The Gulf of Mexico is in Heaven

The Gulf of Mexico in Heaven: Understanding an Early Mormon Cosmology Claim

When a teenager from Houston attends high school seminary, they expect to learn core Gospel doctrine. What they might not expect is to hear that a major geographical feature of the continental United States, the Gulf of Mexico, currently exists in heaven. Yet according to testimony shared on the Mormon Stories Podcast, this claim was taught as religious instruction in mainstream LDS educational settings. The Gulf of Mexico is in Heaven represents a fascinating and largely forgotten corner of early Mormon theology that raises important questions about doctrinal transmission, historical revision, and the gap between official teaching and folk belief within the Church.

Understanding how such a claim entered Mormon education requires examining the early theological framework Joseph Smith developed around geography, translated cities, and divine geography, concepts that seemed plausible in the 19th century but have largely disappeared from contemporary LDS discourse.

Background: The City of Enoch and Translated Lands

Early Mormon cosmology included several concepts that modern members might find unfamiliar. Joseph Smith taught that Enoch, the Old Testament figure described in Genesis, had led a righteous city that was "taken up into heaven" rather than experiencing conventional mortality. This doctrine appears in the Pearl of Great Price and became part of foundational Mormon theology.

Building on this framework, some early Mormon leaders connected the concept of translated cities to actual geography. According to early teachings, when the city of Enoch was translated upward, the land it occupied didn't simply vanish, it was removed along with the city itself. This theological model created a framework for understanding "missing" territories.