Then these fifty gathered another large group and went into the wilderness again.
I, Amaleki, had a brother who went with them. I have not seen nor heard from him since he and the group left.
Now I am old and will soon die. These small plates of Nephi are full, and I have finished engraving on them.
The plates are passed on...
(compare The Words of Mormon)
385 AD:
I, Mormon, am about to give my plates to my son Moroni. I have seen the death of almost all my people, the Nephites. I believe my son will witness their entire destruction.
May God spare him long enough to write about my people, and about Christ, so that someday his writings may be of value to my people's descendants among the Lamanites.
After I had engraved the Nephite history down to King Benjamin by referring to Nephi's large plates, I found Nephi's small plates. They contain many of Nephi's words and a brief account of the prophets from Jacob down to King Benjamin.
What pleases me most about Nephi's small plates is their account of the prophecies of Christ's coming. My ancestors knew that many of these prophecies had been fulfilled in their day.
I know the prophecies of my day have been fulfilled, and that the prophecies not yet fulfilled (like those made by Isaiah) surely will be. Because these prophecies will be fulfilled, I will pattern the rest of my record after them. I will do this as I continue referring to Nephi's large plates.
- NOTE: Among all the plates available to Mormon, the few writings ("less than 1%") that he included in "the rest of his record” contain events that strictly followed the pattern set forth by Isaiah's prophecies. Isaiah wrote about patterns that will repeat themselves in
