April 21, 2011
As the mom of 5 young kids, 4 of whom are boys, its kind of given that I have to love the story of the Helaman and his 2,000 stripling warriors. Each time I come to it in my study I love to read about their courage, their faith, and their trust in their mother's words about God. It is inspiring and daunting to consider my responsibility to these children God has entrusted into my care.
The story really starts long before the events we read in Alma 56. Really, it starts when the people of Ammon covenant to never take up arms against anyone again. They made this commitment and stood by it. Not only did they bury their weapons of war, but when they saw the Lamanites
coming against them they went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword. Alma 24:21
So when the Lamanites were attacking the Nephites around 25 years later, these people felt compelled to take up their weapons and defend the people who had defended & protected them for so long. However, Helaman, the prophet of the time, thought "that God would strengthen" the Nephites if they were true to their covenant (Alma 56:8).
I'm sure it was a bittersweet moment when the sons of those people (the people of Ammon who made the covenant) realized that they (the sons) hadn't made such a covenant, that they could volunteer to fight. But what a great difference that little band of young warriors had on the events that transpired in Alma 56. Below are some of my thoughts while reading of their amazing adventures.
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As I study the scriptures I'm always on the lookout for words relating to happiness and how it can apply to me. In verses 16-17 of chapter 56 we read about the army of Antipus who had been fighting valiantly for a very long time and by this time they were worn out...
Yea, and they were depressed in body as well as in spirit, for they had fought valiantly by day and toiled by night to maintain their cities; and thus they had suffered great afflictions of every kind. And now they were determined to conquer in this place or die; therefore you may well suppose that this little force which I brought with me, yea, those sons of mine, gave them great hopes and much joy.
Once again, how can this relate to me? I like to think of myself as the "little force" and look for ways that I can help others, and thereby give them "great hopes and much joy." It reminds me of Elder Jeffery R. Holland's talk about The Ministry of Angels. He says that "God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face" whether it is the unseen angels of heaven or the acts of "angels that are not from the other side of the veil". I can be a tool in the hand of God as I heed his words to "try to be a little more angelic... with a kind word, a strong arm, a declaration of faith and the 'covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted.'" As I search for ways to bring hope and joy to others, like the stripling warriors, I will undoubtedly find hope and joy in my own life.
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As I mentioned above, I love to read about these young men and their faith and courage. In verse 45 we Helaman says, "never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites." This courage is exhibited as they volunteered to turn around and help Antipus again
Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives;yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it."
When I read this most recently, I was impressed to write in the margin of my scriptures, "What can I do so my kids will not doubt that I know it?" I am a firm believer that actions speak louder than words. So, the answer is simply to live like I know it. Notice the question written wasn't "what can I say?" but rather "what can I do?" Which reminds me of one of my favorite songs I Am a Child of God. Did you know that the original words were "teach me all that I must know to live with Him someday"? When President Spencer W. Kimball heard it, he asked that the word be changed to "do." He later explained, "To know isn't enough... We have to do something." (source). I am sure that these mothers did plenty and by their doing, their children learned what they must do and had the courage and faith to do it.
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I really believe that the reason the story of the stripling warriors is so beloved and remarkable is that even though they were completely inexperienced with battle
not one soul of them [had] fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; Alma 56:56
Fascinating, isn't it? And I love that Helaman
justly [ascribes] it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe--- that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power Alma 57:26
Now, that's not to say that if I have faith and don't doubt, I'll be spared all trials and tribulations. They all survived, but they also all (yep, every last one of them) "received many wounds." And let's not forget their parents who let the Lamanites slay them without fighting back in any way... or people like Abinadi... or the people burned in front of Alma and Amulek. There are plenty of people who are doing what is right and aren't spared.
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The last thing that really, really struck me as I was reading this story this week was about the character of these young men. I have a tendency to think the best of people. I expect people to be good and to do good. I hear from different people that grew up outside of Utah and moved there to attend BYU that they were eager to be surrounded by people with their same standards only to be surprisingly let down. I feel like I am experiencing a similar phenomenon. I'm surprised by some of the choices that some of my friends are making. Nothing life shattering, just some things that I never considered to be temptations and so it caught me off guard. And not that I am in any way perfect, believe me I have plenty of faults.
Anyway... what I love about the stripling warriors is "that they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted" Alma 53:20. So how can I become true at all times? I think their example is priceless as "they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness" (Alma 57:21 emphasis added).
Think about it, we expect our kids to do what we ask of them, we expect the youth of church to adhere to the standards outlined in the For Strength of Youth pamphlet, but what expectations do we put on ourselves? I think we need to follow the example of these young men who had such faith, such courage, and such strength. If we will obey and keep the commandments with "exactness" we will be true, we will be blessed, and "we will be delivered out of the hands of our enemies" (Alma 57:35). And we too, will be able to say
blessed is the name of our God; for behold, it is he that has delivered us; yea, that has done this great thing for us.
Battles in Our Day
April 13, 2011
Alma 49-52 in the Book of Mormon are all about battles and the intrigue of war. So why are they there? How do they apply to me in this day?
As I was reading about Captain Moroni's plans to fortify the Nephite cities, I was struck with the parallel between those battles fought in the Book of Mormon and the battles we face each day with Satan's temptations. When I read:
...they were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni. ~Alma 49:8I wrote in the margin, "Am I prepared?" Because these people followed their righteous leader they were prepared. Think of the faith they had, Moroni's plans were unlike any they had ever seen before, but they worked (and worked hard, digging trenches and building up places of security) to prepare for the onslaught. In fact, one of the cities they worked so hard to secure had formerly been a weak place but
now, by the means of Moroni, {it had} become strong, yea to exceed the strength of the city Ammonihah. And now behold, this was wisdom in Moroni; for he had supposed that they would be frightened at the city of Ammonihah; and as the city of Noah had hitherto been the weakest part of the land, therefore they would march thither to battle; and thus it was according to his desires. ~Alma 49:14-15Moroni had the foresight to make the weakest city strong. What about my weaknesses? If I can humble myself and have faith as I ask the Father for help, then God has said he will "make weak things become strong" (Ether 12:27).
My weaknesses are places that Satan uses to ensnare me. If I have the foresight (like Moroni had) to rely on the Lord and do the work it takes (like the people working with Moroni) I can be prepared to overcome Satan's temptations. The preparation could be as simple as avoiding situations where temptation might arise or having a decision already made regarding certain temptations. If I can be prepared then I too, can have "all power over {my} enemies" (Alma 49:23).
I love the thought of having "all power" over Satan. He must hate that which is why he tries so hard to get me to not believe it. But I do believe it! Especially as I follow the example of those Nephites under Moroni and follow my righteous leaders I will be strengthened. And an important step to the process is found in verse 28
the people of Nephi did thank the Lord their God, because of his matchless power in delivering them from the hands of their enemies.Remember that humility key? Gratitude is such a good indicator of humility.
The people of Nephi were strengthened and peace ensued for a time, but it didn't last. No, some of them decided they wanted to have "power and authority over the people" (Alma 51:8). So much so they became angry and refused to help their people (ironically, the people they want to rule over) when the Lamanites came upon them in battle again. Moroni had to deal with these king men and while he was doing so, the Lamanites came in and conquered some of those cities they had worked so hard to strengthen...
This happens to us sometimes too, doesn't it? We work hard to make a weakness become a strength and the Lord does bless us. But then we get distracted or we get prideful, maybe thinking we can handle the temptation without the Lord and what happens? We lose our city to the Lamanites, that's what.
And thus had the Lamanites obtained, by the cunning of Amalickiah, so many cities... ~Alma 51:27So we, too, by the cunning of Satan will have fallen in sin. And then its over, right? We're done for? That's what Satan would have us believe, but if we keep reading we'll see that the Nephite army isn't going to quit and neither should we! We just have to continue to work on preparations like the Nephite army leader Teancum
truly he was preparing to defend himself again them, by casting up walls round about and preparing places of resort. And it came to pass that he kept thus preparing for war until Moroni had sent a large number of men to strengthen his army ~Alma 52:6-7Not only didn't they just give up, they worked hard to prepare again and they kept at it for a long time. Along with those men to strengthen his army, Teancum was given a whole slew of things to do to increase their chances of victory. None of it easy. But he did it and it paid off. The Nephites were victorious to the point that the Lamanite chief captains who survived
came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni, and also commanded their men that they should do the same ~Alma 52:38Now, I'm not saying that Satan is going to ever throw down his weapons of war, but once we have successfully had our weakness made strong, it becomes easier. I don't know if this parallel is the reason these chapters are included in the Book of Mormon, but it certainly was a good way for me to apply it to my life and to hopefully help me be little better.
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