What is the best letter you have ever received?
What is the worst letter you have ever received?
Giddianhi, the leader of the Gadianton Robbers sent a letter to Lachoneus, the Chief Judge of the Nephites.
Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, behold, I write this epistle unto you, and do give unto you exceedingly great praise because of your firmness, and also the firmness of your people, in maintaining that which ye suppose to be your right and liberty; yea, ye do stand well, as if ye were supported by the hand of a god, in the defence of your liberty, and your property, and your country, or that which ye do call so.
And it seemeth a pity unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should be so foolish and vain as to suppose that ye can stand against so many brave men who are at my command, who do now at this time stand in their arms, and do await with great anxiety for the word—Go down upon the Nephites and destroy them.
And I, knowing of their unconquerable spirit, having proved them in the field of battle, and knowing of their everlasting hatred towards you because of the many wrongs which ye have done unto them, therefore if they should come down against you they would visit you with utter destruction.
Therefore I have written this epistle, sealing it with mine own hand, feeling for your welfare, because of your firmness in that which ye believe to be right, and your noble spirit in the field of battle.
Therefore I write unto you, desiring that ye would yield up unto this my people, your cities, your lands, and your possessions, rather than that they should visit you with the sword and that destruction should come upon you.
Or in other words, yield yourselves up unto us, and unite with us and become acquainted with our secret works, and become our brethren that ye may be like unto us—not our slaves, but our brethren and partners of all our substance.
And behold, I swear unto you, if ye will do this, with an oath, ye shall not be destroyed; but if ye will not do this, I swear unto you with an oath, that on the morrow month I will command that my armies shall come down against you, and they shall not stay their hand and shall spare not, but shall slay you, and shall let fall the sword upon you even until ye shall become extinct.
And behold, I am Giddianhi; and I am the governor of this the secret society of Gadianton; which society and the works thereof I know to be good; and they are of ancient date and they have been handed down unto us.
And I write this epistle unto you, Lachoneus, and I hope that ye will deliver up your lands and your possessions, without the shedding of blood, that this my people may recover their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government, and except ye do this, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddianhi.
If you were Lachoneus how would you feel about this note?
What would be your response?
Let’s see what kind of man Lachoneus was and how he responded to this letter.
3 Nephi 3:11-12
How did he feel about the letter?
Why type of man did it say he was?
3 Nephi 3:13-16
What response to the letter did he had?
1. He sent a note to all the people and told them to gather together in on place, Zarahemla
2. Caused that fortifications should be build around the city
3. Caused that guards should be placed around the city both day and night
4. Told them that if they did not repent the Lord would not save them
5. Prophesied unto the people.
3 Nephi 3:17-18
How did Lachoneus prepare their armies?
• Organized them into groups with Chief captains
• Appointed a leader of the chief captains, Gidgiddoni, who had the spirit of revelation.
How would these things help their armies?
When have we seen the benefits of this in the past?
3 Nephi 3:20
What did the people want?
3 Nephi 3:21
What was Gidgiddoni’s response to the people?
Why would the Lord not support them if they went up against the Gadianton Robbers?
Two years after the letter was sent to Lachoneus, the robbers came up to the land of Zarahemla to battle against the Nephites. The Nephites had stripped the land clean of vegetation and animals and the robbers could not find anything to live off of. The Nephites were able to win against them and killed Giddianhi and his successor Zemnarihah. The robbers went home to the mountains and the Nephites praise the Lord for their victory.
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