Words of Mormon

“For a Wise Purpose”

Have you ever been blessed by someone else’s advance preparation? How did their preparation affect your experience? Mormon discovered the small plates of Nephi after he had already made an abridgment of part of the Nephite records. Guided by the Spirit of the Lord, Mormon included the small plates “for a wise purpose,” according to the Lord’s will (see Words of Mormon 1:3–7). This lesson can help you feel reassured that the Lord knows all things and that His work will be accomplished.

Ask questions that invite engagement. Effective questions can help students engage in the lesson and interact with one another. Questions can also encourage students to invite the Holy Ghost into their learning experience as they exercise their agency and fulfill their role in the learning process. Ask questions that engage both the mind and heart.

Student preparation: Students could ask a parent or Church leader how they have been guided or blessed by responding to a spiritual impression or prompting.

Possible Learning Activity

Beliefs about God

You might consider having students answer the following questions in their study journals or use an anonymous digital polling app to gather students’ responses.

Using a scale of 0–5 (0 = I do not believe, 5 = I have a strong belief), take a moment to honestly rate your level of belief for each of the following statements:

I believe in God.
I believe that He knows all things and has all power.
I believe that He prepares a way for me to succeed in my life.
I feel I can trust the counsel and promptings He gives me through the Holy Ghost.

It may be helpful to ponder why you believe the way you do.

As you study today, look for truths that may increase or reassure you of your belief and trust in God, His power, and how He accomplishes His work.

Mormon’s abridgment of the plates

Consider sharing the following information in your own words:

Imagine what it might have been like to be the prophet Mormon, who lived nearly 1,000 years after Lehi’s family left Jerusalem. He was one of the last keepers of the Nephite records and worked to condense a millennium of Nephite history into a single set of plates. How would you decide which events to include and which to leave out?

When his work on the abridgment of the Nephite plates reached King Benjamin’s time, Mormon made an important discovery. He inserted a short explanation of his experience in the book titled Words of Mormon.

Read Words of Mormon 1:3–6, looking for what Mormon found and what he did because of it.

It may be helpful to know that the phrase “these plates” (Words of Mormon 1:3–4) refers to the small plates that Nephi was commanded to make (see 1 Nephi 9:2–4). The small plates recounted much of the same time period as the large plates of Nephi that Mormon had already abridged, but they focused on the spiritual events that occurred. If you want to understand more about these records, consider reading “A Brief Explanation about the Book of Mormon,” found at the beginning of the Book of Mormon.

You might consider inviting students to read the following scripture verses and discuss the accompanying questions as pairs.

Both Mormon and Nephi received specific promptings from the Lord regarding the small plates. Read 1 Nephi 9:5–6 and Words of Mormon 1:7–8, looking for similarities between what these two prophets experienced.

Which words or phrases stood out to you?
What do these verses tell us about Nephi and Mormon?
What truths can their words teach us about the Lord?

You could encourage students to record the truths they identify on the board.

Among other truths, you may have noted that the Lord knows all things, has all power, and prepares a way to accomplish His works.

The following questions are intended to help students think about these characteristics of the Lord. It may be meaningful for students to record their thoughts in their study journals.

Why is it important for you to know that the Lord knows all things and has all power?
How might this knowledge help you in your life?
How might understanding these truths influence your willingness to follow the Lord’s promptings?

Consider inviting one or more students to share their responses to one of the previous questions. You may want to share a personal experience as well.

The Lord prepared the way

Evidence of the Lord’s foreknowledge and power can be seen in His commanding Nephi to prepare the small plates and prompting Mormon to include those records in his abridgment.

Hundreds of years later, when Joseph Smith was translating the Book of Mormon plates, he began with Mormon’s abridgment of the large plates of Nephi. Martin Harris, who was assisting as Joseph’s scribe, repeatedly asked to show the translated pages to his wife and other family members. Although the Lord had denied Martin’s request, Joseph continued asking for the Lord’s permission. Finally, with strict instructions and warnings, Martin was allowed to take the 116 manuscript pages back to his home in Palmyra, New York. He committed to return the manuscript to Joseph in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in two weeks.

Instead of showing the following video, you might invite a willing student to retell the events surrounding the loss of the 116 pages of the Book of Mormon manuscript. The historical points below could help students understand the context of these events.

You may want to watch the video “The Work of God” from time codes 6:52–11:30, looking for how the Lord had prepared the way before these events took place. The video can be found on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Or you could read the following points describing what Joseph and Martin experienced. (See also Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth, 1815–1846 [2018], 51–53.)

13:34

Joseph’s wife Emma gave birth to their first child, who died after only a few hours. Joseph spent two weeks caring for Emma, then traveled to Palmyra when Martin did not return to Harmony.
Martin confessed that he had lost the Book of Mormon manuscript. Joseph was chastised by the Lord and was not permitted to continue the translation.
After Joseph completed a period of sincere repentance and pleaded for forgiveness, the Lord allowed Joseph to continue translating the plates. However, he was instructed not to retranslate the portion that was lost.
The Lord revealed that, under the influence of Satan, wicked individuals had stolen the manuscript. They intended to change the words and make it appear that Joseph only pretended to translate, thus destroying the Lord’s work (see Doctrine and Covenants 10:10–19, 29–33).
The Lord commanded Joseph to translate Nephi’s record on the small plates, which Mormon had included with his abridgment and recounted much of the same time period and events in the lost portion. The Lord testified, “My wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:43).

Discuss questions like the following or others you think of to help students evaluate how the Lord can use His knowledge and power to bless us and accomplish His work.

In what ways does this example from Church history demonstrate the Lord’s knowledge and power?
How could this incident reassure you that the Lord can prepare the way in your life?
When has responding to a spiritual prompting helped you or someone you know accomplish the Lord’s work?
How could the truths you learned today influence your relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

Following promptings

All the writings you have studied so far this year in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi–Omni) are available to you because Mormon believed the Lord knew all things and he followed the spiritual impression to include the small plates.

Like Nephi, you may want to create a section of “small plates” in your study journal to record experiences that are sacred to you. You may want to ponder and record what you know and believe about God and how He could help you act in faith to accomplish His work.

If time permits, consider inviting students to share meaningful passages or stories they remember from 1 Nephi–Omni. You may want to share your testimony to conclude the lesson.

Commentary and Background Information

How can I increase my desire to respond to spiritual promptings?

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

We must be confident in our first promptings. Sometimes we rationalize; we wonder if we are feeling a spiritual impression or if it is just our own thoughts. When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess, our feelings—and we all have—we are dismissing the Spirit; we are questioning divine counsel. …

If we pay attention to the promptings that come to us, we will grow in the spirit of revelation and receive more and more Spirit-driven insight and direction. The Lord has said, “Put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good” [Doctrine and Covenants 11:12]. (Ronald A. Rasband, “Let the Holy Spirit Guide,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 95–96)

Supplemental Learning Activities

The large plates and the small plates (1 Nephi 9)

Consider showing students two journals, one with many more pages than the other. Invite them to compare the amount of writing space needed to detail a full day’s events to the space needed to record only special or sacred experiences. Similarly, the large plates of Nephi provided a more complete record of the secular, everyday history of the people. The accounts recorded on the small plates of Nephi were more carefully selected, focusing on spiritual matters and the teachings of the prophets.

When students read Words of Mormon 1:3–6, you might consider inviting a student to read the Lord’s commandment to Nephi to make the small plates in 1 Nephi 9:2–4. Ask students why making a separate record of the spiritual happenings in one’s life could be valuable. Encourage students to create their own “small plates” and record their personal sacred experiences.

Alternate beginning to the lesson

Consider asking students to list commandments or standards of the Lord that some youth may not yet understand the reason for. Discuss why the Lord might ask us to keep commandments we don’t yet understand.