The Work and Designs of God: Martin Harris and the 116 Pages (also known as The Work of God, 1999) dramatizes the story of Martin Harris, scribe to Joseph Smith during the translation of the Book of Mormon. After repeated requests, Harris receives permission to take the completed 116-page manuscript home to show select family members—but through carelessness, the pages are lost and never recovered. The film is framed as Martin Harris recounting this pivotal, painful episode to a young man, using it to teach a timeless lesson: that while individual weakness and disobedience can bring real consequences, “the works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated” (Doctrine and Covenants 3:1). Rather than allowing the loss to derail the Restoration, the Lord’s foresight—through Nephi’s small plates centuries earlier—ensured the sacred record would go forward as intended.

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Associated Locations:

• Harmony, Pennsylvania – Location of translating of Book of Mormon

Associated Dates:

• March 26, 1830 – Book of Mormon published

Martin Harris tells a young man the story of the lost manuscript, emphasizing that the works, designs, and purposes of God cannot be frustrated.