The Lord is about to jar us out of our pleasant daydream. His repeated warning through his prophets is always the same. He is about to shake our bed and rouse us from our waking slumber. The world we have taken for granted is about to disappear. At least, that is what the Book of Mormon says, if you consider that we Americans are the counterparts of the Nephites who lived just prior to the Savior's First Coming. Given that perspective, the entire book is prophetic of our day. It is the writer's fervent hope that the distillation of the parallels between the Nephites and the Americans will allow the reader to make significant progress toward understanding the message ofthe Book of Mormon. It is the work of inspired men whose concern for their brethern - even for those who would come many generations after their own bodies had turned to dust - outweighed any personal sacrifice on their part. Their words reach out across the centuries to us as a beacon to light our way. The Book of Mormon is a word of warning and a ray of hope sent by a loving Father to His children to support them and guide them through the most difficult of all eras, the last days.