Alma entrusts the sacred plates to his son Helaman. We can envision this righteous and noble father opening the plates for Helaman and turning over some of the leaves, one by one, to display the engraved characters as he speaks in solemn tones. We can imagine him gently moving the stack of plates across the table to a position in front of his son as a ceremonial act of consummating the transfer. He commands Helaman to be a loyal curator of the divine record—and to add to the history under inspiration from time to time. This process of adding to the record in the privacy of one’s room might seem like a small thing. The entire collection did not occupy much space—just a small trove of memories guarded carefully from any incursions that might enter in from the wide eternal world of human events. But then Alma makes his point: “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass; … by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls” (verses 6, 7). This sacred treasure of truth and wisdom has the power to change the lives of millions of God’s children. The future scriptural account deriving from the records—the Book of Mormon—will be the key for disseminating the light of the Restoration of the gospel in the dispensation of the fulness of times. Thus Helaman is enjoined to take most seriously his commission and to guard the records with his life—for they will serve the purposes of the Almighty in marvelous and miraculous ways (compare 1 Nephi 16:29).
In our day, the Prophet Joseph Smith encouraged the people to keep careful records of the adversity piled upon them by the enemies of the Church: “Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things. You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves” (D&C 123:15–16). Such a record would offset the barrage of false opinion being heaped on the Church and allow seekers-after-truth to perceive the glorious principles of the restored gospel in the correct light: “For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it” (D&C 123:12). It is in our day that the Book of Mormon—which reveals both the darkness and destructive consequences of wickedness as well as the light and life of Christian discipleship—reveals to the world the source of salvation and exaltation: in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom upon the earth, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.