LINDA - A few years ago, I was doing some research about Joseph Smith, I read that he was in the presence of a salamander, not Heavenly Father and his Beloved Son Jesus Christ. What can you tell me about this.

JOEL - First of all. Don't believe everything you read. Documents can look authentic but can be easily forged nowadays. Also, false stories and even court documents and reports were known to have been fabricated back in Joseph Smith's time by those wishing to discredit him and the church. The only thing I have heard of mentioning a white salamander was a document that said that Joseph Smith saw a magical white salamander, which transfigured itself into a spirit and guarded the gold plates. This document, supposedly discovered by Mark Hoffman in 1985, turned out to be a forgery fabricated by Hoffman himself.

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