My wife and I recently watched the entire 2 hour documentary about the LDS faith on PBS (watch “The Mormons” Here). There was a reasonable balance between Pro-Mormon and Anti-Mormon views, BUT that balance is still VERY skewed for someone like my wife who has NEVER heard anything Anti-Mormon in her life. She was SHOCKED that Joseph Smith dug for gold and had multiple accounts of the First Vision. I’ve served a full time mission; you pretty much have to get acquainted with the basic Anti-Mormon Propaganda that’s openly taught in most Evangelical congregations. (If you are Evangelical I would like to point out to you that the LDS church has NEVER — and would never — offered a course slenderizing another faith. Even in the Missionary Training Center. If anything, they teach us to respect other faiths).

FAIR (The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research) LDS has created a wiki (fair lds wiki) of simple answers to these questions. Just like Wikipedia it provides plenty of references, and in my oppinion it debunks anti-Mormon views better than anywhere else. Here are two answers to Sarah’s Questions:

Why did Joseph Smith Dig for Gold?

Richard Bushman has compared the Smith’s attitude toward treasure digging with a modern attitudes toward gambling, or buying a lottery ticket. Bushman points out that looking for treasure had little stigma attached to it among all classes in the 17th century, and continued to be respectable among the lower classes into the 18th and 19th

Why Were There Multiple Accounts of the First Vision?

Paul the apostle gave several accounts of his vision of the resurrected Lord while on the road to Damascus. Like Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision, Paul’s accounts differ in some details but agree in the overall message.