Trying to Get Back the City of Manti
Our next goal was to get the city of Manti back. But there was no way we could lead them out of the city with our small groups. They remembered what we had done before. So we could not trick them away from their forts. They had many more soldiers than we did. So we did not dare go and attack them in their forts. We needed to use our men to keep the land we still had. So we had to wait to get more soldiers from the land of Zarahemla. We also needed more food.
So I sent a message to the governor of our land. I told him about our people. We waited to get food and more soldiers from the land of Zarahemla. But this did not help us much. The Lamanites were also getting more soldiers every day. They were also getting a lot of food. This is how things were for us at this time. The Lamanites came out against us from time to time. They tried to trick us and destroy us. But we could not fight them because they went back to their forts.
Praying for Help
We waited in this hard time for many months. We almost died because we had no food. Then we got food. An army of 2,000 men brought it to us. This was all the help we got to keep ourselves and our country safe from our enemies. We had to fight an enemy that had too many soldiers to count.
We did not know why they did not send us more help. So we were sad and scared. We were afraid that God might judge our land and destroy us. So we prayed hard to God. We asked him to make us strong and save us from our enemies. We asked him to help us keep our cities and our lands. We needed them to take care of our people. The Lord our God answered us. He told us he would save us. He brought peace to our hearts. He gave us great faith. He made us hope that he would save us. We took courage with the small army we had. We decided to beat our enemies. We wanted to keep our lands and homes. We wanted to keep our wives and children safe. We wanted to stay free.
The Plan to Win Back Manti
So we went with all our strength against the Lamanites in the city of Manti. We set up our tents near the wild lands close to the city. The next day the Lamanites saw that we were near the wild lands by the city. They sent out spies all around us. They wanted to find out how many soldiers we had and how strong we were. When they saw that we did not have many soldiers, they got worried. They were afraid we would cut them off from their supplies. So they thought they needed to come out and fight us and kill us. They thought they could easily destroy us because they had so many soldiers. So they got ready to come out and fight us.
When we saw that they were getting ready to come out against us, I told Gid to hide in the wild lands with a small group of men. I also told Teomner to hide in the wild lands with a small group of men. Gid and his men were on the right. The others were on the left. After they hid, I stayed with the rest of my army in the same place where we had set up our tents. We waited for the Lamanites to come out to fight.
The Lamanites came out with their big army against us. When they came and were about to attack us with swords, I told my men to go back into the wild lands. The Lamanites ran after us very fast. They really wanted to catch us and kill us. So they followed us into the wild lands. We ran past Gid and Teomner. The Lamanites did not see them.
When the Lamanite army had gone by, Gid and Teomner came out of their hiding places. They killed the Lamanite spies so they could not go back to the city. After they killed the spies, they ran to the city. They attacked the guards who were left to protect the city. They destroyed them and took over the city. This worked because the Lamanites let almost their whole army be led away into the wild lands. They left only a few guards.
So Gid and Teomner took over their forts. Then we traveled far in the wild lands toward the land of Zarahemla.
The Lamanites Retreat
When the Lamanites saw that we were going toward the land of Zarahemla, they got very scared. They thought we had a plan to destroy them. So they started going back into the wild lands. They went back the same way they had come. When night came, they set up their tents. The Lamanite captains thought the Nephites were tired from walking. They thought they had chased our whole army. So they did not think about the city of Manti.
That night I told my men not to sleep. I told them to march forward a different way toward the land of Manti. Because we marched at night, by the next day we were ahead of the Lamanites. We got to the city of Manti before they did. So with this plan we took over the city of Manti. No one had to die.
When the Lamanite armies got near the city and saw that we were ready to meet them, they were very surprised. They got very scared. So they ran into the wild lands.
Report to Moroni
The Lamanite armies ran away from all of this part of the land. But they took many women and children with them. All the cities that the Lamanites had taken are now ours. Our fathers, women, and children are going back to their homes. The only ones not going home are the prisoners the Lamanites took with them.
But our armies are small. It is hard to keep so many cities and so much land. But we trust our God. He has helped us win these lands. So we have got back the cities and lands that were ours.
We do not know why the government does not give us more soldiers. The men who came to us do not know why we have not got more help either. We do not know if you are losing battles. Maybe you have sent the soldiers to another part of the land. If so, we do not want to complain. But if that is not true, we are afraid that some group in the government does not want to send more men to help us. We know they have more soldiers than they have sent.
But it does not matter. We trust God will save us. He will save us from our enemies. It does not matter that our armies are small.
This is near the end of the twenty-ninth year. We have our lands. The Lamanites have run away to the land of Nephi.
The Young Warriors Stay Safe
The sons of the people of Ammon, who I have talked about so much, are with me in the city of Manti. The Lord has kept them safe. He has kept them from dying by the sword. Not one of them has been killed. But they have been hurt many times. They still stand strong in the freedom that God has given them. They remember the Lord their God every day. They keep his rules and commands. Their faith is strong in what God has said will happen.
My dear brother Moroni, may the Lord our God who saved us and made us free keep you safe in his care. May he help this people. May you win back everything the Lamanites took from us. We needed those things to take care of our people. This is the end of my letter. I am Helaman, the son of Alma.