THE BOOK OF MORMON

While feverish preparations went on for a war of extermination between the

hordes of savage Lamanites and the corrupt Nephites, a stalwart man and his youthful son
were toiling ceaselessly to bring to realization the great decision that would effect
countless generations of the future.
Mormon was the custodian of the sacred records that had been kept through a
thousand years of the eventful history of the Nephites. c!uainted with that history,
whose volumes had accumulated into a large library, he was well aware of the fact that it
would become lost to people of the future if it were not put into a form that could be
more easily read. bove all else, Mormon knew human nature. "eople generally will not
put themselves out to read long documents to glean a truth here and there. #heir reading
must be condensed into a form that can be grasped without too much effort. #hrough a
glorious revelation from $od, Mormon had undertaken a great task%to write a one&
volume summary of the doings of his people during a millennium of time. 'e was to take
his material from the many volumes of the "lates of Nephi, writing only (a hundredth
part,) but preserving those truths and testimonies that would prove of great worth to the
*ews and gentiles to the end of time +'elaman ,-.,&./0.
Making the Plates of the Book of Mormon. Mormon and Moroni toiled long
and hard through the hot days of late summer making preparations to accomplish their
important work. neat workshop was built near the vault where the plates were kept.
#he (1ook of Mormon) had to be constructed as well as written for there were no books
to be had where they lived +, Nephi /-2&..0. 3t was necessary, therefore, to make a forge,
bellows, hammers and other tools, with which to carry on the work. crucible in which
to melt the metal was made of clay and baked very hard in a hot oven4 a flat stone was
found on which to beat the metal into plates4 charcoal was burned from the hardwood
trees in a covered pit near the shop.
ll this re!uired time and back&breaking toil. #he boy felt at times that his arms
would drop out of their sockets while he was beating the skins into softness for the use on
the bellows, or polishing the flat stone on which the plates were to be hammered, while
his father would not admit how tired he was after a big day5s work. Mormon was an
excellent mechanic and would not allow shoddy or careless work to pass his inspection.
1ut life was not without its romance for occasionally they would take a day off to hunt
wild game to replenish their food supply. 6n these 7aunts through the woods, Moroni
showed considerable pride as he drove an arrow through a flying wild turkey or a
scampering cottontail as accurately as his soldier&father.
3t was late autumn and the winds were cold before final preparations were
complete, and they were mighty glad of their comfortable workroom. When the frosts of
winter came, the fire from the forge kept the room warm and cozy and their tallow dips
allowed them to work far into the night if they so desired. "rotected by a grove of trees,
their little cabin workshop was hidden from a chance passerby or roving hunter. 3t was
only a few steps from the cellar&vault where the sacred volumes were kept safe from
worldly gaze. #he great man and his son offered a prayer of thanks as they looked into
the burning embers of their charcoal fire on the forge at the completion of their task of
preparation.
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Mormons Reliance Upon Go. Mormon had been guided by our 'eavenly
;ather from the very start. ;rom the day when he was eleven years old and the "rophet
mmaron committed to him the charge of all the sacred writings and relics of his people
until the present hour, the protecting hand of $od had been over him. #hat was the reason
he had been able to keep the plates from falling into the hands of wicked men. #hat was
why he had been able to haul the plates over such dangerous roads to this place so far
away from the scenes of conflict. nd that was why he had collected the many bags of
gold from the mountain streams around his former homes. 'e did not know at the time
why he had gathered it. 'e knew that this gold would be useless as money so far away
from his people, but now he realized that it was the material from which he would
construct his book%the book that would bear his name%the Book of Mormon.
Note- #he art of gold beating is of great anti!uity and has changed but little since the
dawn of history. No one knows 7ust how Mormon made his plates but it is presumed that
he used methods that have been employed for thousands of years +see Encyclopedia
Britannica ($old&beating)0.
#he great day came for the beginning of the important work. 1oth father and son
were at the shop bright and early. #he air was crisp. #he cold sunshine cast stark shadows
of the naked trees on the dead grass. #he boy was breathless with excitement. #he man5s
heart beat faster than usual. #he clay crucible was red hot on the burning charcoal of the
forge, and fingers of flame reached up around it as if to consume everything in its grasp.
Moroni in high glee pumped the bellows up and down as his father dropped a few
nuggets of the precious gold into the crucible. While the metal was heating Mormon
prepared the mold, by pressing his finger into a flat tray of powdered charcoal making a
depression the size of a marble. s he turned to watch the fire, the crucible took on a
white heat and the nuggets of yellow gold melted into a li!uid mass.
Moroni5s voice was pitched high with excitement, but he kept the bellows going
with a steady rhythmic motion. Mormon5s hand trembled as he took up the pinchers he
had made to handle the crucible. <arefully he lifted the clay pot from the white&hot
embers and prepared to pour the li!uid metal into the mold. #hey scarcely breathed as
they saw the bright metal run into the depression in the charcoal.
#he boy dashed to the door while Mormon ran out into the crisp cold air with the
tray of smoking metal. 'e explained to his son that !uick cooling made the gold more
malleable, and easier formed into plates. 'e told him that it might have to be heated and
cooled many times before it was finished. 'ammering hardens it and makes it difficult to
handle while heating makes it soft and pliable.
Moroni felt he was working with a master and it would take him a long time to be
as proficient as his father.
s soon as the metal solidified it was dashed into cold water where it hissed and
sizzled as it dropped heavily to the bottom of the vessel.
#hen commenced the most interesting and technical process of all. #he ball of
bright gold the size of the end of the finger was placed on the polished surface of the
stone. Mormon took one of the large round&nosed hammers he had made and pounded the
gold until it was shaped like a round flat disk. 3t looked much like a very large rough
coin. =till he hammered, hammered, hammered, the plate becoming thinner and larger as
the malleable gold yielded to his powerful blows. s the process went on the blows
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became less and less effective because the metal was hardening through the constant
pounding. #he plate by this time was near the size intended%about six fingers wide and
two hands long.
Mormon had prepared a flat clay tablet large enough upon which to reheat the
plates when necessary. #his he had baked until it was as hard as the crucible. 'e laid the
plate upon the clay tablet and while Moroni pumped the bellows watched it come to a
white heat. t this point he took it off the tablet and dashed it in cold water to cool it
!uickly. #his made the metal malleable again as it had been at the start.
#he plate was again placed on the flat stone and Mormon began hammering, this
time with a small perfectly flat&nosed hammer. =o skillful was he that he took out all the
corrugations and roughness and made the plate perfectly flat, about the thickness of tin.
With a cutting shear he trimmed the plate to the re!uired size and threw the
trimmings into the crucible to be melted up for the next plate. While Moroni held the
plate his father punched three holes on one side of it through which the rings cold be
threaded when the plates were bound into a book. few more light blows with the
hammer and the plate was finished. 'e laid his hammer aside. #here was pride in his
voice, as he called his son to witness his handiwork. #he boy admired the gold plate, but
he admired the skill of his father more.
nd so the process went on slowly, methodically, thoroughly. >ay after day the
same thing, plate after plate, and the pile grew higher and higher. 3t was a tedious 7ob
when the novelty wore off, and the boy often longed to get out and roam the plains with
his bow and arrow. 1ut he was loyal to his father5s fixed purpose. #he 1ook of Mormon
must be written? #hat high devotion inspired the boy to continue on.
=ometimes Mormon would allow his son to use the large hammer and carry the
shaping process down to the finishing point. #his was a great relief to Moroni, even
though the hammer was heavy and his arm and shoulder ached. 3t was different, however,
from pumping the bellows, and besides, he was learning a new trade%a trade that might
be useful to him in his future years.
s the boy became more skillful the work progressed faster. While he hammered
the lumps of gold, his father prepared new ones. =ometimes the gold marbles would pile
up as the boy lagged farther and farther behind in his hammering, but long after the boy
was in his bed asleep, the rhythmic beat of Mormon5s pounding could be heard far into
the night, catching up. 3n the morning the boy would have a fresh start. #o the prophet his
work was beginning to be an obsession.
Mormon Begins !"riging the Recors. ;inally the day came after months of
wearisome toil when Mormon might begin his momentous task of abridging the Nephite
records into his book. Moroni was now sufficiently skilled that he might keep ahead of
his father with his plate&making, while Mormon could devote all his time to his literary
work.
'e sharpened his stylus%the engraving instrument%took up his new book with
its shiny blank pages and entered the vault. 6n the right side of his desk he laid his book
open at page one, and at his left he placed the first thousand&year&old volume of the
"lates of Nephi. 'e sat down, bowed his head for a moment in prayer, and commenced to
read. ;or a long time his eyes followed the ancient hieroglyphics, line by line. #hen he
stopped, looked up, without seeing, for his mind was reconstructing those long
expositions of the ancient historian into short, crisp thoughts%the (hundredth part,) the
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choice bits that appealed to him. #hus one short sentence in his new book became the
summary of an entire page.
nd so day after day, the (abridgment) went on. #he warm sun of spring was
again awaking all nature that had lain dormant during the long winter months. #he birds
were returning from their homes in the warmer climes, the grass began peeping out from
its winter hiding places, the buds on the trees were bursting into leaf, the flowers came to
bring 7oy and gladness to the bees and the insects. #he world was full of vibrant life. 1ut
in a cave, oblivious of the awakening of nature, sat a determined prophet doing a work
that would endure through thousands of winters and springs to come. #hough slow and
apparently tedious, the work went on but that prophet was happy, for he was reliving the
life of an ancient people%his own race.
#he first volume of the "lates of Nephi told about Nephi, the boy who left
*erusalem with his father Lehi, came to this land, now called merica, grew to be a great
leader, and was so loved by his people that they desired him to be their king. 'e granted
their re!uest and founded a royal line of monarchs. Aarly in his reign he made a book of
plates and recorded his official acts and the story of his people upon them. When he died
his son, Nephi 33, ascended the throne and the story of his reign was also written. #hen
Nephi 333 became king in his turn, and so the succession continued down the royal line
for five hundred years. When one volume of the "lates of Nephi was filled another was
made until many volumes had accumulated in the sacred library.
=ummer came and went, then winter with its cold and snow, then spring again.
1ut Mormon plodded on. 'e didn5t hear the birds, nor see the snow, nor feel the cold. 'e
was driven on by his divine purpose.
Moroni finished the making of the plates, and often sat long hours listening to his
father read. #hen while his father wrote the abridgment he would make wide circles
through the country with his bow and arrow. 'is trips were often rewarded with a nice fat
cottontail, a bird, chicken or turkey, that his mother cooked to a tasty brown.
>uring the summer of the second year he noticed that his father was not writing
as much as usual. 'e saw him sitting for long hours reading, reading, reading, but not a
word went into the new 1ook of Mormon. 3t was plain that he had a problem on his mind.
'e became worried and irritable, not eating much, and going to his cave early in the
morning and staying late at night. #he boy became concerned and would liked to have
helped, but was too well trained to break in on his father5s private concern.
6ne day as he was passing near the cave, his father called to him. Moroni
instantly went to his side in the vault. 3t was plain to him that Mormon wanted to talk out
his problem with someone. Moroni remembered two years before when his father had
taken him into his confidence and had made the great decision to write the 1ook of
Mormon. 'e hoped he might help now as he had tried to help then. 'e was fifteen and
more able to help.
Mormon talked in low mellow tones, and very gravely. #he boy could see that his
father was coming to the climax of a great struggle.
The Pro"lem of the #mall Plates of Nephi. Mormon explained to his son the
great problem that had weighed him down. 'e had abridged the "lates of Nephi down to
8ing 1en7amin%about BCC years of Nephite history. 'e had found many important
things that would be of great worth to readers of his book%The Book of Mormon.
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Mormon spoke of his future readers as if they were his close associates. #he boy noted
that about one&third of Mormon5s book was filled with writings.
'e continued by relating how in the search for the next volume of the "lates of
Nephi from which he would take his abridgment, he found a beautiful volume of small
plates. 'e indicated the delicately engraved book on his desk. #he workmanship was
exceptionally fine and the bright yellow gold showed no signs of age or wear.
#his small book had been made by the hands of the first great "rophet Nephi as a
private record of his own experiences, visions, instructions and prophecies%a personal
(diary,) so to speak. Nephi5s words concerning the coming of <hrist and his testimony of
the divine mission of the =avior made his heart thrill with 7oy. Moroni shared his father5s
enthusiasm for this sacred volume. Living hundreds of years since the coming of <hrist
they had seen many of Nephi5s prophecies fulfilled.
Mormon went on to explain how Nephi had handed this beautiful little volume
not to his son, the king, who had been given charge of the larger plates, but to his brother,
*acob, the priest and teacher of the church. *acob included many of his own instructions
and handed it to his son Anos, thence to *arom, 6mni, mmaron, <hemish and
binadom down the prophetic line to maleki, the last writer in this small volume. #his
last writer, maleki, recorded some important facts of his day and handed the book to
8ing 1en7amin, then reigning as king over the Nephite nation.
Mormon turned the pages of the =mall "lates of Nephi to the statement of
maleki. 'e read- (%and these plates are full, and 3 make an end of my speaking.)
"erhaps, Mormon explained, the limited space left on the plates was one reason why the
later writers wrote so little.
s Mormon sat silently turning the beautiful gold leaves, Moroni marveled at the
ex!uisite workmanship that had been put upon them. 'e felt that his father, who was a
direct descendant of Nephi, must have inherited the skill of his great ancestor.
s the great (digester) turned the leaves of the small book on the desk, he
observed that its contents were too valuable to condense as he had done with the other
volumes. 'e had tried again and again but in vain. Avery time he did so he was struck
with the value of every word it contained.
#he boy, eager to help, remarked !uestioningly, that it covered the same period of
time already abridged from the "lates of Nephi. #his was about BCC years of Nephite
history.
Mormon, the wrinkles deepening in his brow, was trying to reach a solution.
"erhaps if he had discovered it sooner he could have included many of the great
prophecies and chose passages in his abridgment. No? 'e hesitated. #hat small book is a
unit all in itself. 3t is religious while the "lates of Nephi are historical.
Mormon suddenly stood up. #he light of vision was in his eyes. $od was
speaking to his soul? 'is voice was triumphant, he had the solution? 3t was not an
enthusiasm of personal achievement, but a deep gratitude for divine guidance.
'e would include this small book as a whole with his own abridgment. What if it
does cover the same historical period? #hat doesn5t matter. 3t was so choice to him, he
knew it would be choice to his brethren of the future.
'e sent Moroni for the punch and hammer. 'is hand almost trembled as he
punched holes to correspond with his own book. 3n a moment the two became a single
book.
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passing fear dampened his enthusiasm as he thought that his future readers
might become confused when they ran onto the =mall "lates of Nephi in the middle of his
book. 'is fear subsided, however, when he determined to include a note of explanation
on the very next page of his book and call it the Words of Mormon. 'e was impressed
that it was for a wise purpose he was doing this, but only $od knew what that purpose
was. t some future day that purpose would be known.
The !"rigment $omplete. ;rom that day on to the end of the abridgment,
Mormon was content. 6nce, a delegation of Nephite soldiers came to persuade him to
lead their armies. #he Lamanites were closing in from all sides and the Nephites were
being driven farther and farther into the North Land. #he prophet resisted all their
pleadings and utterly refused to lead them for two reasons- first, because every time they
were delivered from trouble they plunged deeper into sin and did not appreciate the hand
of $od in their deliverance. 1ut greater than that, he had a work to do, himself, that was
far more important than anything else in the world and nothing would swerve him from
his purpose.
>ay after day, month after month he read and wrote, read and wrote, until the
abridgment was complete. 'e had condensed a thousand years of history, contained in
many volumes into one%his own beloved 1ook of Mormon.
Mormon Recors E%ents of His O&n Time. #he work being completed to his
own time, the prophet recorded the doings of his day in his book as well as in the large
"lates of Nephi. Moroni was a man, now. 'e was ready to take up his father5s work and
when the time came for that great man to turn over his book to his son he would be ready,
come what may, to carry it on to its divine mission.
#he great decision of Mormon, the soldier&prophet, had been carried into reality.
#he generations of the future would not be left without witnesses that *esus is the <hrist.
#he man who looked down the centuries and saw the religious needs of the people of
today, was not content to let life take its course. 'e could die happy.
Note to the Reader
#ake a Book of Mormon in your hands. #urn to page ., Nephi .-. and read- (3
Nephi having been born of goodly parents,) etc. Dou are reading from the beginning of
the Small Plates (or diary) of Nephi, discovered by Mormon after he had abridged the
Plates of Nephi for the first BCC years into the Book of Mormon.
Now turn to 6mni, verse ,C, and read from the words of maleki- (. . . and these
plates are full. nd 3 make an end of my speaking.) Dou have 7ust read the last words of
the Small Plates (or diary of Nephi. 1etween these two passages is included the small
book that Mormon discovered after he had abridged from the first of Nephite history
down to 8ing 1en7amin%about BCC years.
#he !uestion you will likely ask is- What became of Mormon5s abridgment of the
Plates of Nephi prior to his discovering the Small Plates. #he answer is another story.
When the "rophet *oseph =mith had translated the Book of Mormon covering
about BCC years of Nephite 'istory%approximately the part that Mormon had abridged
before he discovered the Small Plates%through the treachery of his enemies the
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manuscript was lost. 'e never was allowed to retranslate it. 3nstead he was told to go
right on to the Small Plates which Mormon had included in his book.
Note the location of the Words of Mormon following the close of the Small
Plates.
6riginally Mormon did not intend to begin his book with the Small Plates as we
see it in our Book of Mormon today. 3t shows how $od intercedes in the affairs of men to
accomplish 'is purposes.
Feferences-
Mormon /-.E&./4 G-/&:
#itle "age of the Book of Mormon
Words of Mormon ,, :
. Nephi @-EE&G, .@-B, /
E Nephi /-E@, ,C, ,,
*acob .-,, B4 ,-.,
, Nephi /-2&.2
'elaman ,-.,&.G
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