The book of Helaman describes a time of turmoil, with political assassinations, wars, the rise of secret combinations, and fluctuating participation in the church. Both of the major prophets in the book, Nephi and Samuel the Lamanite, are generally rejected among the Nephites in spite of the miracles they performed.
But incredible spiritual experiences occurred during these troubled times, including the conversion of the Lamanites in Helaman 5, Nephi receiving the sealing power in Helaman 10, and Samuel the Lamanite’s detailed descriptions of the signs which would accompany the Savior’s birth and death in Helaman 14.
All of these events led to the Savior’s arrival and ministry among the Nephites and the Lamanites in 3 Nephi. When the people were converted to the gospel He taught, they lived in happiness and peace for several generations, as described in 4 Nephi.
Here are some lessons I learned during the past two months as we’ve studied these books of scripture:
1. Simplicity of thought can help us overcome deception.
When Nephi revealed that the chief judge had been murdered, the obvious response was to see for yourself and believe him if it turned out to be true. Five men followed that course of action and were converted, but most of the rest of the people found ways to explain the miracle away. When all of their more complex theories had been disproven, they simply refused to believe.
Similarly, the people who couldn’t hit Samuel the Lamanite with their arrows attributed it to the power of the devil. They preemptively explained away the prophesied miracles by claiming that Samuel, Nephi, and other prophets would “work some great mystery which we cannot understand” (Helaman 16:21).
The trouble with these theories is that they are more complicated than the truth, and the evidence for them is more sparse. We can avoid being deceived and even deceiving ourselves by simplifying our reasoning and being willing to accept the facts we see at face value.
2. Remembering God’s love can help us weather the storms of life.
As the Nephites sat in the rubble which used to be their homes and cities, surrounded by thick darkness, they heard the voice of Jesus Christ proclaiming, “I am the light and the life of the world” (3 Nephi 9:18). He wanted them to see beyond the current darkness and to believe in the promised light.
He later quoted a passage from Isaiah contrasting the “small moment” of our suffering with God’s “everlasting kindness.” (See Isaiah 54:7-8, 3 Nephi 22:7-8.) When we have faith in God, we can place our current and temporary discomforts and frustrations in an eternal perspective.
3. Repenting with the Savior’s help may be easier than we think.
Samuel the Lamanite prophesied that at the time of the Savior’s death, mountains would be laid low and valleys would be lifted up, echoing a prophecy of Isaiah. (See Helaman 14:20-27.) This prophecy was literally fulfilled, but as I studied it this year, I thought about how it is also fulfilled in our lives. The Savior can smooth our rough edges, bring us down to earth in the areas where we are proud, raise us up where we might lack confidence, and help us straighten out the crooked parts of our lives.
As Helaman taught his sons, we must repent, not because we think we can save ourselves, but because that effort unlocks the Savior’s power in our lives. His transformative power becomes active for us only when we choose to accept it, and we do that by following His instructions, by fulfilling the “conditions of repentance” He has specified.
4. To be happy, we must overcome contention.
The first doctrine Jesus taught after descending from heaven was baptism, but He couched those instructions in a context of interpersonal interactions: “On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you” (3 Nephi 11:22). When He introduced the sacrament later that day, He said the same thing, “I give you these commandments because of the disputations which have been among you. And blessed are ye if ye have no disputations among you” (3 Nephi 18:34). After His departure, the people lived in peace for many years. “There were no contentions and disputations among them.” As a result, “there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God” (4 Nephi 1:2, 15, 17-18).
Our happiness is dependent on our ability to overcome contention and live peaceably with the people around us.
5. We will find what we seek.
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made the following conditional promise: “Seek, and ye shall find” (3 Nephi 14:7, Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9). Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught earlier this year that this is more than a promise. It is a statement of fact. “If we seek reasons to be angry, to doubt, to be bitter or alone, we will find them too. However, if we seek joy—if we look for reasons to rejoice and to happily follow the Savior, we will find them. We rarely find something we are not looking for” (“A Higher Joy,” General Conference, April 2024).
This is a consistent theme throughout the Sermon on the Mount. Our priorities ultimately determine our destiny. Because the Savior is willing to help us achieve our full potential, the following statements are true for each one of us: What you want determines what you seek. What you seek determines what you will find. What you find determines who you will become.
Thank you for these insights!