Laman

“ The nomadic habits which they had acquired in their wanderings in the wilderness remained with them and dominated their lives; they were shut out from the presence of God, as they were left without the priesthood when Nephi withdrew; the other party had also the possession of the records, which in itself was regarded as a great grievance by the children of Laman. ”

“ When the royal cortege issued from the city of Nephi to welcome the supposedly victorious general and his army, Laman accompanied his master. When that master was treacherously slain, and the cry was adroitly raised that his own retainers had committed the atrocious deed, Laman with the rest of the servants fled. ”

“ When Lehi and his little colony had traveled for three days in the wilderness which bordered on the Red Sea, they reached a pleasant valley through which this stream flowed, and Lehi gave to it the name of Laman, in honor of his eldest son. ”

“ After sailing on the ocean for several days Nephi's brothers, Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, with their wives, began to make themselves merry. They sang, and danced, and spoke with much rudeness. They seemed by their actions to have forgotten how the Lord had cared for them and guided them through the wilderness. ”

“ The Lamanites, or the guards of the Lamanites, by night are drunken; therefore let us send a proclamation among all this people that they gather together their flocks and herds, that they may drive them into the wilderness by night. ”

“ The sons' names were Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi. They also had daughters but their names are not told in the Book of Mormon.
The two older sons of Lehi, Laman and Lemuel, complained because their father left his house and land and all his riches and brought his family into the wilderness to die. They did not believe that Jerusalem would be destroyed; nor did they believe the Lord commanded him to leave Jerusalem for safety from the wicked people there. As they did not have faith in the Lord they were afraid they might die in the wilderness for want of food. ”

“ Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee.
14 But Laman fled out of his presence, and told the things which Laban had done, unto us. And we began to be exceedingly sorrowful, and my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness.
15 But behold I said unto them that: As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us. ”

“ And Alma returned and said unto them: Behold, the Lamanites will cross the river Sidon in the south wilderness, away up beyond the borders of the land of Manti. And behold there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon, and there the Lord will deliver unto thee thy brethren who have been taken captive by the Lamanites. ”

“ But behold, we know that he lies unto us; and he tells us these things, and he worketh many things by his cunning arts, that he may deceive our eyes, thinking, perhaps, that he may lead us away into some strange wilderness; and after he has led us away, he has thought to make himself a king and a ruler over us, that he may do with us according to his will and pleasure. And after this manner did my brother Laman stir up their hearts to anger. ”

“ And behold, we at this time do pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites, to the amount of one half of our corn, and our barley, and even all our grain of every kind, and one half of the increase of our flocks and our herds; and even one half of all we have or possess the king of the Lamanites doth exact of us, or our lives. ”

“ The Lord, after a time, softened the hearts of the Lamanites, so that they treated their captives with less cruelty. He also prospered them in their labors, that they did not suffer any more from hunger. ”

“ The Lord's promises are made to the Lamanites in the last days, because in spite of the many difficulties they will have--being driven like cattle over the land, being hunted, killed and scattered with no safe place to go--the Lord will show mercy on them. ”

“ We pray that in this Temple of our Lord Thou wilt make bare Thine arm in the preservation and salvation of the small remnants of the Lamanites that are left in the land. Deliver them, we pray Thee, from the hands of the Gentiles who are bringing about their threatened annihilation from off the earth. Inspire their hearts with Thy spirit, that they may receive the Gospel of the Son of God, that they may be prepared to build up Zion, and to fulfill the covenants and promises made to them by their forefathers who inherited this land. ”

“ It was in this land that the abduction of the daughters of the Lamanites, by the priests of Noah, occurred, which led to a war and other disastrous consequences, and later produced so many indirect results in the history of the Lamanites. At the time of the mission of the four sons of Mosiah, all the Lamanites of this land were converted to the Lord. ”

“ The land was tilled in every convenient place around the city, and when the Lamanites appeared, or other danger threatened, the people retreated into their place of refuge, in the center of their lands. As an example, we will cite the case of the followers of Alma, in the land of Helam. When the army of the Lamanites made their unwelcome appearance, the people were mostly engaged in tilling the soil. At the coming of the dreaded foe they gathered with all haste into the city to await developments and to receive the counsel their wise, brave and good leader might give them. ”

“ They will be given the power, even as we have been given, to bring thousands of souls to repentance.
Remember how our brothers in the church at Zarahemla laughed at us when we told them we wanted to preach to the Lamanites in the land of Nephi? Remember how they scorned us, saying, 'Do you really think you can convert the Lamanites to the truth and convince them that their forefathers' traditions are wrong?
The Lamanites are stubborn. They delight in bloodshed, and they spend their time doing the most wicked things. ”

“ Do we wish to do right? You answer, yes. Then let the Lamanites come back to their homes, where they were born and brought up. This is the land that they and their fathers have walked over and called their own; and they have just as good a right to call it theirs to-day as any people have to call any land their own. ”

“ And it came to pass that we did wait to receive provisions and strength from the land of Zarahemla.
5 But behold, this did profit us but little; for the Lamanites were also receiving great strength from day to day, and also many provisions; and thus were our circumstances at this period of time.
6 And the Lamanites were sallying forth against us from time to time, resolving by stratagem to destroy us; nevertheless we could not come to battle with them, because of their retreats and their strongholds. ”

“ In reality, there was an ocean of mountains all around me, but in the dim light of the hour, and as I looked down upon them, it seemed to me that I stood in the centre of a plain, boundless as the universe; and though I could not see them, I felt that I was in a region of spirits, and that the summit of the mount was holy ground. But the morning was advancing, and the rising mists obscuring my vision, and, as I did not wish to have that day-break picture dissipated from my mind, I mounted my faithful horse, and with a solemn awe at heart descended the mountain. ”

“ As I came through the valley, fair and far,
As drowning men look up and see a star,
The fading shore of my lost Used-to-be;
And like an arrow in my heart I heard
The last sad notes of Hope's expiring bird,
As I came through the valley.
As I came through the valley desolate,
As I came through the valley, like a beam
Of lurid lightning I beheld a gleam
Of Love's great eyes that now were full of hate.
Dear God! Dear God! I could bear all but that;
But I fell down soul-stricken, dead, thereat,
As I came through the valley. ”

“ I dream all the songs that I sing;
And the music floats down the dim Valley,
Till each finds a word for a wing,
That to men, like the Dove of the Deluge,
A message of Peace they may bring.
But far on the deep there are billows
That never shall break on the beach;
And I have heard songs in the Silence
That never shall float into speech;
And I have had dreams in the Valley
Too lofty for language to reach.
And I have seen Thoughts in the Valley—
Ah, me! how my spirit was stirred!
And they wear holy veils on their faces,
Their footsteps can scarcely be heard ”

“ All these mountains and this beautiful lake were then the heritage of a brave and noble-hearted people, who made war only upon the denizens of the forest, whose lives were peaceful as a dream, and whose manly forms, decorated with the plumes of the eagle, the feathers of the scarlet bird, and the robe of the bounding stag, tended but to make the scenery of the wilderness beautiful as an earthly Eden. ”

“ From that summit you would see nothing but a vast dim desert, mountain and forest, mountain and forest, where you might wander for years, or until you perished of hunger, or fever, or were slain by some beast of prey or by savage men; but oh, Rima, never, never, never would you find your people, for they exist not. You have seen the false water of the mirage on the savannah, when the sun shines bright and hot ”

“ Nothing could exceed the beauty of the sky, loaded in one part with dense clouds of a most peculiar crimson, while in another the moon was dispersing the lightest of snowy vapours, and the air was of the clearest blue. ”

“ And the wind full of wantonness wooes like a lover
The young aspen-trees, [11]
till they tremble all over.
When the East is as warm as the light of first hopes,
And day with his banner of radiance unfurled
Shines in thro' the mountainous portal [12] that opes,
Sublime, from that Valley of bliss to the world!
But never yet by night or day,
In dew of spring or summer's ray,
Did the sweet Valley shine so gay
As now it shines--all love and light,
Visions by day and feasts by night!
A happier smile illumes each brow ”

“ A short distance from this village are two isolated mountains, whence may be seen a most magnificent panorama of the wilderness, and when viewed at sunset presents more the appearance of dream land than reality. These mountains from time immemorial have been used as the altars where Indian war parties have offered up their sacrifices, previous to going to battle. ”

“ As the clouds towards nightfall melt away on a fine summer evening into the clear amber of the west, leaving a soft and unbroken azure whereon the stars may shine through; so the troubles of life, its vain regrets and vainer desires, vanished before the calm close of existence—the hopes of Heaven rose steadfast at last—the light shone from the windows of her home as she approached unto it. ”

“ Shepherds are tending their flocks; a solitary ploughman, with his oxen, is turning up the soil; and in the rude vessels passing into the haven of a growing village, and in the skeleton of a barque building on the shore, we perceive the commencement of Commerce. From a rude temple on a hill the smoke of sacrifice is ascending to the sky, symbolizing the spirit of Religion. In the foreground, on the left hand, is seated an old man, who, by describing strange figures in the sand, seems to have made some geometrical discovery, demonstrating the infancy of Science. ”

“ The mountain of God is a fertile mountain, the mountain in which it pleased God to dwell.’ The apostolic band lifting the true ark of the Lord God on their shoulders, as the priests of old the typical ark, and placing thy body in the tomb, made it, as if another Jordan, the way to the true land of the gospel, the heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of all the faithful, God being its Lord and architect. ”

“ Let this north wall be one of the mountains, and the south wall be taken for another of the mountains, and let all the aisles and the pews be the valley between, for there are thousands here to-day without one pulsation of spiritual life. ”

“ Far below us are valley and vineyard and a sea with no haze. Our lungs are so full that we cannot commit “the sin against the Holy Spirit”; we cannot sit still. There is dancing, there is singing in the air, and, as we turn to more sedate philosophy, it is as if we were suddenly to leave sun, wind, and valley for the cloistered dust of a dark room. ”

“ How many a mystic tree hath this whirlwind of wonderment snatched by the roots, how many a soul hath it exhausted. For in this Valley the traveler is flung into confusion, albeit, in the eye of him who hath attained, such marvels are esteemed and well beloved. At every moment he beholdeth a wondrous world, a new creation, and goeth from astonishment to astonishment, and is lost in awe at the works of the Lord of Oneness. ”

“ Again, a river of pure white foam rolls swift but noiseless through unpeopled valleys, hemmed in by airy mountains of wondrous height, until its waters empty into a tranquil sea, boundless and ‘beautiful exceedingly;’ and on this, a myriad of swanlike barges are gliding to and fro, without a breeze, while the voyagers are striking their golden harps, and singing hymns of sweetest strain and holiest import, whose echoes die away on the shadowy waves. ”

“ Drenched in light and colour, the Valley lay dreaming amid a peaceful loveliness that woke what seemed impossible, unrealizable, longings in my heart. I yearned towards its groves and temples, I would bathe my soul in that flood of tender light, and my body in the blue coolness of that winding river. In a thousand temples must I worship. ”

“ At others, looking upward, they saw ridge after ridge and range after range, each one barer and bleaker than the one below it, towering ever up and up like the steps of some titanic stairway which seemed to reach from earth to Heaven, and ever and anon from some ’vantage point of better view they saw far, beyond and above the highest of these, twinkling points of gleaming white, whiter than the cloud-sprays drifting in the mid-most heaven, so high and far away that it seemed as though they had as little kinship with the earth as the clouds themselves. ”