Mormon Latter Day Saints

Recording shows Mormon forger Hofmann at work

SALT LAKE CITY - Decades after Mark Hofmann pleaded guilty to murder and the documents he had prepared as Mormon history have been exposed as false, an audio tape has surfaced that gives an overview of the con man at work.

Registration details 1981 Hofmann attempt to negotiate or trade for an original copy of a supposed blessing written by the Mormon church founder Joseph Smith Jr. to the leaders of what was then known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Missouri.

On the recording, Hofmann told a church archivist document is dated January17, 1844, and provides a succession plan in the Mormon church as the hands of the Presidency of the church for the son of Smith.

"Well for heaven's sake," the archivist, Madeline Brunson said in amazement.

An authentic document would be valuable for the Reorganized Church since Joseph Smith III became the first president of the faith.

"I'm really not sure how something like this is worth here," Hofmann said of the recording. "But I do not know if it's worth anything to anyone, it must be reorganized church."

The full recording will be played for the first time publicly at the annual meeting of the Sunstone Symposium in August4 Weber State University in Ogden has been seen at a news conference on Friday by organizers Sunstone.

It is not known if the tape, which includes four phone calls, is the only of its kind in existence.

"" I'm sure if we did, it did others, but if he kept them or destroy them, we do not really know, "said Steve Mayfield, a collector with more than 100 albums of memories that will lead the presentation Hofmann Sunstone.

The tape was discovered by Provo lawyer and collector Brent Ashworth in a wealth of memories that Hofmann bought from another collector.

Ashworth, who also owns a small shop that sells rare books, estimates he bought about 500,000 in false returns by Hofmann in the 1980s and said he was surprised to hear the awkward, not folk sales when he finally listened to the tape.

"It was a great act," said Ashworth The Associated Press. "He was very methodical, very discreet, very rustic, acting as it does not really aware of the importance of the document."

Ashworth donated to the original recording to the archive Mormon Church in 2007. He said he had the tape for nearly 20 years, but never listened until 2009.

Hofmann and false attacks are considered by many as one of the most important events in Mormon history modern church.

Church Leader Throws Out Ceremonial First Pitch - LDS Newsroom Blog

The annual event marks the beginning of the celebration of Pioneer Day, commemorating the arrival of Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley, July 24, 1847.

The Dodgers also invited several children from the main body of the Church to take the field with Dodger players at the beginning of the game. Each child received a baseball that players had signed. Joshua Creek, a group of Latter-day Saint recording, sings the national anthem and "God Bless America" ​​during the seventh inning stretch.

Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium is more than 20 years and is the event of the larger community and the longest run by the Dodgers organization. Several other major league baseball teams hold similar events.

New this year was the introduction of a commemorative wristband with the inscription "THE Mormon Night 2011 in Los Angeles." Also new this year is the addition of a Facebook page promoting Night Mormon. The result is that many people from different states learned of the event and traveled to California to attend.

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