The scriptures can be maddening.  There is so much that we don't know.  Hints are given, but we don't know the stories behind the hints, and we're not yet privileged to have the full accounts.

For instance, there is the matter of the mountain, Zerin.  The brother of Jared said unto it, "Remove--and it was removed."  (Ether 12:30).  That's all we know.  Where was it?  Why was it in the way?  What was the purpose behind its removal?  Where did it go?  What effect did its removal have upon the people who witnessed the miracle?  What effect did it have upon the animals that were living upon the mountain, and in the place where it was set down?  One wonders.

And who was Aminadi "who interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God?"  (Alma 10:2).  What was the writing?  What did it say?  Why was it written?  What were the circumstances?  What effect did it have upon the people?  We aren't told.

Nephi, the record-keeper, summed up their eight-year sojourn in the wilderness in just one verse.  (1 Nephi 17:4).  What adventures and experiences did they have in those eight years?  What miracles did they witness?  Did they meet any other people out there on the desert?  How on earth did they find enough water to sustain themselves?  Did they have animals with them?  Did they have camels?  Did they have sheep?  Why, when they were starving, didn't they eat the animals (if they had them), and the seeds that they were carrying?

Lehi's family crossed two oceans.  How long did that take?  We're told nothing about the voyage except for the account of a typhoon that they weathered.  Did they hug the coastline of southern Asia during their journey?  Did they stop occasionally to replenish their water and food supplies?  Did they encounter any people on those stops?  Did they encounter any other boats?  They probably passed hundreds of islands.  Every time they saw land ahead they must have wondered if that was the promised land.  How did they know to keep going?  Did they stop on the island of Espiritu Santo where Marjorie and I served our mission, and load up on bananas?  What miracles did they experience?  Nephi was a wonderful record keeper, so he must have been writing during the trip.  Why can't we have the account?  If the truth were known, I'll bet that Hagoth had access to the account of that voyage, and that is why he built his ships.  He'd just endured a tremendous, long-lasting war.  I'll bet that he wanted to retrace Nephi's route and find the peaceful tropical islands that Nephi had passed by.

Who was Rafael who spoke to Joseph Smith?  (D&C 128:21).  And what did the voice of God say to Joseph "in the chamber of old Father Whitmer in Fayette, Seneca county?"  (same verse).

Who was Elias who "committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham" upon Joseph and Oliver?  (D&C 110:12).  Why didn't Abraham do it himself?

And wouldn't it be a marvelous thing to be able to read the writings of the brother of Jared whose writings "were mighty even as (the Lord is), unto the overpowering of man to read them?"  (Ether 12:24).

I want to be overpowered.  I want those writings.  I want the brass plates.  I have read the four standard works again and again and again.  I love them.  I've devoured them, and I'm hungry for more.  Those four standard works are but a drop in the bucket--only a small taste, a sample--of what the Lord intends to eventually give us.  Joseph of Egypt and John and the lost tribes and Zenos and Zenock and Neum and every other ancient prophet wrote and kept their journals.  When will we get to read them?

(It will be when the Saints properly utilize what they've already been given.  I think we're doing it.  Has the time arrived?--22 February 2020)