Part 1

MOTHER STORIES

FROM THE

BOOK OF MORMON

By

William A. Morton

Author of

"The Gospel Primer"

"The Primary Helper"

"A Child's Life of Our Savior," etc.

Published by

William A. Morton

Salt Lake City, Utah

CONTENTS.

Lehi and his Family

How Nephi Got the Good Book

How the Lord Answered Nephi's Prayer

How the Lord Guided Lehi and His Family

What Happened on a Hunting Trip

Nephi as a Ship Builder

What Took Place on the Great Waters

Lehi and His People in the Promised Land

The Nephites and the Lamanites

Zeniff and His People

How the People of Zeniff were Brought into Bondage

How the Lord Delivered His People

Remarkable Conversions and Missionary Experience

Mission of the Sons of Mosiah to the Lamanites

Samuel the Lamanite--His Prophecies and their Fulfillment

Two Memorable Battles

Christ's Visit to the Nephites

The Three Nephites

The Reign of Peace

The Last of the Nephites

LEHI AND HIS FAMILY.

So you want me to tell you a story, children. I will gladly do so, for when I was a child like one of you, I loved to listen to stories, too--stories about great and good men and women, and good boys and girls.

The story I am going to tell you this evening is about a good man named Lehi, and his family, who lived many, many years ago in a country far across the sea.

Lehi had a good wife. Her name was Sariah. They had four sons. Their names were Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi. Nephi and Sam were very good boys. They loved their father and mother and were always obedient to them.

But Laman and Lemuel were not at all like their brothers. They did not obey their parents, but often vexed them by doing things that were wrong.

That was displeasing to our Heavenly Father, and He did not love Laman and Lemuel as He loved Sam and Nephi.

The people who lived in the same place as Lehi were wicked. They would not do as the Lord wished, so He said He would have to punish them, to teach them to do better. He told Lehi to go out among them, and to tell them that if they did not stop doing wicked things, He would not bless them as He had done, but would let people from another country come and take them away to be their servants.

Lehi preached many times to the people, but not one of them would believe what he said. Then the Lord told Lehi to gather his family together, and He would lead them to a new and beautiful country, far across great waters. That was to this land in which we now live.

Lehi did as the Lord told him. He left his home and all his riches, and, with his wife and children, started out for the strange land which the Lord had told him about.

I suppose you would like to know how they traveled. Well, I believe they rode on camels. Camels can travel fast and carry heavy loads. Some of them can travel one hundred miles in a day.

There were no houses in the part of the country through which Lehi and his family traveled, so they took tents with them to live in. One day they came to a large river of water. It ran through a beautiful valley. By the side of the river they put up their tents. Then they knelt in prayer, and Lehi gave thanks to God for having taken care of them on the way.

Lehi called the river Laman and the valley he called Lemuel. You know why he gave them those names. Yes, those were the names of his two elder sons.

I told you that Laman and Lemuel were disobedient boys. They were also unkind to their brothers. Their father, Lehi, would often sit down and talk kindly to them. He would plead with them to be good boys. He would tell them that if they would do right, and obey their parents, the Lord would love and bless them; but that He would not do so if they kept on grumbling and getting angry with their brothers.

Then Laman and Lemuel would say to their father, "We don't want to go to a new country. We want to go back to our old home and stay with the people there."

And their father would say, "but you know, my boys, the people there are not good; they do not do as our Heavenly Father wishes them, and He is going to punish them. That is why He told us to come away from them. If we had stayed there after the Lord told us to leave we should be punished also."

Then Nephi would say, "Yes, brothers, that is true. Now, let us be good boys, and do what the Lord and our parents tell us, and after a while we will get to a beautiful country, and we shall be far better and happier than we should be if we were to go back to the place we have left."

But Laman and Lemuel would not do as their father and brothers pleaded with them to do, and you will hear later what happened to them.

HOW NEPHI GOT THE GOOD BOOK.

One night as Lehi lay asleep on his bed in the tent, he heard a voice speak to him. It was the voice of the Lord out of heaven. The Lord said, "Lehi, I want you to get Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi to go back to the place where they used to live and to bring back with them a wonderful book which a man has locked up in his home there."

"What is the name of the man who has the book?" Lehi asked.

"His name is Laban," said the Lord, "and I do not want him to have the book, for he does not do what the good book tells him to do."

"What is in the book?" Lehi asked.

"It is a very precious history," said the Lord. "It tells of God and of many wonderful things which He has done. I want you to get the book and to take it with you to the promised land, so that your children may be taught the commandments of God."

The next morning Lehi told Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi all that the Lord had told him about the wonderful book. How happy Nephi and Sam felt as they listened to what their father said. Then said Nephi, "Yes, father, we will go and get the book; and when we come back you will read to us some of the wonderful things recorded in it."

"I will, my son," said the father. "But what is the matter with Laman and Lemuel?" asked Lehi, as he turned to his two elder sons.

O, how cross they looked as they said to their father, "We don't want to go for the book. We don't believe we could get it. We feel sure Laban would not let us have it, and perhaps he would whip us for coming for it."

"We are not afraid of Laban," said Nephi and Sam. "The Lord has told us to do this, and we know He will take care of us. He would not want us to go if He did not know that we could get the book."

"That is right," said the father. "If you will do what the Lord wants you to do, all will be well."

After a while Laman and Lemuel agreed to go with their brothers. But they did not believe they would get the book. It was a long journey to Laban's home, and the boys were glad when they came in sight of it.

"Now, who is to go and try to get the book?" asked Laman, the eldest son.

"I will tell you what we will do," said Nephi. "We will cast lots, and the one on whom the lot falls will go to Laban and ask him for the book."

They all agreed to that. The lot fell upon Laman, so he set out for Laban's home. For a long time his brothers watched for him to come back. At last they saw him. He came running away from Laban's house.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Nephi, "Laman has not got the book!"

They sat in silence till their brother came up to them. His face was very pale and he was trembling with excitement. He was also very angry.

Going over to Nephi, he said, with a loud voice, "I told you before we started that we would not get the book, but you would not believe me. Do you believe me now?"

"We are sorry," said Nephi, "that your visit to Laban was in vain. Will you please tell us why you failed to get the book?"

"When I told Laban what I wanted," said Laman, "he became very angry. He called me a thief and a robber, and said if I did not leave his house at once he would kill me. He reached for his sword, and I had to run as fast as I could to save my life. Come, let us go back to our father."

"No," said Nephi, "I am not going to give up with one trial. I still believe we will get the book."

"O, you do," said Laman, and he turned up his nose in a sneering way. "Pray, how do you hope to get the book when I could not get it?"

"I believe the Lord will help us to get it," said Nephi. "I have just thought of a plan, and if you boys will help me carry it out, it may be the means of getting us the book."

"Well, let us hear your plan," said Laman.

"It is this," said Nephi: "that we go down to the place where we used to live, get all the money our father left there, and come back and offer it to Laban for the book."

"That is a good idea," said Sam. "I am ready to go."

"I like the plan, too," said Lemuel. "Come, Laman, let us go and try it."

So the boys started for the home in which they used to live. Tomorrow evening I will tell you the rest of the story.

HOW NEPHI GOT THE GOOD BOOK.

On arriving at their home, Nephi and his brothers got all the money and put it into a large bag. Then they prepared a lunch with some of the food they had brought with them, and when they had finished the meal, they took up the bag of money and set out for Laban's home.

Now, Laban loved money very much, and when he saw the large bag of gold and silver his eyes sparkled with delight. "If I could get that bag of money," he thought, "I would be one of the richest men in the country."

But he did not want to give the book for it. No, he wanted to keep the book and the money, too. The boys sat waiting for Laban to go and get them the book. Suddenly he jumped up and gave a loud call for his servants, and when they came running into the room he told them that Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi had tried to rob him. Laban and the servants seized their swords and ran at the boys, trying to kill them. The boys ran quickly out of the house, leaving the bag of money behind them. Laban got it and kept it. Nephi and his brothers ran over the hills till they came to some large rocks, and there they hid themselves. Laban and his servants followed them a long way, and when they saw they could not catch them they returned home.

Failing to get the book, and seeing that they had lost all their money, Laman and Lemuel became very angry. They put all the blame on Nephi and Sam, and seizing two large branches of a tree, they began to beat their younger brothers with them. Nephi and Sam pleaded with their brothers to stop beating them, but they would not.

Just then Nephi saw a bright light coming down from heaven, and a moment later a beautiful angel, dressed in a shining, white robe, stood before them.

"You are very bad boys," the angel said to Laman and Lemuel. "The Lord is displeased with you because of the way you have treated your brothers. He has sent me to tell you that He will not bless you as He has done, and that He will give many good things to Sam and Nephi."

The angel told Nephi to dry his tears, and not to fear, for the Lord would help him to get the good book.

When Laman and Lemuel saw the angel they were frightened. They said they were sorry for having beaten their brothers, and that they would not do so again. They asked Nephi and Sam to forgive them. They did so freely.

Nephi then told his brothers to stay behind while he made another effort to get the book. It was almost dark at the time, so, without being seen, he made his way towards Laban's home. As he neared the place he saw a man lying upon the ground. He went over to him, and was greatly surprised to find that the man was Laban. Laban had drunk a great deal of wine that evening.

As Nephi stood looking at Laban, the voice of the Lord spoke to him, telling him to dress himself in Laban's clothes and to go to Laban's home and get the good book.

Nephi did as the Lord told him. On reaching the home of Laban he was met by one of the servants. Nephi told the servant to go and get the good book and to follow him. The servant did as he was told, thinking all the while that Nephi was his master, Laban, and that he was taking the book out to read to the people.

When Laman, Lemuel and Sam saw Nephi coming towards them, they were very much frightened and began to run away. They thought it was Laban; for, as I told you, Nephi had dressed himself in Laban's clothing.

Nephi called to his brothers to wait, and when they heard his voice they turned and came towards him.

Zoram (that was the name of Laban's servant) was greatly surprised at that moment. He saw that Nephi was not his master, and he was about to run back home when Nephi caught him by the arm.

"Do not have the least fear, Zoram," said Nephi. "The Lord has told us to do this, and if you will come down with us to our father and mother we will treat you kindly, and will take you with us to a beautiful country far across the great waters."

Zoram agreed to go with Nephi and his brethren. So, with the good book safe in their hands, they started back for the place where their father and mother were watching and waiting for them.

On seeing his sons coming, Lehi hastened to meet them, and when he heard that they had the good book with them he shed tears of joy. That evening they all knelt in prayer, and Lehi thanked and praised the Lord for bringing his boys back safely. Then he opened the book and read to them some of the wonderful things which the Lord had done from the creation of the world.

HOW THE LORD ANSWERED NEPHI'S PRAYER.

I am going to tell you this evening about another trip which Nephi and his brethren made to Jerusalem, the city where they came from, and what took place on the way back.

You see, the country they were going to was a very large country. There were no people living in it at that time. But the Lord wanted it filled with good men and women and good boys and girls.

So He told Lehi to send his sons back to Jerusalem to ask a man named Ishmael and his family, who lived there, to go with them to the wonderful country far across the great waters.

Ishmael had a number of beautiful daughters, and the Lord wanted Lehi's sons to marry some of them, so that they could have good families.

Lehi told his sons what the Lord wanted them to do, and they all said they would go. After traveling for a long time they arrived at the home of Ishmael. They were taken in and were treated very kindly.

Nephi told Ishmael why he and his brethren had come to his home. Then they all talked the matter over, and at last Ishmael and his family said they would go with Nephi and his brethren.

A day or two later the company started out for the place where Lehi and his wife were. All went well for a time; but after a while Laman and Lemuel and part of Ishmael's family stopped and said they would go no farther.

Nephi pleaded with them to continue the journey. He told them that if they would do as the Lord wanted them to do, He would take them across the great waters and land them safely in a beautiful country, where they would find all manner of choice fruit and other good things.

"We don't want to go to a new country," they answered, sharply. "We want to go back to our own home, and stay with the people there."

"Well," said Nephi, "you can go back if you want to, but if you do you will be sorry. The people you speak of are wicked, and the Lord is going to punish them. So if you go back you will be punished, too."

Then Laman spoke very sharply to Nephi. "We do not believe you," he said. "How do you know that the Lord is going to punish the people in the place where we used to live?"

"He told our father so," said Nephi, "and everything that the Lord says is true. You did not believe we would get the good book our father sent us for, but we did get it, just as the Lord said we would."

Then Laman and Lemuel and some of Ishmael's family grew very angry. They ran and caught Nephi and tied him with strong cords to a tree.

"You will not preach to us any more," they said. "We are going to go away and leave you here, and after a while wild beasts will come and kill and eat you."

Poor Nephi! What a terrible way to be treated by his own brothers! He was suffering great pain, for the cords were cutting his wrists and ankles. But he did not get angry, nor speak hard words to those who had so cruelly treated him. He knew the Lord would not let the wild beasts harm him, and after a time He would help him to get free.

A happy thought came to him: he would pray to the Lord to give him strength to break the cords. He looked up to heaven and said, "Dear Heavenly Father, I know you will not let me be left here to be killed by wild beasts. Please give me strength to break these cords, that I may be able to go back to my dear father and mother."

At that moment Nephi felt great strength come into his body. The Lord had heard and answered his prayer. He broke the cords as easily as if they had been tiny threads and stood forth free before his brethren.

When they saw what had happened, they began to tremble with fear. "Surely, the Lord is with Nephi," they said, and they came and bowed down before him and begged of him to forgive them.

What did Nephi do? He said, "My dear brothers, I freely forgive you for all the wrong you have done me. Now pray to our Father in Heaven to forgive you also."

They did so, and then the company began to travel again. They reached home in safety. Nephi and his brothers married four of the daughters of Ishmael, and after a time little baby boys and girls were born to them.

HOW THE LORD GUIDED LEHI AND HIS FAMILY.

This evening I am going to tell you how Lehi and his family were guided on their journey.

They were now a long way from their old home. They had not been in that part of the land before, and the place was new and strange to them. They could not ask anyone to tell them the way they should travel, for, as I told you, there was no one living in that part.

How were they to know which way they should go?

"I can see what is going to happen to us," said Laman one evening as they all sat outside their tents.

Nephi was reading the good book at the time, but on hearing what his brother said he stopped. Looking straight into the face of Laman, he asked, "What do you think is going to happen to us?"

"We are going to get lost; that is what is going to happen," said Laman, sharply.

"I don't think so," said Nephi, calmly, and a bright smile lit up his sweet face. "I am sure we will get to the wonderful country all right."

"O, yes," said Laman, as he cast a wicked glance at Nephi, "you are sure of everything. You know all and we know nothing. Isn't that so, boys?" he asked, turning to his other brothers and to the sons of Ishmael.

They all, with the exception of Sam, nodded their heads, which meant that they agreed with what Laman had said.

Then Sam spoke up in behalf of his brother: "I think," said he, "that you are all too hard on Nephi. It is a shame the way you have treated him. He is one of the best boys that ever lived, and I am proud to have him for my brother."

"Well, you won't feel so proud of him after a while," said Lemuel, "when he leads you away over those mountains and you get lost."

"Do not be afraid, Sam," said Nephi. "We will find the way all right."

"I know we will," said Sam, "and I will follow you, Nephi, wherever you go."

"And how do you know you will find the way?" Laman asked, turning to his brother Sam.

"I believe the Lord will show us the way," said Sam. "Indeed, I know He will, if we will have faith in Him and do what He tells us from time to time."

"That is true," said Nephi. "And now I want to tell you what I have just read in the good book. After Moses had led the children of Israel out of Egypt they came to the waters of the Red Sea. On looking back they saw Pharaoh and his army coming after them.

"'Oh, dear, what shall we do?' they cried. 'We cannot cross these waters. In a little while we will all be killed.'

"Then Moses stood up before them and said, 'Do not be afraid. The Lord will save yon from Pharaoh's army.' Then he stretched his rod across the waters, the sea divided, and all the children of Israel crossed over on dry ground. When they had reached the other side, Moses stretched forth his rod again, the waters came back and drowned Pharaoh and all his soldiers.

"Now, the lesson we can learn from this," Nephi added, "is that as the Lord led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, so He can lead us to the beautiful country He has told us about."

"That is a very good lesson, Nephi," said his father. "I am sure the Lord will guide us right. Let us now go into our tents and offer up our prayers before we retire to rest."

Nephi was the first to awake in the morning. He arose quietly and dressed himself. He decided to go out for a walk in the fresh air, and listen to the birds sing their sweet songs in the trees.

As he stepped outside the tent, to his great surprise he saw a large ball lying on the ground. He ran and picked it up. It was not like any other ball he had ever seen. It was made of fine brass, and it had two hands, like the hands of a watch.

He went quickly into the tent and awoke his father. "Look, father dear," he said, "at the beautiful brass ball I found lying outside our tent this morning."

Lehi took the ball and examined it carefully. As he looked at it one of the hands began to point in a certain direction.

"See, Nephi!" he exclaimed, "the hands are moving."

"So they are," said Nephi. "What a wonderful ball this is!"

Then all the rest of the company were awakened and shown the wonderful ball. As they looked on it with wondering eyes, Lehi said, "We need fear no longer, for if we are faithful the hands on the ball will point out to us the way we should go."

And so they did.

Where do you think the wonderful ball came from?

WHAT HAPPENED ON A HUNTING TRIP.

With the wonderful brass ball to guide them, Lehi, his family and the rest of the company took up their tents and started to travel again. It was a pretty sight to see them all in line crossing the river Laman.

When they had traveled for many days they decided to stop again for a short time. So they chose a cool place, by the side of a stream of clear, sparkling water, and there they put up their tents.

That evening Nephi and his brothers and the sons of Ishmael began to make preparations for a hunting trip, which they had decided to take the following morning. They were not going out to hunt for pleasure. No, it was for the purpose of getting food, for the only food the company had at that time was wild fruit and the flesh of wild animals.

I am sure you could not guess what kind of weapons they had.

"Guns?"

No, there were no guns in those days. They used bows and arrows, slings and stones. Some of the bows were made of wood and some of steel. Nephi had a good, steel bow. He and his brothers had practiced so much with their bows and arrows and slings that they were very good shots, but Nephi was the best of all. He could hit the mark almost every time.

Early the next morning the party of young hunters started off in search of food. They took the brass ball with them to point the way. They traveled for a long time without seeing an animal fit to kill.

At last they stopped suddenly. What was the noise they heard a short distance ahead of them? It was made by a fine, large animal, that jumped up frightened and started to run as the hunters drew near. It ran to the top of a small hill, and there it stood looking back at Nephi and his brethren.

Nephi quickly drew an arrow and placed it in his bow. He took good aim, and was just going to send the arrow through the air when his beautiful, steel bow broke in two. At the same moment the animal started to run again and was soon lost to sight.

Poor Nephi! How sorry he felt as he looked down at his broken bow. Then he cast a glance at Laman, and saw that his face was pale with anger. He wished he had let one of the others shoot, but it was now too late to mend matters.