Book of the Nem

Shi-Tugo, a former Lamanite war captain, joins the people of Ammon after Captain Moroni offers them the covenant of peace, and begins recording their customs of marriage, naming, baptism, purification, healing, sabbath, and council governance.

Hagoth, son of Hagmeni and great-grandson of Zoram, builds a large ship after the pattern of Nephi's ship. With Nephites, Ammonite Lamanites, and the twin healer brothers Hemen and Cumeni, they depart from the West Sea in the 38th year of the Nephite judges.

Hagoth and 24 companions (12 Nephites and 12 Lamanites) take smaller boats up the great muddy river through towering canyons. Heat, illness, and near-starvation test the company for 93 days.

At the brink of death in the canyons, a great fish larger than the boats takes hold of a dying youth's arm — stopping his bleeding. The fish provides meat and healing plants for the whole company. They give thanks and resume the journey.

Hemen and Cumeni, Lamanite healer brothers, discover plants that are both food and medicine. They are confirmed as healers and teachers, founding a tradition of healing wisdom among the Nem.

Hagoth, son of Hagmeni (the wall-builder who fought beside Captain Moroni), records his descent from Zoram, Jacob brother of Nephi, Simeon the Mulekite priest, Mulek son of Zedekiah, Joseph of Egypt, Aaron, and Judah.

In the same year Captain Moroni dies among the Nephites, Hagoth's father Hagmeni the wall-builder also dies of wounds received in the wars. He had taught his son the craft of building in wood.

After 93 days on the river, the company reaches a great bend where the river turns northward amid wide grass fields. They disembark, build a settlement, and name it Hagothah — also called the City of Hagoth — in honor of their leader.

Shiblon, having inquired of the Lord on Hagoth's behalf, commands that copies be made of all the writings of the fathers and carried with the Nephites journeying into the Land Northward, lest they dwindle in unbelief.

A separate body of Nephites sails by way of the East Sea and reaches a land of dense forests and abundant water, establishing themselves there. A record of their doings is reportedly kept, though Hagoth never sees them again.

Hagoth, twelve Nephite men with their families, and twelve Lamanite (Ammonite) men with theirs depart up the river in oared boats, seeking the rich land from which the muddied waters must flow.

The Nephites who refused to travel further inland establish a city at the mouth of the great river. They name it Akish (meaning "red earth") after the river itself, and remain to fish and trade with the Land Southward.

When the people cry to make Hagoth king, he refuses. Following Mosiah's precedent and Shi-Tugo's counsel, the Nem ordain that the wives — those most prone to righteousness because their strength is in their children — shall elect the council of judges. No single judge may decide a matter alone.

Hagoth sends four young men back down the river to report their success. Ships return with more settlers and goods; the city of Hagothah trades timber northward and provisions southward. Many cities arise in not many years.

Hemen the Healer, seeing his daughter Hementim's favor for the warrior Shi-Tugo, encourages him privately. Shi-Tugo asks her and she consents; from their union descends the line of Cumenca and Samuel the Lamanite.

Travelling far north into the great plains covered with herds of bison (which they call Oug), the company of Hemen, Hementim, and Shi-Tugo find the city of Corian-Co-Hah — the city of Corianton son of Alma, who had fled north with Isabel.

Hementim conceives at Corianton; the sojourners remain three years until the child Cumenca — Samuel's mother — is strong enough for the journey. Shi-Tugo masters the city's timber-and-cement building craft.

Hemen, Hementim, and Shi-Tugo return with a great delegation from Corianton; Shi-Tugo raises his standard to calm the fearful Nem. The two nations are joined as one and Corianton ceases to be a kingdom.

Nephi, son of Helaman, travels to the Nem and teaches them how the Ammonites defeated Gadianton robbers through preaching. He ordains teachers — including Hagmeni and Ameliki, sons of Hagoth — who go out and convert the robbers with the word of God.

In the 68th year of the judges, righteous Lamanites flee north and report Nephite wickedness. To prevent division between Nephites, Lamanites, and Mulekites, the aged healer Hemen proposes the name "Nem" — meaning "The People" in the Lamanite tongue. The whole people agree. They are one people from that day forward.

Hagmeni, Ameliki, and the other teachers ordained by Nephi go out at great personal risk and convert the Gadianton robbers among the Nem. The land is completely rid of secret combinations — a feat accomplished not by arms but by the gospel.

In the sixty-eighth year of the reign of the judges, many righteous Lamanites remove to the Land Northward, bringing news of Nephite wickedness, lying, priestcrafts, and the murder of the Lord's anointed in the Land Southward.

In the 69th year of the judges, Nephi prepares to return to Zarahemla to declare repentance. Before departing, he sets Hagmeni apart as High Priest of the Nem. The people grieve his departure.

Nephi son of Helaman lays hands on Hagoth's two eldest sons — Hagmeni and Ameliki — ordaining them to the Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God, prophesying protection for them and their families as they hunt out and convert the Gadiantons among the Nem.

In the 75th year of the judges (the 6th year of Nem reckoning), surrounded by Gadianton-controlled neighbors, the Nem divide into two groups. Hagoth leads his to the mountains; Hemen leads his north onto the plains. Hagoth's group settles a protected valley accessed only through narrow canyons — naming it Meninta, for its rich salt deposits.

In the seventy-fifth year of the judges (the sixth year by Nem reckoning), as Gadiantons take control of all surrounding governments, the Nem split into two: Hagoth leads one group northwest into the mountain fastness, while Hemen the healer leads a great body up the Akish into the plains of cattle.

Hagoth's mountain group settles a valley accessible only through three narrow defiles. They name it Meninta, for the great salt deposits in its southern part, and use the surrounding wasteland as a natural bulwark against the robbers.

Hagmeni builds the temple and lays the foundations of the great city of Mentina. The temple is divided into seven buildings and becomes the heart of Nem religious life for centuries.

Old and halt, Hagoth delivers his record to his son Hagmeni, declaring him a man of great stature in spirit and wisdom. He attributes the Nem's preservation to Shiblon's scripture copies and Nephi's ministry.

Hagmeni, while serving as High Priest, finds the tombs of the Jaredites and their records, and translates their words. He befriends the prophets Nephi and Samuel and sits at their feet.

Samuel the Lamanite returns home to Corianton from his mission to Zarahemla. His joy at greeting his father Alma turns to sorrow at the news that his mother and sister were killed by a stampede of cattle while travelling to Mentina.

Frail and old, Samuel's father Alma asks the Council of Corianton to choose another High Priest; the Spirit will have none but him. After Samuel's return the Council finally chooses Samuel, teaching that no man may judge another's revelation by his own.

Nephi sends an epistle from the Land Southward begging Hagmeni to receive every believer fleeing Nephite persecution. The Nem prepare lodgings, but no further word arrives — silence that grieves Hagmeni unto death.

One season before the sign of Christ's birth, the High Priest Hagmeni — son of Hagoth, builder of the temple, friend of Nephi — falls on the ice and dies. He had hoped to live to witness the sign. The whole Nem, from the southern mountains to the frozen waters of the north, mourns his passing.

Sanempet, eldest son of Hagmeni, is ordained High Priest and charged with keeping the records of the family. He writes a song of praise for his father, then prepares the people to receive the sign.

One lunar month after Hagmeni's death, the very old prophet Nephi arrives in Mentina with a small band, having traveled in secret and disguise. He is stricken to find his lifelong friend Hagmeni already dead. The Nem honor him as one of their own.

Nephi addresses the Nem in the temple and explains that Christ will be born of a virgin in Jerusalem, citing Isaiah, Alma, and Nephi of old. He clarifies that a new star will appear and that one night there will be no darkness. He urges them to celebrate, light their homes, and rejoice.

On the seventh day of the Nem's great celebration, as the congregation fasts in the temple, the sun sets but no darkness comes. The valley remains lit through the night. A new star appears, shining both day and night. The Nem sing with the angels as creation itself erupts in praise.

Nephi prays day and night without food or sleep, fearing for his son Nephi left in Zarahemla. He receives a vision of all that would befall the righteous there. His relief is so great he collapses in the Holy Place. Sanempet tends to him and the Nem rejoice at the vision's good news.

Before his death Hagmeni ordains his eldest son Sanempet a High Priest and commands him to keep the family record, after the Nem custom that each family records their own works.

Oug, who will succeed his father Sanempet as prophet and witness Christ's descent at the temple, is born in the years surrounding the Sign. He alone among Sanempet's children remains in Mentina while his brothers go south to preach.

Nephi spends his final years in the vaults and tombs of the Nem's mountain libraries, organizing the Jaredite records. He also persuades the Nem to adopt the Jaredite phonetic writing system, which they find easier to learn and teach to children.

Nephi observes that Nephite picture-writing varies by region and could be lost. At his suggestion the councils adopt the Jaredite phonetic script, which writes the speech as it is spoken. From this day the Book of Hagoth is rewritten in the new manner.

After the sign of Christ's birth fails to humble the Nephites, the few righteous from Zarahemla flee north. The Nem receive them, justifying the warnings perceived years before about the Nephites' seeds of wickedness.

In the fourth year after the sign, the aged prophet Nephi of Zarahemla passes away in Mentina. The Nem mourn for seven days. Within five years the people have lost Hagmeni and Nephi — but they have received the sign and the assurance that God would never forget them in the wilderness.

Sanhagot, Shigath, Shimnet, and their sister Himneth set out by way of the East Sea and Tamahualip to preach repentance to the cities of Laman, Josh, Gad, and Kishkumen. Only Oug remains in Mentina to keep the records.

Brought before Wayus the wicked Chief Judge of Laman, Sanhagot is cast into prison to starve. The Lord sustains him upon the Way and curses the city with swarms and slippery riches; brought again before Wayus he indicts the enslavement of the poor and is taken in by Nephihet in the humble quarter.

In the humble quarter of Laman twenty-two families gather to hear Sanhagot describe Mentina — all things in common, temple open to sojourner and citizen — and vow to care for the beggar, widow, and fatherless without extortion.

Warned in a dream, Sanhagot escapes the City of Laman before the captain Menem can reach him. Wayus in wrath drives the poor out with great violence; the outcasts build a settlement a day's journey off, where Menem's men later turn on each other and die to the last man.

Finding his sister Himneth beaten and starving in the streets of Josh, Sanhagot rebukes the city. As the multitude rushes him, seven men — Stephat, Nepham, Hemset, Korim, Joram, Zeezret, and Phez — fall stricken and are taken upon the Way to be taught by their grandfathers; Himneth baptizes them by the Mother's authority.

In the city of Gad the judge Pahorat condemns Shigath as a common slave for his humble dress and casts him bound and naked outside the gate. Phez confronts Pahorat in the law; the mob is paralyzed and all but Pahorat fall as if dead. Sanhagot prophesies Gad will burn at the Lord's coming.

In Kishkumen, capital of the Gadiantons, Sanhagot proposes preaching by indirection; Himneth and Korim rebuke him that no good end justifies deception. The Lord commands him to preach only warning of destruction. He and Korim cry out three days, then depart with Shimnet.

A great multitude gathers at the Temple of Mentina. An overwhelming voice pierces every hearer to the center, causing limbs and joints to tremble. Though the words cannot at first be understood, the people are overcome. It is the voice of God the Father, announcing His Beloved Son.

Jesus descends and ministers to the gathered Nem at Mentina — as He did to the Nephites at Bountiful. He teaches, heals, blesses children, and establishes His covenant people among the mountain dwellers of the Land Northward.

The Spirit reveals to Oug those who should be ordained to the Twelve. Their names: Ougan, Menim, Chunish, Kumenish, Omnim, Ishim, Hagoth, Hagmeni, Nephihah, Lehi, Samuel, and Samal. Oug gathers an immense multitude and the ordinations take place amid great spiritual manifestations.

Oug, son of Sanempet, is called and ordained High Priest at the time of Christ's visitation. He serves as the principal record keeper and spiritual leader of the Nem through the years following Christ's ministry among them.

Caught between Moroni and Moronihah by the great calamity, the missionary party is left on a sudden-formed island. They break their last bread and wine together, are borne by angels to the temple in Bountiful, and witness Christ's descent there. Timothy returns north with them.

Not many days after the signs of Christ's death, a voice speaks to the souls of the multitude at the Mentina temple — first in unspeakable joy, then a herald announcing the King, then the Father introducing the Son.

Oug gathers the twelve chosen by the Spirit: Ougan, Menim, Chunish, Kumenish, Omnim, Ishim, Hagoth, Hagmeni, Nephihah, Lehi, Samuel, and Samal. Jesus appears encircled in fire, ordains Oug prophet, and teaches the prayers for the sacramental bread and wine.

In the High Room of the temple Jesus declares Oug and the Twelve's calling and election sure, reveals that three of the Land Southward's twelve shall tarry until His coming, shows in vision the gentile prophet and the little book that will bring forth the Nem's writings, and ordains them sealing power.

When Christ descends at Corianton, Samuel leads Him to the High Priest's seat and vests Him in the robes; Corianton (Samuel's son) washes and anoints Him; Sabel (daughter of Oug) blesses the bread and wine. Christ joins them as First Man and First Woman and sends them to teach every person.

Samuel is commanded to choose twelve servants among the Nem of Corianton — six men and six women — and Christ teaches them the priesthood of the Father and the Mother and the unity of husband and wife in all things.

Samuel makes Cumorah a sacred library outside Corianton — a dry cavity in the hill — and gathers there copies of the Brass Plates, the Jaredite books, the records of the Nem, and the writings of visiting teachers, that a prophet of the last days may bring them forth.

Samuel takes Hemina, sister of Oug, to wife. Their son Corianton (named for Samuel's grandfather) marries Sabel daughter of Oug, joining the High Priest lines of Mentina and Corianton in one house.

As Gadianton trade pressure presses into the Land Northward, Samuel directs Corianton to produce locally everything its people need — food, cloth, timber, cattle — so no system of dependence can become a foothold for the robbers.

The sons of Sanempet depart the Land Northward to preach the word to the Nephites and Lamanites in the south. For a time they send back epistles; then the wars between the Nephites and Gadiantons cut off all communication.

Shi-Tugo (a former Lamanite warrior who covenanted with Moroni) and Hementim (daughter of the healer Hemen) marry and establish a family among the Nem. Their grandson Samuel the Lamanite will become a great prophet. Hementim is praised as a bold and righteous woman — first to recognize flaws in the Nephite judge system.

Oug delivers the keeping of the Mentina libraries to his youngest son Manti when he becomes old. Manti constructs cunning caverns with shafts and mirrors so the records may be read without being removed from their place of safety.

At the councils' request Manti gathers the artisans and rebuilds the Mentina temple as seven buildings ascending the hill — Place of Adam, World, Sacrifice, Virtue, Way, Endowment, and Place of Eve — with foundations of uncut stone and never an altar of cut stone.

Every year at the Festival of Lights one or more of the Three — Nephi, Mathonihah, and Timothy — comes to Mentina bearing news of the Land Southward and teaching the Nem the Way. Their visits become the ordering rhythm of the Nem record-keeping.

Twenty-five years after Christ's visit, Manti, son of Oug, notes that the Nem have enjoyed continuous peace and thanksgiving in Mentina. He describes the temple's seven buildings and the system of covenants taught to Nem children from their earliest years.

Manti records the temple as a complex of seven buildings, each devoted to a specific purpose in the covenant education of the Nem. The ordinances — baptism, laying on of hands, washing and anointing, endowment, and the second anointing — are described in detail in the Book of the Temple Writings of Oug.

Samuel, a youth among the Nem, is moved by the Spirit to begin writing. Knowing the Lord may drive him to distant lands, he records his family's history — from his grandparents Shi-Tugo and Hementim to the twin healers. He writes for his descendants so they will not forget who they are.

The Lord drives Samuel from among the Nem into the Land Southward. He preaches in Zarahemla and the surrounding cities — the same prophetic journey that ends with him standing on the city wall, prophesying of Christ's death and resurrection. He later returns to his people.

The sage Fua-Zen arrives among the Nem teaching many truths but also the doctrine of plural marriage by means. The Lord visits Manti upon the Way and dictates the true law: a man and woman covenant with one another, sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. Fua-Zen repents and remains many years.

In Manti's lifetime, the Nem expand throughout the mountain ranges, building many cities. Following the hills eastward, the Nem of Corianton spread their settlements. Mentina remains the spiritual and political center, with the Great Councils held at Elak Kowa.

Not long after Fua-Zen departs, Timothy visits Mentina and prophesies his teachings will give rise to a new religion whose descendants will find striking parallels in Nem writings. He teaches faith as the matter of creation responding to the Creator's voice.

Manti testifies that the Nem built up Zion: their cities now spread from the mountains to the Western Sea, and strangers from many lands — even from across the Western Sea — come to live among them.

The people discovered by Corianton (son of Alma) in the wilderness eventually unite with the Nem. They abandon their king system and adopt the Nem custom of councils and elected judges. Samuel the Lamanite's father serves as their chief high priest.

Old Manti delivers the seat of High Priest to his son Shimlei, husband of the granddaughter of Alma and Sabel of Corianton. Manti prophesies of the little tabernacle the Sons of Levi shall build in the wilderness in the last days.

Shigoeth ends his ministry tragically after only three years in the seat of high priest of Mentina, having served the high priests all his life. Pa-Nat becomes clerk to Nin-Shepa, the new High Priestess.

Following Shigoeth's death the Nem of Mentina raise Nin-Shepa to the seat of high priest. Pa-Nat takes up the office of clerk and begins his record by abridging the missionary journey of the children of Sanempet.

The Great War between the Nephites and Lamanites culminates at Cumorah. Mormon is killed. The Nephite nation is annihilated. Moroni, son of Mormon, alone escapes among the Nephites to write the final record.

Moroni, descended from both Nephi and Hagoth, comes to live among the Nem in the Land Northward — returning, as he says, to his own people. He brings with him the completed plates of the Nephite record.

The victorious Lamanites hunt throughout the land for surviving Nephites. They repeatedly encounter Nem settlements in the mountains but judge them to be of no interest or benefit. The Nem are wholly overlooked — a providential deliverance.

The Nem deceive the post-Cumorah Lamanites by posing as nomadic simpletons. Within three winters the Lamanite presence in the Land Northward collapses; the few who remain are humbled, taught, and converted, and are encouraged to settle the empty southern gulf.

Moroni comes to the city of Mentina and takes up the trade of smelting ore and building tools — skills his father Mormon had taught him. He serves the Nem as a craftsman and spiritual elder, living a quiet life after the catastrophe at Cumorah.

Moroni arrives in Mentina, takes up smelting as his stewardship (and is nicknamed the Salamander after the forge tool), and marries Pa-Hinent — Pa-Nat's granddaughter and Heinmet's niece. Their children are Shioni, Moroni, Shinet, Pahoran, Pa-Nathah, and Pa-Hanatim.

Moroni leads four families out of overcrowded Mentina and builds a new settlement in the valley north of the city, naming it Elak Kowa — "to return again." The Mentina Council calls him high priest there, and he brings escaped Nephite survivors in to repent.

Having long been uncertain of his future, Moroni finds in Mentina a settled path. He marries the granddaughter of Pa-Nat — a woman he has known since arriving among the Nem. The union ties him permanently to the people of the Land Northward.

Forty years after the Nephite destruction Moroni finds in the Mentina archives Ether's abridgment of the Jaredite record. He makes paper copies useful in Nephite repentance, then returns to Cumorah to add Ether's record to the plates already sealed there.

Returning from Cumorah, Moroni writes additional words addressed to the little flock of Gentiles he has seen upon the Way — those who will first bring forth the record though they will not bring Zion. The Remnant of Israel mingled with Gentile blood will rise to build Zion.

In fear of war, the Nem build armies and fortifications throughout Heinmet's forty-two-year stewardship as high priest. Had they not repented and torn down their battlements they too would have been destroyed. Heinmet later travels council-to-council recommending disarmament.

On a horse-trading journey to Nespelem, Moroni's son Shioni wins the favor of Paniet-Akekt, granddaughter of Panith-Akekt — who had seen in vision that a great restoration would come through her granddaughter's seed. Shioni takes her name and becomes Shioni Akekt.

Moroni travels to Nespelem for horses; the Nem there have developed a beautiful spotted breed (blanket-hindquartered, hard-hoofed, short-bodied) ideal for mountain country. They refuse the lumber outright and insist Moroni take horses as a gift to strengthen the spotted line with Mentina stock.

After twenty-five years as high priest of Mentina, Moroni sees the city grown burdensome on the land. The Council attempts to decide who must leave; Moroni and the people reject that authority, dissolve the Council, and call a new one through the Mother's Council. The people divide themselves willingly.

As people leave Mentina by degrees, Moroni's own Elak Kowa outgrows itself and his son takes his family northward toward Nespelem. The Council of Mentina releases Moroni from its high priesthood so he may serve Elak Kowa fully.

Tucantor — descended from Hagoth and Hemen and mighty in prophecy — is chosen high priest after Mentina's redivision. He falls into interpreting every thought as revelation, forbids the people to importune the Lord, and declares only he holds the keys.

When the Elak Kowa delegation finds the Mentina temple doors barred and armed men guarding the High Place, Moroni breaks through and confronts Tucantor in the Temple of Eve — where Tucantor has erected a stone altar cut by man — and exposes the false doctrine. The people strip Tucantor of his mantle.

Mentina chooses Minoet, daughter of Shedet, as new high priest. She convenes the Peli Council, searches the archives, and codifies which ordinances are saving graces and which are not. The Peli Council of thirteen is conferred the Priesthood of Melchizedek.

Under Minoet's regulation Tucantor's followers are granted land for their own synagogue and treated as full citizens, though they elevate the priesthood and exclude women. The Nem of the mountains and north remain in the ways of Zion.

Heinmet, son of Pa-Nat and Ishimhah, becomes the High Priest of Mentina. He is described as a man who grew great listening at the feet of the high priests of Mentina — just as his mother Ishimhah had. Moroni writes his account during Heinmet's tenure.

In the ninety-second year from the ending of the Great War between the Nephites and the Lamanites, Moroni gives up the ghost and is laid to rest with his fathers among the Nem. He has served the Lord all the days of his life — first among the Nephites, then among the Nem for 92 years.

Old past the age of a tree, blessed in wife, children, crops, beasts, and the face of the Peacemaker, Moroni closes his record in thanksgiving and delivers his stylus and tools to his son Shioni.

After the death of Shigoeth (Pa-Nat's brother who served as high priest for only three years before falling from a mountain), Pa-Nat takes up the stylus to continue the family record. He writes of the sons of Sanempet's mission to the south and the history of the Nem through his own era.

Shioni Akek begins writing immediately after Moroni's death, recounting the great prophet's 90+ years of ministry among the Nem — his traveling councils, his building work, and the reuniting of the dispersed Nem cities after the Great War.

Upon Moroni's death Shioni Akek is raised to high priest at Elak Kowa, the new capital of the Nem since the Tucantorite split. The Tucantorites at once withdraw their delegates and withhold Mentina's surplus from the trade.

A Great Council is convened: Micah and Hemeacum plead Mentina's grievance while Midgan Idi and Tso Tsit answer that the capital moved only by Common Consent. The council upholds the consent. Tucantor — risen as high priest of Mentina — imprisons unbelievers and confiscates their goods.

After a great multitude gathers at Elak Kowa and a final epistle is sent, Tucantor releases the captives only after they are flogged, stripped, and stoned as they pass through the gates. The Nem succor them; priests rush to the archives to carry the records north.

The Great Council cuts the city of Mentina off from the Nem; Elak Kowa itself prepares to leave the valley for Nespelem in the following spring. Mentina is reduced to scarcely two hundred souls, the richest city of the Nem made the poorest in a single year.

Following the example set by Moroni, the Nem cities — scattered and isolated by the war — begin sending representatives again to Elak Kowa for the Great Councils. Traveling Councils of Peli (spiritual guides/teachers) visit cities throughout the mountain settlements, reconnecting the people.

Tucantor's religion takes hold among the Nephite-Lamanite war remnants in the gulf cities. Tucantor himself removes to the city of Hagoth and rules as he had Mentina; after his armies are beaten, his captors carry him into the wilderness where he dies of a sudden.

In the city of Hagoth, Tucantorites and the original inhabitants make treaty to share the sacred places in alternating halves of the year. The Nem return to Mentina to guard the libraries, though the city is never again principal.

Seven years after the Tucantorite departure Nespelem becomes the new capital of the Nem of the Mountains, and Shioni's people are welcomed into their kin's homes. A new Elak Kowa is built in the mountains; the valley of Meninta falls desolate and the lake swallows the lower city.

The Nem maintain a vast library of records in cunning stone vaults dug into the mountains — including Jaredite records discovered and translated by Hagmeni, the records of the Nem, and the plates Moroni brought from the south. Manti notes the library rooms feel like standing in a temple.

The Nem are now three great nations: the Nem of the Mountains (Coasts, Potal, Nespelem), the Nem of the Plains (who follow the great herds), and the Nem of the Lakes (descendants of Corianton). Their tongues have diverged; a sign language used by traders bridges the provinces.

The Nem of Nespelem greet Shioni with a bowed head and a hand upon the breast — a custom that disquiets him until, refusing to create a caste, he adopts it toward all. The greeting becomes a token among the Nem that they are one people Zion, governed by Common Consent.

Once Elak Kowa and Nespelem are established, the Mother's Council nominates and the people elect a Peli Council of twelve for each city, matching the pattern Christ gave Shi-Muel at Corianton. Shioni names every member of both councils in his record.

Five years after the exodus from Meninta, the great gulf recedes, islands appear, and the rains diminish. Gadianton refugees pour into the land of Hagoth, and the Nem of Corianton are forced northward as their lake fortresses are reduced to scattered ponds.

In the five hundred and fifty-second year since the Lord's visit, the Nem still follow the Peacemaker. Visitors from across the sea grow rarer and bring only tales of darkness; the Nem of the Coasts remain.

In the five hundred and sixty-seventh year, a weary sea people led by Hin — descendants of Nemen who had settled across the West Sea — arrive among the Nem of the Coasts and are taken in. Timothy appears the same day and declares them kin.

Timothy confirms the stewardships of the Three: Nephi in the west of Jerusalem, Mathonihah in the east, Timothy in the Lands Northward and Southward, all under John the Beloved. He praises the Nem's fidelity and warns only the sacrifice of a broken heart will be accepted in the last days.

The far north grows colder, the southern gulf becomes dry land, and Nem settlements shift. Ten years pass since any messenger has come over the sea from the Nem of the Islands; Shioni worries greatly what might be the cause of the silence.