How be it that ye have not written this thing?

People soon forget what is not written down. As Alma taught, "it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people." (Alma 37:8)

In some cases, things are forgotten even when they were written down because the old writings are ignored or lost. That seemed to be the case with the Nephites. They had kept a record of Samuel the Lamanite's prophecies but the official record omitted his prophecy about saints arising from the dead.

The Lord made this point to the Nephites, when he asked them, "How be it that ye have not written this thing?" (3 Nephi 23:11)

Samuel had prophesied about 40 years earlier. Mormon inserted the official record of Samuel's prophecies and the associated events at the end of the Book of Helaman (our modern Chapters 13-16 in Helaman, Chapter V in the 1830 edition).

But when Nephi "brought forth the records," Christ noticed that some of Samuel's prophecies were missing from the official record, specifically that many would arise from the dead.

The disciples remembered that Samuel had prophesied about this, and that people did arise from the dead, but that was not found in the official records they gave to Christ.

In other words, Samuel's prophecy had once been known. Presumably his prophecy about saints rising from the dead had been recorded somewhere, but it was not included in the official records. The knowledge would have been lost to the Saints of that day once those who lived during that time had died with their memories. 

That's why Christ told the disciples to put it in the official records.

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We have a similar situation in our day regarding the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.

In our day, few Latter-day Saints know what the prophets have taught about the New York Cumorah/Ramah. 

Shortly before his death, Brigham Young expressed his concern that the truth about Cumorah would be forgotten.

I tell you this as coming not only from Oliver Cowdery, but others who were familiar with it, and who understood it just as well as we understand coming to this meeting, enjoying the day, and by and by we separate and go away, forgetting most of what is said, but remembering some things. So is it with other circumstances in life. I relate this to you, and I want you to understand it. I take this liberty of referring to those things so that they will not be forgotten and lost.

(1877, BY Trying to ¶7 • JD 19:38)

Brigham Young had good reason to be concerned. 

While these accounts were written, and some have been preserved in the Joseph Smith Papers, they are mostly forgotten because they have been omitted from modern media and curriculum. Modern LDS scholars ignore what was taught (except when the M2Cers are repudiating it).

For example, Letters IV and VII were published in 1835 and then republished in all the Church newspapers during Joseph Smith's lifetime, so the New York Cumorah was common knowledge among Latter-day Saints as long as Joseph lived. 

The Messenger and Advocate

The Times and Seasons

The Gospel Reflector

The Millennial Star

The Prophet

Joseph even had them copied into his own journal, where we can all read them here:

Letter IV: "[Moroni] said this history was written and deposited not far from that place [Joseph's home near Palmyra, NY]"

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/69

Letter VII: "the fact, that here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed."

http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/90

In Utah, they were republished in the Improvement Era.

But they have never been republished in the Ensign or Liahona.

Consequently, few Latter-day Saints today know about it. What was common knowledge in Joseph's day is lost knowledge for Latter-day Saints today.

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A modern version of 3 Nephi 7-13. 

In our day, the Lord could say:

7 And it came to pass that he said unto Church Historian: Bring forth the record which ye have kept.

8 And when the Church Historian had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said:

9 Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Oliver Cowdery, the Assistant President of the Church, that he should testify unto this people, that my servant Moroni told Joseph Smith that the record of the Nephites was “written and deposited not far from Joseph’s home,” and that it is a fact that the final battles of the Nephites and Lamanites took place in the mile-wide valley west of the hill Cumorah in New York. And he said unto them: Was it not so?

10 And the Church historians answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Oliver did testify according to thy words, and they were all written.

11 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have forgotten this thing, that made these things clear to my Saints?

12 And it came to pass that the Church Historian remembered that this thing had been written but had been long forgotten and ignored.

13 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written again; therefore it was written according as he commanded.

14 Then Jesus said again, Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Brigham Young, President of the Church, that he should testify unto this people, that my servants Joseph and Oliver visited the repository of Nephite records in the hill Cumorah in New York, lest that, too, be forgotten among this people. And he said unto them: Was it not so?

15 And the Church historians answered him and said: Yea, Lord, President Young did testify according to thy words, and they were all written.

16 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have forgotten this thing also, that made these things clear to my Saints?

17 And it came to pass that the Church Historian remembered that this thing had been written but had been long forgotten.

18 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written again; therefore it was written according as he commanded.

19 Then Jesus said again, Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servants Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, Marion G. Romney, Mark E. Peterson, and others, yeah, even every one of my servants who has testified about this topic, to reiterate and corroborate the testimony of my servants Joseph and Oliver. And he said unto them: Was it not so?

20 And the Church historians answered him and said: Yea, Lord, all of these servants did testify according to thy words, and they were all written.

21 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have forgotten these things also, that made these things clear to my Saints?

22 And it came to pass that the Church Historian remembered that these things had been written but had been long forgotten.

23 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that they should be written again; therefore it was written according as he commanded. 

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7 And it came to pass that he said unto Nephi: Bring forth the record which ye have kept.

8 And when Nephi had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said:

9 Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?

10 And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.

11 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?

12 And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.

13 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.

(3 Nephi 23:7–13)

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