to pray.”¹⁰ https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2020/02/the-first-vision-a-pattern-for-personal-revelation?lang=eng Prayer invites revelation. In prayer we can seek and receive a changed heart. A one-time change of heart is not enough. In prayer, as we plead daily for forgiveness of our sins, we will receive enduring change. King David was a man after the Lord’s heart but he made mistakes, sinned, and fell from the light of grace.¹¹ 1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22; D&C 132:39 Salvation is not a single event; following the covenant path requires enduring faith, repentance, service, sacrifice, and prayer.

Another way to nourish the seed of faith and follow the strait and narrow road is regularly reading the scriptures. In 1 Nephi 1 we read of one of Lehi’s visions; he saw Jesus Christ and the twelve original apostles: “And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read. And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord.”¹² 1 Nephi 1:11-12 The first of these heavenly visitors gave Lehi a book to read. This book was filled with prophecy and revelation — it was scripture. When Lehi read the revelation-filled scriptures, something important happened — “he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord.” When Lehi read the scriptures he not only felt the Spirit but also was filled with the Spirit. That’s the difference between being thirsty and having a few drops of water fall on you and being thirsty and drinking your fill of refreshing water. Feeling water doesn’t satisfy thirst like drinking and being filled does. That is one reason why it is important to read the scriptures regularly – so we can be filled with the Spirit each time we read. The scriptures are filled with prophecy and revelation. As we feast upon them, we will be filled with the Spirit of God, receiving personal prophecy and revelation.

I’ve met people who refused to read the Book of Mormon. I can understand the hesitancy. People are busy and reading a long religious book isn’t a high priority for many people. There are many reasons why people refuse but I wonder if some were worried what would happen if they read it. If they read and felt or were filled with the Spirit, that would require change. When people read the scriptures, they invite the Spirit to fill their hearts. When people see the scriptures, hear the words of prophets, and understand, they will be converted and healed. This healing is simple. Because it is simple, many people, like the ancient children of Israel, refuse to look and be healed. We should read and invite our families to read the scriptures. As we read the scriptures individually and as families, we will see, hear, and understand the words and be filled with the Spirit. We should invite those to whom we minister to read the scriptures. As we love, serve, and share scripture with others, they will be filled with and lightened by the Spirit. They will be healed. The Spirit will fill their hearts and start the softening process of conversion.

It is with the great love of Christ that I urge you to use this hinge point in our church to experience greater individual and family conversion. If you are not filled with the Spirit of God, make the necessary changes. Start by reading scripture and praying. As we read and study the teachings of ancient and modern prophets, we will invite the Spirit into our lives and homes. As we pray, we will receive revelation. As we minister to others, we and they will nourish our seeds of faith. The Spirit will provide the guidance needed to help us stay on the strait and exalting road, even if it twists and turns. As we actively strive to follow the living prophet, we will rise into the light. We will see the light of the Son chase away the darkness of night in our lives. Jesus Christ lives and loves us! He is the light of the world.

Visit my blog: By Study and Faith