Joseph Smith died and it survived until the 1960s. He published “A proclamation”, “An address to the believers in the Book of Mormon”, and “An address to all believers in Christ”. He stated that he didn’t endorse polygamy or spiritual wifeism. It is a great evil, shocking to the moral sense, and the more so, because practiced in the name of religion. It is of man and not God, and is especially forbidden in the Book of Mormon itself. He didn’t endorse the change of the name of the church, for as the wife takes the name of her husband so should the Church of the Lamb of God, take the names of its head, even Christ himself. It is the Church of Christ. As to the High Priesthood, Jesus Christ himself is the last Great High Priest, this too after the order of Melchisedec, as I understand the Holy Scriptures. Because Cowdery died at the age of 43 and Martin Harris died at the age of 91, Whitmer was the only survivor of the Three Witnesses for 13 years. He always stood by this claim that he had actually seen the golden plates. His testimonies were recorded differently from one retelling to another. Whitmer claimed to have seen not only the golden plates but the Brass Plates, the plates containing the record of the wickedness of the people of the world, the sword of Laban, the Directors and the Interpreters. Later in 1880 when interviewed John Murphy said that perhaps Whitmer’s experience was a delusion or perhaps a cunning scheme. He couldn’t describe the appearance of an angel. Whitmer ordered that his testimony to the Book of Mormon be placed on his tombstone. Whitmer when interviewed by Anthony Metcalf to clarify the spiritual versus the natural viewing of the plates he responded: In regards to my testimony to the visitation of the angel, who declared to us Three Witnesses that the Book of Mormon is true, I have this to say: Of course we were in the spirit when we had the view, for no man can behold the face of an angel, except in a spiritual view, but we were in the body also, and everything was as natural to us, as it is at any time. So now let’s get this straight. Josep Smith finds the buried golden plates and takes them home with him. Why would these 3 witnesses require that an angel from I don’t know where and who this angel is come and let them see these with their spiritual eyes? They could just ask Joseph if he would show them these plates and have them physically touch them and see with their earthly eyes something that was made here on this earth by human beings. This was not sacred. It contained a story of the inhabitants of this earth. It contained teachings of what Jesus supposedly said to them. There is nothing sacred about these plates. What is sacred are the words that Jesus spoke. If the plates really existed then there should be no problem that these men would be able to see them. It just doesn’t make any sense. As usual with what always happened in the early beginnings of this church everyone wants to get a bigger piece of the pie. When you don’t go along with the teachings of the leaders you either get banished or forced to leave or excommunicated. This is how this church handles any situation with people that don’t seem to agree with them. They have the balls to call themselves the Church of Jesus Christ and He is supposedly the head. Please give me a break.