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Sunday, March 10, 2019

Why does Mormon say "they are beautiful to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer"? Mosiah 18:30

Why does Mormon say "they are beautiful to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer"? Mosiah 18:30

The context of this story is that Alma, one of wicked King Noah's priests, flees for his life. He starts preaching in private. He sets forth the covenant of baptism and starts baptizing at the waters of Mormon. He organizes the Church of Christ and ordains righteous priests, who teach the people. Alma leads a group of people away from King Noah into the wilderness.

Centuries later, a historian named Mormon (the namesake of the Book of Mormon) is abridging the record of Alma and his people. This is how Mormon describes what happened:
And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.
 Mormon was probably named after this place. He probably grew up hearing about the waters of Mormon, the forest near the waters of Mormon, the place of Mormon. By the way, there's perhaps some kind of parallelism here.

A. In Mormon
B. Waters of Mormon
C. Forest near the waters of Mormon

A. The place of Mormon
B. Waters of Mormon
C. Forest of Mormon

Answer:
When people have powerful spiritual experiences their sensory memories are invoked and they are likely to remember specific details about where they were, who they were with, and what they were doing. This place went down in history probably both because it was objectively a beautiful place, and also because it was associated with strong feelings of peace obtainable only through the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.

You are likely to remember details about your baptism day just like these people did.

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