Who Was Moroni?

It is within the historical story of the Book of Mormon that Moroni’s personal identification is discovered. The Book of Mormon tells the story of two peoples or civilizations—the Nephites and the Lamanites—who lived on the American continent between approximately 600 bc and AD 400. The earliest family members of the Nephites and the Lamanites had emigrated from Israel to America on a boat.

Moroni was the eldest son of Mormon, a Nephite prophet and military commander-in-chief, after whom the Book of Mormon is named. Moroni served under Mormon in the final great battle between the good Nephites and the bad Lamanites in 421.

Prior to this final war, Mormon gave the gold book to Moroni and commanded him to preserve it for future generations. During this war, the Lamanites killed Mormon and all the other Nephites, while Moroni escaped and went into hiding. Before Moroni died, he added final contents to the Book of Mormon and buried it on Hill Cumorah, where it remained untouched for 1,400 years.