For Little Saints

This is a story about a baby who was born right in the middle of human history. He grew up to be a good boy and a perfect man. His name was Jesus. You have probably heard his name before. Did you know that he knows your name, too? He knows your name, and your face, and everything about you. Jesus knows you because he loves you. Even before you were born he knew you and he loved you. Listen on for the whole story.

Moroni lived a long time by himself with his father's books. And he learned to love his books like people. Because they were like people, in a way, because they carried hope. And Moroni had read the stories so many times they were familiar to him like people, and he could sit with them and they could be together without even opening the cover. But before Moroni died, he sat down to read his father's book one last time. He picked it up, and brushed the dust off the cover. And the dust rose into the air and turned gold in the light of the evening sun which was just shining in through the opening of the cave. Listen on for the full story.

Moroni was still alone. Even after reading all the books, even after writing down more stories and letters, even after running away and trying not to be killed, even after years and years, Moroni was still alive, and still alone. Listen on for the full story.

Ether's people were scared of death and of each other. They were fighting and killing and dying. And the war grew and grew and everyone joined in and fought and died until there was just one person left alive. One person, beside Ether. And the whole time, Ether could only watch as the world fell apart. And while he watched, he wrote down everything he saw on metal paper so that the stories would last long after he was gone. And by the end, Ether had written several books containing the sorrow and loss and destruction he had seen from his hideout on the mountain. And before Ether died, he set the books out in the open hoping that someday someone would find them. Listen on for the full story

Jared and the Brother of Jared and their family and friends all agreed that they would follow God and step into the boats, which were actually barges, which were like submarines. And then they pushed into the water, and took one last look at the land before closing the hatch. It would be a year before they saw land again. And a year is a long time to be stuck in a boat on an ocean with people and animals and honey bees. Because when you're all stuck like that, people tend to get sea sick, and smelly, and probably a little bit cranky. And bees are not always the friendliest neighbors. Listen on for the full story.

The stories of Ether are not about the Nephites or the Lamanites. They are much older. They start way back, when people first came to live on the earth. At first, people did not know if they could trust the earth to take care of them. And then there was a big storm and lightning and tornadoes and fires and floods, and the people said, “We have got to get out of here.” And so they decided to build a tower so tall that they could climb to the very top, open the window, and step right out into heaven. They thought, if we can just get to heaven, we will be safe, because God is in heaven and He will protect us. And so they started building, floor by floor. And the higher they got, the more excited they became. Listen on for the full story.

Mormon was one of the only survivors of the big, terrible, Nephite-ending battle. His city was destroyed and he wept for the roads and the buildings. His dog and his horse were killed, and he wept for the animals. His friends and his soldiers were killed and he wept for them because he could remember how beautiful they had been when they were still living. But most of all he wept for his family, his wife who had been taken away and his son who was now one of the unknown bodies lying lifeless on the ground. Everything he had ever loved or cared for was gone. His own body was injured and he could feel it slipping out from under him. He was old already. The world was not what he wanted it to be. He was ready to die. And so he sat on the ground and waited for the Lamanites to come and find him. Listen on for the full story.

Jesus told us that everyone would forget Him. But still, it's hard to believe, isn't it? But that's what happened. It did take a while, because Jesus is hard to forget. But eventually, people stopped talking about Jesus and then they stopped thinking about Jesus. And because no one was thinking about Jesus, they started thinking about themselves instead. When another person had more candy or more toys or more money, they were angry and said, “Why do they have more than me?” And so they started to fight and steal and have their stuff stolen. And everyone began hiding their money and their toys and their chocolates. They wrapped their most favorite things in a sack, dug a hole in the ground, and buried it. This was their way of trying to keep their precious possessions forever. Listen on for the full story.

Before Jesus left the Nephites and the Lamanites, they were just the Nephites. They had decided to all live together. And they agreed to share almost everything, including their name. They shared food and water. They shared money and toys. They shared homes and cities. They even shared toothpaste. But they did not share their toothbrushes, because that would be gross. And all this sharing was wonderful because no one went hungry. No one had bad breath. No one felt alone. No one was better than anyone else, except Jesus. He was better. But it didn't really matter because everyone loved Jesus. And Jesus loved everyone. He enjoyed breaking bread and eating bread and just being with the Nephites. But Jesus had a terrible secret. And before He left for good, He had to tell someone. And so He chose twelve people and called them disciples because they would become the spiritual leaders after He was gone. Listen on for the full story.

Jesus spent three days with the Nephites and the Lamanites. He talked and talked. And the people listened. Every night when Jesus left, the people wondered if He would come back the next day. Or if He had run out of things to say. But when the morning came, there was Jesus again, talking and talking and talking. This is not surprising because Jesus was not just telling them about heaven or how to raise good kids or what his favorite color is. He was not just telling them about His life in Jerusalem or His life in heaven or his Father in heaven. Jesus was trying to tell them everything. And everything takes a while to say. He was giving the people the complete history of the world, past present and future. This might seem really boring, but just you wait. Not only was he trying to teach the entire history of the world, He was using poetry to do it. Listen on for the full story.

When Jesus came to the Nephites do you think they were excited? Did they jump up and down and say, “Hurray hurray”? They did not. They did not even say hello. Instead, they fell flat on their faces and tried not to move. They were hiding like rabbits. And like rabbits their hearts were beating really fast and they were really nervous. Perhaps they were thinking, “If we don't move, He won't see us.” Now you might think that this is strange to try and hide from someone who is hovering above you, shining like the sun. Of course He will see you. It is very hard to hide from the sun, and much harder to hide from Jesus. But that is not the only thing that makes their hiding strange. The strangest thing is why would anyone want to hide from Jesus? Listen on for the whole story.

The signs of Jesus birth were these: A new star would appear and there would be two days with no night in between. And the sign of his death was the opposite. There would be a new and terrible storm, and two nights with no day in between. And so when the new star arrived and there were two days in a row without a night, you might think that everyone decided to believe Samuel. Because a new star and a two days with no night is what you call a miracle. And who can doubt a miracle? Well, actually, just about everyone can doubt a miracle. It's easy. Go ahead, try it. The greatest miracle in your life is that you are loved by friends and family and by God and Jesus. And yet, it is very easy to doubt that anyone loves you. Every person in this world is a miracle. And yet it is the easiest thing in the world to not believe in people. It's easy to see them as bad and mean and selfish. And it's particularly easy to doubt God and doubt other people when you are doubting yourself. And that's the story of the Nephites we've been calling the Downlookers. When they saw the miracles of Jesus' birth, they did not believe. They doubted. Listen on for the full story.

Samuel the Lamanite was gone. And nobody wrote down his story. And people tried to forget everything he said. And they tried to carry on their lives as if Samuel had never stood on the wall and never told them that Jesus was going to be born in five years. And perhaps they would have succeeded if Samuel hadn't given such a short and specific time frame. You might think five years is a long time. And you would be right. If you are five now, you will be ten, five years from now. If you are fifteen, you will be twenty. But five years is also a very short time. In five years, your hair will grow two and a half feet. But a saguaro cactus will only grow a half inch. And for the Nephites who had been waiting for six hundred years, five years was so short. Too short. Too short a time to not hope. At least a little. Listen on to hear the full story.

The story we are about to tell you was almost forgotten. And it was almost forgotten because it is a story about a Lamanite. And the Book of Mormon is more about the Nephites than the Lamanites. And so even though there were many great Lamanite prophets, we do not know about any of them, except for one. And his name was Samuel. Listen on for the whole story.

The last story we told you was about how God loved the Lamanties just like He loved the Nephites. And once the Lamanites knew that they were loved, they became kinder, and peaceful, and more loveable. People are like flowers. And when you love them, you are like the sun. And people bloom when you shine love on them because love makes them feel warm and comfortable and confident enough to be seen. They say, “Here I am!” And they smile. And they bloom. But sometimes, when you are playing hide and seek, and someone calls your name, you might not say anything because you don't want to be found. And sometimes, when we are ashamed or embarrassed we don't want to be found either. And we hide. And we do not say, “here I am.” And that's what was happening to the Nephites. Listen on for the full story.

Moroni and Pahoran would live the rest of their lives happy at home with their families. But they would sometimes remember the war and they would think to themselves, “That war was terrible, so terrible that no one will ever want to fight again. And for that alone, it will have been worth it. Our terrible memories, our injuries, and the people who died have all served a higher purpose. And that purpose is peace. And we will have peace, finally. After all these years.” And Mornoi and Pahoran will die believing they have established peace. A peace that will last a long time if not forever. But they will be wrong. And they die young from their injuries. And the peace they established also dies young. Only ten years later the fighting begins again. Listen to hear the full story.

This is a story about a man named Pahoran. He was the President of the Nephites and he lived in a big white house where he ran the affairs of the entire Nephite kingdom. He was the one who put Moroni in charge of the army. He liked Moroni. And he trusted Moroni. But when Moroni came to him and told him that they needed to chase Amalickiah out, Pahoron did not know what to do. On one hand, Amalickiah's ideas were dangerous. But on the other hand, kicking out Amalickiah would not necessarily get rid of his bad ideas. Because ideas are like gum. Someone you hardly know might spit it out on the ground, and you might step on it, and that gum will stick to your shoe for years to come. But, Pahoran chose to trust Moroni because Moroni was smart. And more importantly, because Moroni was good. And so Pahoran gave his permission to drive Amalickiah out of the land. And you know what happened after that? Listen on for the full story.

This is a story about war. War is a very small word. But it is full to the brink with human suffering: cuts, bruises, tears, fears, sadness, broken bones, and death. All that is needed for a war to happen is people who are willing and ready to fight. And that is something that is both good and bad about the Lamanites and the Nephites. They were always fighting for what they believed. This is a story about two different people who took two different approaches to war. Both were good. And both ultimately failed. Because what is good is not always what works. Listen on for the full story.

This is one of the last stories of Alma. And this story begins when Alma is old and his children have grown into men and women. And they have their own children. And that's what this story is about. It's not about cities, or wars, or the Lamanites or the Nephites. It's about a family. And about three sons: two good, and one who was also good. And about an old father who is still trying to be a good father. Listen on for the full story.

This is a story about the two cities of the Zoramites. The first city has large brown homes, tall silver statues, gray fountains, pink gardens, green grass and rainbow colored churches. And when you walk into that city, your eyes get big and you look from side to side and up and down because everywhere, everything you see is big and bright and beautiful—even the people! And tucked into the shadows and corners of this big beautiful city is the second city. The homes in this second city are very small, and very dirty. If you were visiting the Zoramites, you would probably miss this place, even though it would be right under your nose. Everything looks duller, and smaller, and a little uglier here—even the people. They sit together under the big trees that hide their houses from the road so that they will not burn up in the hot sun. But some of the people are missing. They are away in the big shiny city, cleaning the homes, building the statues and fountains, weeding the garden, mowing the grass, painting the churches. If you are wondering who built the big shiny city, these are the people. Listen on for the full story, and for a sermon about a seed.

You have now heard many examples of people learning about God and Jesus and being blessed. So it is easy to believe that believing in God will make you better. And people who believe in God will get better and better and better. And everyone else will get worse and worse and worse. And God will bless the righteous and they will be wealthy and happy. And soon enough you will be able to tell who is righteous because they will be so blessed. They will all be beautiful people, with big houses, and swimming pools in their big yards. And the wicked will be poor and ugly. This is not true. But some people believe it. Even back in the Book of Mormon people believed it. They were called the Zoramites. Listen on to hear the full story.

This is a story about the Lamanites who learned about Jesus and were baptized. We told you how happy they were. They woke up each morning, jumped out of bed and said, “what a beautiful day. I am so excited.” And at the end of the day, they knelt on their knees and spoke to God. “God,” they said. “That was a really good day. You made the sun perfectly bright. And while it was hot, there was a breeze. And it cooled me down. And so we played and worked and we are now very tired.” And after their prayers, they fell asleep without even complaining or asking for another cup of water because they were content already. But that was about to change because they were living next to a bunch of Lamanites who did not like them. Listen on for the full story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.

We're going to tell you a lot about the young Alma over the next several stories. He spent his whole life trying to do good and to help others to be good. So you might think that there's not much to talk about. If you are being good, and helping others to be good, then God will take care of you. Like a mother chicken who protects her baby chics. And so life will be safe and comfy and snuggly and maybe a little tickly because of all those feathers. But wait, remember Jesus? He was as good as good can be and yet things were not always easy for Jesus. Well they were not always easy for Alma's son Alma either. So this is the story of a man who, even though he was good, had a hard life, like Jesus. Listen on for the full story of Alma the Younger.