NOTE FROM MAURÍCIO BERGER – CONFERENCE 2020

Brothers and Sisters, it is with a deep sense of gratitude that I address you through this note, as I am eternally grateful to God for the unconditional support of those who believe in the work of the second invitation, which despite the personal limitations, I want to assure you I am doing the best I can in relation to what the Lord requires of me.

As everyone knows, I am just an ordinary man, subject to all the defects, errors and problems that are common to human beings, and as Joseph Smith once stated, "I am a prophet only when I speak in the name of God." In other words, I want to say that God does not reveal every step that I must take in this work and, due to my purely human nature, I confess that I made many personal mistakes in the path that was traced up until here, in which I hurt people, I fought, I cried, smiled, won friends, lost friends, made wrong decisions, made right decisions, in short, with mistakes and successes I try to be a better human being every day and with rare exceptions, some allies have become my enemies.

However, a good person who still appreciates clarification on both sides when reading falatários against me, sent me an e-mail with the following statement below (outlined in blue) which I will answer next to clarify my feelings in relation to these reproaches against me.

I read a lot of things about you and the project. I will mention a few points:

1 - You made the plates at the Valdeci factory.

2 - You stayed with sister “X” and then discarded her “to be with other women” (“X” is an American sister who was in Brazil, was the director of one of our financial collection sites and later became the main opponent of the work that I'm engaged in).

3 - Kelvin never translated anything by your side, they said you were dictating things with a curtain in the middle and on the other side there was a notebook with you.

4 - Patrícia (your wife) made more than 5 police reports against you at the police (for domestic violence), that made me VERY scared. I know couples fights exist, but I was wondering how you are inside the house to treat your wife like that.

Anyway, these reports are not even the tip of the iceberg, but they are things that got confused for me.

Explaining below each comment mentioned above:

Accusation 1 - You made the signs at the Valdeci factory.

I only met Valdeci Machado on my excommunication council that took place in May 2009, as shown in the attached document with the name of Valdeci Machado among the quorum that made up the high council of the stake of the church in the Caxias do Sul city, and below is the name and the signature of the president of the stake, so that no one can claim this to be a fake document.

After 2007, when I had communicated to the church that I was in possession of the plates of Mormon , it took two years to be brought to the disciplinary  council in the LDS church, and it was on this occasion I met Valdeci Machado. After that it took him more than a year to climb the mountain with me and see the things that confirmed to him the truth about what I had reported in council a year before. Then it took another two or three years for him to have a small factory in the basement of his house, which is mentioned by my accusers in their fallacy that the plates were forged in this place.

Now, in the face of the correct information that I present to you here, it is easy to conclude that it would have been about 5 years since I had informed the general authorities of the church that the plates were in my possession until Valdeci was able to manufacture them in a factory, according to the story told by my accusers. Therefore, this statement that I forged this story with Valdeci Machado, who was part of my disciplinary board, does not succeed in the eyes of those who research the true facts. In fact, this in itself is illogical!

Why would I invent a story in the year 2007 of artifacts that would not exist at least until 2012, when Valdeci would have created them in his factory, when I had already invited between 2009 and 2010 the apostles William Sheldon and Alvin Mosar, of the church of Christ in the temple lot, Jackson County, Missouri, to come to Brazil to find out the veracity of the artifacts that I claimed to have since 2007?

In addition, all the witnesses who checked the plates attested to a significant percentage of gold in them. Also, this information can be read on Joseph F. Smith's own website, with respect to the questions and answers found on this link:

— https://www.forthecauseofzion-usa-brazil.org/questions-answers?lang=pt

As a quartet of men with no financial resources, like Joni, Wagner, Valdeci and me, would we have money and personal qualifications to produce in a glass factory, a sword with a gold-clad handle and an antique appearance, even more, a set of approximately 500 sheets in gold plates, carved with characters perfectly drawn on both sides of each plate and, if that were not enough, two transparent stones with old carvings?

Because of the many problems we have faced so far for the cause of Zion, if this were a lie forged between us, then I can undoubtedly assert that one or more of us, including myself, would have already delivered the lie to the world, if these artifacts, which are so complex, were in fact a scam.

Accusation 2 - You stayed with sister “X” and then discarded her “to be with other women” (“X” is an American sister who was in Brazil, was the director of one of our financial collection sites and later became the main opponent of the work that I'm engaged in).

Answer: I am falsely accused by that same person here called sister "X" as if I were a polygamist, when truly, I do not endorse this doctrine as coming from the Father.

I have been married for 20 years and have never before had another woman besides my wife, however this woman called  sister “X” did everything to destroy my marriage and, once she knew that I believed in the return of Joseph together with the first elders of the restoration in this work of the second invitation in the Lord's vineyard  (what she mistakenly calls reincarnation), however, she persisted in identifying herself here in Brazil as the return of Emma Smith and, therefore, she claimed to be my wife in a past life, since I assigned her to the presidency that Emma Smith held in the organization that was known in the early days of restoration as the “Relief Society” and, according with revelation, the Lord commanded Sister “X” to waive her pride and vanity, otherwise this position would be taken away from her.

However, when I told her that she was not Emma Smith and even if she was, I would never have anything with her because I was already married with my wife and that really I would never have been interested in her, since she was old enough to be my mother, then, she started to curse the revelation and acording to her personal conviction, she said she was never proud or vain in her life. Soon after, she became what she is today, a relentless opponent, that lies to denigrate my image in the world and with that, she still claims to be serving God. But now, I tell you the truth about this sister "X" to everyone who has ears to hear what I have to say, that the God she claims to serve, by lying about me, day after day, is the one who is called in the Bible the "father of lies". John 8:44

Accusation 3 - Kelvin never translated anything by your side, they said you were dictating things with a curtain in the middle and on the other side there was a notebook with you.

Well, to find out that this accusation is another lie, just read Kelvin's testimony at this link:
— https://www.forthecauseofzion-usa-brazil.org/kelvin-henson

At 3:00 pm Brazilian time [on May 25, 2018], Mauricio Berger took Joni Batista and myself into the back room of his apartment where he does the work of translating the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. In a corner of the room, there is a small table with a desk on the end closest to the corner. He set up the area for him to translate and for me to write the words that he speaks. Mauricio sat at the desk, his back in the corner of the room. Joni and I sat at the table across from him. Mauricio had driven nails high up in the walls, one to his left and one to his right. He took a sheet with two strings attached to it and strung it around these nails. The end result created a little triangular space, between the two walls and the sheet, where Mauricio sat at the desk. Joni and I were on the outside of the sheet at the other end of the table. Right before we began, I looked in his little triangle and there was nothing there except for the plates, the interpreters, which he has fastened into a frame, and a chair.

Accusation 4 - Patrícia (your wife) made more than 5 police reports against you at the police (for domestic violence), that made me VERY scared. I know couples fights exist, but I was wondering how you are inside the house to treat your wife like that.

Of all the lies forged against me so far, this is the most diabolical, because in addition to denigrating the good father of my family that I am, this person involves all my family. For if a person submits to invent something so sordid as this, already this shows by their actions, who is the god who this person serves, for how much there is no record of that nature against me by my wife in police records. We get along very well as a family and live in harmony in the same house.

— Why does this person, instead of speaking in the wind, not present the police reports that anyone can look for at the police station if they exist?

— Do you know why that person will never do that?

Because in fact, there is no police report against me at the police station, whether of a domestic nature or any other crime that I may have committed. I am clean before the law!

— Why is this not shown by these people who attack me for no reason?

What these people are doing is the same thing that caused the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and other prophets of the past, by never resting until destroying those they considered to be false prophets. And, because of the irrational lies that they propagated among the people, they ended the lives of two men, parents of family, just like you and me who had never done any wrong --as if Joseph and Hyrum, deserved to die at the hands of cowardly murderers.

It is in these people that the words of Samuel the Lamanite will be fulfilled, as described in the text of Helaman 13: 24- 26 LDS which says:

24 Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time.

25 And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out.

26 Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil.

Anyway, brothers and sisters, this person who relates such accusations against me, such as what items were mentioned at the beginning of this message, in the quoted email saying: this is not even the tip of the iceberg, but they are things that got confused for me.

Just as Joseph made Paul's words his own words to defend themselves of their opponents, I will use in my defense the historical record of the restoration to show that all the misfortunes and persecutions that are occurring with me at this time similarly occurred with Joseph and the church in the mid-nineteenth century.

As if it were a standard against the true emissaries of the Father, established by the devil and his agents since the beginning of time, the persecution that arises against me at this moment in history, makes me believe even more that we are "on the right path" in the sight of God.

Otherwise, why would an insignificant man like me be considered threatening enough to attract the attention of those who want to destroy me at any cost? I must clarify that the spirit that permeates the minds and hearts of these individuals, day after day, is the most relentless persecution and injury imaginable.

— Is there any other explanation than that the enemy is leading them?

In turn, since these accusers of mine were, first of all, my allies, until they betrayed my trust and then they began to accuse me  with their cowardly lies and dishonest information, I leave them this account extracted from a summary written by Daniel Tyler , whom Joseph Smith, the prophet, asked to compile a story of the great and courageous men of the early days of restoration, because many in his day would have been cowed by fear or personal interests.

Daniel Tyler recalled: “Soon after the Prophet’s arrival in Commerce (afterwards Nauvoo) from Missouri prison, Brother Isaac Behunin and myself made him a visit at his residence. His persecutions were the topic of conversation. He repeated many false, inconsistent and contradictory statements made by apostates, frightened members of the Church and outsiders. He also told how most of the officials who would fain have taken his life, when he was arrested, turned in his favor on forming his acquaintance.

“When the Prophet had ended telling how he had been treated, Brother Behunin remarked: ‘If I should leave this Church I would not do as those men have done (...).’

“The great Seer immediately replied: ‘Brother Behunin, you don’t know what you would do. No doubt these men once thought as you do. Before you joined this Church you stood on neutral ground. When the gospel was preached, good and evil were set before you. You could choose either or neither. There were two opposite masters inviting you to serve them. When you joined this Church you enlisted to serve God. When you did that you left the neutral ground, and you never can get back on to it. Should you forsake the Master you enlisted to serve, it will be by the instigation of the evil one, and you will follow his dictation and be his servant.’

— TEACHINGS OF PRESIDENTS OF THE CHURCH JOSEPH SMITH, pag. 324

However, in defense of my merely human weaknesses, I would say to those who have me as a prophet, the same as Joseph, when he said:

“Although I do wrong, I do not the wrongs that I am charged with doing: the wrong that I do is through the frailty of human nature, like other men.

No man lives without fault. Do you think that even Jesus, if He were here, would be without fault in your eyes?

His enemies said all manner of evil against Him — they all watched for iniquity in Him.” ’

— TEACHINGS OF PRESIDENTS OF THE CHURCH JOSEPH SMITH, pag. 522

Finally, brothers and sisters of the Zion project in Brazil and in the world, due to what I, Maurício Berger saw in the course of the last 13 years since this work began on April 6, 2007, I speak with fearlessness and conviction, and affirm that I will never retreat from my testimony as to the veracity of the Zion Project and the Sealed Book, translated by the power and gift of God from the Mormon plates. However, although I am willing to suffer any kind of persecution that rises against me in this life so that the truth may be raised as a standard for all nations, I cannot allow those who falsely accuse me, in order to bring me down, to think that this work would be over if I was no longer in charge of it. This was the mistake of the Pharisees when they crucified Jesus and the same happened with the executioners of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, in thinking that the work in which they were engaged would be ended if they were taken out of the way. — Having said that, I assure you that if I died today, those who were prepared before the foundation of the world, together with me, would never retreat from path regarding this “so noble cause”.

In turn, given my smallness, in the face of the gigantic divine project that presents itself to the children of men with the arrival of this second invitation, I must be sincere in relation to the attacks that are undue against me and my family, such as, being accused falsely of polygamy, when I truly do not endorse this doctrine as coming from the Father, and I assure you that, except for the many memories I have of Joseph as if they were mine own memories, all the other accusations that were forged against me, are lies of enemies of the work of God in these last days, in order to denigrate my image and the truth of that work before the world that God seeks to rescue.

Because of this, and the emotional injuries that these people have caused and still cause to my family, wife and daughters, I feel unable to be in front of this work at all times and, therefore, I will be present only when the Lord, sends me as your prophet to do what should be done, so that I can both be present as a father among my daughters and as a prophet of God among the members of the project only when necessary, so that the people will no longer confuse me with a 24-hour prophet as some presume that I should  be. Because, most of those 24 hours, I will be seen to the eyes of the spectators as a common man, a father of a family, flawed and weak like all other men who live on the face of the earth and therefore, those who are associated with me in the greatest amount of time, will sooner or later judge and condemn me, because they expect from me what I cannot be all the time.

From today, therefore, Bishop Joni, whom, through revelation, is considered a literal descendant of Aaron and therefore, high priest of the Aaronic priesthood, as revealed in D&C 68: 15-18, together with Brother Valdeci Machado, which apostle of the Lord, ordained by my hands ascends revelation dictated from the heavens, will coordinate Project Zion in Brazil and in the world together with brother Samuel Gold, an apostle ordained by the hands of the prophet, seer and revelator, Joseph Fredrick Smith in the early days of this work.

Patriarch John [Hellmeister] Vendemiatti, appointed and confirmed to this office under my hands, will preside over the School of the Prophets which I was ordered to restore, as previously revealed by the Lord.

Anyway, brothers and sisters that make up the project of the second invitation, I believe that the message I came to bring to the world was given. The sealed book was translated as far as the Lord allowed me to translate and my mission, in my view, is fulfilled, except for new orders from heaven.

To those I hurt, because I made mistakes, my sincere apologies. To those who have departed from the work because of my purely human errors, I quote here the words on the title page of the Book of Mormon which says:

And, in the use of the attributions and keys given to me in the priesthood of the Only Begotten Son of the Father, according to the Order of Melchizedek, here I seal these words of mine in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Maurício Artur Berger

04.04.2020