“Inasmuch as They Did Repent They Did Begin to Prosper”
Through the preaching of Nephi and Lehi, some of the Nephites repent of their sins and again begin to prosper as the Lord promised. As a whole, however, the Church dwindles because of the loss of spiritual strength resulting from individual and collective unrighteousness. Without the Spirit of the Lord sustaining them, they become “weak like unto the Lamanites” and fail in their own attempts to repel the onslaught of that enemy.