Mosiah 28

After the king’s sons traveled and taught across the land, they came to their father and asked his permission to go to the land of Nephi and teach their relatives, the Lamanites. They thought it possible that the Lamanites could be cured of their hatred toward the Nephites and be restored to God. The notion that anyone would have to endure the endless torment of hell that awaited unbelievers was unbearable to them. [92 BC]

The Spirit of God had converted them from the worst of sinners to the most faithful of believers, but they still suffered anguish for their past and were concerned about the sufficiency of their repentance. After they had pleaded for many days with King Mosiah to go teach among the Lamanites, the King sought guidance from God. “Let them go, because many will believe them,” God said to the King. After they’d left, King Mosiah had no one to pass the kingdom on to. All of his sons had declined his offer.

For solace, King Mosiah brought out the golden plates with the ancient writing that Limhi had brought with him. Using the magic seer stones, he translated the Jaredite records from the time of the Tower of Babel through the total destruction of the Jaredite people. His people had been anxious to know what was written on the golden plates. When he told them the story of the Jaredites, they felt sorrow for the deaths of so many, but glad to have the knowledge of God that the records contained.

King Mosiah took out all the records that had been preserved and saved by his ancestors: the brass plates from Jerusalem, Nephi’s large and small plates, the Jaredite records, and the records of Zeniff, Alma and Limhi, and gave them to Alma’s son, along with the magic seer stones that permitted interpretation. The king commanded the younger Alma to also keep and preserve them, add his own records, and hand them down safely to the next generation as had been done since Lehi left Jerusalem.