#197: Why Do We Have the Book of Ether?

The Book of Mormon would be complete with just the abridgment that Mormon penned. It properly gave a great summery of the thousand years that the Nephites struggled to survive, ultimately failing to do so. The work complied faithfully with the Lord's commandment to Mormon to record a compelling history of his people, the Nephites, and their often-intransigent brethren, the Lamanites.So, I ask you; Why do we have the Book of Ether thrown in there at the end? It is a completely different story, about a completely different people, who came from a completely different place, to the Americas long before the Nephites.  They were not from Jerusalem, nor were they Jews. And they had nothing to do with the Nephites nor the Lamanites. And yet, we are richer for their story and blessed by its inclusion in the Book of Mormon.