Hello, my brothers and sisters, my name is Zachary Cackler, and this is my testimony of the night of November 26, 2019, the night that I saw The Plates of Mormon. Along with my witness of the plates I also saw the Seer Stones. At the time, I was in Brazil with my grandparents. We were staying in an apartment somewhere in Palhoça. The apartment was Brother Mauricio’s. He had offered it to several of us so that we could have a place to stay. During that evening it was somewhat dark and cloudy out. I think it might have been raining a lot previously. Later on, I’ll tell you why that’s important.
In the apartment, my grandparents and I were just sitting around doing our own thing when we heard a knock on the door. We checked the door, and it was Mauricio, Wagner, Valdeci, and Joni. I noticed that my grandparents were surprised to see them. They told us that they had to return the Plates to the Lord immediately for a reason that I don’t think should be public. They said that the Lord wanted me to see the Plates for a future purpose. They went to one of the bedrooms to prepare the Plates for us to see.
While me and my grandparents waited, I anxiously talked with them about seeing the Plates. At that time, I would have been fifteen years old. I was both in disbelief and also really excited. I never really expected the Lord to want me to see them, let alone having plans for me regarding the Plates. I think at the time I saw the Plates my grandfather also saw them for the first time. When they were done preparing, they invited us into the room. When we went into the room the plates were there, sitting on a table. The Gold Plates were quite magnificent.
Alongside the Plates were the Seer stones. They looked like they have been made from quartz or crystals. They were sort of shaped like a hexagon. On the sides of them, there were carvings. They kind of looked like Roman numerals to me. However, when looking at them I saw one of the stones was broken. Someone who had previously looked at them had dropped one of the stones, and it had broken into two pieces, so they were telling me to be careful with them. I had heard that because of these events the prophet would have to go to the Lord and make a new one. Alongside the Plates and the Seer Stones was the gold banding that had wrapped around all of the Plates. However, I didn’t pay too much attention to them, so I can’t give any more description of them.
When we examined the Plates, Brother Mauricio opened them up and there were many markings or characters inscribed into the Plates that I could not read. Mauricio showed us that the markings were different in different sections of the Plates. This indicated that many people inscribed writings into these Plates. At the beginning of the sealed part, there was a picture of some sort. It was very beautiful and it sort of described a story or showed descriptions of things. For example, there was a picture of a city, and over it was a great dome. I think that it represents Zion. The rest of the picture I can’t remember.
While observing the Plates, they let us hold them. They were fairly heavy. I would say around 20 pounds, but I can’t be sure. They also showed us the engraving of Joseph Smith Jr.’s ring on the edge of one of the Plates. It looked like it was pressed in with immense pressure and the engravement that it created was quite peculiar. The engraving that was created by Joseph Smith Jr.’s ring was not perfect. It had a tilt to it, and it wasn’t perfectly round. Also, the gold plating where the engraving was, appeared to have deteriorated and the engravement had a dark shade to it. I then examined one of the Plates. It felt like a very thin sheet of metal.
Mauricio showed us a bit more. One of the seals that was holding the sealed portion was broken off. So, we could see a little bit of the forbidden part of the Plates. I later found out that there was a reason for that seal to be broken. The Lord wanted the Prophet Mauricio to see something in there. He said it was necessary for it to be broken. Along with that, the broken seal fulfills prophecy.
Originally there were eight seals holding the sealed portion. However, when that one seal was broken there were seven. This in turn fulfills a prophecy of the Book of Revelation. This prophecy says that Jesus Christ will open the seven seals, not eight, seven. Therefore, the breaking of the seal was for a reason and it fulfilled prophecy. It amazed me that I was holding such an old and sacred relic. These plates were created by those who came before us and through all that time God had preserved them. It was an amazing experience.
After we had this experience the Prophet and the three witnesses left to go up the mountain to return the Plates to the Angel. Let me talk a little bit about the dark and cloudy sky. Because of it being very dark and cloudy the angel’s light could not be seen from the mountain. The Lord probably brought the rain for that reason. I told you it was important. At some time while hiking up the mountain the group took a picture of themselves in a cave seeking shelter from the rain. They also took a few photos of a shining light in the sky that was shining brighter and brighter as it got closer. This was the Angel Moroni. These pictures were truly magnificent.
The experience of this night was also truly magnificent. Not many people can say that they’ve seen physical evidence that the scriptures are real. God is real. The Book of Mormon is real. The Sealed Book is real. It’s not just a fable, it actually happened!
This experience had a huge impact on me. At the time, I was a young kid who couldn’t care less about it, but after seeing those Plates I changed a lot. People tell me that I have a lot of faith for my age. Part of that reason is because of the Plates. I hope you find my experience with the Plates enlightening and intriguing.
