RESTORATION BRANCHES
The Promise to the Remnant of the Seed of the Book of Mormon
The origins of the Native American people are obscure. For many generations they have tried to preserve the legends and traditions of the Native American people. Some have forgotten them all together.Other men have probed the earth for clues, trying to unravel the great mystery of the Native American's beginnings. Many of the clues are now lost to the eyes of man and we see only through a darkened glass.
From the beginning it was not the will of the Great Spirit that this darkness should last but that the time would come when a record of these things would come forth. And because of His love and through the prayers of His ancient prophets the day was to come that the glass is no longer to be darkened and to those who would open their eyes and hearts to the understanding of the Spirit shall come a greater light. Above is a quote from one of these prophets who spoke and wrote as the Great Spirit commanded. There are many more prophecies and promises concerning the Native American People and this land which is a land of their inheritance, a land of promise, a land set aside by the Great Spirit for those who would live in Righteousness and follow Him, the Chief of all Chiefs.
In the last years of Black Elk, a Sioux holy man, he prayed this in hope for his people: "… with running tears I must say now that the tree has never bloomed… It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds… Hear me in my sorrow, for I may never call again. O make my people live!" Today his tears would be from joy that the root does live, that the tree is leafing and blooming and being filled with singing birds. The Great Spirit has set his hand again to fulfill His promises and redeem His people.
A Record Preserved Some of the Native American forefathers prayed that if the people should lose sight of their God and should fall because of unrighteousness that the sacred record which had been kept of their history might be preserved and brought forth at a later time. They rejoiced in the promise that this would be done.
Even so, it was with great sorrow that these prophets foresaw the wickedness and final destruction of a once great people. Especially sorrowful were those who lived in those terrible days and in vision saw the wanderings and sufferings of those who remained. In fulfilling the promise that the records would not be lost, the last prophet was instructed to take and hide them that they could be preserved for another generation.
A Record Revealed In 1820, a young boy named Joseph Smith was praying for spiritual direction and the Great Spirit appeared to him and told him of a special work he was to do. Part of this work was to take these records and translate them. This he did and the book or record was called by the name of the last prophet, who compiled all of their history, "The Book of Mormon".
This book tells the story of how God led a small group of people out of Jerusalem before it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., how they traveled many years to a great sea and crossed over to this land. It tells of their growth and of a division that occurred among them. It speaks of their times of kings, and judges, their conflicts, migrations and building of great cities. The most important thing of this history was in 33 A. D. when, as their prophets had foretold, that the Son of the Great Spirit, the Healer, the Morning Star, visited them and performed many miracles. He taught them, blessed their children and gave them power to continue His work. For about 200 years these people lived together in righteousness. There were no wars, no persecutions, no poor, and they prospered and multiplied. Then because of pride and greed and forgetting their Creator they began to divide and war with one another. Their end was tragic and only warring and scattered tribes remained.
The Promise This last prophet who hid up the records saw his people fall and mourned at the loss of the rich heritage they once had. The prophets were gone, the records were hid up, and the Spirit had ceased to work with them. Their greatness faded as dew before the sun. But he knew, as the Great Spirit had told him, that the records and promises would return and to those upon whom the sun would rise he wrote this last promise:
"And when you shall receive these things, I would exhort you that you would ask God, the eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; And if he shall ask with a sincere heart, with a real intent, having faith in Christ, He will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and by the power of the Holy Ghost, you may know the truth of all things."
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