And it came to pass, that after I had prayed, and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me, I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith. And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him: That if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be, by the power of his holy arm, that it might be brought forth, at some future day, unto the Lamanites, that perhaps they might be brought unto salvation: for at the present, our strugglings were vain, in restoring them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath, that if it were possible, they would destroy our records and us; and, also, all the traditions of our fathers.

Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God was able to preserve our records, I cried unto him continually; for he had said unto me, whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it. And I had faith, and I did cry unto God, that he would preserve the records; and he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth unto the Lamanites, in his own due time. And I, Enos, knew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore, my soul did rest.— And the Lord said unto me, thy fathers have also required of me this thing; and it shall be done unto them according to their faith, for their faith was like unto thine.

And now it came to pass, that I, Enos, went about among the people of Nephi, prophesying of things to come, and testifying of the things which I had heard and seen. And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors were vain; their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature, that they became wild, and ferocious, and a bloodthirsty people; full of idolatry, and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey, dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness, with a short skin girdle about their loins, and their heads shaven: and their skill was in the bow, and in the cymeter, and the axe. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us. [p. 154]