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Salamander Letter

Salamander Letter

See if you can guess what is being attacked here and your answer for it.

Note: If this is your first time seeing this type of Thread then please check the first part in this series to understand what we are doing here: Source 6

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Letter Salamander

I had to chuckle a bit when I saw this one. It brings back vivid memories of the Mark Hofman fiasco. Since I was living in Salt Lake at the time I remember it all too well. This is referencing Mark Hofman's so-called "Salamander Letter" which claimed that, when he first saw the gold plates, Joseph was bit by a salamander that transformed itself into a spirit. It also instructed Joseph to bring his brother Alvin along to get the plates. The letter was supposed to have been written by Martin Harris.

(more detail can be found here: Source 9)

Mark Hoffman admitted that the letter was a faked forgery. He even resorted to murder in an attempt to hide the fact. Some detractors have questioned how Gordon B. Hinckley could be a prophet if he was duped by this fake letter. (I think the words "Prophet cannot be played" on the card is a veiled reference to this issue).
In reality Gordon B. Hinckley was not the prophet at the time of the "Salamander letter". In addition, his recommendation to the First Presidency was to NOT purchase the letter from Mark Hofman as there was doubt surrounding its authenticity. There were several documents presented by Mark Hofman, some of which were acquired by the Church. Some were proven to be forgeries.