Lehi, "I am going to tell you of a wonderful thing which the Lord has told me will take place many years from now."

Joseph wondered what it could be. "You have seen the book which your brother Nephi is writing." Joseph answered that he had. "Well," said his father, "that is a history. It is an account of what has taken place among us since the day we left our home up to the present time. After Nephi has finished writing in it, he will deliver the book to another good man, who will continue the history. When the second writer has finished his part, he will give the book to a third, and in this manner the history of the people will be kept for hundreds and hundreds of years. When it is finished, it will be the most precious and wonderful book ever written.

"And what will become of the book, father?" asked Joseph.

"I was just going to tell you," said Lehi.

Joseph drew closer, and looked anxiously into his father's face.

"When the book is finished," continued Lehi, "the last writer will hide it in a deep hole in the ground. He will do that because wicked men might get it and destroy it. The book will be kept hid in the earth for thousands of years."

"At last the time will come for the book to be brought forth again. Then the Lord will send an angel to a boy named Joseph, the same name that you bear. The heavenly messenger will tell Joseph of the book and show him the place in which it will lie buried. A few years later the precious history will be taken from its hiding place and given to the boy Joseph. The Lord will help the boy to change the language of the book to suit the language of the people living at that time. Then the book will be published, men will carry it into all the world, and the people of every nation will learn of the great things which the Lord will have done for us and our children."

"That is really wonderful," said Joseph. "It is, indeed," said his father. Then Lehi kissed his boy again and said, "May the Lord bless you, my son, forever."

Can my children tell me how the words of Lehi were fulfilled concerning the book that was to be hid in the ground?

THE NEPHITES AND THE LAMANITES.

I am going to tell you this evening what took place soon after the death of Lehi. Laman and Lemuel grew more wicked every day. Their hearts were full of hatred towards Nephi and Sam.

One evening they went off by themselves. They sat down under a large tree and talked together for a long time. I am sure you could not guess what they were doing. They were making plans to kill Sam and Nephi. Laman and Lemuel thought that if Nephi and Sam were dead the people would choose them to be their leaders.

They did not seem to know that the Lord was looking down upon them and listening to their wicked plot. But the Lord had seen and heard all, and He at once prepared a way for the escape of Nephi and Sam.

That night the Lord told Nephi to gather together all the people that wished to follow him and to take them away into another part of the country. All the good people agreed to go with Nephi and Sam, the wicked ones decided to stay with Laman and Lemuel.

Nephi and his people were guided on their way by the wonderful brass ball which I told you about in one of my other stories. After traveling many days they came to a place where they decided to settle.

"What shall we call this place?" asked one of the company.

Several voices answered at once: "We will call it Nephi, after our faithful leader." So the place was named Nephi. From that time all the people that followed Nephi were called Nephites. Those who stayed behind with Laman and Lemuel were called Lamanites.

Now that they were away from their wicked brethren, Nephi and his people felt very happy. They had brought with them many kinds of seed, so they laid out farms and gardens and planted the seed in them. God blessed their labors. His gentle rains and warm sun caused the seed to grow and to produce splendid crops, so that there was plenty of food for all.

In the evenings, when their work was done, the people would meet together, and Nephi would read to them out of the good book. Then they would pray to God, thanking Him for all His blessings, and asking Him to protect them from the wicked Lamanites.

At first they had only tents to live in, but after a while they took down their tents and put up beautiful houses in their place. In the course of a few years a splendid little city had sprung up in that desert region.

One Sabbath day, when the people had gathered together to worship God, Nephi asked them if they would like to build a beautiful temple to the Lord. They all said they would love to do so. A few days later a choice place was selected, and a number of men began to lay the foundation of the Lord's House. The hearts of the people swelled with joy as they saw the walls of the sacred building rise higher and higher. At last the temple was finished. The Lord was well pleased with it, and when the people went into the temple to worship Him He bestowed great blessings upon them.

One day all the people assembled together. They sent for Nephi, and when he arrived they told him that, because he had been such a good man, and had done so much for them, they had decided to make him their king.

But Nephi would not agree to such a thing. He said he did not wish to be king over them; that he wanted to be like one of themselves, and that he would continue to be their leader and teacher.

I must now take you back to Laman and Lemuel, and to the people who stayed with them. They, as I told you, were called Lamanites. O, dear, what a difference there was between them and the people of Nephi! What do you think had happened to Laman and the people who had stayed with him? The displeasure of the Lord had come upon them so that their skins had become dark, and they were fast becoming a wild and savage people. They had neither farms nor gardens, nor houses to live in. The only food they had to eat was fish and the flesh of wild beasts, and at night they slept in old, worn out tents. They had become dirty, idle, and lazy, just like the Indians we sometimes see going round begging food. Such, dear children, was the terrible condition into which the Lamanites were brought because of their disobedience to the commandments of God.

ZENIFF AND HIS PEOPLE.

Nephi lived with his people and taught them for many years. They all loved him, for he was a wise and a godly man, and had done many great things for them.

At last he became old and feeble. He knew that he had but a short time to live, so he took the history he had written and gave it to his brother Jacob. Then he chose a good man to reign as king over the Nephites.

Soon after that, Nephi died and his spirit went to Paradise to live with the righteous ones who had gone before.

One day, long after the death of Nephi, a man named Zeniff called together a number of his Nephite brethren. He told them he wanted to go and see how the Lamanites were getting on. "How many of you are willing to go with me?" he asked. Nearly all of them agreed to go. They began at once to make preparations for the trip. When the time came for them to leave, they bade their loved ones good-bye and set out on their journy.

After traveling many days, they came to the place where the Lamanites were. It was a fine country. Zeniff and those who were with him felt they would like to live there if the Lamanites would be willing for them to do so.

After resting awhile, Zeniff took four men and went into the city to see the king of the Lamanites. The king received his visitors kindly. Zeniff told the king that he and his brethren who were with him would like to remain in that part of the land.

King Laman said he would be pleased to have them stay, and that he would get the Lamanites who were in two of the cities to leave them and go to other places, so that the Nephites might