Latter Day Sinner

So obviously the stories of the Book of Mormon coming from golden plates are intended to be taken literally. Joseph Smith Jr believed he had physical golden plates even if the stories about the actual translation of the Book of Mormon don’t seem to use them. I reconciled to Smith dictating it with his head in a hat. That doesn’t particularly bother me considering the final product. The process was inspired, hat and all. But the golden plates bug me. If they weren’t physical manifestations then the disappearance is easier to explain. But the claim is literal plates of literal gold. I have my doubts and they make a hole in the foundation of Mormonism that is hard to fill with wishful thinking.