Summary of Omni

(There is a video at the end.)

Okay, I was thinking it would be good to write a short summary of each chapter in the Book of Mormon.  I would like to start at the beginning, but I am currently in Omni and I am finding this chapter fascinating.

Why did these 4-5 generations keep so little records?  It just blows my mind that they didn't write anything except "We have been commanded to keep the records, so here they are."  Okay, some of them say something like, "I'm not as righteous as I should be."
or (direct quote from v. 11: )

"I know of no revelation save that which has been written, neither prophecy; wherefore, that which is sufficient is written.  And I make an end."

And they tell us there has been warring and they have been involved.  
Okay, let's move on from the line who doesn't keep the records (I mean, they wrote their name and a paragraph summary of their life...  Let's move on to some meat.)

Let me interrupt to tell you who is part of the book of Omni.
Jarom gave the plates to his son, Omni.
Omni gave the plates to his son, Amaron. 
Amaron gave the plates to his brother, Chemish.
Chemish gave the plates to his son, Abinadom.
Abinadom gave the plates to his son, Amaleki.
Amaleki records the meat of this chapter. 


Mosiah.  Here is some meat. 

The Lord warns this man, Mosiah, that he and all the people who want to follow Christ and live their religion should flee from their homeland.  So, he takes the righteous people with him into the wildnerness.  They travel with him and are taught the word of God and they find this land called Zarahemla.

Zarahemla is peopled but the people there don't have any records!  They came from Jerusalem when Zedekiah (King of Judah) was taken to Babylon.  So, the people of Zarahemla have been having lots of wars and they didn't bring any records with them and so the Nephites (Mosiah's people) cannot understand them.  They have lost even their language!  And they "denied their Creator," meaning God.

So, Mosiah "caused" that the Zarahemlans should be taught in his language!   I can't really imagine that in our day.  Maybe it is because I live in the U.S....  Anyway, back to the story.  Mosiah teaches the people of Zarahemla his language.  Then Zarahemla (The king/leader of Zarahemla is named Zarahemla) tells Mosiah his geneology from memory.  Um, I know my geneology 5 generations back on my Mom's side.  He obviously knows it is important to know where he hails from and who he is.
Okay,
The people unite and get this, MOSIAH is "appointed to be their KING!" (emphasis added)
King Mosiah.  He must have been one able leader.

Substory here:
Mosiah interprets a stone that was written upon a long, long time ago.  He interprets it "by the gift and power of God."  The story is about a man named Coriantumr.  He came to this "new world" when the tower of Babel happened.  The people of Zarahemla discovered him.  He stays with them for 9 moons.  His entire people had been wiped out!   "their bones lay scattered in the land northward."  It doesn't say what happened to Coriantumr.  

King Mosiah dies and King Benjamin reigns in his stead.  There is another war between the Lamanites and the Nephites.

Another substory.  This explains who the Nephites and Lamanites are.  Sorry I didn't explain this earlier.  
These 2 people are named after 2 brothers; Nephi and Laman.  They came with their family to the "Promised Land" around 600bc.  Laman was very hard hearted and didn't want to come but did.  Laman and another brother, Lemuel, were always fighting against Nephi.  They didn't like to follow the Lord and they didn't like to get in trouble for not following him.  Nephi wanted to follow God.  He wanted to keep the commandments and he wanted his family to keep the commandments of God because he knew that it is the only way to find true and everlasting, eternal happiness.  Since then, the followers of Laman (Lamanites) have been enemies to the followers of Nephi (Nephites.)  Nephi had to take the Nephites with him away from his family in the dead of night so they could escape the brutality of the Lamanites.  (God warned Nephi that the Lamanites wanted to kill him so he should flee with his people and go live somewhere they could be free.)  

So.  The Lamanites and Nephites fight.  But King Benjamin drives the Lamanites out of Zarahemla.  (It's looking like the Lamanites were looking for the fight, came to Zarahemla and attacked.)

Amaleki is old.  He doesn't have any posterity to pass the plates on to.  He sees that King Benjamin is a man who will keep the commandments of God, so he gives the plates to him.  He ends with 2 things:
His testimony,

"Exhorting all men to come unto God, the Holy One of Israel, and believe in prophesying and in revelations and in the ministering of angels, and in the gift of speaking with tongues, and in the gift of interpreting languages, and in all things which are good; for there is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord: and that which is evil cometh from the devil.

"And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.  Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved." 

Then he tells us of his love and concern for his brother:

A large number of men went back to the land of Nephi to live in their land of inheritance.  The leader is "mighty" but "stiffnecked."  He causes a contention and all but 50 die.  The 50 return.  They take more people with them to find and live in that land.  Amaleki's brother went with them.  Amaleki has not seen nor heard from his brother since then and he is so old he probably never will in this life.
That is how the chapter ends.  We don't get the rest of Amaleki's story.  That's it.

In fact, the next book in the Book of Mormon, The Words of Mormon, is a jump to the future.  (Not our future.  This already happened.  It is a jump to the future for the Nephites and Lamanites.)  You see, all these things that have happened in the Book of Mormon up to this point have been Mormon's abridgement of the actual recorded events.  He, Mormon, has been our narrator, our story teller, our teacher.

So, don't let it confuse you.  Just go as slow as you need when you read, or re-read to get more clarification.  Or just get what you can the first time you read the book and then read it again or study from it. 

It is a beautiful book.  And even though there is sorrow, that helps you see and feel the joy.  Because there is destruction, it brings you an appreciation for life.  Because we can read what these people went through, we can choose to make our lives full, beautiful and happier.  Most of all, we can build our testimonies of the Savior, Jesus Christ, through a study of this book.  We will become better people for having read and studied it and we will have a greater portion of the Lord's spirit.  I know this because I have felt it in my own short life.  I remember the difference in my life when reading this book and not reading this book.  I know it is true.  I know that Christ lives.  I know God lives.  He loves his children.  You are his child.  This book is for you so you can know his love for you and the love that Christ has for you.  I hope you will read it.

Enjoy this beautiful presentation of the Restoration of the Book of Mormon.