According to Clate Mask, “although it might be popular from a traditional and tourist standpoint to label Lake Atitlan as the waters of Mormon, we ought to leave the door open to other possibilities. Richard Hauck has the waters of Mormon located on the Pixcaya River between Chimaltenango and Mixco Viejo, Guatemala. I have proposed Los Aposentos (an area of natural springs often used by Guatemalans). It is a much better fit for being just a couple of days from either Mixco Viejo (Hauck’s Lehi-Nephi) or Kaminaljuyu (Sorenson‘s and Allen’s Lehi-Nephi), and it is eight days from Almolonga (Allen’s proposed land of Helam). It also fits the Book of Mormon description of a secluded spring much better than the Lake Atitlan area.” [Clate Mask, personal correspondence] [See the illustrations for the waters of Mormon -- Mosiah 18:30]
“A Fountain of Pure Water - the Waters of Mormon”
In Mosiah 18:5 it says that ”there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water.“ This phrase may describe a lake and those streams feeding into it, but it also could be describing an area where indeed fountains (or springs) are found. Whatever the case, the place which was called Mormon was known for its ”fountains of pure water,“ also called ”the waters of Mormon“ (Mosiah 18:30). According to John Sorenson, it is interesting that the next settlement Alma chose (the land of Helam) was again notable for pure water. Mormon, in abridging Alma’s account, describes this land of Helam as ”a very beautiful and pleasant land, a land of pure water“ (Mosiah 23:19). The repetitive association of Alma’s people with ”pure water" may have more significance than meets the eye. In Mesoamerica, water was an exceedingly powerful symbol. That which came from inside the earth was particularly sacred. For ceremonial purposes men made trips down into caverns to gather containers of this fluid, which they considered unpolluted. The practice was related to the concept of a vast freshwater sea beneath the earth’s surface. At certain points, such as at an artificial mountain/pyramid where both the upper world and underworld were particularly accessible, this water has the potential of bursting forth. One should notice that the temple at Jerusalem was also considered to sit over a watery abyss, confining the contents from bursting forth as a flood. Ezekiel saw in vision a time when life-giving waters poured as a river from beneath the temple to green a millennial Zion (Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12). [John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., p. 176]
Mosiah 18:5,30 The waters of Mormon ([Illustration] Lake Atitlan, located in the Department of Solola. Proposed candidate for the Waters of Mormon. [Joseph L. Allen, Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon, p. 240]
Mosiah 18:5,30 The waters of Mormon ([Illustration] Lake Atitlan [Merrill Oaks, “Some Perspectives on Book of Mormon Geography,” Slides 46-48]
Mosiah 18:5,30 The waters of Mormon ([Illustration] Clouds catch first light as morning moves upon beautiful Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Rimmed by three major volcanoes, with San Pedro visible at the left, the nine-mile-long by four-mile-wide lake itself is a caldera (a collapsed volcano) over 1,000 feet deep. From the internal clues of the Book of Mormon, this is a likely candidate for the area of the great city of Jerusalem. Wicked Jerusalem was destroyed at the crucifixion, being covered by water. Remnants of an ancient city have been discovered in the depths of this lake. [Scot and Maurine Proctor, Light from the Dust, pp. 154-155]
Mosiah 18:5,30 The waters of Mormon … how beautiful are they (Illustration): Sunset over Lake Atitlan, view from Panajachel. [F.A.R.M.S. Staff, Lands of the Book of Mormon, Slide #59]