If you’ve ever read the Book or Mormon before you may, like me, feel that once you get done reading about Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob that comprise the first 130 pages of the book, and then come to the books of Enos, Jarom, Omni, and the Words of Mormon that you take huge jump forward in time and fast forward from the stories of Nephi to the account of Mosiah, Abinidai, and Alma and his son. Because that is actually what happens, from the beginning of Enos till the end of Omni you have traveled 400+ years in time where not much is written that hasn’t already been written by the preceding prophets and writers of the book.
Omni is a pretty neat book that shows some of the fruit of the Lord’s work of moving a few chosen groups to a very choice land where they all converge for the first time. First there is Amaleki, who was, if I have the math right, 6th great grandson of Lehi, who lived during the time of king Mosiah and his son Benjamin, effectively tying Lehi to Mosiah and 130 B.C. Mosiah travels in the wilderness and finds a people, the people of Zarahemla, which were another people the lord brought out of Israel during the time of Zedekiah, king of Judah, shortly after Lehi left Jerusalem. The people of Zarahemla tell of them finding a survivor of another people the lord brought over during the time of the tower of babel and the confounding of languages. The man Coriantumr, one of the last names mentioned in book of Ether, dwelt with the people of Zarahemla for nine moons. So there was a meet up a descendant of Nephi that was a contemporary of the first Mosiah and king Benjamin, a people of the ancient king Zedekiah, and a man that traces his heritage to the tower of babel. All these people were led to the promised land. Not bad for a tiny book of only 30 verses, and a heck of a reunion
As cool as this meet up was, the 4th great grandfather of Amaleki was a powerhouse of faith. Enos teaches all that read his words, of only 27 verses, of the importance and power of prayer. These verses could not have come at a better time when currently there is a fair amount of crisis throughout all the earth and today all people were invited to fast and for for all people around the world to recover from COVID-19.
Enos prayed “all the day long…and when the night came” for 3 things that he “wrestle”ed with as his soul “hungered” to receive redemption. Enos prayed for a remission of his own sins. After a day of prayer he received an answer from Father in Heaven that his sins are forgiven and that he would be blessed. Enos asks how this is done and the Father said it is done “Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast not heard nor seen,” “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” As is the same for us, we have not seen nor heard yet we do receive forgiveness for sin through faith in Christ. Only difference between us an Enos is that he exercised faith in Christ being born and performing the Atonement, and we can take advantage of the Atonement now as we look forward for Him coming again.
Later on that night Enos prays also for his family, the people of Nephi, to be protected from the Lamanites and to preserve their records that the Lord commanded them to write. He feared that his people, the Nephites, would fall into transgression and the records would be destroyed by themselves and/or the Lamanites. Then the Enos teaches us the same thing Christ taught during his mortal ministry; to love one another and pray for your enemies.
I had my kids read Enos’ description of the Lamanites:
20 And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors were vain; their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us.
Enos 1:20
I asked my kids, “Would you pray for these guys?” I let them think about it for a minute, some said yes, others said no. They all said it would be hard since they were not very nice people and all they want is war and destruction. It is hard to pray for an enemy, for someone that wronged us, or for some one that doesn’t agree with us. Enos asked in faith to preserve the records not for the welfare of the Nephites, but for the salvation of the Lamanites, his enemy. The Lord then covenanted with Enos, and his fathers before him because they too had asked this of the lord, that the record would be preserved and bless the Lamanites.
Prayer is powerful, requires humility, and strengthens those that “raise [their] the voice[s] high that it reach[es] the heavens” Through prayer we can be forgiven of sin, gain and maintain a relationship with our Father in Heaven, ask the Father questions, tell Him how are day is going, what scares and worries us. Though prayer the Holy Ghost is invited into our lives and whispers to us truths and comfort with a still small voice. All prayers are heard, and answered. It may seem at times that Heavenly Father doesn’t own a clock and calendar and if He does they are surely not in sync with ours. With persistence, patience and asking in faith Heavenly Father will respond to our pleadings in a manner that He knows is best for us and for out Eternal growth.
My testimony is that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, that they love us and love to hear from as. Just as parent child relationships are here on earth they are the same there, our Father wants to hear from us and very much wants to bless us.