To Be Kept Sacred
As Mormon described the Nephite civilization after their great war with the Lamanites, he told of what happened to the sacred records. Previously they had been passed down from Alma to his son Helaman (the great general in the war), who had just died. They were given to his brother Shiblon to care for: “And it came to pass in the commencement of the thirty and sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Shiblon took possession of those sacred things which had been delivered unto Helaman by Alma.” Shiblon, though, did not live much longer and he needed to pass them on again to another righteous man: “Therefore it became expedient for Shiblon to confer those sacred things, before his death, upon the son of Helaman, who was called Helaman, being called after the name of his father.” Mormon then recorded two important things about these plates. First, they were to be written and made accessible to the people: “Now behold, all ...