As a youngster, in the 8-10 age range, I remember vividly, sitting in Sacrament meetings each week with my scriptures opened to the Book of Abraham. I loved looking at the facsimiles. I thought they were so interesting. I loved reading the explanations of the pictures. And I would read the introduction to the book, that it came to us from the catacombs of Egypt, that it was written by Abraham, in his own hand, and I was fascinated by that. For me, a young simple kid, there was no mystery to what Joseph claimed the papyrus to be: an actual document handled by and written by Abraham and translated by Joseph Smith. The introduction COULD NOT BE MORE CLEAR. Never did my young, unintellectual, unsophistocated self imagine that words don't really mean what they mean. I should have known better. Silly me. The adults understood the nuance in those words that I could never hope to understand until I grew up and became smart and educated. I should have known that "translated" didn't really mean translated. Or that "by his own hand upon papyrus" didn't really mean that Abraham really wrote it on that actual piece of papyrus that came into Joseph Smith's possession.

Oh happy man that I am, to be older and wiser now and to know the mysteries of seemingly simple language!!

It was so simple of me to have ever believed that simple language could simply be, simple!

No kidding. BTW, as a kid, I also was drawn to the facsimiles when thumbing through the scriptures. Pictures!!!

When I was a little kid, even the ADULTS believed the introduction meant exactly what it said. They were also positive the BoM people covered the New World from pole to pole, that native North and South Americans were 100% pure Lamanites, who used to be Israelites. Tey were positive that Mayan, Aztec, Incan and other ruins were lost BoM cities. They were positive "negroes" and Lamanites were cursed with dark skins and that "negros" would NEVER hold the priesthood.

felt the same way as a child.

Did a test after we left the church. Showed our 3 kids (age 3-8) Egyptian hand writing, and included the BOA pictures. Then showed them the kinderhook plates. Asked if that looked like an Egyptian wrote it. They all jumped up screaming "No" that's fake. 1 min test. Truth wins. JS fails.

Was not hard to explain to them at all the Morg was built upon false prophets. That the morgs are liars.

It was funny several months later our 5yr old was yelling at some missionaries, telling them the *truth*. The mishies were all like "kinder what?" My kids were great at replying KINDERHOOK plates. And told them to go search, ponder, and pray. LOL.

You teach your 5-year-old to go around yelling at people? You tolerate that?

okay, maybe not yelling. :) I try to teach them to polite. Kids do say the darndest things.

I remember having a fascination with Egypt at 8 years old. I remember opening the book of Abraham and going "What is the book of the dead doing in the BoM? This is how to embalm the body parts and stick organs in canopic jars."

Had I been any smarter I should have realized that it was a fraud right at eight years old.