Warnings in the way the Nephites’ wickedness progressed

In these verses, Mormon chronicles the Nephites’ descent from great order to great lawlessness from the 27^th year to the 30^th year after the sign is given of Christ’s birth. It starts with pride, persecution, and inequality. Then we get this:

15 Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world.

16 And thus Satan did lead away the hearts of the people to do all manner of iniquity; therefore they had enjoyed peace but a few years.

17 And thus, in the commencement of the thirtieth year—the people having been delivered up for the space of a long time to be carried about by the temptations of the devil whithersoever he desired to carry them, and to do whatsoever iniquity he desired they should—and thus in the commencement of this, the thirtieth year, they were in a state of awful wickedness. (3 Nephi 6:15-17)

I notice there are three statements about what Satan does and how the people respond.

Satan stirred people up. It’s a very interesting image there of a pot of liquid that is stirred. It is as though people would be calm and content if left alone, but then Satan stirs them up to do iniquity, trying to convince them they are not happy as they are, that the need power, authority, riches, and vain things of the world.

Satan did lead away the hearts of the people. This idea of leading away hearts is another interesting image. It tells us that Satan managed to engage people’s affections and desires in the iniquity they were doing. That’s very troubling because emotions are very powerful. When one want to do iniquity and don’t want to do good, then doing good starts to feel very unpleasant, like one fights with oneself to do it, and it isn’t very enjoyable.

The people were delivered up…to be carried about by the temptations of the devil. This image of delivering people (like a package) and being carried about, almost like a baby, is pretty sickening. It makes it sound like the people have no choice in the matter, like something made them sin. But the reality is that they simply gave up the fight. They gave up fighting temptation and decided to do whatever they wanted, even though it broke the commandments. The reality was, it was actually what Satan wanted, so they essentially yielded their agency.

Now, sad as it is to read about this, I think it gives us some important warnings for our own lives. It tells us to be alert to notice when we are being stirred up or when our hearts are being led away toward evil or when it seems like we’re just being carried about without our choice. Half the battle is realizing we are in the predicament, discerning the devil’s machinations in our lives.

I’ve recently felt like I’m being stirred up with agitation, frustration, desperation, and anxiety. My head knows that I’m in a place where I’m being asked to grow in a number of different directions at once, that I have to exercise patience, that I have to buckle down and get to work. I’m in a place of stretching, but all the same, it is very difficult because of the strong emotions that are pulling me back and forth, this way and that. It makes it hard to concentrate.

The only way to make it through is to yield my heart to God, to resolve to do His will, no matter what my lying feelings shriek at me. I must trust that each day my righteous efforts will bring me closer to Him.

Feeeelings… nothing more than feeeeelings. Or something else?

Do you ever find yourself in a mental-emotional place where your feelings contradict the thing you know to be true?  Or when you don’t feel good about the thing you know to be right, or feel bad about the thing you know to be good?

It’s annoying, but it happens on occasion, and it is important to at least be able to recognize what is going on so that the feelings don’t get the upper hand.

I’m going to tell about a weird conversation I had with the Lord to illustrate how I discovered Satan had been working on me to try to stop me from making progress.

Heavenly Father, I don’t understand what’s going on. I have to finish these minutes for the meeting, but I don’t want to do it. But I also want to do it, and here I am folding clothes when I should be working on finishing the minutes. I’ve already done the biggest part of the minutes job, and it shouldn’t be a problem to finish it, but it feels like it is a huge job hanging over my head and I don’t want to do it.  I know I’m mostly finished, but I don’t feel how close I am. I know it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it feels like a big burden. Why am I feeling like this?  I know I have troubles finishing tasks as a symptom of ADD, but this seems different.

I also know that as I make the action list from the minutes, I will be creating a task list for myself as well as the other people in the organization. And when I’m done, I’m going to feel like I have to do all those tasks immediately instead of getting on to the tasks that are most important to me that I want to do today. I know I’m going to feel like this because this has happened in the past. It is possible I’m folding clothes because I’m trying to show myself I can do some tasks anyway that are important to me before I finish the minutes. That seems to make it a control issue; I’m trying to show I have control over what I choose to do.

This seems like a situation in which my feelings are lying to me. I don’t like that. Please help me to do what I know I need to do.

Feelings? Really?  Is it “nothing more than feelings”? 

Sometimes it is Satan.

It is Satan who attempts to hijack feelings like that. Feelings are very powerful, and they are useful for motivation, but they are changeable and can be manipulated. This is why it is a great safeguard that we are promised in the D&C the Lord will tell us things in both our mind and our heart.

When I finished my prayer, it was clear to me that Satan had been trying to attack me through my feelings. And if he’s doing that to me, he probably does that to you too. My prayers to Heavenly Father talking about the situation helped me realize it and know what I needed to do. (I trust that when I get done, I will feel happy about it, and the obstructing feelings will dissipate.)

Don’t let Satan win.

Elder Maxwell on Doubts

Gotta love Elder Neal A. Maxwell.

The following quotes about doubts came from a section in the Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book, which also cites the individual books those quotes came from:

The shouts and barbs from those in doubt are sometimes not criticism at all, but frustration at not yet having found the “iron rod”—something solid in a world of too many marshmallow men and too many chameleon causes. (A Time to Choose, p.6)

Notice at the bottom of this kind of doubt is frustration at a lack of certainty.  From my experience of having had a crisis of faith, that lack of certainty can be very painful. And from that perspective, the results of living the doctrine can seem uncertain too, cloaked, as it seems, in the mist of the future.  How much does one dare to trust it?  Will God make good on His promises?  (Yes, He does, but our faith must be tried.)

Elder Maxwell also notes that this is a world of “too many marshmallow men and too many chameleon causes.”   Acquaintance with too many of these can make us think that the kingdom of God is one of them.  Or if we leave the church for some other cause that seems more weighty, we will find to our sorrow that once we have fully weighed it, it is still found wanting, leaving our own wanting unfulfilled.

To host an if is like hosting an insect that breeds and multiplies in the sun of circumstance. Soon one is crawling with ifs and is thereby overcome. (Even As I Am, p74)

The “if” that Maxwell talks about is more like a “what if.”  I would add that when hosting an if, it may feel as if you are feeding off it, but it is feeding off you and sucking out the vitality of faith. He compares it to hosting an insect because these doubts are parasitic. They don’t add anything or help you do anything. 

There are two ways to deal with them.  1) Forget about them and get to work living the practical gospel. Acting to keep commandments builds faith.  “Tis better far for us to strive, our useless cares from us to drive.” 2) Treat them like ticks and confront them with the tweezers of faith-filled argument: write them down and then eviscerate them on paper. 

Doubters often pool their doubts by associating with like-minded individuals, each bringing his own favorite “dish” as if to a potluck dinner. (That Ye May Believe, p. 191)

Thus, even if you badly want validation when in the midst of doubts, don’t go looking for other doubters to kvetch with. That’s kind of like going to a doctor-less hospital in which sick people go around infecting each other in the name of palliative care.  Instead, you need strong, thinking believers with big hearts.   You need people willing to share their reasons for belief, and who love in such a way that you’ll see there’s room for you in the church.

By not being actively involved in the process of faith, doubters simply do not receive reinforcing rewards. They also resent the lack of sympathetic vibrations from the faithful each time doubters themselves oscillate in response to what they suppose is some “new evidence” to the contrary. (Lord, Increase Our Faith, p.89)

It seems to me that if people find themselves oscillating in response to “new evidence” they think contradicts their faith, it is time to take a careful look at what the foundations of their testimony is and whether they are keeping the commandments as given in the Beatitudes.  Testimony has to be rooted in Christ and the prophets.  It is kept strong by doing the commandments. 

24 ¶Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matt. 7:24-27)

Take Heed to Yourselves

I don’t know about you, but my thoughts can be very unruly.  I have to keep a constant rein on them and watch them all the time, and if I don’t, I end up with a head full of pride, a head full of resentment, a head full of snotty snarkiness, and in short, a head full of thoughts that are not conducive to the presence of the Spirit. 

Sometimes I get really tired of guarding them all the time, making sure the wrong kind stay out and the right kind stay in.  Very exhausting  I want love for my husband here.  [points to a space]  I want patience and kindness right here. [points to another space]  I want interest and respect for all good things right here.  Yes, you.   Right here. 

Sometimes I really wonder why I bother.  I don’t really see anyone else agonizing over how to whip their thoughts into shape.  It’s kind of an interior battle.  I don’t hear very many people talk about how they fight these kinds of battles except when we hear it from the pulpit. 

In the scriptures, it seems that there is a lot of discussion about fighting those inner battles with our thoughts.  But instead of “watch your thoughts”, the phrase that is used is “take heed to thyself” or simply “take heed.”  It is surprising how many warnings there are about different danger zones, but I find these are very helpful because they show me that I’m on the right track to be concerned and watchful of my attitude and my thoughts.  (YAAAAYY!  I’m not crazy!)

Below I will lay out a number of things that the scriptures say we need to take heed to ourselves about.  Some of them I may discuss, some of them I may not. 

Worshipping the Right God and Attitude toward God

Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following [other nations], after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. (Deut. 12:30)

Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God. (Joshua 23:11)

You’d think it would be natural to love God, right?  I’m going to be frank.  I catch myself feeling ambivalent and sometimes even hostile to God on occasion.  This particularly plagues me on Sundays before church, times when I really want to be worshipful. 

These thoughts are hard to throw out, but I know it is possible to do it because I’ve done it.  I have to pray to resist those thoughts.  It takes work to turn my thoughts to how the Lord has been so merciful to me.  I work to remember how the Lord did not cast me off in my most sinful times, and that fills me with gratitude.  I work to remember all the times that I’ve felt the Spirit and have been renewed from taking the sacrament and that gives me the faith to hang in there.

And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts. (Mosiah 5:11, emphasis added)

Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. (1 Tim 4:16)

This tells us that at we also have to pay close attention to following the doctrine of Christ because those principles will not just lead us to salvation, but lead others there too. 

Belief and Faithfulness

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12)

Sometimes I get hit by these skeptical thoughts of, “I don’t believe that really happened” and it is usually from hearing about some miracles that I’ve never personally experienced for myself.  It got really bad before I decided something had to be done.  I worked hard to research belief and faith and this was about when there were a lot of conference talks about belief.  Eventually, I’ve learned to pray to have a believing heart so that I can know of greater things.  I also pray to resist unbelief.  Then I work at casting out those blatant unbelieving thoughts and I refuse to dwell on them.  I look for educated, believing people to interact with because I know that their viewpoints will nourish and edify me.

And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. (Mark 4:24, emphasis added)

This seems to suggest we need to pay attention to the type of things we listen to and believe.  We need to consider the source.  The extent that we hear and obey good things is the same extent to which we will be blessed.  So we have to be careful that our obedience is sincere and whole-hearted.

Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.  (Luke 8:18, emphasis added)

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; (Deut. 4: 9)

I’m observant enough to realize that I forget spiritual experiences too quickly, even if I don’t want to forget them, so I have to take care to find ways of reminding myself.  One way is by writing those experiences in my journal.  Another is by rereading my journal every so often.  Another is by thinking back over the course of my life and remembering the major touchstone spiritual experiences that were instrumental in forming my testimony of the Christ and the gospel.

Sources of guidance

Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. (Matt. 16:6)

It seems that it matters what doctrines we believe and the caliber of the people we hear them from.

Certainty and Strength

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (1 Cor. 12:10)

Even if we feel we are standing firm, we still have to watch what we are doing because sin can creep in so easily.  In fact, so often it is when we think we are strong that we get complacent.  We begin to think we don’t need to worry and at that point, temptations begin to sneak in, starting with pride.

32 But there is a possibility that man may fall from grace and depart from the living God;

33 Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation;

34 Yea, and even let those who are sanctified take heed also. (D&C 20:32-34, emphasis added)

Signs of the Times

Jesus told the apostles to take heed not to be deceived three different times in Mark 13 when He discussed signs of the times.  (This is worth looking at directly.  When you follow the link, the applicable scriptures will be highlighted.)

34 ¶ And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:34-36)

This lets us know that at the time of the Second Coming, many people will completely wrapped up in the cares of this life, in pleasure-seeking, and lulled into passivity or drunkenness.  When everyone else around you doesn’t seem to care about the eternal consequences of their actions, it is really hard to resist absorbing some of that attitude.   I imagine that as time goes on, it will get progressively harder to resist.  This is why Christ Himself tells us to take heed to ourselves, to watch, and pray always.   So when we get thoughts like, “Why am I even trying so hard?” this is what we have to remember.

When I find myself tempted to not care what I do, I try to remember the final judgment and I think about how I want to feel when I stand face to face with God.  That usually helps.

Spousal Relationships

15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

16 For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.   (Mal. 2:15-16)

I consider this scripture just as binding on women as it is on men.  If we have moments where we wonder what life would be like married to someone else or if we look at someone else and simply wish, we have to confront and cast out those thoughts. 

I am perfectly aware that everyone has their quirks and if my husband has his faults, so too does every other man, and I am not perfect myself.  I also realize that a different man would probably not have the same wonderful virtues that my husband has.  And then I spend some time remembering back when my husband and I were dating and recall what attracted me to him. 

Relationships with Children

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. (Matt. 18:10, emphasis added)

Every once in while (and I’m sure it would be more often if I had children of my own) I find myself having to work with a kid that drives me crazy, and if I have to work with them often, I find myself struggling with feelings of dread about it.  This is when the best thing that helps me is… DENIAL.  (“I’m not REALLY having a problem with this child; I just need to find a way to teach him/her in a way he/she relates to.”)  Then I go pray about it and ask for help specifically with that child. 

Discernment and Judging

Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil. (Moroni 7:14)

Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. (Luke 11:35)

The world’s view and the Lord’s view are not the same. (Hel-lo, understatement!)  In fact, on a good many issues, the world’s view and the Lord’s are diametrically opposed.  We want to be on the Lord’s side, but we also have to cope with the world.  In my experience, it is attachment to our favorite or most deeply entrenched sins that tends to bring us to the point of judging evil to be good or good to be evil.  We need to be very careful that we don’t make a virtue out of our failure to keep the commandments. 

Speaking

I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. (Psalms 39:1)

“I can say whatever I want around [insert name] because he/she doesn’t really care anyway.”  We may usually say this to ourselves around non-members or people antagonistic to our faith thinking it will bring us some acceptance.  This can be especially tempting in groups when the conversation is brisk and witty. 

So I say to myself: HOW DO YOU KNOW HE/SHE ISN’T WATCHING YOU?  How do you know they aren’t learning from you?  You need to be a good example!   (This was certainly something that my mom drilled into my head growing up, even if it was only for the sake of my younger siblings.  She reminded me often that I needed to be a good example because they were always watching me.   I still pray often to be a good example to the people around me.)

Being careful what we say (or type on the internet) is important because Christ said that every idle word will be brought into judgment.  Everything counts; everything is “on the record” in heaven.

Causing or Taking Offense

But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. (1 Cor. 8:9)

This tells us that it is worth thinking carefully about what we do and say lest anything we do be interpreted wrong and lead someone else into committing sin.

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. (Luke 17:3)

There is a very subtle thing that we have to watch out for here in this verse.  If someone trespasses against us, the natural man will want us to think that we can’t talk to them about it under the assumption that they won’t listen and won’t repent. 

The thing is, to follow Christ’s instructions here, we must make the assumption instead that they will listen and will repent.

So the thing we are to take head to ourselves about is to watch out for and resist the incorrect notion that the people who offended us will not listen to us if we reprove them.  Watching our thoughts this way prevents us from subtly judging and condemning people unjustly, which in turn would prevent interpersonal problems from festering into long grudges.  Watching our thoughts this way might even allow us to share the gospel more freely.

Sabbath Observance

Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; (Jeremiah 17:21)

It sounds like in Jeremiah’s day there was a problem with people being too loose in their Sabbath-day observance.   It looks like the concern was with what people were doing, but fundamentally it is really about what we want the day to be about.

Are we making it about the Lord and what pleases Him, or are we making it about what we want?

As one who has been trying to write a first novel, I find it is hard to turn off those thoughts about my plot and characters just because it is the Sabbath.  I feel that for me to rest and make the Sabbath all about the Lord, I have to put away those thoughts for the whole day. 

I recently had an experience where I felt I was kind of on a roll Saturday night in my writing and I didn’t want to shut it all down Sunday morning.  But I exerted my faith that the rest and the change of focus would ultimately be beneficial to me, and I mentally shut all the fiction stuff down.  I made it about the Lord and I was blessed with spiritual renewal.

Attitude about our Possessions

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (Luke 12:15)

Heavenly Father knows the difference between acquisition for need and acquisition for other reasons.  There are whole books dedicated to debunking some of the materialistic thought errors we get in to that leads to clutter. 

Happily, the principle of sacrifice is a direct antidote to covetousness.

Manifesting Charity

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. (Matt. 6:1)

This tells us we have to be careful that our motives for doing charitable works are right before God..  Heavenly Father knows the difference between a heart longing to be praised of men and a heart full of generosity. 

Leadership Responsibilities

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)

Wrong thoughts: “It’s not really urgent for me to do my leadership calling; they can take care of themselves; they’re doing fine”

So I say to myself: HOW DO I KNOW?  I don’t.  I need to check to make sure.

Heavenly Father knows the difference between a church leader who is interested in height and visibility and power and praise of their position and how they look to others, versus a church leader who is interested in doing their best to nourish and strengthen the people in their charge.

Conclusion

I think these scriptures are really useful for pointing out to us what thoughts we need to particularly guard against.  I’m grateful for that instruction and validation.

What we think matters because so often it leads to action.

Observations on 1 Nephi 16-18 and Complaining

One of the useful things about 1 Nephi 16-18 is they give us an illustration of the times when complaining and murmuring can arise and they show us that it is not a good way of reacting.

1.     Complaining about misfortune when Nephi breaks his bow.  We see that complaining doesn’t change anything.

2.     Complaining about afflictions when they are hungry.  Complaining doesn’t feed people or change anything.  It’s a waste of energy.

3.     Complaining about the loss of a loved one when the daughters of Ishmael lose their father to death.  Grief is perfectly understandable, but complaining doesn’t bring Ishmael back from the grave.

4.     Complaining about a big job that has to be done as Laman and Lemuel resist helping to build a boat.  Complaining doesn’t do anything to help build, nor does it get them any closer to their goal, but rather it psychologically alienates them from the goal.

5.     Complaining about leaders and parents as Laman and Lemuel oppose Lehi.  Complaining doesn’t help them follow any better.  It doesn’t give them someone else better to follow.  It doesn’t help them understand Lehi and he’s doing.

We benefit from the reminder that complaining and murmuring are not going to help us.  We see how Laman and Lemuel’s complaining would have cut them off from every bit of meaningful progress the Lord wanted for them and that Nephi’s faith and diligence allowed him to make it through discouraging circumstances and hard tasks (and even deal with complainers)!

I think part of the reason this is in here is that the Lord knows there will be plenty of things for us to complain about as we all do the heavy lifting of building Zion.   Life is less-than-ideal, people are less-than-perfect, misfortune happens, afflictions and loss happen in the course of our duty, and it is not fun!  And we face big jobs and scary callings from time to time that make us wonder, “Is this really necessary?  Surely there must be a better way!”

Every two years we get this reminder in Sunday School, both from stories of Laman and Lemuel murmuring in the Book of Mormon and from stories of the children of Israel murmuring in the Old Testament.

Something I noticed is that this stuff is extra valuable because not complaining is countercultural in America, so we’re pushing back against a cultural milieu.  Democracy rewards those who complain the loudest and who can gather the most support.  Business customer service also rewards those who complain (although they definitely appreciate politeness).  We have to know the difference between complaint and constructive feedback.  We also need to recognize when it is appropriate to give feedback and when we need to just suck it up, give our full-hearted support, do the job in front of us, make do with what we have, learn new coping techniques, and roll with the punches. 

Alma’s people model how to deal with fears

25 For behold, it came to pass that while they were in the land of Helam, yea, in the city of Helam, while tilling the land round about, behold an army of the Lamanites was in the borders of the land.

26 Now it came to pass that the brethren of Alma fled from their fields, and gathered themselves together in the city of Helam; and they were much frightened because of the appearance of the Lamanites.

27 But Alma went forth and stood among them, and exhorted them that they should not be frightened, but that they should remember the Lord their God and he would deliver them.

28 Therefore they hushed their fears, and began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites, that they would spare them, and their wives, and their children.

29 And it came to pass that the Lord did soften the hearts of the Lamanites. And Alma and his brethren went forth and delivered themselves up into their hands; and the Lamanites took possession of the land of Helam. (Mosiah 23:25-29)

When I was reading this recently, I noticed there was a very nice pattern here about how to deal with fears and scary situations that arise.

When the Lamanites show up, the Nephites are understandably very alarmed. I love that Alma goes among them and tells them they should not be frightened. (It is as if he tutors them on emotional response here.) Why should they not be frightened? They should not be frightened because they have a much better alternative—remembering their God and trusting He would deliver them. To me, this seems very effective because it is a change of focus from the thing feared and the anticipation of bad things that might happen…to a focus on God who cares for us and the prospect of eventual escape from the thing feared. It is a change from fear to hope and trust.

Then there is a verse I really love. “Therefore they hushed their fears, and began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites” (v28). I love that it says “they hushed their fears.” It shows me that it is possible for me to turn on my fears and hush them and suppress them. I’ve found that when I do that, I really do almost say “Hush” to myself. I also like that it says that they began to cry to the Lord. Prayer is a great outlet for concern and worry. It is very cathartic. The more heart you put into it, the more comforting it is. That is the Spirit fulfilling its role as the comforter to soothe our souls. And Heavenly Father can actually do something about the problem.

In verse 29, it says that ultimately Alma’s people delivered themselves up into the hands of the Lamanites. That, I think, took a lot of braver to go out and face their fears like that. I think it was good too to not delay, but to resolve the situation quickly because that would also give less scope for fear to arise. Sometimes anticipation of something we fear is more terrible than the thing itself.

There’s another place in the Book of Mormon where a group is filled with fear. The prophet Helaman and his army, including the stripling warriors, found themselves in a very difficult predicament—they had to guard the Nephite border from an innumerable Lamanite army and do it on a shoestring budget while nearly starving to death. Notice their progression from fear to indomitable faith:

7 And it came to pass that we did wait in these difficult circumstances for the space of many months, even until we were about to perish for the want of food.

8 But it came to pass that we did receive food, which was guarded to us by an army of two thousand men to our assistance; and this is all the assistance which we did receive, to defend ourselves and our country from falling into the hands of our enemies, yea, to contend with an enemy which was innumerable.

9 And now the cause of these our embarrassments, or the cause why they did not send more strength unto us, we knew not; therefore we were grieved and also filled with fear, lest by any means the judgments of God should come upon our land, to our overthrow and utter destruction.

10 Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people.

11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.

12 And we did take courage with our small force which we had received, and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty.

13 And thus we did go forth with all our might against the Lamanites, who were in the city of Manti; and we did pitch our tents by the wilderness side, which was near to the city. (Alma 58:7-13)

Helaman and his armies also poured out their souls in prayer for strength and deliverance. The Lord blessed them with:

• Assurances
• Great faith
• Hope for deliverance
• Courage with their small force
• A fixed determination to conquer
• And they went forth with all their might.

Ultimately, the assurances of the Lord move Helaman and his army to courage, determination, and action.

I think both these stories are valuable because they show us a pattern of what to do when we fear, for whatever reason. We see that in one case, the people of Alma were strengthened to go and submit. In another case, the armies of Helaman were strengthened to go and cook up a strategy to fight the Lamanites. But both of them were strengthened to go and DO something.

Will you tell me about a time when you were afraid and turned to the Lord? How did the Lord help you?

They fled in much confusion

In Alma 52, the Nephites use the decoy method to lead the Lamanites away from the city of Mulek. The Lamanites chase Teancum’s army all the way to Bountiful, at which they are met by Lehi’s fresh army, who takes over the battle from there. Here’s a verse that has always seemed interesting to me:

And now behold, when the chief captains of the Lamanites had beheld Lehi with his army coming against them, they fled in much confusion, lest perhaps they should not obtain the city Mulek before Lehi should overtake them; for they were wearied because of their march, and the men of Lehi were fresh. (Alma 52:28)

I don’t think the phrase “in much confusion” denotes a state of mind; there is nothing confusing about the situation; it is obvious to the Lamanites that they have just been played for fools. What “in much confusion” describes is the manner in which the army traveled—men breaking ranks and lines in order to move as fast as they can to get to safety and leaving the slower ones to fend for themselves.

The Lamanites chased Teancum’s Nephite army up to Bountiful while keeping their lines and ranks according to their leaders’ command, but as soon as they saw they were in danger, they became as undisciplined as any panicked crowd and their leaders could do nothing about it.

Later in the battle there ARE confused states of mind when the Lamanites find the rear of their army is surrendering and the front of their army is still fighting.

And Lehi pressed upon their rear with such fury with his strong men, that the Lamanites in the rear delivered up their weapons of war; and the remainder of them, being much confused, knew not whither to go or to strike. (Alma 52:36)

Captain Moroni takes advantage of their confusion and gives them a clear option to end the fight.

37 Now Moroni seeing their confusion, he said unto them: If ye will bring forth your weapons of war and deliver them up, behold we will forbear shedding your blood.
38 And it came to pass that when the Lamanites had heard these words, their chief captains, all those who were not slain, 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 52:37-38)

Now, please don’t misunderstand what I am about to say. Captain Moroni is a powerful example of good leadership. However, this should not prevent us from recognizing the tactics Satan uses in our lives, which are very similar to what Captain Moroni just did. Captain Moroni saw the confusion of the Lamanites when they didn’t know what to do and he gave them an unambiguous solution—stop fighting and surrender. Satan goes one step further. He tries to induce confusion in us about our identities and roles and the purpose of our lives and when he sees we are confused, he tempts us to surrender, to forget about that exaltation stuff, and forget about ever becoming better, to forget about fighting evil anymore.

I guess what I am trying to say is that confusion makes us vulnerable. We see two different types of confusion in this story—organizational confusion and mental confusion. It looks to me like organizational confusion led to mental confusion.

In the church, if we suddenly stop listening to our leaders and start doing our own thing in spite of what they tell us, then it will result in a mass of confusion in the church organization. In that case, organizational confusion is a consequence of sin.

Mental confusion comes when we are faced with two or more compelling choices, which conflict with each other:

• going along with the crowd versus being unpopular for following our conscience
• giving in versus fighting temptation
• doing what seems to be expedient in the moment versus doing the thing we have always been taught
• pursuing short-term pleasures versus pursuing long-term goals

The opposite of confusion is certainty and order. Testimony gives us certainty that overcomes mental confusion, but even if we don’t have total certainty, we can use our faith to compensate. Then church organization brings order which overcomes social confusion. All of this is meant to help us keep fighting for what’s right instead of giving in to sin.

Captain Moroni’s Psychological Warfare in Alma 54

Alma 54 is one of the war chapters that Mormon included in his abridgment, which seems to call for extra analysis. This chapter consists mostly of two letters: one from Captain Moroni to Ammoron, king of the Lamanites, and one from Ammoron to Captain Moroni.

One of the most notable things about Alma 54 is Captain Moroni’s statement that Ammoron is a “child of hell”. This boldness continues to fascinate Book of Mormon readers, and fairly begs for more examination. Why such a strong declaration? To try to answer this question, I started to look more carefully at the text that precedes it.

I suspect that we must interpret Moroni’s letter through the lens of strategy, since verse three says that “Moroni resolved upon a strategem to obtain as many prisoners of the Nephites from the Lamanites as it were possible”. What was this strategy?

In verse 11 we see that he would only give up a Lamanite prisoner in return for a Nephite prisoner with their wife and children. Clearly Moroni is trying to skew the exchange rate. But surely Ammoron would notice this, right?

Also, it seems that if Moroni wants Ammoron to agree to this exchange rate, he goes about it in completely the wrong way, practically insulting his enemy when you’d think he’d be bending over backwards trying to “make nice”. What kind of strategy is this? It almost seems like anti-strategy.

I suspect that Moroni knew that Ammoron would notice the vastly inequitable prisoner exchange rate. How do you keep someone from noticing an unfair request? By inundating them with insults, accusations, and generally torking them off so that the unfair request simply blends into the background of massive offensiveness and seems like the least annoying thing to deal with.

So how does Moroni do this? He calls Ammoron to repentance multiple times, not with promises of God’s mercy, as is usual in calls to repentance, but only with threats of God’s wrath if Ammoron does not comply. He says Ammoron and his brother have been murderers. The general tone of Moroni’s letter is “I don’t know why I bother talking to you”, which is certainly insulting. It is notable that the most cutting portion—“it supposeth me that thou art a child of hell”—comes right next to Moroni’s terms for prisoner exchange. Moroni wanted Ammoron to spend all his time fuming over that little gem and little if any time considering the exchange rate. Moroni was deliberately trying to provoke Ammoron.

Probably the final evidence that Moroni was deliberately trying to be insulting is that this letter is incredibly abrasive when you compare it Moroni’s speech to Zarahemnah in Alma 44. In Moroni’s speech to Zarahemnah, Moroni uses the battle as an object lesson to try to teach the Lamanites about the efficacy and importance of faith in God and strict adherence to religion. There is no name-calling or spiritual condemnation present at all. The tone is positive and hopeful. The contrast between Moroni’s words in Alma 44 and Alma 54 could not be greater.

If we see Moroni’s letter in Alma 54 in this way, it becomes clear to us that we should probably not take his “you-child-of-hell” approach as a model for our interactions with nonmembers, apostates, and enemies. The better model would be Moroni’s speech in Alma 44 with its continual references to faith, God, and religion.

So if this letter was meant to be insulting, why did Mormon include it in his abridgement? What spiritual purpose could it serve?

Pondering this question made me think about what Mormon could have done instead of including the letter. What might Mormon have said? He could have said, “Moroni wrote a very insulting letter to Ammoron in which he asked for an unbalanced rate of prisoner exchange, but he concealed it in insulting language so that Ammoron would be madder at everything else and probably agree to the proposal just to spite Moroni." Which brings me to the realization that maybe Ammoron decided to agree to the proposal in order to try to prove that he was a better guy than Moroni seemed to take him for. As if he was saying, “See? I can be generous! I’m not a child of hell!” This must have been the very reaction that Moroni was trying to create. This must have been at the heart of his strategy.

What can we learn from this? Perhaps it is meant to help us recognize when someone is trying to manipulate us this way. There will be people who try to do this to us. They will try to get us to do what they want by trying to make us the bad guys in order to get us to give in and attempt to prove that we aren’t as bad as they thought. We’ve already seen this in California over same-sex marriage. We also need to be careful that we don’t use this tactic on others. It is emotionally manipulative. It may work in the short run, but in the long run it will backfire because if you express pessimistic expectations to people often enough, they begin to live up to them, and they give up trying to buck them.

It is hard for us to imagine Captain Moroni using such tactics as psychological warfare. We are used to him being one of those shining examples of what to do. This may represent an example of what not to do. However, as I have studied this chapter, I have found some features of the letter that also exhibit Moroni’s goodness.

For instance, it is evident that he proclaims peace, (albeit imperfectly because it is overshadowed by the strategic elements). If we notice the repeated words, we can see it. There are four instances of the word “withdraw” and two instances of the word “repent”. In the first two cases, these two words are paired together—“repent and withdraw”. It seems clear to me that this constitutes a fourfold attempt to warn the enemy and lift the standard of peace. Captain Moroni had a duty to do this, according to the Law of Moses:

10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: (Deuteronomy 20:10-12, emphasis added)

This idea is elaborated on in what the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith on proclaiming peace:

33 And again, this is the law that I gave unto mine ancients, that they should not go out unto battle against any nation, kindred, tongue, or people, save I, the Lord, commanded them.
34 And if any nation, tongue, or people should proclaim war against them, they should first lift a standard of peace unto that people, nation, or tongue;
35 And if that people did not accept the offering of peace, neither the second nor the third time, they should bring these testimonies before the Lord;
36 Then I, the Lord, would give unto them a commandment, and justify them in going out to battle against that nation, tongue, or people. (D&C 98:33-36, emphasis added)

It seems to me that to proclaim peace and make an offering of peace involves making clear statements about what is perceived to be the reason of conflict and clear statements about what conditions the other side should meet in order to settle the conflict. This is so that everyone knows what the fight is about and knows how the fight could be stopped and avoided. By doing this, the agency of the opposing side is maximized by presenting them with clear choices. Moroni’s letter does this as he reminds Ammoron that the Lamanites have been trying to murder the Nephites and the Nephites will defend themselves. It is also seen in the repetition of “withdraw”.

In the end, it is ironic that after Ammoron grants Moroni’s request for the specified exchange rate, the exchange never actually takes place. Moroni seems to have realized that it is better to deplete the Lamanite man-count, since exchanging prisoners would enable Ammoron to continue the war. He also seems to have realized that he didn’t need a prisoner exchange if he could liberate Nephite POWs with well-planned strategy.

Even more interestingly, Moroni declares later in Alma 55 that he will seek death among them until they sue for peace, but when he has the Lamanites at his mercy, once again he demonstrates his humanity and spares them.

In short, Moroni’s foray into psychological warfare manipulation tactics is short-lived and ultimately aberrational.

One other observation about Moroni’s letter and his general approach:

It is notable that Moroni doesn’t remove religious rhetoric from his letter, even though he figures that Ammoron will not accept it. (This consistency is also exhibited in a more exemplary form in his speech to Zarahemnah in Alma 44.) This is a great example for us today. It is very tempting to scrub religious references and ideas from our speech when communicating with those who do not hold the same beliefs as us. The increasing secularism around us makes it ever more difficult for us, especially when there are so many messages floating around about how we need to accept people, tolerate difference, embrace diversity, etc. Because of this, we face the temptation to hide what we are and what we believe in hopes that people will eventually accept us enough to listen later to what we say about religion. (But too often, that time never comes because we get out of the habit and we begin to worry that we will be rejected if we say anything at all, even after long acquaintance.) No, it is better to have religion in our discourse from the very beginning and bring it up as appropriate. (As long as the discourse is modeled after Alma 44, and not Alma 54.)

I have been trying be more open and comfortable speaking about religion in the last week, and I feel that it has helped people around me be more comfortable speaking about religion too. I’ve even had the opportunity to bear testimony to a coworker. We can make little islands around us of refuge from secularism where people can feel comfortable talking about the deepest feelings of their hearts concerning God, religion, and devotion.

Summary of lessons from Alma 54:

• Recognize when people are trying to get you to agree to their unjust demands by making you the “bad guy”. Don’t fall for it.
• Don’t hide who you are and what you stand for.

Image: TopNews.in, http://www.topnews.in/health/noisy-brain-healthy-brain-study-23314

School your feelings. Schooooooool your feeeeelings.

I have to hand it to President Monson. Talk about prophetic. You know, the longer I live, the greater respect I come to have for the prophet (and the apostles) for their willingness to speak out on important issues. The talk that I’m particularly grateful for right now is his talk “School Thy Feelings, O My Brother”, which he gave in the priesthood session. In this talk, he urged the priesthood to cultivate a proper spirit at all times by choosing to refrain from becoming angry.

I testify that this talk was both timely and needed. In the last little while I have witnessed or heard about at least four anger incidents just in the lives of members of the church, one incident of which I was involved in. Reading his talk made a big difference for me and helped me get back on track.

President Monson pointed out various causes of anger such as the following:

• When things don’t turn out the way we want
• Reaction to something said about us
• Reaction to something said to us
• When people don’t behave the way we want
• When we have to wait for something longer than we expected (Hello, road rage on slow-moving highways!)
• When others can’t see things from our perspective
• When we feel we have been hurt or unjustly treated

Some other choice tidbits:

A man’s a fool who takes an insult that isn’t intended.

There are as many reasons for anger as there are people on the earth. (But there are also as many reasons to refrain from anger.)

The Apostle Paul asks in Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 26 of the Joseph Smith Translation: “Can ye be angry, and not sin? let not the sun go down upon your wrath.”
I ask, is it possible to feel the Spirit of our Heavenly Father when we are angry? I know of no instance where such would be the case.

From 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, we read:

“There shall be no disputations among you. . . . For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.”

It is my conviction that it doesn’t matter if you were right or wrong if you have the spirit of contention. You have to get rid of that spirit.

To be angry is to yield to the influence of Satan. No one can make us angry. It is our choice. If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all times, we must choose to refrain from becoming angry. I testify that such is possible.

Anger, Satan’s tool, is destructive in so many ways.

May we ever be exemplary in our homes and faithful in keeping all of the commandments, that we may harbor no animosity toward any man but rather be peacemakers, ever remembering the Savior’s admonition, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” [emphasis added]

“School thy feelings, O my brother;
Train thy warm, impulsive soul.
Do not its emotions smother,
But let wisdom’s voice control.”

As I read that bit of verse, one word that sticks out to me is “school”. We must “school” our feelings, not “smother” them. What is involved in schooling our feelings? I think it involves careful self-talk, figuring out what it is that we feel, giving it a label so that we know what it is, figuring out what exactly is causing it, analyzing what the extent of it is, thinking about how we’d like to react, thinking about whether that would change anything for the better, pinpointing any unreasonable feelings and talking ourselves out of them.

“Self, I know it feels like you are being insulted, but she didn’t mean it.”
“But what if she did?”
“Then do you want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she got to you? But, you don’t know what she intended, and you don’t have control over her. You only have control over yourself.”

When we school our feelings, we teach ourselves what to feel, how to feel it, and how to express it. We teach ourselves when it is time to walk away and cool down. We teach ourselves what tone of voice to use and what words and actions are totally off limits.

“Self, you will NOT raise your voice, and you will NOT call names. You also will NOT use profanity, no matter what happens.”

“Self, you are starting to hate her. You need to go pray for help to forgive her and pray to not be angry.”

“Self, you will NOT send that email today. You will wait 24 hours and then read through it again and edit it.”

Elder Kent D. Watson also gave a great talk on temperance in conference called “Being Temperate in All Things”. Elder Watson indirectly highlighted one particular area that temperance is needed when he describes the age Joseph Smith lived as he was seeking answers to his questions. About the community of converts to various religions, “All their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions.” This shows us that temperance is needed in religious discussion. That word “contest” shows where the intemperance can come from. When opinion-sharing becomes a contest, temperance flies out the window and spiritual manipulation and abuse can creep in.

This suggests some other ways that we can acquire temperance. We can temper our perceptions so that we are not easily offended. One way that I have found that helps me temper my perceptions is by working hard to remember that the person I am talking to does not mean to be offensive or cause me pain. When I am talking to person who is part of an organization, I try to remember that the person has certain rules set by the organization that they have to follow which may dictate the way that they interact with me. If they can’t help me, keeping the above in mind helps me keep from feeling like they are trying to make my life hard just for fun. Instead, I try to find out what policies they may be working around in hopes that we can negotiate a way to both meet our goals.

Of course there are times when people do things just to try to push our buttons. At these times, temperance is important because it allows us to choose our actions, rather than reacting in a way that we may regret later. I found that one skill that laid a foundation for me to acquire temperance in this respect was that of controlling the volume of my voice. When I was a teen, there were times when I got upset with my parents and started arguing with them. I would get louder. My dad could keep his voice perfectly level and he would tell me, “Please lower your voice.” I had to. (And he was keeping his voice down, so I always felt like I had gotten out of hand.) Another thing that helped me become more temperate was when my mother would tell us not to call each other names. This meant we had to find other ways of communicating displeasure with someone. (And of course, I learned from watching my brother get his mouth washed out with soap that profanity wasn’t appropriate either.)

Elder Watson compared temperance to the qualities of tempered glass.

Tempered glass, like tempered steel, undergoes a well-controlled heating process which increases strength. Thus, when tempered glass is under stress, it will not easily break into jagged shards that can injure. Likewise, a temperate soul—one who is humble and full of love—is also a person of increased spiritual strength.

If our windshields were not made of tempered glass, any bit of highway gravel thrown up at them might shatter them into thousands of sharp pieces and hurt everyone in the car. However, because windshields are tempered, the small things that hit it during everyday driving seem to have no effect. At most we may see a small crack, which we can then repair.

In the same way, a tempered soul has the spiritual strength to deal with the thousand little stresses of everyday with self-control and poise and the act of dealing well with the small things increases strength to handle the big problems.

I testify that these words about temperance and schooling our feelings are needed TODAY. Following the words of the prophets will allow us to escape the wrath of God when it overtakes the wicked.

Guilt has to be dealt with

I ran across this verse recently:

Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever. (Mosiah 2:38)

I thought it was very significant that the demands of justice awakes a lively sense of guilt in unrepentant spirits; even though they have done their best to put their conscience to sleep and quell feelings of guilt during their mortal life and bury the memories in oblivion, they will get hit with a divine justice in the end, with a clear, awakened memory of everything they did and then guilt will attack. (Yikes!)

Which is why we need to repent in this life.

Don't buy society's "just move on with your life and forget about it" mantra. Guilt has to be dealt with and healed through the Atonement of Christ. Whether it is our conscience legitimately reproaching us or whether it is Satan trying to buffet us by imputing guilt where none exists, it needs to be dealt with and healed through the Atonement of Christ.

Unspeakable words

The greatest part of the Book of Mormon is when Christ visits the American continent after His Resurrection. Here is a place where He prays for a crowd of people who have gathered to hear Him:

15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.
16 And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;
17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father. (3 Nephi 17:15-17)

I’ve wondered in the past how it is possible to speak things that can’t be written or even imagined. But I think I’m beginning to realize how it happens. When I was a teenager I would hear people talk with great enthusiasm about service and missionary work and the Spirit of God and a number of other things of spiritual significance, and I couldn’t understand what was so great about them. But as I have gained more experience with these things I have become acquainted with the great joy that comes from them. I’ve learned how satisfying service is. I’ve learned how invigorating and exciting missionary work is. I’ve gotten more in tune with the Spirit of the Lord and a number of other things, and now I find that when someone says those words they seem magical to me, because just the words evoke memories of the wonderful feelings I’ve had.

So I think that those words Jesus prayed must have been somewhat like icebergs (remember, 10% above the water, 90% submerged where you can’t see it). 90% of the meaning must have been felt.