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Note: The order of these scenes
may vary slightly from year to year.
HERALD
TRUMPETERS
Seven angelic trumpeters in white robes appear, sounding their warning to
the world.
CUMORAH
PROCESSIONAL
The 600+ member cast takes its place behind the audience. The music begins
as the cast members make their way toward the stage, all 600+ of them!
THE PROPHET LEHI
The prophet Lehi, the first major figure in the Book of Mormon, lived in
Jerusalem about 600 B.C. Like his fellow prophets, he warned the people
of Israel that they faced destruction if they did not repent of their sins.
The Lord called him to take his family and their sacred records to a new
land.
THE VISIONS OF THE CHRIST
Although knowledge about the Messiah was recorded by many of Israel's ancient
prophets, none of the accounts are as detailed or vivid as the one recorded
by Nephi, son of Lehi, in the Book of Mormon.
THE BUILDING OF A SHIP
The Lord directed Lehi's son Nephi to build a ship that would take their
family to the promised land of the Americas.
THE VOYAGE TO ANCIENT AMERICA
The ship finally reached its destination, despite contention among the sons
of Lehi. Lehi's family later became two separate nations: the Nephites,
who obeyed God's commandments, and the Lamanites, who did not. The bountiful
land enabled each group to become a great nation. There were many wars between
the two groups.
THE BURNING OF ABINADI
Abinadi, a Nephite prophet, was imprisoned for telling a group of wicked
people to repent. He was brought before the king, where he testified of
the coming of Jesus Christ. This so enraged the king and his priests that
they had Abinadi put to death by burning.
THE MINISTRY OF ALMA
The preaching of Abinadi led to the conversion of one of the king's priests,
whose name was Alma. He taught the true gospel to many people and emphasized
that baptism is necessary in order to enter the kingdom of God.
THE PROPHECY: A DAY, A NIGHT, AND A DAY
The Lord called Samuel, a righteous Lamanite prophet, to teach the wayward
Nephites of their need to repent. Samuel testified that Jesus Christ would
be born in Bethlehem and that signs on the American continent would precede
his birth.
THE RESURRECTED CHRIST APPEARS IN ANCIENT AMERICA
After the Savior was resurrected, he appeared to the people of ancient America.
They saw a Man, clothed in a white robe, who descended out of heaven and
stood in their midst and said, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets
testified shall come into the world" (3 Nephi 11:10).
THE WRITTEN WORD: A GOLDEN MESSAGE
After the Savior established His Church in the Americas, the people lived
in peace for many years. But there came a time when many people forgot the
Savior and became embroiled in a great war. The Nephite nation was completely
destroyed. Mormon, one of the last Nephite prophets, abridged the sacred
records that had been kept by the Nephites for more than a thousand years.
His son, Moroni, concluded the abridgement, added his own testimony, and
hid the records in the Hill Cumorah to preserve them for a later time.
THE RESTORATION OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM
In September 1827, Joseph Smith, a young man who had been called by God
as a modern-day prophet, received the ancient records from the resurrected
Moroni. Joseph Smith translated the writings and published them as the Book
of Mormon. This book proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, that He lives,
and that He is indeed the Savior of the world.
POSTLUDE
(Music)
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