So you want me to tell you a story, children. I will gladly do so, for when I was a child like one of you, I loved to listen to stories, toostories about great and good men and women, and good boys and girls.
The story I am going to tell you this evening is about a good man named Lehi, and his family, who lived many, many years ago in a country far across the sea.
Lehi had a good wife. Her name was Sariah. They had four sons. Their names were Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi. Nephi and Sam were very good boys. They loved their father and mother and were always obedient to them.
But Laman and Lemuel were not at all like their brothers. They did not obey their parents, but often vexed them by doing things that were wrong.
That was displeasing to our Heavenly Father, and He did not love Laman and Lemuel as He loved Sam and Nephi.
The people who lived in the same place as Lehi were wicked. They would not do as the Lord wished, so He said He would have to punish them, to teach them to do better. He told Lehi to go out among them, and to tell them that if they did not stop doing wicked things, He would not bless them as He had done, but would let people from another country come and take them away to be their servants.
Lehi preached many times to the people, but not one of them would believe what he said. Then the Lord told Lehi to gather his family together, and He would lead them to a new and beautiful country, far across great waters. That was to this land in which we now live.
Lehi did as the Lord told him. He left his home and all his riches, and, with his wife and children, started out for the strange land which the Lord had told him about.
I suppose you would like to know how they traveled. Well, I believe they rode on camels. Camels can travel fast and carry heavy loads. Some of them can travel one hundred miles in a day.
There were no houses in the part of the country through which Lehi and his family traveled, so they took tents with them to live in. One day they came to a large river of water. It ran through a beautiful valley. By the side of the river they put up their tents. Then they knelt in prayer, and Lehi gave thanks to God for having taken care of them on the way.
Lehi called the river Laman and the valley he called Lemuel. You know why he gave them those names. Yes, those were the names of his two elder sons.
I told you that Laman and Lemuel were disobedient boys. They were also unkind to their brothers. Their father, Lehi, would often sit down and talk kindly to them. He would plead with them to be good boys. He would tell them that if they would do right, and obey their parents, the Lord would love and bless them; but that He would not do so if they kept on grumbling and getting angry with their brothers.
Then Laman and Lemuel would say to their father, "We don't want to go to a new country. We want to go back to our old home and stay with the people there."
And their father would say, "but you know, my boys, the people there are not good; they do not do as our Heavenly Father wishes them, and He is going to punish them. That is why He told us to come away from them. If we had stayed there after the Lord told us to leave we should be punished also."
Then Nephi would say, "Yes, brothers, that is true. Now, let us be good boys, and do what the Lord and our parents tell us, and after a while we will get to a beautiful country, and we shall be far better and happier than we should be if we were to go back to the place we have left."
But Laman and Lemuel would not do as their father and brothers pleaded with them to do, and you will hear later what happened to them.
One night as Lehi lay asleep on his bed in the tent, he heard a voice speak to him. It was the voice of the Lord out of heaven. The Lord said, "Lehi, I want you to get Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi to go back to the place where they used to live and to bring back with them a wonderful book which a man has locked up in his home there."
"What is the name of the man who has the book?" Lehi asked.
"His name is Laban," said the Lord, "and I do not want him to have the book, for he does not do what the good book tells him to do."
"What is in the book?" Lehi asked.
"It is a very precious history," said the Lord. "It tells of God and of many wonderful things which He has done. I want you to get the book and to take it with you to the promised land, so that your children may be taught the commandments of God."
The next morning Lehi told Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi all that the Lord had told him about the wonderful book. How happy Nephi and Sam felt as they listened to what their father said. Then said Nephi, "Yes, father, we will go and get the book; and when we come back you will read to us some of the wonderful things recorded in it."
"I will, my son," said the father. "But what is the matter with Laman and Lemuel?" asked Lehi, as he turned to his two elder sons.
O, how cross they looked as they said to their father, "We don't want to go for the book. We don't believe we could get it. We feel sure Laban would not let us have it, and perhaps he would whip us for coming for it."
"We are not afraid of Laban," said Nephi and Sam. "The Lord has told us to do this, and we know He will take care of us. He would not want us to go if He did not know that we could get the book."
"That is right," said the father. "If you will do what the Lord wants you to do, all will be well."
After a while Laman and Lemuel agreed to go with their brothers. But they did not believe they would get the book. It was a long journey to Laban's home, and the boys were glad when they came in sight of it.
"Now, who is to go and try to get the book?" asked Laman, the eldest son.
"I will tell you what we will do," said Nephi. "We will cast lots, and the one on whom the lot falls will go to Laban and ask him for the book."
They all agreed to that. The lot fell upon Laman, so he set out for Laban's home. For a long time his brothers watched for him to come back. At last they saw him. He came running away from Laban's house.
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Nephi, "Laman has not got the book!"
They sat in silence till their brother came up to them. His face was very pale and he was trembling with excitement. He was also very angry.
Going over to Nephi, he said, with a loud voice, "I told you before we started that we would not get the book, but you would not believe me. Do you believe me now?"
"We are sorry," said Nephi, "that your visit to Laban was in vain. Will you please tell us why you failed to get the book?"
"When I told Laban what I wanted," said Laman, "he became very angry. He called me a thief and a robber, and said if I did not leave his house at once he would kill me. He reached for his sword, and I had to run as fast as I could to save my life. Come, let us go back to our father."
"No," said Nephi, "I am not going to give up with one trial. I still believe we will get the book."
"O, you do," said Laman, and he turned up his nose in a sneering way. "Pray, how do you hope to get the book when I could not get it?"
"I believe the Lord will help us to get it," said Nephi. "I have just thought of a plan, and if you boys will help me carry it out, it may be the means of getting us the book."
"Well, let us hear your plan," said Laman.
"It is this," said Nephi: "that we go down to the place where we used to live, get all the money our father left there, and come back and offer it to Laban for the book."
"That is a good idea," said Sam. "I am ready to go."
"I like the plan, too," said Lemuel. "Come, Laman, let us go and try it."
So the boys started for the home in which they used to live. Tomorrow evening I will tell you the rest of the story.
On arriving at their home, Nephi and his brothers got all the money and put it into a large bag. Then they prepared a lunch with some of the food they had brought with them, and when they had finished the meal, they took up the bag of money and set out for Laban's home.
Now, Laban loved money very much, and when he saw the large bag of gold and silver his eyes sparkled with delight. "If I could get that bag of money," he thought, "I would be one of the richest men in the country."
But he did not want to give the book for it. No, he wanted to keep the book and the money, too. The boys sat waiting for Laban to go and get them the book. Suddenly he jumped up and gave a loud call for his servants, and when they came running into the room he told them that Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi had tried to rob him. Laban and the servants seized their swords and ran at the boys, trying to kill them. The boys ran quickly out of the house, leaving the bag of money behind them. Laban got it and kept it. Nephi and his brothers ran over the hills till they came to some large rocks, and there they hid themselves. Laban and his servants followed them a long way, and when they saw they could not catch them they returned home.
Failing to get the book, and seeing that they had lost all their money, Laman and Lemuel became very angry. They put all the blame on Nephi and Sam, and seizing two large branches of a tree, they began to beat their younger brothers with them. Nephi and Sam pleaded with their brothers to stop beating them, but they would not.
Just then Nephi saw a bright light coming down from heaven, and a moment later a beautiful angel, dressed in a shining, white robe, stood before them.
"You are very bad boys," the angel said to Laman and Lemuel. "The Lord is displeased with you because of the way you have treated your brothers. He has sent me to tell you that He will not bless you as He has done, and that He will give many good things to Sam and Nephi."
The angel told Nephi to dry his tears, and not to fear, for the Lord would help him to get the good book.
When Laman and Lemuel saw the angel they were frightened. They said they were sorry for having beaten their brothers, and that they would not do so again. They asked Nephi and Sam to forgive them. They did so freely.