Dear Brother Reynolds,

I appreciate receiving your letter, indicating that you are investigating the Mormon faith, and knowing as I do that we have the truth, I am very happy to give you any assistance I can. If you do not have a copy of my book, "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder", I would like to send you a copy without charge and have you read it and mark anything in it that you can find and think is wrong. I did this with a man who thought he was smart in the scriptures a few years ago, and I told him to mark anything he could find that was wrong in it, and then to bring it back to me and I would show him that what he thought was wrong was right, but that he was wrong. In three days the book came back. I was not here. He had scribbled in it from the front to the back. On the flyleaf he wrote this: "Up to the time that I had a knowledge of this book, my life was pointless. I do <did> not understand my relationship to God, to the Christ, to my fellow men, to those who walk the way of darkness. By reading, I am enlightened beyond expectation. I begin to become aware of spiritual values unknown to me before."

After scribbling all through the book, in the back he wrote this: "In this book, I find no flaw. It is an education in itself." Now when non-member of the Church, learned in the scriptures, can read 620 pages of Mormonism and be asked to find something wrong with it and fails, there is only one answer. He found something right.

Now answering your questions. Your first question: "Have the early revelations of the church been revised and have some additional clauses been inserted as some people claim?" Answer: I am past eighty years of age. I have filled four missions, been bishop of three wards, president of a stake, for fourteen years the Presiding Bishop of the Church, and now for fourteen years a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, and I know of no changes that have been made during that time. I have just discussed this matter with President Joseph Fielding Smith, the Church Historian, and he indicates that in the Book of Mormon, there have been a few grammatical changes; no changes have been made that in any way change the meaning of any sentence:; an "are" might be changed to a "were" to make it more grammatically correct. Now, is there any question on this subject, we have a copy of the First Edition of the Book of Mormon here in the library, and you would be at liberty to compare it with the present edition. The first edition was not broken down into verses as the book is at the present time, which makes it easier to read and easier to use as a reference book.

There may have been a few words changed in the Doctrine and Covenants and President Smith thought there had been one section left out which was instruction rather than revelation. We also have the original copy of that if you would like to see it, so that you could study it to see if there had been anything changed.

If you have ever published a book, you will know that after it comes off the press there are always a few typographical errors or mistakes, or a sentence left out here and there. Having written and published three books, I can testify that that is true and such errors have to be corrected.

Your second question: "Has Joseph Smith's History been changed from the original history?" No. No changes have been made in meaning in any way. Any changes, if any, would only be as mentioned above.

Your third question: "Is the Adam God Doctrine, as taught in the Journal of Discourses, true?" Answer: No. The First Presidency of the Church have answered this several times in the Deseret News and otherwise. We look upon Adam as the great patriarch of the race, the Ancient of Days referred to by Daniel in the 7th chapter of Daniel, to whom Jesus will come when He comes in the clouds of heaven. And he was with Elohim the Father, and Jehovah, (Jesus) in the creation of the earth, and hence is the father of us all speaking literally and physically. But we all lived in the spirit world before we were born, and Adam is not our God. We do not pray to him. We pray to the father through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Fourth: "Is the atonement of one's own blood necessary for salvation if certain sins are committed?" Answer: The scriptures indicate that if one kills with the sword that he will die with the sword, and I think that is the reason that some states have introduced the principle of capital punishment. But the Church, of course, has never exercised any jurisdiction to take a person's life. The only thing the Church can do for a sinner is to excommunicate him from the Church. So whatever a man has to do to atone for committing murder, he will have to settle with his Heavenly Father.

Your fifth question: "Was Jesus a polygamist?" We believe in the four standard Church works---the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, and we have no revelations from the Lord to indicate that Jesus was either married or a polygamist. There are some older brethren in the Church that like to philosophize, that have expressed the thought that he was. We have a little saying from one of the older brethren who said, "Now brothers and sisters, i will now proceed to make very plain to you that which the Lord hath not seen fit to reveal." In that spirit, some have tried to express their own views with respect to this question, but as far as the Church is concerned, it does not teach that Jesus was married, or that he was a polygamist.

Now if there are any other concerns that you have in mind. Please feel free to write, and remember that if you do not have my book, "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder", let me know and I will send you a copy. You will enjoy reading it. With all the good wishes, and assuring you that I know that the Church is true, and that the original doctrines as they were revealed from the heaven have not been changed, I remain,

Sincerely your brother,

LeGrand Richards