In this episode of Religion Today, Martin Tanner gives insights into how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.  He used the "Nephite Interpreters" later called the Urim and Thummim to translate the Book of Lehi, which comprised the 116 pages lost by Martin Harris, plus a few more pages.  Thereafter Joseph Smith used the seer stone, which was used to translate the entire Book of Mormon we now have. The lost pages ended just before our current Book of Mosiah begins. Joseph Smith was not a scribe.  He always described himself as a translator. If he simply read words or characters, in a seerstone or Nephite Interpreters, he would have been a scribe.  Translating took, effort as we read in D&C Section 9:7-8.