In the mid-20th century, a team of Mormon explorers including Thomas Stuart Ferguson traveled to Central America seeking to find archaeological proofs for passages in the Book of Mormon describing Bountiful, one of the areas initially settled by an ancient people called the Nephites who’d sailed from Israel to the Americas mid first millenium BCE. Ferguson and company DID indeed discover an amazing series of ruins left behind by obviously sophisticated civilizations and initially he and his companions believed they’d found evidence of the Nephites. With continued research over many years Ferguson came to conclude that MesoAmerica had NOT been settled by Israelite immigrants at all and that the Book of Mormon was “fiction,” shaking his faith to the core. It’s a heartbreaking story on one hand but heartening in that Ferguson was finally persuaded by scientific fact over religious faith.
Read the entire fascinating account of his journey here:
Thanks to Soror Amy for the tip.
