also planted the good tree, that is, He brought the gospel and taught it
to his followers. The enemy is the evil one, the devil, who stirred up men
to work against the gospel and to kill those who obeyed it. He also mixed
his lies with Christ's truths, until in time the pure gospel was not to be
found on the earth.

This was the condition of the world for hundreds of years. Then the Lord
wished to restore the true gospel and again establish his Church on the
earth. He therefore chose a place where all would have the right to believe
the truth and be protected in that liberty. The Lord, therefore, moved upon
Columbus to discover this land of America.

The servants spoken of, whom the Lord sent to prepare the land for the
planting, were all those great and good men whom you have read about in
your American history: Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and many others.
You will remember how these men loved right and liberty, and how they
worked so hard for it; and in reading the history of these men we can
plainly see that the Lord was with them and helped them. These men built
the high wall, which means that they made just laws that would protect the
people and let them worship God in any way they thought right.

Thus was the way prepared for the gospel to be restored again to the earth;
and the Lord himself came from heaven, also his servants Moroni, Peter,
James, and John to bring the glad tidings to all who live on the earth.

Then the Lord called some more servants to preach the gospel to the world
and build up his Church. The first and greatest of these servants is known
by the name of Joseph Smith, the Prophet. How the Lord called him to this
great work and delivered to him the gospel will be told you in the next
chapter.