Helaman 5-12

Quotes of the Week:

If you love the truth, you can remember it.

  --Brigham Young, as cited in Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 377

President Lorenzo Snow declared that it is “the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint . . . to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives.” (CR 4/1899, 52)

--Dallin H. Oaks, With Full Purpose of Heart, 50

Further Reading:

Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride,” Ensign, 5/89, 4
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Pride and the Priesthood,” Ensign, 11/10, 55
Robert D. Hales, "We Can’t Do It Alone", Ensign, Nov. 1975, 90
Thomas S. Monson, "What Have I Done for Someone Today?" Ensign, 11/9, 84-87
Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Pondering Strengthens the Spiritual Life", Ensign, May 1982, 23

Handouts:

Helaman 5:5-7--Remember Your Names

Carlos E. Asay, Family Pecan Trees:  Planting a Legacy of Faith at Home, 66-67
Though all of Adam’s children may not have received names of significance, many have, and it has made a difference.  It made a difference in the lives of Helaman’s sons, Nephi and Lehi. . .
The record attests that Nephi and Lehi did pattern their lives after their forebears or namesakes and did bring honor to the names given them.

George Albert Smith, “Your Good Name, Improvement Era, 139
“I would like to know what you have done with my name.”

Helaman 5:5-14—Remember

Spencer W. Kimball, “Circles of Exaltation,” [address to Church Educational System religious educators, 6/28/68], 5.
When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is?  It could be remember. Because all of you have made covenants—you know what to do and you know how to do it—our greatest need is to remember.  That is why everyone goes to sacrament meeting every Sabbath day—to take the sacrament and listen to the priests pray that they “may always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them.” . . .  Remember is the word.

Helaman 5:9--Repentance and the Atonement

Richard G. Scott, Ensign, 5/95, 75
Which of us is not in need of the miracle of repentance?  Whether your life is lightly blemished or heavily disfigured from mistakes, the principles of recovery are the same.  The length and severity of the treatments are conditioned to fit the circumstances.  Our goal surely must be forgiveness.  The only possible path to that goal is repentance. . . .

Helaman 5:12—Rock of Our Redeemer

Gordon B. Hinckley, as cited in Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 378
Like the polar star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives.  He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith.  In sunshine and in shadow we look to Him, and He is there to assure and smile upon us.  He is the central focus of our worship.

Joseph B. Wirthlin, Ensign, 5/93, 69
The place to cure most of the ills of society is in the homes of the people.  Building our homes as fortresses of righteousness for protection from the world takes constant labor and diligence.  Membership in the Church is no guarantee of a strong, happy family.  Often parents feel overwhelmed. . . . The righteous molding of an immortal soul is the highest work we can do, and the home is the place to do it.  To accomplish this eternal work, we should make our homes gospel centered.  When peace and harmony abound, the Holy Spirit will ever be present.  The storms of the evil one can be stopped at the very entrance of our homes.  Let us be sure the spiritual foundation of each home is the rock of our Redeemer, as Helaman taught his sons.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 176

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

Helaman 5:12—Storms of Satan

Spencer W. Kimball, CR, 11/78, 6
. . . A warning is sounded for us.  It behooves us to be alert and to listen and flee from the evil for our eternal lives.  Without help we cannot stand against it.  We must flee to high ground or cling fast to that which can keep us from being swept away.  That to which we must cling for safety is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is our protection from whatever force the evil one can muster.

Helaman 6:17—Setting Hearts upon Riches

Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, 11/01, 16
God is forgotten out of vanity.  A little prosperity and peace, or even a turn slightly for the better, can bring us feelings of self-sufficiency.  We can feel quickly that we are in control of our lives, that the change for the better is our own doing, not that of a God who communicates to us through the still, small voice of the Spirit.  Pride creates a noise within us which makes the quiet voice of the Spirit hard to hear.  And soon, in our vanity, we no longer even listen for it.  We can come quickly to think we don’t need it.

Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 379
Lucifer’s voice of wickedness is both loud and harsh and lacks the mildness and softness of a heavenly voice.  Elder Boyd K. Packer taught that “the Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand.  Rather it whispers.  It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we will not feel it at all.”

Helaman 10:1-3—Pondering

M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, 11/95, 6
All of us would benefit from time to ponder and meditate.  In the quiet moments of personal introspection, the Spirit can teach us much.

Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Pondering Strengthens the Spiritual Life", Ensign, May 1982, 23
Pondering, which means to weigh mentally, to deliberate, to meditate, can achieve the opening of the spiritual eyes of one’s understanding. Also, the Spirit of the Lord may rest upon the ponderer as described by President Smith.
We are constantly reminded through the scriptures that we should give the things of God much more than usual superficial consideration. We must ponder them and reach into the very essence of what we are and what we may become.

Richard G. Scott, Ensign, 4/01, p. 9
Find a retreat of peace and quiet where periodically you can ponder and let the Lord establish the direction of your life.

Helaman 10:1-4--You’re Not Alone

Journal of Discourses, 22:233 6/26/1881, as quoted in The Discourses of Wilford Wooodruff, 263
The Lord has been watching over us from the hour of our birth.

Harold B. Lee, Ensign, 1/74, 129
If it were not for the assurance that I have that the Lord is near to us, guiding, directing, the burden would be almost beyond my strength, but because I know that he is there, and that he can be appealed to, and if we have ears to hear attuned to him, we will never be left alone.

Teachings of the Presidents of the Church—David O. McKay, 96-97
Many years ago Joseph Smith, a mere boy between fourteen and fifteen years of age, declared that, in answer to prayer, he received a revelation from God. . . . The result of this declaration was his immediate ostracism from the religious world.  In a very short time he found himself standing alone. . . .
It would appear, then, that though he seemed alone, he was alone only as was Moses on Sinai; as Jesus on the Mount of Olives.  As with the Master, so with the prophet, his instructions came not through man-made channels but direct from God, the source of all intelligence.  He says: “I am a rough stone.  The sound of the hammer and chisel were never heard on me until the Lord took me in hand.  I desire the learning and wisdom of heaven alone.” (HC 5:423)

Helaman 10:7—The Sealing Power

Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:95
The Lord conferred authority on some of his chosen servants and gave them exceptional powers. . . . In this manner, Elijah obtained the keys of power in the priesthood to raise the dead, heal the sick, close the heavens that it did not rain only by his word, and for more than three years there was no rain, and moreover had the power to call down fire from heaven to destroy the enemies of the Church. . . .
The Lord gave similar authority to Nephi, son of Helaman, who likewise had authority to close the heavens and perform other mighty works, simply by his faith and the commandment from the Lord.  This wonderful power has been bestowed on but a few of the servants of the Lord.

James E. Faust, “Father, Come Home,” Ensign, 5/93
Perhaps we regard the power bestowed by Elijah as something associated only with formal ordinances performed in sacred places.  But these ordinances become dynamic and productive of good only as they reveal themselves in our daily lives.  This sealing power thus reveals itself in family relationships, in attributes and virtues developed in a nurturing environment, and in loving service.  These are the cords that bind families together, and the priesthood advances their development.

Boyd K Packer, “The Holy Temple,” Ensign, 2/95
We must understand what the sealing power is.  We must envision, at least to a degree, why the keys of authority to employ the sealing power are crucial—crucial not just to the ordinance work of the temples but to all ordinance work in all the Church throughout the world. . . .  nothing is regarded with more sacred contemplation by those who know the significance of this authority.  Nothing is more closely held.  There are relatively few men who have been delegated this sealing power upon the earth at any given time—in each temple are brethren who have been given the sealing power.  No one can get it except from the prophet, seer, and revelatory and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . In the Church we hold sufficient authority to perform all of the ordinances necessary to redeem and to exalt the whole human family.  And, because we have the keys to the sealing power, what we bind in proper order here will be bound in heaven.  Those keys—the keys to seal and bind on earth, and have it bound in heaven—represent the consummate gift from our God.  With that authority we can baptize and bless, we can endow and seal, and the Lord will honor our commitments.

Helaman 11:1-16--Prophets Pray for Their People

Gordon B. Hinckley, "“Till We Meet Again”", Ensign, Nov. 2001, 89–90

And now as we close this conference, even though we shall have a benediction, I should like to offer a brief prayer in these circumstances:

O God, our Eternal Father, Thou great Judge of the Nations, Thou who art the governor of the universe, Thou who art our Father and our God, whose children we are, we look to Thee in faith in this dark and solemn time. Please, dear Father, bless us with faith. Bless us with love. Bless us with charity in our hearts. Bless us with a spirit of perseverance to root out the terrible evils that are in this world. Give protection and guidance to those who are engaged actively in carrying forth the things of battle. Bless them; preserve their lives; save them from harm and evil. Hear the prayers of their loved ones for their safety. We pray for the great democracies of the earth which Thou hast overseen in creating their governments, where peace and liberty and democratic processes obtain.

O Father, look with mercy upon this, our own nation, and its friends in this time of need. Spare us and help us to walk with faith ever in Thee and ever in Thy Beloved Son, on whose mercy we count and to whom we look as our Savior and our Lord. Bless the cause of peace and bring it quickly to us again, we humbly plead with Thee, asking that Thou wilt forgive our arrogance, pass by our sins, be kind and gracious to us, and cause our hearts to turn with love toward Thee. We humbly pray in the name of Him who loves us all, even the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and our Savior, amen.

Helaman 12:1-3--Prosperity

Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, 11/01, 15
Dependence upon God can fade quickly when prayers are answered.  And when the trouble lessens, so do the prayers.  The Book of Mormon repeats that sad story over and over again.

Ezra Taft Benson, as cited by Larry E. Dahl, Studies in Scripture, 5:369
Ours then seems to be the toughest test of all for the evils are more subtle, more clever.  It all seems less menacing and it is harder to detect.  While every test of righteousness represents a struggle, this particular test seems like no test at all, no struggle, and so could be the most deceiving of all tests.  Do you know what peace and prosperity can do to a people—it can put them to sleep.

Joseph B. Wirthlin, Ensign, 11/05
There is something about prosperity that brings out the worst in some people.

Helaman 12:5-6--Pride

Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride,” Ensign, 5/89, 4
Pride results in secret combinations which are built up to get power, gain, and glory of the world.  This fruit of the sin of pride, namely secret combinations, brought down both the Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations and has been and will yet be the cause of the fall of many nations.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Pride and the Priesthood,” Ensign, 11/10, 55
Every mortal has at least a casual if not intimate relationship with the sin of pride.  No one has avoided it; few overcome it. . . . Let us follow the example of our Savior and reach out to serve rather than seeking the praise and honor of men.  It is my prayer that we will recognize and root out unrighteous pride in our hearts and that we will replace it with “righteousness, godliness, faith, love patience, [and] meekness.” (1 Tim. 6:11)

Helaman 12:7-17—The Dust of the Earth

Joseph Fielding Smith, CR, 4/1929 54-55
Everything in the universe obeys the law given unto it, so far as I know, except man.  Everywhere you look you find law and order, the elements obeying the law given to them, true to their calling.  But man rebels, and in this thing man is less than the dust of the earth because he rejects the counsels of the Lord.