Words of Mormon 1:1-6

Ok, now this might get a little bit confusing, I know that I'm kind of lost here in what all the plates mean and how they fit together.

1:1-2 - Sometimes I wish that I was reading the Book of Mormon for the first time, from the perspective of never having learned from it before. It's kind of like watching a movie since you were a little kid, watching it all your life and then finally as an adult trying to dissect it with a fresh perspective. There are a lot of advantages to doing it from the stand point of a life long learner, but sometimes I try to look at it from the perspective of someone who might be reading it for the first time. I always thought that the jump from "the Messiah is coming later!" to "and it is many hundred years after the coming of Christ," was a little bit hard to process, it's just such a stop and restart. And suddenly all the Nephites will be destroyed, after Mosiah just left to save the righteous ones, it's always been a very big disconnect for me. The Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine study guide asks about verse 2 "what did Mormon say was the purpose of the entire sacred record he was abridging? Why is it important to read the Book of Mormon with this purpose in mind?" And to be honest, I have no idea what purpose they are talking about, even when I go back and read verse 2 again, I still don't get it. I wonder if it's because I'm tired. But after the question, the manual says to also reference the title page of the Book of Mormon. So I did and I get a little bit more clarity there. It says "Which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations." By keeping this purpose in mind as we read, we will see more clearly the "proof" that Jesus is the Christ, because really that is the whole point of the book, yes? Isn't the entire thing dedicated to demonstrating the power of God, that Jesus is the Christ and that our lives are better and more amazing when we follow, love, and worship him? I can see that that perspective might shed light on difficult concepts and perhaps by asking ourselves "how does that testify of the Savior?" as we read, we are more open to the teachings of the Holy Ghost. 

1:3-6 - This is where I think it gets a little bit hairy as far as what plates went with what, when, where, etc. Let's recap, and it's interesting that we just read this the other day, me and the kids, Nephi made 2 sets of plates, the large plates and the small plates. From what I understand Nephi made the large plates first and wrote on them for quite some time before he was commanded to make the smaller plates. In fact the IM says that "Nephi did not make the small plates until 30 years after Lehi's colony left Jerusalem. He did not understand why he was commanded to make a second set of records, but he had faith that it was 'for a wise purpose' in the Lord." Ok, so let's go through what I understand and if anyone is reading this and has some input I'd love it because I'm pretty lost here. So the large plates of Nephi were made first and according to the chart in the back of the IM, in the end, the large plates ended up containing the entire record from Lehi down to 4th Nephi. Mormon took those records and abridged them into a set of plates, and after he had finished abridging the... wait you know what, I've a visual person and so I want to make some sort of visual aide here because I'm just not able to keep this all together for myself. Stand by. But before I get to that, there's a part of verse 4 that is interesting to me. Mormon says "and the things which are upon these plates pleasing me, because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that many of them have been fulfilled; yea, and I also know that as many things as have been prophesied concerning us down to this day have been fulfilled, and as many as go beyond this day must surely come to pass."  This was interesting to me because back in Jacob I remember asking "why is it important for us to know that Jacob knew about the coming of Christ so many years in advance?" And here Mormon is, almost a thousand years later, and he's saying that it is significant for him, and us, to be able to see the prophesies that have been fulfilled. I feel that there is a sense of validation that comes when a prophesy becomes reality. Because honestly if there is a prophesy that comes to pass, especially when it is concerning God, then it becomes truth and the words are verified. So I thought that I was just going to power through this chapter, but I've been busy tonight and I'm still a little bit confused about where and when all the plates stuff, so I'm going to do a little bit more research and see what I can come up with, because it's very interesting to me and I feel that the perspective of who wrote what, when would be beneficial to me.