I grew up in a strong family who believed in Jesus Christ and his coming. I am a descendant of the Brother of Jared, Mohonri Moriacumr, and heard all the stories that were passed down from generation to generation. Not only were they passed down verbally, but they were written on plates and the type of paper that we used. We were not allowed to read his vision of the future, but we knew that he saw the future until the end of the world.
After Mohonri died, as a spirit, he continued to visit many of his posterity, including me. He gave me strength and courage. He knew the problems with my son Jared. He was one of the angels that came to me and gave me comfort and helped me to understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how that would heal my broken heart and make all things right.
Jared, as a young child and in his early teen years, was an amazing son. Even while he was still inside of me, I felt his strong, valiant spirit. I felt that he would have power to be very influential. Of course, I thought that maybe he would be a prophet or the next king.
Jared grew up having a solid testimony of Jesus Christ and His plan. He felt the Holy Spirit as a young boy and knew about Jesus Christ, and knew Jesus would come. He helped many of his friends choose to follow the prophets and Jesus Christ.
Apparently the adversary also knew of Jared’s power and ability to influence people. It started slowly when Jared was about 15 years old. Jared stayed strong for a long time, but finally a couple of his friends, whom he had helped develop testimonies of Christ, began to persuade him to obtain riches. The sad thing is, Jared didn’t need riches. He didn’t need to obtain them in any bad way. Because of who he was, he was successful at everything that he did and would have had more than enough riches for what he needed and wanted. He could have been king, without the negative influences. He didn’t need any of that! But, he got caught up in the power, in greed. It took time, it didn’t happen all at once, in fact, it took a couple years. It was as if he were slowly poisoned. His attitude towards Omer and me gradually disintegrated. Jared became more and more disrespectful as he desired greater power and gained prodigious power. And, he took a couple of my children with him!
My heart just about broke in two when Jared gathered together an army and took Omer and me into captivity, along with many of our followers. I missed my son! I missed my grandchildren. I hated who they became. I couldn’t believe that my dear, sweet son could become so power-hungry and treat his family, and others, with complete disrespect.
We did find some peace while in captivity because we remained true and faithful to the covenants that we made, but it was a difficult time. We had to give much of our increase to Jared and those that ruled with him. Our needs were met, only because the Lord multiplied what we were able to retain.
We prayed mightily during this time. I became personally acquainted with Heavenly Father and even Heavenly Mother as she mourned with me. We all developed deep relationships with our God and Savior. We were visited daily by angels who brought us peace and joy. I enjoyed the grandchildren that were with us. We prayed multiple times a day for Jared and his family, with the hope that they would come back to the knowledge of Christ.
My dear sons who were born in captivity, Esrom and Coriantumr, and some of our sons-in-law were able to gather enough people to raise an army to fight against Jared. They did this in secret as Jared had guards over us continually. They recruited others who were unhappy with Jared and wanted Omer to regain his throne.
As it states in Ether 8, they were able to slay Jared’s army, but Jared begged for his life, promising to give the kingdom back to Omer. What a happy day that was! I was so hopeful that Jared would return to Christ, but it was not to be so.
As told in my dear husband’s story, Jared brought forth the evil plan revealed by the adversary. When Omer told me about his dream that we needed to depart immediately, I wept. How I wept. My son! How much more depraved could he get that he would desire the life of his own father. The father that cared for him as a baby, the father that took him hunting, to visit other cities, the father that taught him about Jesus Christ, the father that loved him more than any person could love him (except for me, of course).
We quickly gathered what we would need in a new settlement, gathered our flocks and herds, and left under the cover of darkness. I know that God was with us and His angels protected us.
Although I greatly missed our home, we flourished in our new city. I loved living near the seashore. I would go out to the beach, look over the vast waters and pray to God that Jared would come back to us, to Him. Although I prayed daily for Jared, deep down in my heart, I knew that would not happen.
When the news came that Akish had our son killed, I was heartbroken. I could not be consoled. I went out to the beach to pour my heart out to God. Actually, I wanted to blame Him. I wanted to be angry at Him because of our dear son. Mohonri came to me, as he had before. He comforted me. He reminded me that our Heavenly Parents wept with me. He opened a vision to me of our Heavenly Mother weeping at the loss of my son, Her son. I was amazed and humbled. He reminded me that Jesus Christ would come and make all things right. He opened another vision to me, that of Jesus suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. I was not shown much; my heart could not take witnessing anymore of what Jesus would go through for us. What I witnessed was greater than I could comprehend and tore my aching heart into pieces. Then, I saw Jesus; He took my heart and put it back together and strengthened it. I had a new heart! A heart where I could show greater love, even to my son who was now dead, and my grandchildren; those who were corrupted by the evil doings of my son.
After the visions, I ran back to my home, found Omer and told him all that I saw. We hugged and we cried. We were blessed with a new found faith that sustained us the rest of our days.
The time came when we were able to return to our home. I had mixed feelings as I grew to love our city in Ablom. In fact, many of my children and our friends decided to stay. I knew I would miss the great sea and all the marvelous experiences I had sitting along the shore. However, it was time to return and once again establish our kingdom, God’s kingdom.
Jaredite Stories 