Physical records that contain stories are a critical element to our salvation. I am not fully sure why the rules are that way (or the reasons why it can't be another way), but all the evidence suggests that this is in fact true. Without the preservation and ultimate publishing of the stories these records contain, we cannot be saved. Something that these stories give shines a light in darkness, and enables our deliverance.
A lot of heartache and good people being asked to do things they didn't want to do would have been avoided if my statement above was not true. Nephi's experience with Laban and the Brass Plates is, I think, the best example of this. If it were possible for Heaven to just simply recreate records or reveal what was in them to prophets or just Men in general, then surely in Nephi's case this would have been done. Getting those records was paramount, and whatever needed to be done in order to do this was OK (as in this case with Nephi slaying Laban). I think generally killing like this is not viewed favorably among those in Heaven (even if it is Laban-Brigham), and so the action that the Holy Ghost asks Nephi to perform demonstrates just how vital records are in general, and the Brass Plates were specifically. The proof of this is borne out in the experiences both Lehi and Nephi experience once they have read what is on the plates, as well as prophecies from Lehi and Alma as to what the Brass Plates will do in a later day (our day, I believe, or at least a day after ours).
I don't think this point is well understood, or if it is, readily accepted. In Mormonism, for example, modern prophets have replaced the need for records. In that belief system, a prophet can learn all that is needed without records or stories through ongoing revelation and communication with what is believed to be the Holy Ghost. The records that have existed (Book of Mormon) are more used, in my opinion, to demonstrate that the church the prophet is leading is God's church, and thus one ought to listen to that prophet.
The Book of Mormon, I think, says otherwise. I actually think that is one of its primary messages. It references records and stories yet to come, and that these will be essential for us to have, and thus their careful preservation.
We cannot think our way out of our current predicament, with or without the Holy Ghost or any other Beings that we currently give space to in our minds. We sit in darkness, and until records which were meant to shine in that darkness come, that is where we remain.
That belief applies to whatever I am writing here, also. It is the work of someone (me) who sits in that same darkness, but does still believe or hope in deliverance from that darkness, and that records will be the means of that deliverance. Which is why everything I write here, or think about, should be viewed in the same light that I view the words of others: questionably. We are all searching for whatever light and truth we can even as we are surrounded by a darkness we need help in being rescued from.
The Tolkien analogy that comes to my mind is that we are all like the inhabitants of Minas Tirith when under siege by the forces of Sauron. We must continue to stand our posts and hold our ground as best we can, not giving into despair or confusion, but all the time knowing that without help beyond what we have now, we are doomed. We look to the horizon, listening for the cock to crow, signaling the return of light, and Riders on the horizon coming to our promised aid.
This is what I feel the Stone will do. It will be the light that shines in darkness and, joined by other records, will be the means for our ultimate deliverance.
So, then, given its importance, I wanted to state a bit more about what I think the Stone does, or the future story that surrounds it (in at least broad strokes, because that is all I think I know anyway). Everything I believe in or think relative to the story centers on this Stone, and if it doesn't actually exist, then pretty much every guess or idea I have written here should be considered nonsense (or at least more nonsensical than it might already seem). That is how important I think it is, or that is how important it has grown to be in my own thinking.
The Stone, as I have written elsewere, will have a story on it. This story captures at least a vision or tale told by a Being we would know as Joseph of Egypt, but has gone by other names and titles. One of them is Irmo, the master of visions and dreams. In a time before the Darkening of Valinor, when Melkor and Ungoliant destroyed the trees of light, and stole many other lighted things, Joseph-Irmo placed upon this stone a vision. It is this vision that I refer to as the story. This stone was hidden (buried) and preserved so that Melkor and Ungoliant would not also destroy it, thus providing a means in some future day of light that was stolen/ lost of being restored again. Meaning, the silmarils are not all that we have at our disposal to restore what was taken even from Heaven and the Gods (light, truth, and knowledge), but that this Stone is also required.
The Stone is at some point given to a person, as I have written about, who then proceeds to retrieve Irmo-Joseph's vision from it.
The Stone does not act just as a recorder of words stored on it, however, but also as a means of communication, in just the same way the Palantir perform this function. This is the other great task the Stone was prepared for - to provide a means of communication for the person who received it to 'link' or establish a connection with another.
This other Being will be in Heaven (Aman/ Valinor). At some point in what is now our recent past (I think fairly recent) this Being will have compiled a record of their own. This record will consist of the testimonies and remembrances of other Beings in relation to the creation of this Earth (and their roles in it), as well as events leading up to and including a much fuller account of Eru-Jesus.
Once the Seer here on Earth has Irmo-Joseph's record, they and the Being in Heaven will use their Stones (the one in Heaven already has their own stone, as Joseph wrote in D&C 130 that all beings in Heaven do) to establish this link with each other. In their communication, they will quite literally share their respective stories with the other, and establish duplicate and complete copies of the combined writings in Earth and Heaven.
The impact of this will not only be felt on Earth, but also in Heaven, where Beings will also learn things they did not know or perhaps were mistaken about (they without us cannot be made perfect, neither we without them...). In both places, for those who believe the story, the result will be Beings believing and acting differently. Heaven will be made more complete because of these records, as will Earth, and this will also open the way for a gathering of people to a place away from Earth (prepared by those in Heaven), about which I think I will lay out my guesses around in a different post.
On Earth, we will also benefit from additional stories that will come to add their witness to the truth of this new tale, some of which I have mentioned such as the Brass Plates, which will hopefully give even more people reason and opportunity to believe.
Strangely, I think Joseph's letter on Baptism for the Dead (found in D&C 128) actually touches on much of this, and think it is applicable to our situation as much as to what he was trying to describe. We are the Spiritually Dead, and the establishment of these stories will in a very real way be our own baptism, made possible through this welding link that was established between Heaven and Earth and between Beings.
In a future post, I think I will also try to elaborate who these Beings are that will establish this link and create this combined story.
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