The Book of the Strangers

1Now behold, the children of the son of Elhia were not faithful to that which had been taught unto them by their fathers. And many great men did rise up and preach to them. And these things which were preached I know not of, for they are lost to me. And I know only of those things that were spoken unto me by my fathers. And there were also kings which were raised up among them. And a righteous man preached to a king. And the king ordered him to be killed by flame. And flame did also kill the king. And that which is evil shall be rewarded with evil. And all men should seek to do that which is good.

1And there came a time when good men did preach those things which they believed to be true. And they went to their enemies and preached unto them. And despite the great hatred of their enemies many did hearken unto them and did believe. And a great king did also believe. And after many years there were great contentions and wars among the people. And there was a great teacher and warrior who did fight among the people. And there are many other stories which we have heard concerning these lost people. And it was during these times of contentions and wars that our great father Haga did live.

1And Haga did lead the people by the Spirit. And he also did learn the ways of building with wood. And because of many wars people had a desire to move away from their land. And so Haga did build a large ship. And he did take his family in to the ship and traveled to a northern land. And others did follow. And after many years Haga who was the son of Haga did take leave Lehi Abinadi King Lemhi Ammon Hagoth of the people. And he did take journey with boats to find a land for himself away from that of his fathers. And they did travel upon the sea into the west. And there did arise a great storm and they were pushed off course. And they had wrecked upon an island. And Haga decided to await rescue from his brethren. But at no time did any rescue come Wherefore Haga did make his home upon the island. And behold there were many other people who were already inhabitants upon the islands. And it was common that people from distant lands should come unto these islands. And it was during the time of his awaiting of rescue that Haga did take unto himself a wife of the native people of the island. And she bore him a son. And this son did go forth upon the islands and did find a beautiful woman among the people of a distant island. And he did marry her but she did not believe the religion of her husband. And their children did not follow the religion of their father. And his children did spread themselves out in the islands. For they were very curious and did seek to explore. And seeing that they were very skilled in the art of navigation, they did discover many new lands. And thus the children of our great father Haga did spread abroad upon the islands.

1Now, I, whose name is Maunea, am a descendant of our great father Haga. But I do not follow after his religion. And I do know save it be rumors of their beliefs. And we do live upon an island of the sea. And there are many inhabitants, and many governments are established upon these islands. And we have not a place to be free. Wherefore, I have gathered my family. And we have prepared boats, that we may depart into the sea to find a land of freedom. For behold there is a rumored land in the west that is a free land, and a land of much riches. And the people of these islands do call me a fool for my desire to find this land. For they believe it to be but a rumor. But I do believe that it must be true. And I do know that we shall not perish upon the sea.

1Now I, whose name is Maunea, did gather my family, and much food and water, into our boats, and we did depart into the ocean. And we did use the stars as a guide. And we did travel for a great many days and nights. And behold, our food supply was used up, and some had spoiled. And my family did grow in pains of hunger. And they did become angered with me for they thought that those who had mocked us spoke the truth. And they thought that there was not land of freedom. And behold they did lose hope and we did drift in the midst of the sea. But behold as many had lost their hope, one of our party did sight a land in the distance. And he did call out to the others. And all the people in the boats did look towards the land, save those who were too weak to move. And we did regain our strength and navigate toward the land. And after we had landed we did find much food, and wild game. And we did eat until we could no longer eat. And behold we did send out scouts to explore the land. And this land was very vast, Yea even greater than the island were we had departed. And I, whose name is Maunea, knew that this must be the land of freedom. And we did begin to make homes and settle the land. And after many days my sons were scouting in the land. And they did come upon a group of people and they did approach the people. And they people were very dark and were of small height. And they were a very peaceful people. And they did have a strange form of worship. But behold it was familiar to me for it was after the manner of my ancestors and I did become sure of the truthfulness of the histories of my ancestors. And behold, one of the people from the other group did speak unto my sons. And it did amaze them that he could speak our language. And he did speak unto them that he had a gift of the Spirit in that he could speak our language. And he did follow them to our community. And he did come unto me and speak unto me. And I did learn that the land was a great and vast land and that it was all united as one people. And we were amazed that such a large number of people could be united. And he did teach unto me the reason that they were united. For they did believe in a man named Christ, who was the Son of God. And he did teach all our people and because our ancestors had also believed after a similar belief, for they knew that a man such as Christ should come. And we knew that this Christ must be He who was prophesied according to legend. And we did join the people and were baptized and learned the ways of Christ. And I knew that the histories of my people may be important, for they did speak of people who did believe that Christ should come. Wherefore I did write this history of our people upon this land. And with the aid of our neighboring people we did translate this history into the language of leader of the Kingdom. And we will deliver this history unto the leader of the Kingdom. THE SONG OF