Robert writes home #100 7 Sept 1997

7 Sept 1997

Dear Mother,

                I’m going back to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the second week end in October to visit my daughter, Susie, and her family and bless her new baby. This will only be the second time vie been there for my grandkid’s blessing.

                I had almost enough flight on my master card to get a free ticket when I discontinued the flight mileage feature to save the annual fee that’s charged for it. I used to charge the business expense on it. That way I got two or three free flights a year. When I sold the business to Dr. Schofield, I no longer put enough charges on it to justify the $100 annual fee, so I discontinued it. Then about two months ago I realized that I was just 1630 miles short of another free ticket (a mile for every $1 I charge on my master card). So, I re-activated it and charged some of Charlie’s fees at BYU on it plus my pharmacy bill to try to get another free ticket. I hope I made it in time for my trip to Iowa.

                I survived my first full week of seminary. I gave them a quiz on Friday. I’m still excited about it.

                Today the bishop, had all the people who had joined the church since the first of the year stand up. There was a bunch of them. I think there were 10 in the audience.

                The stake is planning to have the Sept. stake dance in our barn again. I wish I had Charlie here to help get it ready.

                I hope everything is going well for you.

Love­,

Robert, Janet, Sam, and Heidi Jo

PS another essay:

How could a backwoods farm boy who grew up in upstate New York in the early 1800’s have an understanding o Semitic culture sufficient to write a story in that setting that could with stand 150 years of scrutiny by the educated minds of the world. The deeper they probe the more consistency they find between the account and the customs of the Arab and Hebrew people of the area Palestine and Arabia, 600BC and the Book of Mormon. The only probable answer I can think of is, he didn’t write it, but instead, got it from someone who was Semitic.

                For example, one custom of the desert people in the Middle East is beautifully demonstrated in 1 Nephi 2:9-10. When Sheikhs (tribal chiefs) travel they often became poietic and compared the people in their group to the physical features of the landscape in a poetic form. In Arab literature they are called “Quasids”. They are two equal length, sequential, or successive, lines of verse (sentences). Marked by rhythmic correspondence, rhyme or inclusion of a self contained utterance (an admonition) and were a complete poem. Here is a classic example when Lehi says to Laman, “Oh that thou mightiest be like unto this river, continually running in to the fountain of all righteousness!”

                Then to Lemuel, “O that thou mightiest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!”

                Hugh Nibley (Middle East scholar) has written chapters (maybe even books) about the way in-depth scrutiny of the Book of Mormon correlates consistency with cultural patterns and values. When Joseph translated the book, I wonder if he even knew those patterns existed.

                But, convincing as this evidence may appear, it is still only substantiation of a witness of the Holy Ghost.

                If you “hang your testimony” on this evidence of Semitic culture pattern consistency, what will happen to it if some guy comes along in a few months and tells you that he has evidence to indicate that Joseph had dealings with a middle eastern immigrant who was a writer of historical novels, who gave him one of his books, which might have been the basis for the Book of Mormon (I’m not aware of anyone doing this but people can say anything). Your belief might have some doubts cast on it.

                Or what if someone said that he believed that Joseph was a genius, phenomenal intelligence, who in spite of only a third grade structured education himself, like Ben Franklin or Mozart with music? The Bible, is a Semitic piece of literature and his most available source of reading material. Maybe he got all that understanding of Semitic culture from the Bible.

                Just because we couldn’t do that doesn’t mean he couldn’t don’t understand how Mozart was playing and writing concertos at age six either, but he did it… and it seems impossible to me. I know it would be impossible for me.

                But if your testimony of by the witness of the Holy Ghost, then no matter what people say, you know it is true. You realize that there is never enough evidence to draw absolute conclusion by the scientific method or logic. You are always dealing with substantiated probability. The only way you can know absolutely is by the witness of the Holy Ghost.

                But I still get a thrill out of finding substantiation for a probability which I know to be an absolute truth, by the spirit of prophecy and revelation which is from Holy Ghost, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.