Description

Enlarged the Memory

It was about 73 B.C. in the land of Zarahemla. The nation was embroiled in war, contention, and wickedness. The hearts of the people were hardened, and they were offended by the very mention of the word of God.

Alma the Prophet was grieved by what he saw and gathered his sons about him to give “unto them everyone his charge, separately concerning the things pertaining to righteousness.” He began with his eldest son, Helaman and related to him the circumstances of his own remarkable and miraculous conversion to Christ. He then gave Helaman the responsibility to keep and maintain the sacred records. By this time in history there were many records, including the Brass Plates, the Plates of Nephi, large and small, the Jaredite record, as well as others.

Alma impressed upon Helaman that charge of the records was a sacred trust that fulfilled the purposes of God, and that contained in those records was the holy scriptures and the history of their forefathers. He further explained that these records—both– must be preserved for the salvation of the Lord’s people, “for behold,” Alma said, “they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.” Then to illustrate the power and importance of the records, he cited the example of the Lamanites who were convinced “of the incorrect tradition of their fathers,” meaning their false understanding of history was corrected by the records.

Alma enjoined his son to remember that the records were a sacred trust and through those records of scripture and history God would “show forth His power unto future generations.” He then spoke of the Jaredite history on the twenty-four plates and that Helaman was to preserve that record also, “that the mysteries and the works of darkness, and their secret works or the secret works of those people who have been destroyed may be made manifest unto this people.”

In other words, preserve that history and teach it that our people do not make the same mistakes.

And so it goes…The Lord commands his people to remember their past and learn from it. Lehi “rehearsed unto them, how great things the Lord had done for them in bringing them out of the land of Jerusalem.” The angel rebuked Alma the Younger and commanded him to “remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of Helam.”

Indeed, at the very end of the book, Moroni exhorts us to recall and ponder the Lord’s infinite acts of mercy down through recorded history in order to receive a witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

And again, at the beginning of this dispensation, the Lord commanded “Behold, there shall be a record kept among you.” You should know that from that point on and for the rest of his life, Joseph Smith was driven to complete the earliest history of himself and the Restoration. He would never live to see it.

The history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, both as an institution, and of its members is a powerful chronicle of the signs, wonder, miracles, and mercies of God in these last days. It is also, and should be, a record of the weaknesses and mistakes individuals make. The Church of Christ is not proven false by our mistakes then or now. Rather, this sacred history demonstrates the awesome power of Almighty God to accomplish such wonders in spite of the flawed material He has to work with. Don’t be afraid of your history. I heard it said recently, “If someone has studied the history of the Restoration and lost their faith, it is not because they have studied the history too much, it is because they have not studied it enough.” This history will enlarge the waning memories of us mortals and confirm our faith.

Sources:

2 Nephi 1:1, Mosiah 27: 16, DC 21:1