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----- Original Message -----
From: Jerry
To: Marcel
Cc: Esteban
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 4:49 PM
Subject: Death of Jose

Marcel:

Will you post the following note on the mormonsites website.

Those of you who have read my book, THE LIVES AND TRAVELS OF MORMON AND MORONI, are aware of the man I talked about in its first and second chapter, Jose Davila. (see photos on pages 4 & 11)

Jose died at 3:00AM, March 24, 2008, in Cancun, Mexico.

Jose knew the Book of Mormon better than anyone I have every met. He had memorized the whole book, and declared it took place in Mesoamerica years before Sorenson, Ferguson et. al, suggested it. I learned a great deal of what I know about the Book of Mormon, as well as its proposed location from Jose. He was a rare breed of a person, one of those unique and classic characters that you meet only once in a life time.

I have lived in his home, driven buses for him, climbed hills and chopped through jungles with him, all the time trying to discover a new truth about the Book of Mormon. He was my mentor, as I Learned that he knew the Book of Mormon, as well as the Savior in a very special way - a way that I admired and learned from.

Jose had been in bad health for many years, and it has been close to ten years since I could have a good Book of Mormon discussion with him. Some of you may have been fortunate enough to have had him give you a tour of the ruin site, Tulum, which was his second home, and where I first met him. It was a place he loved.

If you have a copy of my book, you will notice that the book is dedicated to this unique man. He will be missed by many, myself being principle among those. I was told of his death by the other man the book is dedicated to, Esteban Mejia, who was for all practical purposes Jose's adopted son.

Jose was a man with flaws, but Esteban and I loved him, flaws and all - and we will miss him.

Jerry



January 1, 2008: We revealed the location of the hill we code-named "Cumorah3". Click the last page on the menu on the left to find out where it is, and to look at some awesome photos taken by a subscriber to our newsletter. 

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Jerry
To: Marcel
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 7:03 PM
Subject: Re: Report from Cumorah3

Marcel
 
Esteban and I arrived in (the Cumorah3 area) at 4:00pm today and went directly to the manŽs house who showed us the field the first time we were here.  We are to meet him tomorrow morning at 7:00am and hopefully go to work.
 
We are staying at the same hotel as before, and ate at the same restaurant that cooked the good fish for us.
 
IŽll try to keep you posted.
 
Jerry

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Jerry
To: Marcel
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 4:39 PM
Subject: Re: Cumorah3

Marcel
 
We met with the gentleman this morning as planned and then drove my Dodge Caravan to the same location as the three of us had gone during our first visit - and it was a tough haul for the Caravan, as it bottomed out frequently.
 
This time he showed us the exact location of where he had turned up many bones and ceramics while plowing.  It was very close to the first hill we had seen during our initial visit.  We decided to start looking at this hill first, as well as the area where he had plowed up bones before.  While making this short visit, we once again ran across many crude battle weapons and some ceramic figurines.
 
During our visit this time, there were cows in the field, so we had to be cautious of the curious bulls who were not pleased to have us there.  No bull.
 
We now have to get permission from the owner, who lives close to the farm. We will attempt this tomorrow, but were warned that the owner is very suspicious of us.  It appears that everyone in this area is now aware of these strange gringos that were here a few years ago and with that comes fear and resistence.  But I have a secret weapon, Esteban.
 
And one last thing.  Once we got the Caravan out of the fields and on to the rocky road, we discovered that we had lost both belts of the Caravan.  So we nursed the crippled car back to town and replaced a tensioner, the bracket it fits on, and two new belts.  I donŽt know how we knocked those off, but we did.
 
More tomorrow.
 
Jerry
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Jerry
To: Marcel
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 10:31 AM
Subject: Re: Cumorah3

Marcel
 
Today we woke up and left at 6:00am to find it raining cats dogs, or gatos & perros.  We could not make it down the dirt road to the field, as it was much to slippery.  Not only could we not make it, but we found most other cars, (more adapt to mud than mine) turning around and going back to the highway, as this particular mud is very slick.
 
We also had to turn around, however we did stop at a location where a back hoe was digging a trench, and found wepons of war in the over turned earth at every step.  Later we drove to the place where the man we have been working with works. 
 
He told us we could forget about driving to the fields until it stops rainining, and then for a day or two after that, as any vehicle will bog down, especially mine.  He also corrected one thing with us.  The man of whom we are going to ask permission is not the owner of the land.  He simply rents it to feed his cows on.  So, we will see him first, and if he does not give permission, we then have to go to another city and speak with the owner.  I got the impression that the man with the cows was not a happy camper, with us being there previously and may be a hard case, when it comes to permission.  WeŽll see.
 
As I have always said, it is never easy.
 
Jerry

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Jerry
To: Marcel
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 8:03 PM
Subject: Re: Cumorah3

Marcel
 
Since we could not make it to the fields today, where we plan to dig, we looked for some of the older people in this area, who could tell us something about the fountains Mormon talks about, when describing the land of Cumorah.
 
We finally located a very nice man whose hobby is photography, and who has many beautiful photos of the hill.  I was surprised to also find that he has many photos of some of the fountains in this area.  Not springs, but fountains.  Having studied this subject for many months, I was pleased to see the fountains were kind of what I had finally concluded they must look like, but much more beautiful.  He was nice enough to transfer some of his photos into my lapop, so I will share those with you when I return.
 
As a reminder, both Mosiah and Mormon describe Cumorah as a land among, or associated with the waters of the ocean.  To that, Mormon adds, the land has rivers and fountains.  What I now appreciate is the order in which Mormon gave these.  Rivers, and then fountains, as some of the rivers are the result of the fountains.  So, it appears Mormon started describing at the ocean, then the connecting rivers, and then the fountains from which some of those rivers come.
 
It is also worthy of note that there are no lakes or lagoons in this area, nor does Mormon mention those kinds of waters in his description, in the 6th chapter of Mormon.  And I remind the readers that cerro Vigia, (an alternative consideration for Cumorah) has springs, but not fountains, and also has lakes and lagoons in and around the hill, which are not mentioned by Mormon.
 
We also discovered something unique about the top of the hill, which explains something I have wondered about, ever since investing that topic.  IŽll write more about that later.
 
The prediction for this area is more rain for the next 2-4 days.  I hope not.
 
Jerry

December 16, 2007 The rest of the story.

Jerry and Esteban needed the permission of a land owner to continue with their very promising investigations. After some tracing and additional travels, they found out that the land owner is overseas somewhere for the winter.

So, they're home again until something further opens up for the Cumorah3 adventure.

Marcel

 

Now, to the few days last week, that Esteban and I spent at the killing fields, (December 10-17, 2007).

 

On the very first day we arrived we went directly to farmer’s field we had visited over a year ago.   During that short visit we discovered many weapons of war.  The kinds of weapons we found however were limited.  We found a large number of crude stone ax heads – and we found a number of very round stones that were probably used with slings.

 

We found no arrowheads, no spearheads and no obsidian, which was used to make cimetars and swords. 

 

The broken/fragmented ceramics we found were all of female figurines, or of pottery.  Although we did discover a large number of weapons of war, as well as some pot shards, not much can be concluded from such finds, other than an organized dig, by people skilled in this area are needed, and some large excavations need to take place.

 

Our next effort is to contact the man who owns the field, who is currently traveling abroad.

 

Jerry Ainsworth

 

December 17, 2007

Today Jerry revealed to me some very exciting information that he and Esteban uncovered during their trip to Cumorah3 a few days ago. It needs to be verified firsthand, but if this information is factual it could explain some of the puzzling details of the final Nephite battles as recorded in The Book of Mormon.

It could also possibly be persuasive enough to sway the currently BYU favored location of Cumorah of the Final Battles from Hill Vejia to Cumorah3.

Stay tuned, subscribers to our free monthly newsletter will be the first to read all about it...

Marcel

 

cuisios.jpg

In that grove of trees is one of the burial mounds found near the hill.

 

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