pgs. 466 and 467...and it came to pass that there was no contention among all the people, in all the land.

11 And they were married, and given in marriage, and were blessed according to the multitude of the ^apromises which the Lord had made unto them.

12 And they did not walk any more after the ^aperformances and ^bordinances of the ^claw of Moses; but they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing in ^dfasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord.

13 And it came to pass that there was no contention among all the people, in all the land; but there were mighty miracles wrought among the disciples of Jesus.

14 And it came to pass that the *seventy and first year passed away, and also the seventy and second year, yea, and in fine, till the seventy and ninth year had passed away; yea, even an hundred years had passed away, and the ^adisciples of Jesus, whom he had chosen, had all gone to the ^bparadise of God, save it were the ^cthree who should tarry; and there were other ^ddisciples ^eordained in their stead; and also many of that ^fgeneration had passed away.

15 And it came to pass that there was no ^acontention in the land, because of the ^blove of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.

16 And there were no ^aenvyings, nor ^bstrifes, nor ^ctumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of ^dlasciviousness; and surely there could not be a ^ehappier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.

17 There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in ^aone, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

18 And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an *hundred and ten years had passed away; and the first generation from Christ had passed away, and there was no contention in all the land.

19 And it came to pass that ^aNephi, he that kept this last record, (and he kept it upon the ^bplates of Nephi) died, and his son Amos kept it in his stead; and he kept it upon the plates of Nephi also.

20 And he kept it eighty and four years, and there was still peace in the land, save it were a small part of the people who had revolted from the church and taken upon them the name of Lamanites; therefore there began to be ^aLamanites again in the land.

21 And it came to pass that ^aAmos died also, (and it was an hundred and ninety and four years from the coming of Christ) and his son Amos kept the record in his stead; and he also kept it upon the plates of Nephi; and it was also written in the book of Nephi, which is this book.

22 And it came to pass that *two hundred years had passed away; and the second generation had all passed away save it were a few.

23 And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know that the people had multiplied, insomuch that they were spread upon all the face of the land, and that they had become exceedingly ^arich, because of their prosperity in Christ.

24 And now, in this *two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in ^apride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the world.

25 And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more ^acommon among them.

26 And they began to be divided into classes; and they began to build up ^achurches unto themselves to get ^bgain, and began to deny the true church of Christ.

27 And it came to pass that when *two hundred and ten years had passed away there were many churches in the land; yea, there were many churches which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did ^adeny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness, and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been ^bforbidden because of unworthiness.

28 And this church did multiply exceedingly because of iniquity, and because of the power of ^aSatan who did get hold upon their ^bhearts.

29 And again, there was another church which denied the Christ; and they did ^apersecute the true ^bchurch of Christ, because of their humility and their belief in Christ; and they did despise them because of the many miracles which were wrought among them.

30 Therefore they did exercise power and authority over the disciples of Jesus who did tarry with them, and they did cast them into ^aprison; but by the power of the word of God, which was in them, the prisons were rent in twain, and they went forth doing mighty miracles among them.

31 Nevertheless, and notwithstanding all these miracles, the people did harden their hearts, and did seek to kill them, even as the Jews at Jerusalem sought to kill Jesus, according to his word.

32 And they did cast them into ^afurnaces of ^bfire, and they came forth receiving no harm.

33 And they also cast them into ^adens of wild beasts, and they did play with the wild beasts even as a child with a lamb; and they did come forth from among them, receiving no harm.

34 Nevertheless, the people did harden their hearts, for they were led by many priests and ^afalse prophets to build up many churches, and to do all manner of iniquity. And they did ^bsmite upon the people of Jesus; but the people of Jesus did not smite again. And thus they did dwindle in unbelief and wickedness, from year to year, even until two hundred and thirty years had passed away.

35 And now it came to pass in this year, yea, in the *two hundred and thirty and first year, there was a great division among the people.

36 And it came to pass that in this year there arose a people who were called the ^aNephites, and they were true believers in Christ; and among them there were those who were called by the Lamanites—Jacobites, and Josephites, and ^bZoramites;

37 Therefore the true believers in Christ, and the true worshipers of Christ, (among whom were the ^athree disciples of Jesus who should tarry) were called Nephites, and Jacobites, and Josephites, and Zoramites.

One of the results of an entire society of people being followers of Christ seems to be no contention. This is definitely a hard thing to accomplish but it is also absolutely worth striving for. Satan is so good at stirring up contention among us. It is all around us - in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our wards, and in our politics. If we can at least keep it out of our homes I know it will be a blessing to us. Here is a great quote from Joseph Fielding Smith on the topic:

“What a glorious time that must have been when everybody was happy, when everybody was at peace, when everyone loved his neighbor as himself, and above all he loved God, because we are informed here that the thing which brought about this condition of happiness was the fact that the love of God was in the hearts of the people. There never will be a time of peace, happiness, justice tempered by mercy, when all men will receive that which is their right and privilege to receive, until they get in their hearts the love of God” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:319–20).