Page:A dictionary of the Book of Mormon.pdf/178

Jared, Brother of. in the interior, by reason of being without windows, the Lord, at the entreaty of the brother of Jared, touched sixteen small white stones, which the latter had molten out of a high mountain called Shelem; and after the Lord touched them they shone forth and gave light to the vessels in which they were placed. When the Lord put forth His finger to touch these stones, the veil was taken from before the eyes of the brother of Jared and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood.

And because of the brother of Jared's great faith the Lord showed Himself unto him, and declared Himself to be Jesus Christ, who should come into the world to redeem His people.

All things being prepared, Jared and his people, with their animals, fishes, bees, seeds and multitudinous other things, went on board; a favorable wind wafted them from shore, and they gradually crossed to the American coast. At the end of a somewhat stormy voyage of three hundred and forty-four days the colony reached this continent. It is generally understood that the place where they landed was south of the Gulf of California and north of the land Desolation, which was north of the Isthmus of Panama.

No sooner had the people of Jared landed than they humbled themselves before the Lord, many of them shedding tears of joy because of the multitude of His tender mercies in bringing them so safely to this new land of promise. Their next duty was to prepare for the future. They commenced to till the soil and perform the other labors incidental to founding a new home. In these efforts they prospered greatly. They began to grow and increase in numbers and in wealth; and even better than this, they were a righteous people, being taught directly from on high. In process of time Jared and his brother grew old, and perceiving that their course on earth was