Mormon's Early Years (chapters 1–9)

And now I, Mormon, make a record of what I have both seen and heard, and I call it the Book of Mormon.

When I was about ten years old, I had already begun to learn the ways of my people. At that time, Ammaron came to me, and said, “I have noticed that you are a serious-minded child, quick to observe and learn. So remember what you now observe among this people. And when you are about twenty-four years old, go to Shim Hill in the land of Antum. In that hill, I have deposited all the Nephite records unto the Lord. Take out only Nephi’s plates, leaving the rest alone. Then engrave everything that you have observed about this people onto those plates.” I remembered what Ammaron told me to do.

I, Mormon, am a descendant of Nephi. My father’s name was also Mormon. When I was eleven years old, my father took me south to Zarahemla. The whole land had become covered with buildings, and the people were almost as numerous as the sands of the sea. A war broke out between the Nephites (which included Jacobites, Josephites and Zoramites) and the Lamanites (which included Lemuelites and Ishmaelites). The war was fought near the Sidon waters in the land of Zarahemla.

The Nephite army, with more than 30,000 men, beat the Lamanites in many battles that year, killing many of them. After the Lamanites retreated, there was peace for about four years. So much wickedness prevailed throughout the whole land that the Lord took away His beloved disciples along with their healing and miracles. From then on, there were no gifts from the Lord, for the Holy Ghost did not come upon anyone because of the wickedness and unbelief.

When I was fifteen, because I was a serious young man, the Lord visited me, and I tasted and knew of Jesus’s goodness. But when I attempted to preach to my people, my mouth was shut. I was forbidden to preach because my people had willfully rebelled against their God. I stayed among them, but said nothing about God because their hearts were so hard. The land was also cursed because of their hardened hearts. The Gadianton robbers among the Lamanites infested the land so much that the Nephites buried their treasure to keep it from being stolen. But their treasure became elusive, for the Lord’s curse was upon the land, and the Nephites could not find their buried treasures. There was also sorcery, witchcraft, and magic, for the power of the evil one was over the entire land. This condition fulfilled all of Abinadi’s and Samuel’s words.