Enos

the book of Enos 1behold it came to pass that I Enos knowing my father that he was a just man for he taught me in his language and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and blessed be the name of my God for it 2and I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God before that I received a remission of my sins 3behold I went to hunt beasts in the forest and I remembered the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life and the joy of the saints and the words of my father sunk deep into my heart 4and my soul hungered and I kneeled down before my Maker and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul and all the day long did I cry unto him yea and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens 5and there came a voice unto me saying Enos thy sins are forgiven thee and thou shalt be blessed 6and I Enos knew that God could not lie wherefore my guilt was swept away 7and I saith Lord how is it done 8and he saith unto me because of thy faith in Christ whom thou hast not heard nor seen and many years passeth away before that he shall manifest himself in the flesh wherefore go to it thy faith hath made thee whole 9now it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren the Nephites wherefore I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them 10and while I was thus struggling in the spirit behold the voice of the Lord came into my mind again saying I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments I have given unto them this land and it is a holy land and I curse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity wherefore I will visit thy brethren according as I have said and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads 11and after that I Enos had heard these words my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren the Lamanites 12and it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence the Lord said unto me I will grant unto thee according to thy desires because of thy faith 13and now behold this was the desire which I desired of him that if it should so be that my people the Nephites should fall into transgression and by any means be destroyed and the Lamanites should not be destroyed that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people the Nephites even if it so be by the power of his holy arm that it might be brought forth some future day unto the Lamanites that perhaps they might be brought unto salvation 14for at the present our strugglings were vain in restoring them to the true faith and they swore in their wrath that if it were possible they would destroy our records and us and also all the traditions of our fathers 15wherefore I knowing that the Lord God was able to preserve our records I cried unto him continually for he had said unto me whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ ye shall receive it 16and I had faith and I did cry unto God that he would preserve the records and he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time 17and I Enos knew that it would be according to the covenant which he had made wherefore my soul did rest 18and the Lord said unto me thy fathers have also required of me this thing and it shall be done unto them according to their faith for their faith was like unto thine 19and now it came to pass that I Enos went about among the people of Nephi prophesying of things to come and testifying of the things which I had heard and seen 20and I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God but our labors were vain their hatred was fixed and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild and ferocious and a bloodthirsty people full of idolatry and filthiness feeding upon beasts of prey dwelling in tents and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girded about their loins and their heads shaven and their skill was in the bow and the scimitar and the ax and many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat and they were continually seeking to destroy us 21and it came to pass that the people of Nephi did till the land and raise all manner of grain and of fruit and flocks of herds and flocks of all manner of cattle of every kind and goats and wild goats and also much horses 22and there were exceeding many prophets among us and the people were a stiffnecked people hard to understand 23and there was nothing save it was exceeding harshness preaching and prophesying of wars and contentions and destructions and continually reminding them of death and of the duration of eternity and the judgments and the power of God and all these things stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord I say there was nothing short of these things and exceeding great plainness of speech would keep them from going down speedily to destruction and after this manner do I write concerning them 24and I saw wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites in the course of my days 25and it came to pass that I began to be old and an hundred and seventy and nine years had passed away from the time that our father Lehi had left Jerusalem 26and as I saw that I must soon go down to my grave having been wrought upon by the power of God that I must preach and prophesy unto this people and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ and I have declared it in all my days and have rejoiced in it above that of the world 27and I soon go to the place of my rest which is with my Redeemer for I know that in him I shall rest and I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality and shall stand before him then shall I see his face with pleasure and he will say unto me come unto me ye blessed there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father amen