A Young Folks History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Page 7

a little for
him.
Now the Lord sent another helper to Joseph. He was a young school
teacher, named Oliver Cowdery, and these two men worked hard at the
translation. You will remember that Joseph was poor, and it seemed
they would have to stop translating and find other work whereby to
earn means to live. They were now also again annoyed by evil men and
mobs.
In the midst of this trouble the Lord sent aid again. A man named
Joseph Knight came to them with provisions, and soon after Joseph was
visited by a young man named David Whitmer, who came to invite
them to his father's house in Fayette, Seneca county, New York. This
invitation was gladly accepted, and Joseph and Oliver went back with
him.

At the Whitmers' they lived and labored in peace until the work was
completed. David, John, and Peter, sons of Peter Whitmer, Sen., helped
all they could, and soon the book was ready to be printed. Martin
Harris also helped Joseph in getting out the work. The first edition of
five thousand copies was printed in Palmyra, in 1830. Since then the
book has been printed in many languages and read by many thousands
of people. It is called THE BOOK OF MORMON. The next chapter
will tell you why it is so called, and a little of what it contains.
Topics.--1. Joseph's visits to Cumorah. 2. Joseph in Pennsylvania. 3.
Description of the plates and Urim and Thummim. 4. The translation.
Questions and Review.--1. Where is the hill Cumorah? 2. What did
Joseph find there? 3. Why did not Joseph carry away the plates the first
time? 4. How many visits did he make to Cumorah? 5. Where did
Joseph go to work? 6. Whom did he marry? 7. When did Joseph get the
plates? 8. Describe the plates. 9. What was the Urim and Thummim?
10. Who first helped Joseph to translate? 11. Who was Oliver Cowdery?
12. What help did the Whitmers give Joseph? 13. When was the Book
of Mormon published?
CHAPTER V.
THE BOOK OF MORMON.
You will all be interested in knowing what was written on the plates
which the prophet Joseph Smith received from the angel Moroni, so in
this chapter I will tell you very briefly. Some time you will want to
read the whole book, which of course is the better way.
You have read in your histories and geographies that ruins of great
cities have been found in many places in America, showing that at one
time there were people here more civilized than the Indians. The
writings on these plates told the history of these peoples.
Six hundred years before Christ was born, there lived in the city of
Jerusalem a prophet by the name of Lehi. He had at that time four sons,
Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. The Lord told Lehi that because of

the wickedness of the city, it would soon be destroyed, and if he wished
to be saved he must take his family and travel into the wilderness. This
Lehi did. They went south-eastward until they got to the sea where they
built a ship in which to cross to a promised land. While camping in the
wilderness Lehi sent his sons back to Jerusalem to get some records of
their forefathers, and it was through the faithfulness of Nephi that this
was done.
After many days of sailing, they at last landed on the west coast of
South America in what is now called Chili.
The two older boys, Laman and Lemuel were often disobedient to their
father, and many times they brought trouble to the little company. They
also treated their younger brother, Nephi, badly because he would not
agree with them but tried to do as his father told him.
When Lehi died, Nephi was chosen their leader, but soon Laman and
Lemuel became dissatisfied and again began making trouble. The Lord
then told Nephi to take all who would listen to him and leave the other
brothers and those who upheld them in their evil deeds.
In this way there became two peoples in the land. Those who went with
Nephi were called Nephites, and those who remained with Laman
became Lamanites. The Nephites built houses, planted fields, and lived
as civilized people, and the Lord often revealed his will to them
through prophets and holy men. The Lamanites became lazy, lived in
tents in the forests, and killed wild animals for their food. Their skins
also became dark.
The greater part of the Book of Mormon is about these two peoples,
their wars with each other, etc. The Nephites ought to have remained a
good people, because the Lord blessed them so much: yet they often
did wrong. The Lord would prosper