William A. Morton

“ Then he said, "Why, you are the man an angel told me about last night in a vision. I am very glad I have met you, for I know you are a true prophet of God."
The man's name was Amulek. He took Alma to his home, gave him food and drink, and made him rest several days. Then Alma and Amulek went out among the people and began to preach to them. They were filled with the spirit and power of God. To their great joy, many believed their message, repented of their sins, and began to live righteous lives.
But the greater part of the people would not believe the preaching of Alma and Amulek. ”

“ Cutting down two large branches from a tree, they fastened the beasts upon them and started for the tents of their father.
What a look of surprise came over the faces of Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael when Nephi and Sam came into camp late that evening.
Lehi heard his sons coming and went out to meet them, and as he beheld the two fine animals, he took Sam and Nephi by the hands and said: "I knew, my sons, that you would not come back without food. The Lord always provides for His faithful children." ”

“ Those who stayed behind with Laman and Lemuel were called Lamanites.
Now that they were away from their wicked brethren, Nephi and his people felt very happy. They had brought with them many kinds of seed, so they laid out farms and gardens and planted the seed in them. God blessed their labors. His gentle rains and warm sun caused the seed to grow and to produce splendid crops, so that there was plenty of food for all.
In the evenings, when their work was done, the people would meet together, and Nephi would read to them out of the good book. ”

“ His words filled their hearts with renewed courage, and with a cry to the Lord to help them, the Nephites rushed upon the Lamanites and slew them in great numbers. Seeing that his enemies were beaten, Moroni commanded his men to stop slaying them.
Addressing Zerahemna, Moroni said, "You see now that you are in our power. It would be easy for us to slay you, but we do not desire to shed your blood. I, therefore, call upon you and your followers to deliver unto us your weapons of war, and to enter into a covenant that you will never again take up arms against us. ”

“ Standing before Alma and the sons of Mosiah, the heavenly messenger spoke with a voice which caused the ground to tremble beneath their feet and Alma and his companions fell to the earth.
"The Lord has sent me to you," said the angel, "to tell you that you are doing a very wicked thing in persecuting His people and trying to destroy His Church. The Lord has great respect for your parents, for they are good people. He has heard their prayers in your behalf, and that is why He sent me to you. ”

“ Through keeping the commandments of God, the Nephites became very strong and very beautiful. They married and raised families. They scattered all over the land and built up many fine cities. The farms yielded abundance of food for man and beast and the orchards were laden with fruit in the season thereof.
Every man dealt honestly with his neighbor. There was neither lying, nor stealing, nor murdering, nor any kind of wickedness known among the people. They loved the Lord and kept His commandments, and the Lord loved them and poured down His blessings upon them without measure. ”

“ One day the voice of the Lord came to Abinadi, saying, "Abinadi, I want you to go among this people and call them to repentance. Tell them that I, the Lord, am very angry with them because of their wickedness, and that if they do not cease doing evil, I will let the Lamanites come down upon them and overcome them, and they will become servants to the Lamanites." ”

“ The Lord said, "Lehi, I want you to get Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi to go back to the place where they used to live and to bring back with them a wonderful book which a man has locked up in his home there." ”

“ Three times the Nephites came to Limhi, saying, "O, king, we cannot stand the treatment of the Lamanites any longer. We would just as lieve die as continue to live in this condition. We want you to let us go to war with the Lamanites. We will fight with all our might to rid ourselves of this terrible slavery."
But Limhi knew that his people were weak and that they were far less in number than the Lamanites; so he advised them not to go to war. ”

“ The people you speak of are wicked, and the Lord is going to punish them. So if you go back you will be punished, too."
Then Laman spoke very sharply to Nephi. "We do not believe you," he said. "How do you know that the Lord is going to punish the people in the place where we used to live?"
"He told our father so," said Nephi, "and everything that the Lord says is true. You did not believe we would get the good book our father sent us for, but we did get it, just as the Lord said we would."
Then Laman and Lemuel and some of Ishmael's family grew very angry. ”

“ King Limhi called his people together, and they listened with the greatest interest while Ammon told them that he and his brethren had come all the way from Zarahemla in search of them, and now that they had found them, they were going to help them to free themselves from bondage.
When Ammon had finished speaking, a man named Gideon, leader of the Nephite army, went forward and bowed down before the king. "O, king," said he, "if you will grant me permission I will undertake to deliver our people out of the power of the Lamanites." ”

“ Ammon replied, "that you allow your son Lamoni to retain his kingdom, and that you have my brethren released from prison."
To that the old king willingly agreed. Ammon's brethren were given their liberty, and they and their companions traveled for years among the Lamanites preaching to them the everlasting Gospel. Thousands of the Lamanites were converted to the Lord, and they remained true to the faith all the days of their life. They became a kind and industrious people, and the Lord in His mercy took the curse away from them, so that they became white like the Nephites. ”

“ The words of the heavenly visitor caused new joy and hope to spring up in Alma's heart. As soon as the angel had delivered his message, Alma turned and walked back towards the city from which he had been banished a short time before.
He was very weak and hungry, for he had fasted many days. As he was about to enter the city he met a man whom he stopped, and asked, "Will you give an humble servant of God something to eat?" ”

“ It was too bad that poor Abinadi died without seeing the result of his labors. He had been the means of converting Alma, and Alma had converted four hundred and fifty people. Therefore, if Abinadi's life had been spared a few years longer his heart would have been made glad at seeing hundreds of his people forsake their evil ways and turn unto the Lord.
One day a man went to King Noah and told him that Alma had gathered a large number of people together and was advising them to turn against the king. ”

“ One day, sixteen large, strong men went to King Mosiah and told him they had decided to go in search of the people of Zeniff. At first Mosiah refused to let them go: he was afraid they might get lost also. But after they had talked with him for some time he consented.
They chose for their leader a man named Ammon. He was a man of great strength and courage. So, with Amnion at their head, and provisions to last them a long time, the party set out in search of their brethren. A large number of men and women, boys and girls followed them to the outskirts of the city, cheering them on their way. ”

“ He permitted great afflictions to come upon them as punishment for their sins and to teach them to be humble and to live good lives.
As the years went by, the Lamanites treated the Nephites more cruelly. They made them go out and work in their fields, carry heavy burdens, and when they complained, the Lamanites beat them and told them to remember they were their servants.
There was a man reigning as king over the Nephites at that time, whose name was Limhi. He was the grandson of Zeniff. It made him feel very bad to look upon the afflictions of his people. ”

“ That was one of the hardest missions ever undertaken by mortal man. The Lamanites in Nephi and surrounding places were a wild and wicked people. They took delight in murdering the Nephites and in stealing their property. They knew nothing concerning the true God, but worshiped idols. The Lord, however, had made a promise to the Lamanites that, through repentance, they would be blessed and given a knowledge of the true plan of salvation. ”

“ The twelve disciples whom Jesus had chosen established the true Church in all parts of the land. It was called the Church of Christ. The Lord told His disciples that that was to be the name of the Church.
In order to become a member of the Church, a person had to repent of his sins. He had to confess to the Lord that he had broken His commandments, that he felt sorry for having done so, and that in future he would live a good life.
Then he would be ready for baptism. A man, who had authority to baptize, would take him down into a pond or river. ”

“ Well, I believe they rode on camels. Camels can travel fast and carry heavy loads. Some of them can travel one hundred miles in a day.
There were no houses in the part of the country through which Lehi and his family traveled, so they took tents with them to live in. One day they came to a large river of water. It ran through a beautiful valley. By the side of the river they put up their tents. Then they knelt in prayer, and Lehi gave thanks to God for having taken care of them on the way.
Lehi called the river Laman and the valley he called Lemuel. ”

“ He wanted the Nephites to go in and build up the cities, to cultivate the land and raise good crops. "When they have done that," said the king to himself, "I will get my army to come down and take the cities and the crops away from them. Then we will make the Nephites our servants."
The king of the Lamanites told Zeniff to bring his brethren and to settle in the land, and they did so. ”

“ The hearts of the people swelled with joy as they saw the walls of the sacred building rise higher and higher. At last the temple was finished. The Lord was well pleased with it, and when the people went into the temple to worship Him He bestowed great blessings upon them.
One day all the people assembled together. They sent for Nephi, and when he arrived they told him that, because he had been such a good man, and had done so much for them, they had decided to make him their king. ”

“ Moroni heard that the Lamanites were coming to make war upon his people. He, therefore, got his armies ready to meet them. Feeling confident of an easy victory, the Lamanites marched towards the land of Jershon. As they drew near it they saw Moroni's army prepared to oppose them. Seeing how well the Nephite soldiers were protected, the Lamanites changed their minds, and instead of attacking Jershon they turned and proceeded towards the land of Manti. ”

“ They repented sincerely of their wickedness and were baptized for the remission of their sins. Others, however, became angry, and tried to take the prophet's life by throwing stones and shooting arrows at him as he stood upon the wall.
Strange to tell, the servant of the Lord was not hit once, although rocks and arrows flew round him in great numbers. On seeing how Samuel was protected by the power of God, many more of the Nephites were converted, and, through repentance and baptism, were restored to the Church of Christ. ”

“ One day Ammon and a number of other servants of King Lamoni took their master's flocks to a certain place to water them. They had no sooner reached the place than a party of Lamanites came with their flocks. The latter began at once to make trouble for the king's servants by driving: their flocks away and scattering them. ”

“ Nephi added, "is that as the Lord led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, so He can lead us to the beautiful country He has told us about."
"That is a very good lesson, Nephi," said his father. "I am sure the Lord will guide us right. Let us now go into our tents and offer up our prayers before we retire to rest." ”

“ They all clapped their hands for joy and said that that was what they desired. So Alma went down into the waters of Mormon and baptized them. Others were baptized from time to time, and finally the followers of Alma numbered four hundred and fifty. ”

“ You know all and we know nothing. Isn't that so, boys?" he asked, turning to his other brothers and to the sons of Ishmael.
They all, with the exception of Sam, nodded their heads, which meant that they agreed with what Laman had said. ”

“ I suppose you would like to know what became of the three Nephites. I believe they are still on the earth. They are to minister among all nations, without being known, and shall perform great and mighty works before the Lord shall come. ”