Helaman sends an epistle to Moroni recounting the state of the war with the Lamanites—Antipus and Helaman gain a great victory over the Lamanites—Helaman’s two thousand stripling sons fight with miraculous power and none of them are slain. About 66—62 B.C.

Okay, I think this is probably such a famous chapter in the Book of Mormon. Everyone loves this chapter, and so do I. It is about the Sons of Helaman!

Two-THOUSAND young men were willing to take up weapons of war since their fathers covenanted that they would never fight again. Two-thousand. That is a lot of faithful young men. Kind of like the spiritually strong and faithful fifty-something-thousand young men we have serving missions around the world.

And those young men chose Helaman to be their leader. He called them his own sons -since "they were worthy to be called sons.)

And they did set out to help the army of Antipus against the army of the wicked Lamanites. They led the Lamanites in a strategic way...their plan was working until the Lamanites got too close, but fortunately Antipus's army was speedy and they caught the Lamanites from behind.

Helaman writes:
43 And now, whether they were overtaken by Antipus we knew not, but I said unto my men: Behold, we know not but they have halted for the purpose that we should come against them, that they might catch us in their snare;

44 Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle?

45 And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen aso great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.

46 For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.

47 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.

48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

49 And it came to pass that I did return with my two thousand against these Lamanites who had pursued us. And now behold, the armies of Antipus had overtaken them, and a terrible battle had commenced.

Now Antipus's army had become very weak, and the Lamanites realized this and fought harder. Then all of a sudden, Helaman's army came from behind to attack the Lamanites. This gave the army of Antipus time to regroup.

Both armies then surrounded the Lamanites, insomuch that they were compelled to deliver up their weapons of war and also themselves as prisoners of war.

And then the miracle:

55 And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain.

56 But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them 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; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war.

Now, to go back to a famous scripture:

...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.

Wow. THAT is the kind of Mother I want to be. That is the kind of friend I want to be. I want to not only be able to teach my children to have that much faith in God, but through my actions and example, I want my children to be able to say, "I do not doubt that my mother KNEW it." And how neat would it be to have a others say, "I do not doubt that my FRIEND, TEACHER, WIFE, DAUGHTER, NEIGHBOR, knew it."

That is how I want to live my life.

Boy, I love the scriptures!

Alma Chapter 50

Read it HERE

Moroni fortifies the lands of the Nephites—They build many new cities—Wars and destructions befell the Nephites in the days of their wickedness and abominations—Morianton and his dissenters are defeated by Teancum—Nephihah dies and his son Pahoran fills the judgment-seat. About 72—67 B.C.

I think it is interesting how there are so many places in the scriptures that describe wars and preparations for wars. In this chapter we begin reading about how Moroni did not stop making preparations for war, or to defend his people against the Lamanites.

Now I think it's easy for us to skim over these verses, since we don't see any "quotable scriptures" or spiritual moments. But, if we try and liken the scriptures to us, we actually can find a lot of symbolism.

I like to think about how we are always fighting a spiritual war. A war against temptations. A war against even. And even though we do not need to dress in armor and fight against an enemy, we actually DO need to dress in the armor of God and fight against the adversary.

So isn't it interesting that even though Moroni and his armies were not fighting at this very moment, they were still making all the preparations necessary. I think we can do this in our own lives. We always need to be preparing ourselves. That is why we attend church, pray, read our scriptures, fulfill our callings, attend the temple, have family home evening, go visiting teaching, listen to conference. These things help us to prepare to be strong in times of war -when adversity and temptation hit us really hard.

And you know what? As we are righteous and do all of these things as we are commanded,

18 And they did prosper aexceedingly, and they became exceedingly rich; yea, and they did multiply and wax strong in the land.

19 And thus we see how merciful and just are all the dealings of the Lord, to the fulfilling of all his words unto the children of men; yea, we can behold that his words are verified, even at this time, which he spake unto Lehi, saying:

20 Blessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my acommandments they shall prosper in the land. But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be bcut off from the presence of the Lord.

22 And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times, whilst thousands of their wicked brethren have been consigned to bondage, or to perish by the sword, or to dwindle in unbelief, and mingle with the Lamanites.

23 But behold there never was a ahappier time among the people of Nephi, since the days of Nephi, than in the days of Moroni, yea, even at this time, in the twenty and first year of the reign of the judges.

Mosiah 7

Summary: Ammon finds the land of Lehi-Nephi where Limhi is king—Limhi’s people are in bondage to the Lamanites—Limhi recounts their history—A prophet (Abinadi) had testified that Christ is the God and Father of all things—Those who sow filthiness reap the whirlwind, and those who put their trust in the Lord shall be delivered. About 121 B.C.

So after a few years of peace, Mosiah is anxious to know about the people who went up to the land of Lehi-Nephi. He sent 16 of his strong men to travel. Now they did not know exactly where to go so they wandered for 40 days. (40 is an interesting number as it pertains to wandering, don't you think?) :)

Then they finally came to a city and four men went down unto it. They just happened to run into the king and his guards, who took them and cast them into prison for two days. (I wonder why, if the king was so curious as to who they were, did he wait for 2 days? He must have been busy with something.)

Anyway, after that the king told them that he had spared their lives because he wanted to know who they were. When they all finally realized that the men had come from Zarahemla and that Limhi was the grandson of Zeniff, they rejoiced. It must have been exciting for them to all realize that both communities were alive.

The people of Limhi were currently under bondage to the Lamanites and had to pay a grievous tax. But now, they had hope of being delivered from bondage.

Limhi gathered the people the next day to the temple. Isn't that great? They gathered at the temple. What does that tell us? That we can learn great things there? That we must always be worthy to gather at the temple at a moment's notice?

He spoke to the people and recounted a bit of their history - that they were in bondage because the people had not been righteous. They had even slain a prophet - Abinidi.

(I'm excited to go back in time and read about Noah, and Abinidia, and Alma. Such great stories with great teachings.)

The people are reaping the punishments that came from sowing sins. But Limhi gives them hope. He ends with:
33 But if ye will aturn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all bdiligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.

Now if you are all confused (as is easy to be) about all the travels of the different groups of Nephites, here is a little bit of help for ya.

Using the map “Significant Journeys in the Book of Mormon” locate the city of Zarahemla (A) and Zeniff’s colony in the land of Lehi-Nephi (B). Also locate the following journeys between Zarahemla and the land of Lehi-Nephi:

The ill-fated expedition (1)
Zeniff’s expedition (2)
The expedition of forty-three men to find Zarahemla (3)
Alma’s escape (4) to the Waters of Mormon (C) and the establishment of the city of Helam (E)
Ammon’s expedition to find Zeniff’s colony (5)
Limhi’s escape to Zarahemla (6)
Alma’s escape to Zarahemla (7)