Thirty-Five (1840)A famous example of one of the myths of Mormonism supposedly occurred in
1848, when God presumably sent seagulls to save Mormon crops from crickets in the
Salt Lake Valley.^49 A statue was later erected on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah,
to commemorate this legend. But strangely enough, there are no news articles or
contemporary diary accounts of first-hand witnesses to corroborate that this ever
occurred. Nevertheless, it continues to be storied by tour guides and remains as one of
Mormonism’s most enduring and faith-promoting stories.
In 1831, William W. Phelps supposedly had a daylight vision in which he saw the
devil ride upon the waters of the Missouri River.^50 In the present day, LDS/Mormons
purportedly have visions, dreams, and visitations from spurious dead relatives and
angels. In all of these cases and many more, the LDS/Mormon people have invented
stories, legends, myths, and dogmas that have become official Church history^51 or even
its official doctrine. One example of the people’s “visions” becoming doctrine was the
transformation of Brigham Young to appear and sound like Joseph, resulting in a divine
manifestation condoning the succession of the Presidency of the LDS Church to revert
exclusively to the Twelve Apostles. Their idea of being “God’s chosen people” fuels their
ability to convince their minds of miraculous demonstrations of their own specialness,^52
thereby exacerbating that mindset.
If one were to accept the fate and circumstances of non-LDS people according to the
Mormon mindset, one would have to question what our advanced human monitors were
thinking when they sent seagulls to save the Mormon’s crops at the same time the crops of
the human beings living in Ireland were being decimated by disease.^53 The failure of the
Irish crops caused the deaths of over a million people from starvation—a most hideous form
of slow death. The LDS/Mormons have their answer to this demonstration of inequality in
their behalf—that they were “God’s chosen people” and the harbingers of the Lord’s gospel.
The LDS/Mormons therefore believed that their people were more deserving of God’s
favor, while the people of Ireland were not.
This same kind of arrogance has led to what has been fantasized in the Mormon
mind and thrown around among their intellectual circles as the “White Horse
Prophecy.”^54 Of course, there was no such prophecy ever given and nothing the LDS
Church or any of its members can provide gives evidence of Joseph ever inventing it. In
fact, some modern LDS Church leaders have derided the notion that any such prophecy
ever existed. One of the Church’s most trusted authorities on Mormon doctrine, Bruce R.
McConkie, wrote of the fabled prophecy:
From time-to-time, accounts of various supposed visions, revelations, and
prophecies are spread forth by and among the Latter-day Saints, who should
know better than to believe or spread such false information. One of these false
and deceptive documents that has cropped up again and again for over a
century is the so-called White Horse Prophecy. ...Now, these stories of revelations
that are being circulated around are of no consequence, except for rumor and
silly talk by persons that have no authority. ...When you know God’s truth,
when you enter into God’s rest, you will not be hunting after revelations from
Tom, Dick, and Harry all over the world. You will not be following the will of
the wisps of the vagaries of men and their own ideas. When you know the truth,
you will abide in the truth, and the truth will make you free, and it is only the
truth that will free you from the errors of men, and from the falsehood and