[MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE]. Hey, Chad. Hey, Chad, what's up? Who's winning? I am. Hi, Susan. Hi. Susan. Let's go ahead and get started this morning.

Scott, would you ask someone to give the opening prayer today, please? Yeah. Who can name the different plates that the Book of Mormon came from?

Look, it's really very simple.

Any questions?

Brother Goodman, does all this plate stuff really make any difference? Well, it may not seem to now, but I really think it does. I really think it'll help you to understand the Book of Mormon, to make it more real.

Okay, I'll just have to exaggerate my point. And I prepared something to help us do that. Class, leave your books and follow me.

Well come on, we haven't got all day.

All right everyone, over here.

Try to stay together. Watch your steps. Come on, now let's see.

Oh my gosh. All right, now I've prepared this little demonstration to help us. Everything I'm going to show you may not be exactly to scale. But I think you'll get the right idea. All the clues we need to help us understand how the Book of Mormon was put together are contained right here inside the Book of Mormon. Chad, Scott, would you open the Book of Mormon to the title page, please? Sure. Oh, there it is.

Now, we know that Mormon wrote the book, but what did he write on? Susan. Well, it said that he wrote on plates. Would that be what we call the gold plates? Let's see, gold plates.

Whoa, how does he do that? Mormon wrote on thin plates of gold. They're also known as the plates of Mormon, for obvious reasons. How did the plates of Mormon become the Book of Mormon? It says they were translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. We know Joseph Smith translated from this to this, but what was Mormon's source for these? It says right here--taken from the plates of Nephi. Oh, so Mormon made the gold plates, but wrote them from the plates of Nephi?

Mormon worked from a library of plates like these. Are all of those the plates of Nephi? Oh no, there are many records of every kind. Among these plates were two sets written by Nephi.

Whoa. I love it when he does that. Chad, Bob, go back to the book and turn a few pages to A Brief Explanation about the Book of Mormon and tell us what you can about the plates of Nephi.

Oh, there it is, the plates of Nephi. The small plates were devoted to spiritual matters, and to the teachings of the prophets. Oh yeah, and the large plates told mainly the history of the people. That's it, see, you already knew this. Wait, I have a question. Why did Nephi make two different records? I mean, they cover the same time period. Why didn't he just make them into one? Good question, Scott. I'll let Nephi answer this one. Heather, Susan, quickly turn to 1 Nephi 9:5.

Heather, would you read verse 5 loud enough for all to hear? "Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not." You mean, Nephi didn't even know? Just that the Lord wanted him to? That's right, but today we know why. Let's go find out. Guys, would you climb up there and tell us the title of the first book in the large plates, please.

Okay, the book of Lehi. Whoa. Thank you. You see this part that's lit? Mormon started his record on the gold plates by abridging the book of Lehi from the large plates. Abridging? Yes, in other words, he quoted, paraphrased, and shortened what was there and wrote it here as he was inspired by the Lord. Wait a minute, Brother Goodman. Come here, Heather.

There's no book of Lehi listed here. This page shows that Nephi is the first book. That's right, do you know why the book of Lehi isn't there?

Do you remember the 116 pages? Oh yeah, the 116 pages. Let's see, they were lost by-- Martin Harris. Yes, that was the book of Lehi. Do you see a wise purpose here? The Lord knew that the Book of Lehi would be lost and commanded that the small plates be written to cover the same time period. I knew that. All right, let's turn past the book of Lehi and see what's next. Boys, please.

The First Book of Nephi.

Hey, wait a minute. The small plates lit up instead of the large ones that he was working from. Right, now this is the interesting part. Even though the 116 pages of the book of Lehi were taken from the large plates, Mormon next goes to the small plates. Now, all the books from Nephi to the book of Omni come from the small plates. Wait, how do we know that? Well, Mormon himself explained what he had done here in the Words of Mormon, which is a brief explanation to tie the small plates to the rest of the record. Oh, I get it. So everything listed before the Words of Mormon came from the small plates. That's right, but-- And let me guess: Everything after Words of Mormon was abridged from the large plates of Nephi? Almost. After inserting the small plates and writing his explanation in the Words of Mormon, Mormon does go back to the large plates and abridges this portion of the book from Mosiah to 4th Nephi, see? And at this point, Mormon finishes his work. Now, what do you think he does next? Scott. Well, he must have written about his own lifetime or something like that.

The book of Mormon. He wrote the book of Mormon. Sure. He's finished abridging the large plates and closes with his own experiences and his own testimony for the people of our day. Any questions? Well yeah, what about these last two books? Aha, look at the gold plates and you'll see that there are still some writings we haven't accounted for. Now look back at the page and tell me, where did this portion of the book come from? Bob. Well, the book of Ether comes from the plates of Ether, right? Right. Aha. I've got to try this. Whoa. Heather, I'm impressed. Not bad. Thanks. How did you get a hold of this? Good job.

The plates of Ether were abridged here, and then of course, translated here as the book of Ether. And who abridged them? Well, it says here they were abridged and put in by Moroni. That's right, Moroni abridged them. But tell me, why Moroni and not Mormon? Well, didn't Mormon die? Yes, before he died he passed the plates on to his son Moroni and commanded him to finish and protect the record. Oh, so Moroni wrote his own book, too. That's right, and what do you think was in the book of Moroni? His testimony. That's right, Susan, very good. After Moroni finished his record, he spent the rest of his life concerned for the safety of these plates. Hey, wait. What about this sealed part? Moroni sealed this portion. But he said that the Lord had promised that they would come forth when the time was right. Now, we don't know everything that's in it, or exactly how much was sealed, but we do know that a lot came from the plates of Ether. It's a fascinating book, isn't it? You know, Brother Goodman, you were right. Everything seems more real to me now. You know, I'm going to go home and write all this stuff in my book so I won't forget it. Good idea. Ooh, time's flying. We better get back to class before anybody notices that we're gone. Hello? Great. Where are we? I don't think that was the right button. [MUSIC PLAYING]