Consistent Geography in the Book of Mormon

"Go up" and "go down"

A person travels "down" to Zarahemla and "up" to the Land of Nephi:

1. Omni 1:13 -- Mosiah lead the Nephites "down" into the land of Zarahemla.
2. Mosiah 7:2, 3, 4 -- King Mosiah allows 16 men to "go up" to the land of Lehi-Nephi.
3. Mosiah 8:2 -- King Limhi asks Ammon to tell his people everything that had happened since his grandfather Zeniff "went up" out of Zarahemla.
4. Mosiah 9:3 -- Zeniff leads a group and "go[es] up" from Zarahemla to possess the lands of the Nephites' first inheritance.
5. Mosiah 20:7, 9 -- The Lamanite king send his armies "up" to the Land of Nephi from the wilderness to attack Limhi's people.
6. Mosiah 28:1, 5, 6, 7, 9 -- The sons of Mosiah desire to "go up" to preach to the Lamanites.
7. Mosiah 29:3 -- The people wanted Aaron as their king but he had "gone up" to the land of Nephi.
8. Alma 17:8 -- The sons of Mosiah "go up" to the land of Nephi.
9. Alma 27:8-9 -- Ammon convinced the King of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis to "go down" to Zarahemla to escape persecution from other Lamanites.
10. Alma 47:1 -- Amalickiah the Nephite dissenter loses a battle then flees into the wilderness and then "went up" to the land of Nephi.
11. Alma 49:10 -- If the Lamanite king had "come down" out of the land of Nephi with his army, they might have attacked despite the fortifications.
12. Alma 57:28 -- Nephites lead Lamanite prisoners "down" to Zarahemla. (See also verses 15, 16, 29, and 30.)

There is a wilderness between Zarahemla and the Land of Nephi that is thick enough for a person to become lost.

1. Omni 1:12 -- Mosiah lead the Nephites into the wilderness out of the land of Nephi.
2. Mosiah 7:4-5 -- Ammon and a group of 16 men wander in the wilderness for 40 days trying to find the descendants of Zeniff.
3. Mosiah 8:7 -- King Limhi sent 43 of his people into the wilderness to find Zarahemla bu they got lost and found the land of Desolation instead. (This is also referenced in Mosiah 21:25).
4. Mosiah 9:3-4 -- Zeniff's group journeys into the wilderness to the lands of their first inheritance.
5. Mosiah 18:4, 34 -- Alma-1 hides from King Noah by hiding in the borders of the lands. He is warned of the Lord to hide and departs into the wilderness.
6. Mosiah 22:8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 -- Ammon and King Limhi's people sneak into the wilderness by night and escape to the land of Zarahemla. Lamanites pursue them but get lost in the wilderness (these armies end up finding Alma and his people (see Mosiah 23:30).
7. Mosiah 23:1, 3 -- Alma and his people flee the armies of king Noah into the wilderness (8 days' journey).
8. Mosiah 24:20, 24, 25 -- Alma and his people escape from bondage and travel 12 days' journey to Zarahemla.
9. Alma 16:1 -- The Lamanites come into the borders of the land of Zarahemla from the wilderness side and destroy Ammonihah.
10. Alma 17:7, 9 -- The sons of Mosiah took weapons to provide food for themselves while in the wilderness on their way to preach to the Lamanites.
11. Alma 27:14 -- Ammon and the Anti-Nephi-Lehis travel through the wilderness to get to Zarahemla.
12. Alma 47:1 -- Amalickiah the Nephite dissenter loses a battle then flees into the wilderness and then "went up" to the land of Nephi.