Nephi and Laban

The night was still and dark.  The days heat was dissipating from the sand and a chill was starting to be felt in the air.  Occasionally distant parties of revelers could be heard cheering and singing as they came out of one building and walked the street to the next one where their carousing would continue far into the night.  The wall in front of us was high and cut off most of the sounds that emanated from the city in front of us.  It was too dark in the shadow of the wall to see more then a few feet in front of your face.  I couldn’t see my brothers but I knew that they were there with me. They had been silent for the last twenty minutes while we were making our way to this spot outside the walls of the city.  I listened for a few minutes to the breathing of my brothers and I could tell from the ragged quality of it that they were terrified to be even this close to the city.  Already we had been chased twice from this city by armed guards intent on killing us and here we were again ready to go back into the city one more time.  I knew that they were going to rebel and start murmuring again even though they had just had a great spiritual experience and had seen and talked to an angel of the Lord.  Their faith just wasn’t strong enough and already they were acting terrified just by being near the walls of the city.  I, on the other hand, felt great and powerful because I did have faith and I knew that this was what the Lord wanted and he would find a way to help me.  I just knew it and I wasn’t worried.  But my brothers might be a problem and could cause problems.
         “Wait here, outside the walls, and I will go in and bring back the Plates of Laban,” I said to them.
         “Alright Nephi, two hours and after that you’re on your own.”  That was Laman my oldest brother.  He didn’t have any faith that the Lord would help me but he was willing to let me go in and give it a try.  I knew that even the 2 hours that he promised me was a compromise for him and I was content.  I could get everything done that I needed to within two hours.  Never the less I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to talk about the Lord and his goodness.
         “Alright Laman, I’lll take that two hours you’ve so generously granted me, but I can’t believe that after all we’ve been through tonight that you would even doubt that the Lord will help me.  You’ve seen an angel of the Lord and have talked with him tonight and you know that it’s the Lord’s will that we should be here doing this so why would you doubt that he will help us with this and deliver us out of the hands of Laban and his guards? “
         “Just hurry alright,” Laman said.  He was still humbled by seeing the angel and I had just reminded him of it again.  I could also tell that it hurt his pride that his little brother was willing to walk into danger again and that he was afraid to go back into the city. 
         “Ok Laman, Lemuel, Sam, I’ll be back before two hours is up and I will have the Brass Plates with me.
         Before they could reply I boldly turned and walked away into the lights that were shining from the torches set in between the open gates.  It was very late in the night and I expected that the gate guards would stop me as I was walking through the gates, but nothing happened.  Actually I was surprised that the gates were even open because it was the city law that the gates were closed every night at midnight and not reopened until the next morning.  Now, however, they stood wide open and I walked through.  As I got through the gates I could see why they were still standing open and no guards had stepped out to challenge me.  The door of the guard shack was wide open and looking inside I saw all four of the guards stationed there passed out in various positions of unconsciousness with wine bottles strewn all through the room.  I was elated upon seeing that site because I now knew with a certainty that the Lord was with me and helping me and he wanted me to succeed in this mission.  I said a silent prayer of thanks to Heavenly Father and kept walking.
         I couldn’t help remembering with a mixture of sadness and elation the scene that had played out just a few hours earlier in the cavity of the rock where we had hidden so Laban’s guards wouldn’t find us. 

         “This is all your fault Nephi!” Laman had exclaimed, “yours and that doddering old fool that we have for a father.  Him and his visions.  If it hadn’t been for his visions and for you backing him up and encouraging him then we wouldn’t be here in this mess being chased by soldiers who want to hack us up into little pieces.”  He was getting angrier and angrier with every word that he said.  His eyes were wide and there was an expression of uncontrollable rage on his face.  “You’ve both messed up our lives.  We had a good home and a good life in Jerusalem and then Father had his stupid visions and he decided that our happiness just wasn’t important anymore.  We had to abandon everything!”  He screamed these last words and there was spittle flying from his lips. 
Lemuel who was standing behind him nodded his head in agreement and said, “Yeah, it was so stupid for us to leave our nice comfortable home here to go live in a tent in the desert.”
I started to say, “Father was right and he did the correct…”
“Don’t you dare say that he did the correct thing.” Laman interrupted me anticipating what I was going to say, “because of his stupid vision we are out here in the middle of the night running for our lives.”  Laman was wild with rage at this point and looked around the cave that we were in hoping to see some thing to vent his wrath on.  As he looked around he spied a big stick that was lying on the floor and as soon as he saw it he looked back at me and I saw a light go on in his eyes.  He walked over to the stick and picked it up and then he walked a little farther and found another one and picked that one up and handed it to Lemuel, then he walked back over and stood in front of me again.
“Okay Nephi let’s hear how correct Father was again,” he said while he was hitting one of his hands with the stick over and over.  Lemuel stood right behind him doing the same thing.  “Let’s hear again the reasons why we abandoned everything that we knew and are now living in tents and being chased by soldiers who want to kill us.”
There was a taunting look in his eye like he was daring me to answer him again so he would have a reason to use the stick in his hands on me.  At this point I was a little scared because I didn’t want to be hit by the sticks in their hands and the wild look in Laman’s eyes suggested to me that he would not take it easy.  I said a silent prayer in my heart to Heavenly Father that he would help me with this situation.  As I said a silent prayer I suddenly felt all the fear pour out of my body and instead I felt a strength that I knew could only come from another source.  I also knew what I had to do.
         “Our Father is a holy prophet of God and he was following God’s commands when he made the decision to leave Jerusalem and head into the wilderness.”  At this point I heard a strangled sound come from Laman’s lips and his white-hot rage exploded and he raised his stick and brought it down.  I had just enough warning to move my head to the side so the stick just skimmed my head, hurting my ear and landed on the padding of my shoulder.  Lemuel wasn’t far behind him and his stick did find me on the head and I felt an explosion of pain in my skull and dropped to the ground.  I didn’t faint though and I rolled over on my stomach and put my hands over the back of my head waiting for the next blows to fall from their sticks.  They didn’t come however and I waited just a little longer all tensed up waiting for the next blows to fall from their sticks. 
Gradually I became aware of a light shining through out the cave and it kept getting brighter and brighter.  I had never experienced such bright light during the night in all my life.  I looked up to see where the light had come from and to my amazement and delight I saw that there was a man standing in the air between myself and Laman and Lemuel.  I don’t know how he was standing in the air but I immediately knew that he was from Heavenly Father.  Never had I seen such radiance.  Every corner in the cave was full of light.  It was everywhere.  There were no shadows at all in that cave.  The light had banished all signs of darkness.  I looked at the angel, for I knew that it was an angel, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.  He was dressed in the whitest robes that I had ever seen.  All other white clothes in comparison would be dingy and gray.  He had a clear eye and he was very large in stature.  As he looked at me and our eyes connected I could see compassion and love that just oozed out of him.  It was incredible and I immediately crawled to my knees and bowed before him.  He reached out his hand and touched the top of my head with a feather soft touch and I felt the throbbing and stinging that were in my head from being beaten on the head by Lemuel just fade away and suddenly I felt whole again and better then I had at any point in my life up until then.  Tears sprung to my eyes because of his compassion and the gift that he had shared with me.  I could feel my whole soul, at first with a strong tingling through out my body and then I felt detached and free of my body with a strange weightlessness so I felt like I too was floating in the air just like the angel in front of me was doing.  It was exhilarating and I wanted to fling up my hands and celebrate and dance around. 
Before I could do anything however he turned his face toward Laman and Lemuel looking directly at them.  When he spoke his voice was very deep and melodious.  It was a voice that I would have loved to while it was singing.  He said to them, “Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a bruler• over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will cdeliver• Laban into your hands.”
As he was speaking Laman and Lemual dropped to the ground first in terror and then in shame.  They couldn’t make eye contact with the angel because they knew that they had done wrong and were ashamed to own up to their mistakes.  As the angel finished talking he turned to Sam who had also been beaten by Laman and Lemuel and he touched his head as well and I could see in Sam’s eyes that he felt the same thing that I had been feeling and was touched by the compassion and the great gift that had been bestowed on him as well.  The angel looked in my direction one last time and smiled and then gradually started fading away.  Sooner than I would have liked the light was gone and it was dark again.  Darker by far then it had been before.  We couldn’t even see our hands if front of our faces.  We all just sat there and waited for our night vision to come back and nobody said a word. 

I passed the guardhouse and walked through the main square and as I walked I was still remembering how bright the light was around the angel and the feeling that had burned through my body while in his presence.  It was an experience that I wanted to feel again. 
It baffled me also how my brothers could possibly feel anything remotely resembling doubt after that experience.  They had seen the power of God in the form of an angel and yet still they persisted in their doubts and their complaining.  Only Sam had agreed with me and even though he was my big brother he was deferring to me tonight and it was a strange feeling since it was the first time.  Usually one of my big brothers took the lead and usually I was content to follow them and listen to what they had to say, but tonight I could see that they just didn’t have the faith necessary to do what needed to be done and I did.
As I got to the other side of the square I turned to the left in order to get onto the road that led to Laban’s house and started walking towards it, but as I walked past the street before the one I was headed to I felt like I should turn and walk up this street.  I immediately turned up that street and kept walking. 
The noise from all the people celebrating and walking from inn to inn was a lot louder now then it had been on the other side of the wall.  I could hear groups of people on all sides around me but there were no groups of people on the street that I had turned onto.  As I walked down the street I passed a gap between two houses and I had a distinct feeling that I need to turn into that small alleyway immediately.  I turned into the skinny alleyway and walked toward the back of the house.  About halfway back there was a wall that was standing in my way.  Just as I turned around to go back out to the street thinking that I was being overly cautious and was making up stuff in my head a light appeared and lighted up the alley about halfway back to me.  I took one step back and my back was against the wall and I was still in the dark.  The light got brighter and came back a little further and then a big group of drunken men walked past the alley.  I could see them clearly in the light of their torches and could tell that they were out hunting trouble.  As they walked by the alley got brighter and brighter and the light came back farther until finally it stopped about two feet in front of where I was standing so that I was still in the dark.  I heard a voice whisper in my ear from somewhere, “stand still.”  I held my breath and stood as still as a statue.  I saw several of them stop and turn into the alleyway where they all took turns relieving themselves on the houses on either side of the alleyway.  I just stood there and waited.  I saw two of them turn their heads and look down the alley right at me but they never gave any sign that they saw me.  I knew that they couldn’t penetrate the darkness at the end of the alley where I stood.  I waited until they were all done and had started walking away.  The light in the alley slowly drew back until it was dark all the way up.  As soon as it was gone I fell down on my knees and bowed my head and closed my eyes and said a heartfelt prayer of thanks to Heavenly Father.  I then stood up and walked back out to the street and kept walking up it towards the house of Laban.
I had to hide from the groups twice more before I got to the street with Laban’s house on it.  I still didn’t know what I was going to do because Laban had seen me now when we were there earlier and he would know why I was there.  As I turned onto the street that would take me to his house I had an immediate feeling that I should turn back onto the other street and keep going the way that I had been going.  I knew by now that the spirit of the Lord was guiding me and helping me and I immediately turned back and kept going the way that I had been.  This time I felt like I needed to turn up the next street that I had come to.  When I got onto that street I immediately knew why I had been prompted to go this way and I was glad that I had listened because I spotted a body laying in the ditch that went by the side of the road and I knew instinctively that this would be Laban and that the Lord had directed me and delivered him into my hands.  As I approached by body I could tell by the fumes that he was passed out drunk.  I knew it was Laban because I had talked to him earlier that day and knew what he looked like.  I stood above him and thought about what I could do with this advantage.  I looked at him and saw the gleam of light reflecting off of his sword from a nearby torch that had been lit earlier.  I reached down and pulled the sword out of the sheath.  It was a very beautifully made sword and I could see that a lot of work and money had been put into this blade.  The hilt was pure gold and the work that had been put into it was far superior to anything else that I had ever seen on a sword before and I could see that the steel of the sword was of great quality as well.
As I stood admiring the sword I heard a voice in my head say, “Cut off his head.”
It was just a whisper but not even the loudest yell could have pierced my heart with as much force as what I had just heard did.  I was horrified!  I had been raised a peaceful man and never before at any time had I shed the blood of another man.  I physically started to shake and said out loud, “I can’t do it, what a grevious thing that you ask of me.  All my life I have been taught to obey the commandments of God and now you would have me disobey those laws.  I just can’t do it!”
Again the whisper in my head, “Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands.”
I was reminded of the experience that we had been through earlier that day when we had approached Laban with all of our worldly treasures. 

The sun overhead was a big hot ball and we were all tired because we were all carrying a heavy chest.  We had been back to our house and had collected all the treasure that we could find and had put it in four big chests.  We each took one and we were heading towards Laban’s house so that we could trade the treasure for the Plates of Brass that our Father so desired.  Laman had a chest full of Gold and Lemuel had a chest full of silver.  Sam was carrying a chest filled with our best china and I had all the miscellaneous jewels and other valuable trinkets that were in our house.  It was a very long walk to Laban’s house carrying those big heavy trunks but I felt that it would be worth it because he was surely going to be willing to trade some brass plates for all of this wealth that we were willing to give him. 
We walked to the top of the stairs that led to his door and we each put down our chests.  Laman walked up and knocked on the door.  A servant of Laban answered it after a minute.
“What do you want?” he asked gruffly.  He looked at Laman and we could see recognition dawning upon him.
Before he could say anything else Laman said to him, “we’ve come to talk to your master.  Please bring us to him.” 
The servant looked at us for a minute and then at the chests at our feet and then commanded us, “stay here!” and then he shut the door in our faces.  This surprised us and we huddled together and discussed whether we should stay here and hope that we were let in or whether we should just pick up everything and walk away.  Laman was ready to pick up the chests and walk away because he was still shaken up from being called a robber and chased by the guards all the way up the street.  He was very nervous and was talking too much to make much sense.  I had the feeling that we should wait and we would get in and I said as much to them.  They weren’t in the mood for listening to me however and had just convinced themselves to pick up the chests and walk away when the door opened again and the servant was there.
“Follow me,” he said to us, “Laban will see all of you now.”
The decision was taken out of our hands and we all picked up our chests again and followed the servant into the house.  He took us to a big room with several comfortable looking seats all around the room.  We put down our chests and each of us sat down on their chest and not on the comfortable looking chairs.  The servant walked away and left us sitting there and I got to look around the room.  The ceiling was unusually high and there was a mural painted on one wall depicting a beautiful valley full of forests and lakes and streams with animals of every kind hiding in and under the trees.  The valley led up to the base of a mountain that was capped with snow about halfway up.  It was a stunning picture and I had never seen it’s like before.  I stood up and walked over towards the wall to look at it more closely.  I could feel my brothers doing the same thing behind me. 
“So you like my picture do you,” we all jumped when that was said and twirled around as one.  Standing there was a huge man and we all knew that it was Laban.  He was dressed in black armor and had his golden hilted sword strapped to his side.  He looked very impressive dressed up like that and I could see Laman physically tense up and prepare to run away. 
Laban caught sight of him and immediately his eyes narrowed.  “You!”  he roared. “You thief!” he pointed his finger at Laman who started shaking. 
“Wait a minute,” Laman said. “I am not a thief and we have come to discuss a business proposition with you.”
At these words Laban visibly relaxed and looked at each of us.  When he came to me he looked me directly in the eyes and I returned the look.  When I looked directly into his eyes and I could see the evil in them and as I saw the evil in his eyes I knew that it pervaded his body and that this plan was not going to work.  I had a sinking feeling in my stomach and I felt a little sick and yet I didn’t look away or avert my eyes.  I stared him straight in the eyes and waited him out.  Finally he averted his eyes and then realizing what he just did he swung back on me with a look of fury in his face.
“What do you want from me,” he said gruffly. 
Again Laman spoke up for we had agreed previously that because he was the oldest that he would be the spokesman for the group. “We propose a trade,” he said “everything that is in these chests for the Plates of Brass that you have possession of that contains our histories.”
As he spoke we each opened our chests and he caught his breath.  Laban was a wealthy man and had little need of more but he was also a very greedy man and his possessions consumed his life and he was always looking for ways to get more.  The great treasure that we had brought in the chests would almost double his wealth.  He stared at it for several minutes just taking it all in and we stood silently waiting shifting from foot to foot waiting for him to say something.  From the way he was hungrily staring at the gold and silver and fine china and jewels we felt certain that he would gladly trade with us.  Then he opened his mouth and we knew that we were in trouble when he said, “how did you get my treasure?”
Our jaws dropped to the floor and we were all stunned at the boldness of this greedy thief who had just come up with a perfect way to rob us of all our treasure and still keep the Plates of Brass for himself.
“This is not your treasure,” Laman said indignantly.  “This is our treasure that we brought from our house.  It belongs to my Father who authorized us to bring it to you in trade for the Plates of Brass.”
“No!” Laban bellowed. “You’ve stolen my treasure and you are bold enough to bring it back and try to use it for trading.  Guards!  Guards!” he called.  We could hear footsteps pounding in the hall as the guards converged on that room.  We only had a second to make a decision.  We all looked at Laman and he shouted back at us, “Run!”
So we ran and as I glanced back at Laban as we ran down the hallway he had a big smile on his face and threw me a jaunty salute as we ran out the door with all of his guards close behind us. 

         As I stood there with Laban’s sword in my hand I remembered that smile on his face and the wave as we ran out the door.  I knew that he knew he was robbing us and was very pleased that he was able to get away with it. Even through I knew all of that about him I was still not prepared to take his life.
         While I was struggling with this I heard the voice again.
         “Slay him, for the lord had delivered him into thy hands.  Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth righteous purposes.  It is better that one man should perish then that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.”
         I heard this and it made sense to me.  I knew that Laban was a wicked man and had great influence over a lot of people in Jerusalem.  I also remembered the experience that I had while I was with my father in the wilderness.  The Lord had talked to me and said, “Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land of promise.”
         If I were to have as much posterity as I had been shown in the vision and they were going to exist in a far away land then they would need to have those plates so they could know the history of their ancestors and also so they could know the will of God concerning them and how they should act.
         I had to gain possession of those plates.  I had prayed to the Father for help and here it was.  The spirit had led me right to this place and the Lord had delivered Laban right into my hands.  I now knew what I had to do but still my mind and body rebelled.  My stomach clenched up and my hands started shaking a little.  I had never even been in a fight with anyone except my brothers.  I didn’t want to do it but I knew that I must because it was the will of the Lord and I had committed myself to doing everything that was asked of me.
         I bent down and grabbed the hair on his head and pulled it back exposing his neck.  I prayed silently to Heavenly Father to grant me strength so I could do it right the first time.  Before I cold think about it anymore I reached back with the sword and brought it down on his neck with all of my strength.  As I swung the sword I felt added strength in my arm and the knowledge in my head of the exact spot where I should strike.  The sword went right through and lodged deeply in the earth underneath and suddenly the head came free and I was holding it by the hair.  Realizing what I was doing I flung it from me in deep revulsion.
         While I still had the adrenaline running through my body I kneeled down and stripped the body of all the clothes and the armor.  I then took off all of my clothes hoping that a group of revelers wouldn’t suddenly come around the corner and catch me naked.  I put on Laban’s clothes and was surprised to discover that they were almost a perfect fit for me and also that they were very soft and comfortable.  I had a little trouble with the straps on the armor but I soon had the complete outfit on and as the finishing touch I put the golden sword back in it’s sheath.  With all of that done I started walking toward Laban’s house again.
         As I saw Laban’s house come into view I also saw a building to the side of the house.  I knew that this was the place that I needed to go to find the brass plates.  I turned towards that building and started walking.
         “Master?” I jumped really high and then spun around to see who was there.  I was totally surprised because I hadn’t expected anyone to be outside his house at this time of night.  I immediately recognized that it was the servant who had answered the door when we had come earlier that day.  I was suddenly worried because I knew that he could identify me as a fake Laban.  It happened so fast that I didn’t really have time to worry about it before he spoke again.
         “I’m sorry master I didn’t mean to surprise you.  I’ve been waiting as you instructed.”  I realized as he spoke that he thought that I was Laban.  I suddenly knew that the Lord was still with me and was helping me to fool this servant and I could use this to my advantage.  I thought back to earlier to how his voice had sounded and tried to pitch it towards that.
         “Take me to the treasury and unlock it for me,” I commanded him in as gruff of a voice as possible, “I’ve had too much to drink and will need your help.”
         “Yes master,” he replied, “I’m always happy to help in whatever way I can.”
         He turned around and started to walk away.  I was elated that my deception had actually worked and things had fallen into place.  I stood in one place for a second silently savoring my victory so far and saying a small prayer of thanks.  The servant turned around to see if I was following him and seeing me still standing there he came back to me and put his shoulder under my arm and started to support me.  I realized that he thought I was too drunk to walk to I put my weight on him and started walking beside him letting him lead the way. 
         As we approached the treasury I could see that there was a torch lit in the doorway creating a pool of light right in front of the entrance.  If he was going to figure out that I wasn’t Laban that would be the place.  I tensed a little waiting for him to look into my face and see who I was but he never looked at me.  He walked up to the door and put his key in and opened it up and then disappeared inside.  I followed him into the room and immediately I saw our chests that we had brought earlier in the day.  They had been emptied and were sitting in the corner with their lids open.  I looked around and saw shelves on every wall all stacked high with gold and silver and a lot of other precious things.  It was a very impressive sight but I was only looking for one thing and I saw it immediately.  The Brass plates were sitting in the middle of the room on a pedestal that had been created especially for them.  I walked over to them and ran my hands down the sides.  This was what we had gone through all this trouble for and here it was in my hands. 
         “Master?” I heard from behind me.  He wanted to know what he should do now.
         “Grab a chest and put these plates in them.” I commanded him. “My elder brothers are waiting for me to bring them to review them.”  He didn’t question me at all, he just quietly moved to the corner and grabbed a chest that looked to be right size and came back and packed up the plates.  I stood there watching him as he performed that duty and when he was done he looked up expectantly.  He was looking directly into my face and still he didn’t say anything about me being a fake.  I knew once again that the Lord was with me and was helping with my deception.
         “Follow me,” I said to him. I turned around and walked out of the treasure room and started walking down the street the way that I had come into the city.  I didn’t turn around to see if he was following me because I could hear his footsteps behind me. 
         The walk back to the gate in the wall was one of the longest that I had ever made.  I kept expecting to see groups of revelers or someone else jump out in front of us.  I made up several excuses in my mind about why I couldn’t join them, but I never had to use those excuses because the walk back to the gate was so uneventful.  We didn’t see anyone and as we got to the gate I could see that the guards were exactly the way that I had left them and the gate was still wide open. 
         I walked through the gate and as I walked under the wall I was listening to the footsteps behind me and I heard them start to falter.  I stopped and turned around and looked at the servant.  He had stopped at the guardhouse and was just standing there watching me.
         “Why have you stopped?” I asked him.
         “Master, we are not allowed to go through the gates after dark even if they have been left open.” He replied in a tight tentative voice.
         “I am your master and you will do what I say,” I growled at him.  “Now start walking again and follow me.”  I turned and started walking through the gate again.
         “Yes master.” I heard behind me and his footsteps started again.  I walked out the gate and turned in the direction that I had left my brothers.  I saw them immediately standing beside the wall in a pool of darkness. 
They saw me as well and as I stepped into a circle of light from one of the torches by the gate I could hear one of them start yelling, “It’s Laban, he’s found us run for your lives.”
They started running the other way and I had to yell to get them to hear me.
         “Wait it’s me Nephi,”  Laman and Lemuel kept running but Sam must have heard me because he slowed down and looked back at me.  “Stop it’s Nephi,” I heard him yell to his brothers.  They stopped and looked back at me.  I waved at them and repeated what I had said.  Slowly, tentatively they started walking back towards me.
         Behind me I heard, “Nephi, I thought you were Laban.”  He dropped the chest that he had been carrying with the plates in them and turned around to run.  I took two steps and caught him by the back of his collar.  I am a big man and I had no trouble holding him so that he couldn’t escape.
“Please don’t kill me,” he begged when he saw that he wasn’t going to be able to get away.
“Listen to me,” I said, “as the Lord liveth and as I live, if you will listen to what I have to say I will spare your life.”
He calmed down and I let go of his collar confident that I could catch him again if he tried to run again.  “Okay,” he said, “I’m listening.”
         “My brothers and I are leaving Jerusalem to go into the wilderness to join our family.  If you will go down into the wilderness with us you will be a free man with no more master to tell you what to do.  My father is a prophet of God and he has been commanded to leave Jerusalem and travel in the wilderness.  We are trying to be very diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord.  If you will go with us you shall have a place with us and you will be a free man.  I swear an oath to this fact.”
         “Alright Nephi I will go with you into the wilderness and leave this city behind.  I would rather live in the wilderness with you and your family then remain here and be a servant for the rest of my life.” He held his hand out to me and said, “my name is Zoram.”  I reached out and shook his hand and then introduced him to my brothers.