May your new year begin better than Amalickiah's

We're approaching the new year, and a new gospel doctrine curriculum year devoted to the Book of Mormon is almost upon us. So, with that flimsy justification, let's look at the transition, roughly 65 B.C., between two particular years among the Nephites.

Most readers are familiar with the wars that dominate the last portion of the book of Alma, and many know this story, in particular:

"And it came to pass that when the night had come, Teancum and his servant stole forth and went out by night, and went into the camp of Amalickiah; and behold, sleep had overpowered them because of their much fatigue, which was caused by the labors and heat of the day.

"And it came to pass that Teancum stole privily into the tent of the king, and put a javelin to his heart; and he did cause the death of the king immediately that he did not awake his servants.

"And he returned again privily to his own camp, and behold, his men were asleep, and he awoke them and told them all the things that he had done" (Alma 51:33-35).

Notice that the opposing armies are both soundly asleep, owing at least partially to the toll exacted from them by heavy exertions in hot, draining weather. But notice, too, when this story happens:

"And thus endeth the twenty and fifth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi; and thus endeth the days of Amalickiah" (Alma 51:37).

That is, Teancum killed Amalickiah on New Year's Eve, at the close of a very hot and fatiguing day.

What can we conclude from this? It's virtually certain either that the story didn't occur in upstate New York or the upper Midwest, or that the Nephites followed a different calendar than we do, or perhaps both.

Average December-January temperatures in Rochester, N.Y. — the nearest large city to Joseph Smith's Palmyra — range between 36 and 16 degrees Fahrenheit, accompanied by an average of two feet of snow per month. As I write, it's a relatively balmy 38 degrees in Rochester, and overcast.

In mid-April, when the first month of the Jewish calendar begins, high temperatures in Rochester average roughly 55 degrees, while the nights drop very nearly to freezing. But even that scarcely qualifies (at least in my California-born-and-raised book) as "hot."