While being blessed by his father, Joseph saw how good the Lord had been to him, and when he was told of the great blessings which would be bestowed upon him because of his faithfulness, he bowed his head on his father's neck and wept.
"And now, my son," said Lehi, "I am going to tell you of a wonderful thing which the Lord has told me will take place many years from now."
Joseph wondered what it could be. "You have seen the book which your brother Nephi is writing." Joseph answered that he had. "Well," said his father, "that is a history. It is an account of what has taken place among us since the day we left our home up to the present time. After Nephi has finished writing in it, he will deliver the book to another good man, who will continue the history. When the second writer has finished his part, he will give the book to a third, and in this manner the history of the people will be kept for hundreds and hundreds of years. When it is finished, it will be the most precious and wonderful book ever written.
"And what will become of the book, father?" asked Joseph.
"I was just going to tell you," said Lehi.
Joseph drew closer, and looked anxiously into his father's face.
"When the book is finished," continued Lehi, "the last writer will hide it in a deep hole in the ground. He will do that because wicked men might get it and destroy it. The book will be kept hid in the earth for thousands of years."
"At last the time will come for the book to be brought forth again. Then the Lord will send an angel to a boy named Joseph, the same name that you bear. The heavenly messenger will tell Joseph of the book and show him the place in which it will lie buried. A few years later the precious history will be taken from its hiding place and given to the boy Joseph. The Lord will help the boy to change the language of the book to suit the language of the people living at that time. Then the book will be published, men will carry it into all the world, and the people of every nation will learn of the great things which the Lord will have done for us and our children."
"That is really wonderful," said Joseph. "It is, indeed," said his father. Then Lehi kissed his boy again and said, "May the Lord bless you, my son, forever."
Can my children tell me how the words of Lehi were fulfilled concerning the book that was to be hid in the ground?