The Book of Mormon

Mormon 1

I, Mormon, am a direct descendant of Nephi. This is a record of the things that I’ve seen and heard.

When I was 10 years old, the Nephite record keeper named Ammaron came to me and said, “I can see that you area serious child who observes everything well. When you are about 24 years old I want you to remember everything that you’ve observed about our people, and go to a hill called Shim in the land of Antum. I have buried the sacred records of our people there. I want you to take out the plates of Nephi and add your account to the records that you find there.” [AD 321]

When I was 11 years old my father took me south, into the land of Zarahemla. On our journey I saw buildings covering the land and people as numerous as grains of sand in the sea. At that time there was a war occurring between the Nephites and the Lamanites along the borders of Zarahemla. The Nephites assembled an army of 30,000 soldiers, and in a succession of battles defeated the Lamanites and killed many of them. When the Lamanites withdrew, there was peace in the land for a period of four years. But because of our people’s sinfulness, God removed his disciples and their miracles from among us. God also withdrew his gifts and the presence of the Holy Ghost due to our unworthiness. [AD 322]

When I was 15 years old God visited me, and allowed me to taste and know the goodness of Jesus Christ. I wanted to preach to my people but my mouth was closed, and I was forbidden to do so because my people had willfully rebelled against God. The land was cursed because of the stubbornness of the people, but I stayed there anyway, and observed. The Gadianton Robbers infested the lands and aligned themselves with the Lamanites. When they tried to hide their treasures in the earth, they found that the curses on the land made their treasures so slippery that they couldn’t pick them up or hold onto them. There was sorcery, witchcraft, and magic everywhere. The devil’s power was set loose among us, and the prophecies of Abinadi and Samuel the Lamanite were fulfilled. [AD 326]