Soon after Moroni sent his letter to the Chief Governor, he got a letter back from Pahoran, the Chief Governor. This is what Pahoran wrote:
Pahoran’s Letter to Moroni
I, Pahoran, am the Chief Governor of this land. I send these words to Moroni, the Chief Captain over the army. I am not happy about your troubles. They make me sad.
Rebels Take Over
But there are people who are happy about your troubles. They have turned against me. They have turned against the free people too. Many people have joined them. These people tried to take my job as governor. They have caused this great sin. They used nice words to trick people. They led many people away from what is right. This will cause us a lot of trouble. They kept our supplies from reaching you. They scared our free men so they would not come help you.
They forced me to leave. I ran to the land of Gideon. I took as many men as I could.
I sent a message all through this part of the land. Now people are joining us every day. They are getting their weapons. They want to defend our country and our freedom. They want to make things right. So many people have come to us that the rebels are afraid. They fear us. They don’t dare come out to fight us.
They took control of the city of Zarahemla. They chose a king to lead them. He wrote to the king of the Lamanites. He made a deal with him. In this deal, he agreed to let the Lamanites keep the city of Zarahemla. He thinks this will help the Lamanites win the rest of the land. Then the Lamanites will make him king over all the people when they are beaten.
Pahoran Defends Himself
In your letter, you spoke against me. But that doesn’t matter. I am not angry. I am happy about your strong heart. I, Pahoran, don’t want power. I only want to keep my job as governor so I can protect the rights and freedom of my people. I stand strong for that freedom. God made us free. We will fight evil even if it costs us our lives. We would not fight the Lamanites if they stayed in their own land. We would not fight our own people if they did not turn against us and fight us. We would become slaves if God’s justice needed that. We would do it if God told us to. But God does not tell us to let our enemies win. He tells us to trust him. He will save us.
So, my dear brother Moroni, let us fight evil. When we can’t stop evil with words, like when people rebel and turn away, we must stop them with our swords. We must keep our freedom. We must be happy about our church and the work of our Savior and our God.
The Plan to Fight Back
Come to me quickly with a few of your men. Leave the rest of the army with Lehi and Teancum. Give them power to run the war in that part of the land. Let them follow the Spirit of God. That is also the spirit of freedom in them. I sent them some food so they won’t starve before you get here.
Gather all the men you can as you come here. We will go quickly against those rebels. We will trust God to give us strength. We will trust in our faith. We will take back the city of Zarahemla. Then we can get more food to send to Lehi and Teancum. We will attack them with the Lord’s strength. We will stop this great sin.
Moroni, I am happy I got your letter. I was worried about what we should do. I didn’t know if it was right for us to fight our own people. But you said that the Lord told you to fight them if they don’t change their ways.
Help Lehi and Teancum trust the Lord. Tell them not to be afraid. God will save them. He will save all those who hold on to the freedom God gave them. I will end my letter now to my dear brother Moroni.