Life History
According to Mormon's record in the Book of Mormon, he was born in about AD 311 to a father whose name was also Mormon. At about the age of ten, he was visited by Ammaron and given instructions on where to find the sacred engravings of the Nephite prophets and what to engrave upon them. At the age of eleven, Mormon was taken to the land of Zarahemla by his father.
Mormon writes that at age fifteen he was visited by Jesus Christ.
At age sixteen (or "in his sixteenth year"), Mormon became the leader of the Nephite armies, and fought against the Lamanites in many battles thereafter.
Mormon went to the hill (called Shim) at about the age of 24, as instructed by Ammaron, to take and abridge the Nephite records.
In AD 362, Mormon writes that he "utterly refuse...to be a commander and a leader" to the Nephites "because of their wickedness and abomination." However, about thirteen years later, Mormon decided to return as commander of the Nephite armies as they were being badly beaten by the Lamanites.
Upon returning, Mormon again led them in battle against the Lamanites until the entire destruction of the Nephite nation, which took place as a result of a huge battle fought between the two groups in 385. The prophet Moroni, Mormon's son to whom he delivered the Golden Plates, records that Mormon was killed by the Lamanites (presumably in AD 385 or shortly thereafter). As the last prophet and keeper of the record, Moroni is said to have become the angel or messenger who revealed the location of the Golden Plates to Joseph Smith in 1823.
Read more about this topic: Mormon (Book Of Mormon)
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