"Contrary to the opinion of those who may have read the Book of Mormon only superficially or who have not read it at all and formed opinions based on hearsay, it does not portray a consistently negative image of the Lamanites. It does suggest a glorious future for this choice people. Samuel the Lamanite testified: ’The promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, … they shall again be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep’ (Helaman 15:12-13; see also 3 Nephi 5:21-23).
"Significantly Latter-day Saints shall have a role in assisting the Lamanites to achieve their destiny. Nephi spoke of the time when the Gentiles would take the Book of Mormon to the remnant of his people:
’The gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers.
And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people.’ (2 Nephi 30:5-6)
"…In 1947, Elder Spencer W. Kimball envisioned the Lamanites’ glorious future. He saw them as leaders in business, law, government, the arts, literature, and in the Church. ’I saw the Church growing in rapid strides and I saw wards and stakes organized. I saw stakes by the hundreds [and] a temple.‘ The first truly ’Lamanite’ stake was organized in Mexico City in 1961, and by 1989, there were 100 stakes in Mexico alone. In 1983 a temple was dedicated there, and within a few years one half dozen temples were opened in predominantly Lamanite areas of Latin America and Polynesia. In 1990, 58% of the Church’s 330,877 converts were baptized in Latin America.
“The Lamanites truly are a people of destiny. When Church members more accurately appreciate the image and more fully understand the teachings of the Book of Mormon concerning the Lamanites, they should not feel the least hesitancy or embarrassment about sharing this book and its message with the descendants of these people. On the contrary, they should be eager to fulfill their responsibility to do so.” (Richard O. Cowan, Book of Mormon Symposium Series, Helaman 3 – 3 Nephi 8, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., p. 262-4)