Mormon 2:13-15

But I was mistaken. Their sorrow was not the kind that led them to change and hope in God. Rather, they were sad that God condemned them instead of letting them be happy while doing wrong. They did not offer their hearts to Jesus but cursed God and wished to die. Still, they struggled with the sword for their lives. When I saw that their chance for help from God had passed for either earthly or eternal salvation, I became sad again. I saw thousands of them, in open rebellion against their God, cut down and heaped like dung on the earth. In this way, the year 344 ended.

Mormon 2:8-12

However, the land was filled with robbers and Lamanites. Despite the destruction that threatened my people, they did not repent of their evil doings. The result was blood and carnage all over the land among both Nephites and Lamanites. Everything was in revolution. During this time, Aaron, the Lamanite king, came against us with 44,000 soldiers. I defeated him with 42,000, and they ran from us. After this, the year 330 ended.

At this time, the Nephites began to mourn, just has Samuel had prophesied. No one could keep anything because of the thieves, murderers, and sorcerers. All through the land, the people cried, and especially among the Nephites. I, Mormon, was happy to see their sorrow before the Lord, because I thought it was genuine repentance. I know that the Lord is forgiving and patient, so I hoped that they would be blessed and become righteous again.

Mormon 2:1-7

In that same year, war began again between the Nephites and Lamanites. Though I was young, I was large in stature, so the Nephites appointed me to lead their armies. Therefore, while still 15 years old, I went out at the head of a Nephite army against the Lamanites.

In the next year, the 327^th since the sign of Christ's birth, the Lamanites attacked us with such extreme power that they frightened my armies into retreat toward the north. When we came to the city of Angola, we took possession of it and prepared to defend ourselves. We used all our strength to fortify the city, but the Lamanites still attacked and drove us out. Then they drove us out of the land of David. From there we marched to Joshua, in the western borders by the sea, and we gathered our people together in one place as fast as possible.

Mormon 1:13-19

Despite this, across the whole land, the people lived wickedly. Therefore, the Lord took away his three cherished disciples. Also, miracles and healing stopped. There were no gifts from the Lord. The Holy Ghost inspired no one. All this was because the people were wicked and did not believe God.

When I was 15 years old, still being of a serious mind, the Lord visited me. In this way, I personally experienced the goodness of Jesus. Therefore, I tried hard to preach to this people, but God did not let me. They had willingly rebelled against Him. Though his three disciples were taken away, I remained among the people. Still, I was forbidden to preach to them because of the hardness of their hearts. The land was also cursed for them because of their hardness.

During this time, the Gadianton robbers, who were among the Lamanites, infested the land again. Therefore, the people began to hide their treasures underground, but they couldn't find them again afterwards because the Lord had cursed the land. The people also practiced magic arts, and the evil one worked his power on all the land. Thus were fulfilled the words of Abinadi and Samuel the Lamanite.

Mormon 1:1-12

Now I, Mormon, start my record of the things that I myself have seen and heard. I call it the Book of Mormon. I am a descendant of Nephi, and my father's name was also Mormon.

About the time Ammaron hid the records for the Lord's purposes, he came to visit me. I was about ten years old at the time, and I had made good progress in my education. When he visited, Ammaron said to me, "I can tell that you are a serious child and that you are good at understanding the things that go on around you. Therefore, when you are about 24 years old, I want you to remember what you have observed in this society. At that age, go to the land Antum to a hill you'll find called Shim. That is where I have hidden for the Lord all the sacred histories about this people.

"Remember to take the plates of Nephi with you and leave the rest where they are. Then you must engrave on Nephi's plates everything you have observed about this people." I remembered what he told me to do.

When I was 11 years old, my father took me to the land southward, to Zarahemla. All the land had been covered with buildings, and the people were almost as numerous as the sand of the sea.

In that year, a war started between the Nephites and Lamanites. The Nephites consisted of the Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, and Zoramites. The Lamanites consisted of Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. The war started in the borders of Zarahemla, by the waters of Sidon. The Nephites gathered a large army of more than 30,000 men. They had some battles in which the Nephites won and also killed many Lamanites. Therefore the Lamanites gave up, and there was no more war for about four years.

3 Nephi 27:8-12

"How is it my church unless it has my name? If a church is named after Moses, it is Moses's church. The same would hold for any other person. However, if it has my name and if it is built on my good message, then it is my church. You are truly built on my message, so name things after me. If you ask the Father to help the church, in my name, the Father will hear you. If the church is built on my message, the Father will show his own works in it.

"If a church is not built on my message but instead on the works of people or of the enemy, they might enjoy their works for a while, but eventually the end will come. Then they will be cut down and thrown in the fire from which there is no return. Their works follow them, and their works are why they are cut down. So, remember what I have told you.

3 Nephi 27:1-7

Sometime after this, Jesus's disciples were traveling and preaching what they had heard and seen, and they were also baptizing people in Jesus's name. During this time, they gathered together and were united in powerful prayer and fasting. Jesus appeared to them again because they were praying to the Father in his name. He came and stood in the middle of them and asked, "What do you want me to give to you?"

They said to him, "Lord, we want you to tell us the name that we should call this church because the people have argued about it."

The Lord said to them, "Truly, why do the people to complain and argue about this? Have they not read the holy writings that say you must take on yourselves the name of Christ, which is my name? Whoever takes on my name and endures to the end will be saved at the last day. You will be called by this name at that time. Therefore, whatever you do should be in my name and you shall call the church by my name. You must also call on the Father in my name to bless the church for me.

3 Nephi 22:6-12

The Lord has called you as an abandoned and distressed woman. You were like the rejected wife of a young man. I have abandoned you for a small moment, but I will bring you back with great compassion. While a little angry, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with endless kindness I will have mercy on you, says your rescuer, Jehovah. Just as I promised Noah that I would not flood the whole earth again, I have promised not to be angry with you. The mountains will vanish, but neither my kindness nor my promise of peace will leave you.

You who are tossed helplessly in the storm, see how I decorate your land with colorful gemstones. I lay sapphires for your foundation and make your windows out of agates. I make your gates out of garnets and all your borders of delightful stones.

3 Nephi 22:1-5

At that time, the things in these writings will happen: Sing aloud, you who had no children. The Lord says that she without children will have more than the married wife. Enlarge the area for your tent. Let them stretch out the fabric walls of your living area. Do not hold back. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, because you will spill out on both sides. Your descendants will inherit the foreigners' lands and fill up the empty cities.

Do not be afraid, because you will not be ashamed or humiliated. You will forget the embarrassment of your youth and your widowhood. Your maker and husband is Jehovah of the armies. The Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth, has paid your ransom.

3 Nephi 16:1-10

"I tell you very earnestly that I have other sheep which are not of this land nor Jerusalem nor anywhere else I have been to serve. They have not yet heard my voice nor have I shown myself to them. However, the Father has commanded me to visit them so they can hear my voice and be numbered among my sheep so that there may be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore, I now go to show myself to them.

"Also, I command you to write these sayings after I am gone. It is possible that those who were with me in Jerusalem will not ask the Father in my name to learn by the Holy Spirit about you and the other tribes separated from them. Instead, my teachings to you will be kept and provided someday to foreign peoples. When the time of the foreigners has come, the remaining Israelites will have been scattered all over the earth because of their unbelief. At that time, by these writings, the Israelites will be brought in to a knowledge of me, the One who has paid the price for them. Then I will gather them in from across the earth, and I will fulfill the promise that the Father has made to all of Israel's family.

"The foreigners, because of their belief in me, will also be blessed in and by the Holy Spirit which witnesses to them about me and the Father. Yes, according to the Father, because of their belief in me and because of your unbelief, oh Israel's family, the truth will come to the foreigners in the last days. These things in their completeness will be made known to them.

"However, bad things will come to the unbelieving foreigners. They will have come to this land and scattered my people who are from Israel's family. My people will have been thrown out from them and been walked on by them. Because of the Father's mercy to the foreigners and because of His judgments against my people of Israel and after I have caused my people to be battered, abused, killed, thrown out, hated, and maligned by them, very truly the Father commands me to tell you this: When these foreigners act against my good news and reject the fullness of my message, when they are lifted up in their prideful hearts above all other nations on earth, when they are filled with every kind of lie, mischief, murder, religious fraud, promiscuity, and secret horror, yes, when they do all this and reject the fullness of my good news, then I will take my good news away from them.

3 Nephi 17:9-10

Then, all the people cooperatively came forward with their sick and afflicted loved ones, and He healed them as each was brought to Him. All who came forward, including those who were already well, bowed down at His feet and worshiped Him. Because there were so many people, not everyone could come, but those who came kissed His feet and soaked them with their tears.

3 Nephi 17:1-8

After Jesus finished saying these things, He looked around again at the people and said to them, "Now, my time is near. I see that you are weak and can't understand all my words that the Father has commanded me to tell you now. Therefore, go home and think about what I have said. Ask the Father, in my name, so you can understand and prepare your minds for tomorrow when I come back. But now I go to the Father and also to show myself to the lost tribes of Israel. They are not lost to the Father. He knows where He was taken them."

After Jesus said this, He again looked around at the people. They were in tears and looked constantly at Him as if they would ask Him to stay a little longer.

He said to them, "I feel great compassion for you in my heart. Do you have any sick people with you? Bring them here. Do you have any that are crippled, blind, injured, diseased, deaf, or troubled in any way? Bring them here and I will heal them, because I have compassion for you. My heart is filled with mercy. I see that you wish me to do for you what I have done for your brothers and sisters at Jerusalem. Your faith is strong enough for me to heal you."

3 Nephi 13:1-4

"I truly want you to give to the poor, but don't give to be seen by others. If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. When you give, don't sound a trumpet like actors do at church or around town to be praised by other people. This is all their reward, so when you give, don't even let your own vanity be aware of the good you do. Let your giving be in secret, and your Father who sees the secret will reward you openly Himself.

3 Nephi 12:17-20

"Do not think that I have come to nullify the law of Moses nor the writings of the prophets. I have not come to nullify but to fulfill. I truthfully tell you that not one bit of the law has passed away. Rather, it has all been fulfilled in me. I have given you my Father's law and commandments so you will believe in me, repent of your sins, and come to me with a broken heart and a humble spirit. You have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled. Therefore, come to me and saved. Truly, there is no other way to enter the kingdom of heaven except by following my commands which I have been giving you now.

3 Nephi 12:1-16

After Jesus told these things to Nephi and the other eleven who had been called and had received authority to baptize, he stretched out his hand to the congregation and said aloud, "You will be blessed if you listen to the twelve I have chosen to serve you. I have given them power to baptize you with water, and after you are baptized with water, I will baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you are blessed if you believe in me and are baptized now that you have seen me and know who I am. More blessed are those who will believe your witness that you have seen me. Yes, good will come to those that believe you and humble themselves and are baptized. They will be visited by fire and the Holy Spirit, and their sins will be forgiven.

"Yes, blessed are the poor in spirit who come to me, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are those that mourn, because they will be comforted. The humble will inherit the earth. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The merciful will find mercy. Those with pure hearts will see God. Peacemakers will be called God's children. Those who are persecuted for following me will also receive the kingdom of heaven. When people mock you or do bad things to you or lie about you because you follow me, you will be very happy because of your great reward in heaven. They persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

"Truly, I tell you, I give you the privilege and responsibility to be the salt of the earth. If the salt loses its flavor, what will the earth be salted with? Such salt is useless except to be thrown out and walked on. You are also to be this people's light. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Do people light a candle then hide it under a bucket? No, they put it on a candlestick to provide light for the house. In the same way, let your light shine for this people, so they can see your good works and praise your Father in heaven.

3 Nephi 9:1-5

Also during the darkness, everyone in the land heard a voice saying, "Terrible things will happen to this people and to the whole earth unless they change their ways. The devil laughs, and his angels are happy, because of my people's beautiful sons and daughters who have been killed. They have fallen because of their horrible wrongdoings!

"Consider that I have burned the great city Zarahemla and its citizens. I have sunk the great city Moroni in the ocean and drowned the people in it. I have covered the great city Moronihah and its citizens in earth to hide from me the terrible things they have done. This way, the blood of the prophets and holy ones will no longer come to me against them....

3 Nephi 8

Now the thirty-third year had passed away, according to our record, if the man who kept the record made no mistake. We know at least that our record contains no pure lies, because the man who kept it was righteous. He truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus, and no one can do a micracle in the name of Jesus without being fully clean from sin.

At this time, the people began to look eagerly for the sign given by Samuel the Lamanite that there would be darkness over the the land for three days. Many began to doubt and argue despite having had so many signs previously. However, in the thirthy-fourth year, on the fourth day of the first month, there came a terrible storm that was worse than had ever been known in the land. The thunder was horrible and shook the earth as if it would break it apart. The lightning also was extremely sharp and worse than had ever been seen.

During the storm, the city Zarahemla caught fire. The city Moroni sunk into the sea, and its inhabitants drowned. Earth was piled on top of Moronihah so that it became a mountain. There was also terrible destruction in the southern lands, but it was worse in the north. The whole face of the land was changed because of the storm, the tornados, the thunder and lightning, and the powerful earthquakes. The highways and roads were broken up and ruined. Many smooth places became rough. Many other large and important cities were sunk, burned, or shaken down, and the inhabitants were killed. Some cities remained, though very damaged, and had some survivors. Some people were carried away in the tornados and were not seen again. In summary, the whole face of the land was deformed by all the storms and earthquakes. Rocks were cracked and even broken into fragments all across the land.

When it all stopped, after about three hours (though some said it was more), there was darkness over the whole land. The darkness was a thick vapor that the people could feel. No one had any light because not even good, dry wood nor candles could be lit. There was also no light from the sun, moon, or stars that could be seen through the mist. The darkness lasted for three days, with the people howling and crying the whole time because of the darkness and the horrible destruction they had faced.

In one place they cried, "Oh that we had repented before this horrible day so our brothers would have been spared instead of being burned in the great city Zarahemla!" And in another they cried, "Oh that we had repented before this horrible day and had not killed and sent away the prophets! Then our mothers and our beautiful daughters and sons would have lived instead of being buried in the great city Moronihah." Such were the terrible howls of the people.

3 Nephi 3:1-12

In the sixteenth year after Christ's coming, the Nephite governor Lachoneus received a letter from the leader of this band of robbers. The letter said:

Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, see that I am writing this letter to you. I praise you very greatly for you and your people's firmness in maintaining what you think is your right and freedom. Yes, you do stand well, as if you were supported by the hand of a god, in defending what you call your freedom, your property, and your country.

So it seems a pity to me, most noble Lachoneus, that you should be so foolish and vain to think that you can stand against so many brave men who are at my command. They stand in their arms right now and anxiously wait for the command, "Go down on the Nephites and destroy them." I know their unconquerable spirit. They have proved themselves in battle. I also know their unending hatred towards you for all the wrongs you've done to them. If they came down against you, they would completely destroy you.

That's why I've written this letter, sealing it with my own hand. I care about your wellbeing and your firmness in what you believe to be your right. I respect your noble spirit in the battlefield. I write asking you to give up to us your cities, lands, and possessions. This is better than us destroying you by the sword. Join us and learn our secret works. Become our brothers, and be like us. Not our slaves, but our brothers and partners of all we have.

Now, I swear to you with an oath that if you do this, you will not be destroyed. But if you don't give up, I also swear with an oath that next month I will command my armies to come down against you. They will show no mercy but will kill you all by the sword.

I am Giddianhi. I am the governor of the secret society of Gadianton. I know that the society and its works are good, being passed down from ancient times to us. I write this letter to you, Lachoneus, hoping that you will give up your lands and possessions without bloodshed. This way my people can recover their rights to the government. They dissented from you because of your evil in keeping the government from them. If you don't surrender, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddanhi.

When Lachoneus received this letter, he was very astonished at Giddianhi's boldness in demanding the Nephite land. Also at his threats to avenge the wrongs of those who had not been wronged. They had only wronged themselves by dissenting away to those horrible, evil robbers.