The long-continued and savage war just closed had brought various evils to the church. In many parts of the land it may be said to have been disorganized. The occupancy of so many of the Nephite cities by the unbelieving Lamanites had produced numerous demoralizing effects. Murders, contentions, dissensions and all manner of iniquity had become rife, and the hearts of the people had grown hardened. Yet not altogether so, for there were some who acknowledged the hand of the Lord in all their afflictions. These humbled themselves in the depths of humility; and because of the prayers of the righteous the people were spared. Such was the state of affairs when Helaman went forth to call the people to repentance and set the church in order. In this blessed work he had much success, and with the help of his brethren he again established the Church of God throughout all the land. These labors he continued until the time of his death, and his joy therein was greatly increased by the continued faithfulness of the people. They, notwithstanding their abundant prosperity, which, as ever, followed their repentance, remained humble, fervent in prayer and diligent in well-doing. Such was the happy condition of the people of Nephi when Helaman died (B. C. 57), he having survived his illustrious father sixteen years. Shiblon, at the death of his brother, took possession of the sacred things that had been delivered unto Helaman by Alma, and held them for four years. The next year (B. C. 56) the valiant Moroni, one of the greatest and most virtuous of God's sons, passed away from this state of mortality to the glories of eternity, at the early age of forty-three years. Some time before his death he had given the chief command of the armies of the Nephites to his son, Moronihah, who, from the history of later years, we judge to have been a worthy son of so illustrious a sire. The four years that Shiblon held the plates are principally noteworthy for the commencement of Nephite emigration to the northern continent. It was during this period that Hagoth established his ship-building yards on the Pacific, near the land Bountiful. It is probable that ships were built by the Nephites before Hagoth's time, but he being an exceedingly expert mechanic, constructed much larger ones than had hitherto been built, and thus inaugurated a new feature in Nephite colonization.[7] When Shiblon died he committed the records to the care of Helaman, the son of his brother Helaman. The history of the Nephites and Lamanites still continued a history of wars. In the same year that Shiblon died, the Lamanites again raised a numerous army and went down against their traditional foes. The campaign was a short one. Moronihah, the son of Moroni, inflicted a signal blow upon their advancing legions, and drove them back to their own lands. Their loss in this deservedly ill-fated expedition was great.