“Captain Moroni and Zerahemnah,” Book of Mormon Stories (2023)
Captain Moroni and Zerahemnah
A battle and a promise to live in peace
Zerahemnah was the leader of the Lamanite armies. He wanted to rule over the Nephites and make them serve his people. Zerahemnah led his armies to attack the Nephites.
The Nephites wanted to protect their homes, families, and religion. They knew they would not be able to worship the Lord if the Lamanites ruled over them. The Nephites chose to fight their enemies.
A man named Moroni was the captain of the Nephite armies. Moroni made sure his armies were ready to fight.
Moroni’s soldiers brought weapons, and Moroni gave them strong armor and shields to protect them.
Moroni took his armies to fight the Lamanites. But when the Lamanites saw the Nephites had armor and shields, they were scared to fight. The Lamanites only had thin clothes and no armor to protect them.
The Lamanites left. They tried to sneak to a different Nephite land. They thought Moroni would not know where they went.
But as soon as the Lamanites left, Moroni sent spies to follow them.
Then Moroni sent a message to the prophet Alma. He wanted Alma to ask the Lord what the Lamanites were planning to do. The Lord told Alma that the Lamanites were planning to attack a weak land called Manti. Moroni listened to Alma. He led his armies to fight against the Lamanites.
The armies fought. The Lamanites were very strong and angry. The Nephites became scared of the Lamanites and were going to run away. But Moroni reminded them of their families and faith, so they kept fighting.
The Nephites prayed to the Lord for help. The Lord answered their prayers and gave them great power. Now the Lamanites were scared. They were trapped and could not escape. When Moroni saw that the Lamanites were scared, he told his soldiers to stop fighting. Moroni did not want to kill the Lamanites.
Moroni told Zerahemnah that the Lamanites could go if they promised to never fight the Nephites again. Zerahemnah was angry and tried to keep fighting, but he could not beat Moroni’s soldiers. Then Zerahemnah and his armies promised to live in peace, and Moroni let them go.