Book of Mormon (Mormon's record)

The Book of Mormon is the name of a book, or division, in the larger Book of Mormon. This "inner" book has nine chapters. According to the text, the first seven chapters were written by the prophet Mormon and the last two by his son Moroni. These men were given a sacred charge to observe the destruction of their people for their wickedness and failure to repent; and to record their observations on metal plates which would be hidden until the Lord would reveal them to the world at a future time.

The book thus explains the alleged provenance of the Book of Mormon as an ancient record, mostly of the Nephites, compiled by Mormon and Moroni on Golden Plates.

Ammaron comes to Mormon when he is ten years old, because Ammaron judges him to be a serious child who was very intelligent. He tells Mormon that when he's twenty-four years old he must to go to the land of Antum and to the hill Shim, where he can find all the plates which Ammaron buried. He is supposed to take only the plates of Nephi but leave the other plates in the ground. Then he is to keep a journal of the doings of his people on the plates of Nephi.

When Mormon is eleven, his father Mormon takes him south to the land of Zarahemla. Mormon finds that land to be completely covered with buildings and people. He witnesses a war between the Nephites and Lamanites along the borders of Zarahemla. The Lamanites are beaten by a force of 30,000 Nephites, then they withdraw and there is peace for four years.

There is so much wickedness among the Nephites that Jesus Christ orders a recall of his three glorified disciples, and their work of miraculous healing comes to an end. But Mormon himself receives the Holy Spirit because of the soberness of his mind. He wants to become a preacher, but his mouth is stopped shut by God due to the wilful rebellion of the Nephites.

There are robbers among the Lamanites who roam the land, causing the Nephites to bury their worldly goods in the earth, but the land is cursed, and it will not securely hold their valuables.

When war comes again between the Nephites and Lamanites in 327 CE, Mormon is appointed the leader of their armies because he is large in stature, despite being only sixteen years old. But the Lamanite armies are so great that Mormon's armies will not fight, and they began a retreat toward the north.

There they take possession of the city of Angola and fortify it to defend against the Lamanites. But it is still not enough, and they are driven by their enemies out of the city and out of the land of David. Then Mormon's army comes to the land of Joshua and try to make a stand, with the western sea hard by. The Lamanite king Aaron comes against Mormon's 42,000 with 44,000 of his own men, and is defeated in battle. This occurs in 331 CE.

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