Omni

Since I had so little time to prepare last week's lesson, I didn't make it through the whole thing. Today I read Omni. I really like the way it bridges two "larger" portions of the Book of Mormon. Here are a couple of observations/questions:

• I used to wonder why everyone in the book of Omni wrote so little, but then in the last verse Amaleki tells us the plates are full. I guess Omni, Amaron, Chemish, and Abinadom were probably all afraid to be the one to fill the plates and leave no more room for the next guy. Maybe they didn't know how to make more, or maybe the plates were constructed in such a way that more couldn't be added to this set.
  
• Another reason they didn't write much might be because they weren't filled with the Spirit. Omni claims to have been a wicked man, and maybe the others weren't entirely faithful either and didn't have much preaching to do. But the line didn't fall completely away as Amaleki tells us to come unto Christ.
  
• Abinadom tells us in verse 11 that the record of the people is kept upon plates that are had by the kings. I assume (but I don't know) that the record he is referring to, or the plates he is referring to, are the large plates of Nephi. If so, I wonder at what point the large plates were separated from the small plates, and why.
  
• I used to read of Mosiah and the discovery of Zarahemla as though it happened in the space of one or two days, but reading it just now I realized that probably wasn't the case. First of all, Mosiah and those who went with him were led through the wilderness by preachings and prophesyings and continual admonishment by the Lord. When they found the people of Zarahemla, they couldn't communicate. I think, even if the language hadn't strayed too far, that it would have taken more than just a few days for the people of Zarahemla to learn a new language. It makes a lot more sense to me this way, realizing that the peoples were simply united and years likely went by before they were homogenized with a single language and Mosiah was made king. As a kid I always imagined Mosiah and his people marching up over a hill, seeing the city of Zarahemla, marching in, and the people putting a crown on Mosiah's head and making him king right there on the spot.
  

Well, ok, so most of my observations are more narrative than anything. I guess some days are just like that. I'm glad, though, because sometimes connecting the dots like this helps my understanding of how the Lord works among his children.