grown that it was too small to hold them. They also brought with them the firstlings of their flocks that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the Mosaic law. As the assembled thousands could not get inside the temple, they pitched their tents by families, every one with its door towards the building, and the king had a tower erected near the temple from which he spake.
The teachings of king Benjamin at these meetings were some of the most divine and glorious ever uttered by man. He preached to his hearers the pure principles of the gospel— the duty which men owed to their God and to their fellows. He also told them how he had been visited by an angel, and what wondrous things the angel had shown him concerning the coming of the God of Israel to dwell with men in the flesh.
When Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered to him by the angel, he observed that the power of his testimony had so worked upon the Nephites that they, in the deep sense of their own unworthiness, had fallen to the ground. And they cried out confessing their faith in the coming Messiah, and pleading that through liis atoning blood they might receive the forgiveness of their sins, and that their hearts might be purified. After they had lifted their deep-felt cry to heaven, the Spirit of the Lord came down upon them, and because of their exceeding faith they received a remission of their sins. When the king had finished his discourse he gave his people a new name, because of the covenant they desired to make, which thing he greatly desired. The name they were to bear for ever after was the name of Christ, which should never be blotted out except through transgression. Thus was established the first Christian church in Zarahemla (B. C. 125), for every soul who heard these teachings (except the very little children who could not understand) entered into this sacred covenant with
