Why Liahona is not from Hawaii
Though Liahona might sound like a Hawaiian word it is not. It is actually a fictional brass ball dreamed up by a character in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 16:10) that acted as a compass. This thing simply appeared one morning, "And it came to pass..." that upon the ground "a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness." So it came to pass that Nephi lead his clan from Jerusalem through the wilderness by the help of this ball, or director, which latter in Alma 37:38 came to be known as a Liahona which Mormons interpret as a compass. This is not scientific tool using magnetic poles for direction however. It was more like a divination device that would show them the way depending upon their faith (Alma 37:40). Playing upon the biblical story of Moses leading the children of Israel through the wilderness to the promised land, Nephi lead a crowd through the wilderness to a place where he built a boat (like Noah) and sailed to the Americas where he built a temple (like Solomon did in Jerusalem). And it came to pass that the America prophet Joseph Smith came up with many other wild tales that take blind faith to believe. Yea, don't rock the boat until it comes to pass.
So Nephi now lives in Utah?
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