President Nelson's explanation that "good inspiration is based upon good information" is one reason why all Latter-day Saints should know their history--especially the authentic historical sources of what Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery taught.
Peggy Noonan, writing for the Wall St. Journal about history, made a point that relates well to LDS history.
"I said it is our job, in our generation, to bring the sturdier public values of the recent and distant past into the current moment. We have to put forward those ways from the past that helped, that were superior, or no one will know they existed. And no one will be able to imitate or absorb or reflect them."
"We Need to Know History, Especially Now," WSJ, Sept 4, 2025
Peggy continues:
Why does history matter? “History shows us how to behave,” McCullough begins. “History teaches, reinforces what we believe in, what we stand for, and what we ought to be willing to stand up for.”
It is not only the dry recording of facts, it has a moral quotient. “At their core, the lessons of history are largely lessons in appreciation.” Everything we have, he says, all the great institutions, the arts, our law, exists because those who came before us built them. Why did they do that? What drove them, what obstacles did they face, how are we doing as stewards and creators? “Indifference to history isn’t just ignorant, it’s rude.” This is a wonderful sentence because it is true and bluntly put. Ignorance is a form of ingratitude.
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Like Peggy Noonan, Brigham Young also warned that knowledge would be lost if not recorded and taught.
https://www.lettervii.com/2025/03/brigham-youngs-prophecy-about-cumorah.html
One reason why I write this blog is to resurrect what Joseph and Oliver taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.
They were both explicit that Joseph translated the plates by means of the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates, and that the hill Cumorah/Ramah in New York is the same hill referred to in the Book of Mormon.
But new and young Latter-day Saints never learn what they taught.
Their teachings on these topics have been erased ("de-correlated") from both academic discourse and Church curriculum.
The Joseph Smith Papers include Joseph's statements and some of Oliver's, but the commentary in the notes ignores or reframes those teachings.
https://www.academia.edu/67756647/Agenda_driven_editorial_content_in_the_Joseph_Smith_Papers
The Gospel Topics Essays omit their teachings in favor of the theories of scholars and selected quotations from people who contradicted what Joseph and Oliver taught.
https://www.ldshistoricalnarratives.com/p/gospel-topics-essay-on-translation.html
The Saints book omitted what Joseph and Oliver taught in favor of the theories of scholars.
https://saintsreview.blogspot.com/2018/09/chapter-7-fellow-servants.html
https://saintsreview.blogspot.com/2018/09/chapter-4-be-watchful.html
The Come Follow Me manuals omit their teachings.
But older curriculum did teach what Joseph and Oliver taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon. And the original sources are still available for those who know how to do research.
https://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2022/05/institute-circa-1981-new-york-cumorah.html
But as Peggy Noonan and Brigham Young explained, the current generation has a duty to the rising generation to teach them the original sources so they can make fully informed decisions.
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