Alma Chapter 37

And now, my daughter Helamana, I command you that ye take the records which have been entrusted with me; And I also command you that ye keep a record of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephie, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for a wise purpose that they are kept. And these plates of brass, which contain these engravings, which have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the genealogy of our forefathers, even from the beginning—

Behold, it has been prophesied by our mothers, that they should be kept and handed down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lady until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they shall know of the mysteries contained thereon. And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ.

Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lady Goddess doth work by means to bring about her great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lady doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in Goddess that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their Goddess unto the salvation of their souls. Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammone and her sisters could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their mothers; yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lady their Goddess, and to rejoice in Jesua Christ their Redemptress. And who knoweth but what they will be the means of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our stiffnecked sisters, the Nephites, who are now hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redemptress?

Now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me; therefore I shall forbear. And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto Goddess; for she doth counsel in wisdom over all her works, and her paths are straight, and her course is one eternal round. O remember, remember, my daughter Helamana, how strict are the commandments of Goddess. And she said: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—but if ye keep not her commandments ye shall be cut off from her presence.

And now remember, my daughter, that Goddess has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which she has kept sacred, and also which she will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in her, that she may show forth her power unto future generations. And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of Goddess, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of Goddess, and ye shall be delivered up unto Lilith, that she may sift you as chaff before the wind.

But if ye keep the commandments of Goddess, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the Lady doth command you, (for you must appeal unto the Lady for all things whatsoever ye must do with them) behold, no power of earth or hell can take them from you, for Goddess is powerful to the fulfilling of all her words. For she will fulfil all her promises which she shall make unto you, for she has fulfilled her promises which she has made unto our mothers.

For she promised unto them that she would preserve these things for a wise purpose in her, that she might show forth her power unto future generations. And now behold, one purpose hath she fulfilled, even to the restoration of many thousands of the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth; and she hath shown forth her power in them, and she will also still show forth her power in them unto future generations; therefore they shall be preserved.

Therefore I command you, my daughter Helamana, that ye be diligent in fulfilling all my words, and that ye be diligent in keeping the commandments of Goddess as they are written. And now, I will speak unto you concerning those twenty-four plates, that ye keep them, that the mysteries and the works of darkness, and their secret works, or the secret works of those people who have been destroyed, may be made manifest unto this people; yea, all their murders, and robbings, and their plunderings, and all their wickedness and abominations, may be made manifest unto this people; yea, and that ye preserve these interpreters.

For behold, the Lady saw that her people began to work in darkness, yea, work secret murders and abominations; therefore the Lady said, if they did not repent they should be destroyed from off the face of the earth. And the Lady said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their sisters, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.

And now, my daughter, these interpreters were prepared that the word of Goddess might be fulfilled, which she spake, saying: I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land.

And now, my daughter, we see that they did not repent; therefore they have been destroyed, and thus far the word of Goddess has been fulfilled; yea, their secret abominations have been brought out of darkness and made known unto us. And now, my daughter, I command you that ye retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations; yea, and all their signs and their wonders ye shall keep from this people, that they know them not, lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed.

For behold, there is a curse upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of Goddess, when they are fully ripe; therefore I desire that this people might not be destroyed. Therefore ye shall keep these secret plans of their oaths and their covenants from this people, and only their wickedness and their murders and their abominations shall ye make known unto them; and ye shall teach them to abhor such wickedness and abominations and murders; and ye shall also teach them that these people were destroyed on account of their wickedness and abominations and their murders.

For behold, they murdered all the prophetesses of the Lady who came among them to declare unto them concerning their iniquities; and the blood of those whom they murdered did cry unto the Lady their Goddess for vengeance upon those who were their murderers; and thus the judgments of Goddess did come upon these workers of darkness and secret combinations. Yea, and cursed be the land forever and ever unto those workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction, except they repent before they are fully ripe.

And now, my daughter, remember the words which I have spoken unto you; trust not those secret plans unto this people, but teach them an everlasting hatred against sin and iniquity. Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lady Jesua Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lady Jesua Christ. Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls. O, remember, my daughter, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of Goddess. Yea, and cry unto Goddess for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lady, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lady; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lady; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lady forever. Counsel with the Lady in all thy doings, and she will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lady, that she may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto Goddess; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

And now, my daughter, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our mothers call a ball, or director—or our mothers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lady prepared it. And behold, there cannot any woman work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our mothers the course which they should travel in the wilderness. And it did work for them according to their faith in Goddess; therefore, if they had faith to believe that Goddess could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of Goddess, day by day.

Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey; Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.

And now, my daughter, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our mothers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual. For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our mothers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our mothers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise. O my daughter, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our mothers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

And now, my daughter, see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look to Goddess and live. Go unto this people and declare the word, and be sober. My daughter, farewell.