A Time of Peace and Unity
The 34th year passed. Then the 35th year passed. The followers of Jesus had started a church of Christ in all the lands. Everyone who came to them and felt sorry for their sins was baptized in Jesus’ name. They also received the Holy Spirit.
In the 36th year, all the people turned to the Lord. This happened everywhere in the land. Both the Nephites and Lamanites turned to God. There was no fighting or arguing. Everyone treated each other fairly. They shared everything they had. So there were no rich and poor people. There were no slaves and free people. They were all free. They all shared in God’s gift. The 37th year passed. There was still peace in the land.
The followers of Jesus did great and amazing things. They healed sick people. They brought dead people back to life. They made people who could not walk get up and walk. They made blind people see. They made deaf people hear. They did all kinds of miracles. They always did these miracles in Jesus’ name. The 38th year passed. Then the 39th, 41st, and 42nd years passed. Even the 49th, 51st, and 52nd years passed. Even 59 years had passed. The Lord helped them do very well in the land. They rebuilt cities where cities had been burned. They even rebuilt that great city Zarahemla. But there were many cities that had sunk into the ground. Water came up where they used to be. So these cities could not be rebuilt.
The Nephite people grew strong. They had many children very quickly. They became a very good and wonderful people. They got married. God blessed them with all the things he had promised them. They stopped following the law of Moses. Instead, they followed the teachings they had received from their Lord and God. They kept fasting and praying. They met together often to pray and hear God’s word. There was no fighting anywhere in the land. But the followers of Jesus did many powerful miracles.
One Hundred Years of Happiness
The 71st year passed. Then the 72nd and 79th years passed. Even 100 years had passed. The followers Jesus had chosen had all gone to God’s paradise. The only ones left were the three who would stay on earth. Other followers were chosen to take their place. Many people from that first group had died. There was no fighting in the land. This was because God’s love lived in people’s hearts. There was no jealousy or fighting. There were no riots. There was no sexual sin or lying or murder. There was no evil behavior at all. There could not be a happier people than those God had created. There were no robbers or murderers. There were no Lamanites or any other groups. They were all one people. They were the children of Christ. They would inherit God’s kingdom. How blessed they were! The Lord blessed them in everything they did. They were blessed and did well until 110 years had passed. The first group of people after Christ had died. There was no fighting anywhere in the land.
Nephi kept this last record. He kept it on the plates of Nephi. Then he died. His son Amos kept the record after him. He also kept it on the plates of Nephi. He kept the record for 84 years. There was still peace in the land. But a small group of people left the church. They called themselves Lamanites. So there were Lamanites in the land again. Amos died. It was 194 years since Christ had come. His son Amos kept the record after him. He also kept it on the plates of Nephi. It was also written in the book of Nephi. That is this book. Two hundred years had passed. Almost everyone from the second group of people had died.
Pride Begins to Grow
I, Mormon, want you to know that the people had many children. They spread across the whole land. They had become very rich because they did well in Christ. In this 201st year, some people became proud. They wore expensive clothes and fine pearls. They loved the nice things of the world. From that time on, they stopped sharing their things with each other. They split into different groups. They started building churches to make money. They stopped believing in Christ’s true church.
False Churches Spread
When 210 years had passed, there were many churches in the land. Many churches said they knew Christ. But they denied most of his teachings. They did all kinds of wicked things. They let unworthy people do sacred things that were forbidden for them. This church grew very big. It grew because of sin and because Satan had power over their hearts. There was another church that did not believe in Christ. They hurt the true church of Christ. They looked down on them because they were humble and believed in Christ. They hated them because of all the miracles they did. So they used their power over the followers of Jesus who stayed with them. They threw them in prison. But God’s word was in them. So the prisons broke apart. They went out and did great miracles.
But even after all these miracles, the people made their hearts hard. They tried to kill them. This was just like the Jews in Jerusalem tried to kill Jesus. They threw them into ovens full of fire. But they came out without any harm. They also threw them into caves with wild animals. The followers played with the wild animals like a child plays with a lamb. They came out without any harm. But the people made their hearts hard. Many priests and false prophets led them to build many churches. They did all kinds of bad things. They attacked the people of Jesus. But the people of Jesus did not fight back. So they grew weaker in their faith and became more wicked year after year. This went on until 230 years had passed.
The People Split Apart
In this year, the 231st year, there was a big split among the people. In this year, a group of people called themselves Nephites. They were true believers in Christ. Some of them were called Jacobites, Josephites, and Zoramites by the Lamanites. So the true believers and worshipers of Christ were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, and Zoramites. The three followers of Jesus who would stay on earth were among them. The people who rejected the gospel were called Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. They did not slowly lose their faith. They chose to turn against Christ’s gospel on purpose. They taught their children not to believe. This was just like their fathers had slowly lost faith long ago. It was because of their fathers’ wickedness and terrible sins. This was just like in the beginning. They were taught to hate God’s children. This was just like the Lamanites were taught to hate Nephi’s children from the beginning.
Wickedness Takes Over
Two hundred and forty-four years had passed. This is how things were with the people. The wicked people grew strong. There were far more of them than there were people of God. They kept building churches for themselves. They decorated them with all kinds of valuable things. Two hundred and fifty years passed. Then 260 years passed. The wicked people started to build up the secret promises and groups of Gadianton again. Also, the people called the Nephites started to be proud because they were very rich. They became vain like their brothers, the Lamanites. From this time, the followers of Jesus began to feel sad about the sins of the world.
When 300 years had passed, both the Nephites and Lamanites had become very wicked. They were just the same. The robbers of Gadianton spread everywhere in the land. No one was good except the followers of Jesus. The wicked people stored up gold and silver. They bought and sold all kinds of things.
The Records Are Hidden
After 305 years had passed, the people were still wicked. Amos died. His brother Ammaron kept the record after him. When 320 years had passed, the Holy Spirit told Ammaron to hide the sacred records. He hid all the sacred records that had been passed down from group to group. He did this in the 320th year since Christ had come. He hid them for the Lord. They would come back to what was left of Jacob’s family. This would happen just as the Lord had said it would. This is the end of Ammaron’s record.