Stories of Jesus

Enos Repents

By Diane L. Mangum

From 2 Nephi 10:3; Jacob 4:4–5; Enos 1.

One day Enos went into the forest to hunt. Walking alone through the trees, he started thinking about what his father had taught him.

All his life Enos had heard his father, Jacob, teach about Jesus Christ. Jacob was a prophet to the Nephites. He had seen a vision of Jesus Christ, who would be born about 500 years later.

Enos had not always done what his father taught him. As he hunted, he thought about his sins. He began to feel hungry—not hungry for food, but hungry to be forgiven for his wrongdoings.

Enos stopped hunting. He knelt and began to pray. Hour after hour, all day long, he prayed for forgiveness. When the night came, he was still raising his voice to heaven in prayer.

At last, a voice came to him saying, “Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.” Enos knew that God could not lie. His guilty feelings were swept away, and he knew Heavenly Father had forgiven him. Heavenly Father said the reason Enos could be forgiven was that he had faith in Christ.

Filled with joy and faith, Enos started thinking about his people, the Nephites. He prayed for them and asked God to bless them. The Lord’s voice came into his mind, telling him that the Nephites would be blessed as they kept the commandments.

Now Enos had more faith than ever. He began praying for the Lamanites. The Lamanites and the Nephites were enemies, and many times they had fought terrible battles. Still, Enos prayed for the Lamanites.

Enos asked that if the Nephites were destroyed that the sacred records written on plates would be preserved. He wanted the Lamanites to someday read those records and know about God. The Lord told Enos that the plates would be saved.

Enos spent the rest of his life teaching the people about faith in Jesus Christ.

Nephites and Lamanites

The Nephites and Lamanites were both descendants of Lehi, who left Jerusalem before Enos lived. In the New World, Lehi’s sons Laman and Lemuel and their families became the Lamanites. The families of Lehi’s sons Sam, Nephi, Jacob, Joseph, and their sisters became the Nephites.

Plates

Ancient people often wrote their history on metal plates of gold or brass. The plates were actually thin pages of a book. The words were written by pushing a sharp tool into the metal.