Helaman 13-16

Quote #1: Never before have the Nephites been wicked enough to attract a prophet from outside

their nation, and never before have the Lamanites been consistently righteous enough to provide one

Never before has the economy allowed Lamanites and Nephites to freely enter one another’s

territory. (Helaman: a brief theological introduction. Kimberly Matheson Berkey. Pg. 94.)

Quote #2: While it is understandable that Samuel would have known and used words spoken by his

missionary and friend Nephi, it is quite astonishing that these links between Samuel and Nephi were

so purposefully used by Samuel, preserved by Mormon, and were included and translated by Joseph

Smith with such exactness.

Quote #3: Samuel is introduced as a foil to Nephi. Beyond their role as the two preachers who

conclude the book, a whole rash of other textual details put Samuel and Nephi side by side. Both are

returning home when they are interrupted by a divine commission. Each prophet delivers two signs.

They both prophesy of a coming Messiah. Both call on the Nephites to repent. Each causes a division

among the people. They are both described in supernatural terms (God, devil). Both exit the narrative

together. The text’s last mention of Nephi occurs just two verses before Samuel’s exit from

Zarahemla.

As Narrative foils, however, the differences between the two are just as instructive. Where Nephi’s

preaching prioritized the contemporary consequences of Nephite wickedness, Samuel focuses on the

future calamities that await the people. While Nephi’s signs were local, political, and focused on the

Nephites, Samuel’s signs are cosmic – apocalyptic, even – and primarily concerned with the Messiah.

It’s also curious that Samuel seems largely uninterested in the Gadianton robbers, whereas Nephi

shaped his entire intervention around secret combinations. Mormon clearly hopes that a shared

picture will come into focus between these two prophets, but if Nephi gave us something like a fine

zoom on Nephite life, Samuel provides readers with a wide angle lens. Samuel’s inclusion in this

prophetic duo reminds us that divine messengers and vital perspectives often emerge right out of our

blind spot, and that it sometimes takes an outsider to help us hear the voice of God. (Helaman: a brief

theological introduction. Kimberly Matheson Berkey. Pg. 95.)

Quote #4: Samuel was a courageous Lamanite prophet sent among the Nephites to preach

repentance and the coming of the Lord shortly before Christ’s birth. Samuel is one of the most colorful

figures in the Book of Mormon, and few readers can forget the image of this fearless servant of God

announcing the dramatic signs of Christ’s birth and death, crying repentance from the walls of

Zarahemla. The proud, wicked, and prejudiced Nephites were offended by the presence of a

Lamanite reproving them for their sins. Historically, that was a Nephite prerogative, but now the roles

were reversed. (Largey, Book of Mormon Reference Companion, 697).

Quote #5: Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind.

When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus

Christ. Whether you are diligently moving along the covenant path, have slipped or stepped from the

covenant path, or can’t even see the path from where you are now, I plead with you to repent…

Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance – of doing and being a little better each day.

When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best

version of ourselves. When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus

Christ…Prayerfully seek to understand what stands in the way of your repentance. Identify what stops

you from repenting and then, change! Repent! All of us can do better and be better than ever before.

(Nelson, We can Do Better and Be Better. April 2019)

Quote #6: There is an essential aspect of the plan of happiness of our Father in Heaven that is often

ignored even though it invariably yields peace and joy. This subject is widely misunderstood and often

feared. Some feel that it is to be employed only by those in serious transgression, while the Lord

intended that it be consistently used by everyone of His children. I refer to the blessing of true,

sincere, continuing repentance, the path to peace and joy. It is a conduit to the reforming power of the

Lord and, when understood and used, a dear and precious friend. (Richard G. Scott Path to Peace

and Joy” 25)

Quote #7: When we sin, we turn away from God. When we repent, we turn back toward God. The

invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to run around and to

‘re-turn’ toward God. It is the beckoning of a loving Father and His Only Begotten Son to be more

than we are, to reach up to a higher way of life, to change, and to feel the happiness of keeping the

commandments. Being disciples of Christ, we rejoice in the blessing of repenting and the joy of being

forgiven. They become part of us, shaping the way we think and feel. (Anderson, “Repent That I May

Heal You,” 40).

Quote #8: We must have gratitude. We must always thank the Lord for our treasures. Where are our

hearts? What would it look like to hide up a treasure unto the Lord? It would look like abandoning the

fantasy that these treasures were yours to keep in the first place. It would look like sacrificing your

claim to all things.” (Mormon: a brief theological introduction. Adam S. Miller. Pg 51)

Quote #9: Many have asked why God would consistently reward the virtues of the Nephites with a

prosperity which almost infallibly destroyed that virtue. The answer is in the ‘almost’ – there is no

paradox here; wealth need not be destructive. A person in exuberant health is certainly more likely to

be tempted of the flesh than one suffering from a dire disease. And yet exuberant good health is a

reward of right living. The temptations of health and the temptations of wealth are real, to be sure, but

they are not irresistible, and they are necessary to test mankind in this life of probation. (Nibley, Since

Cumorah, 355)

Quote #10: Any honest assessment of life in the twenty-first century must admit: our grip on our

money is much harder to loosen than our grip on virtually any other part of our lives. We are often no

better than the Nephites on this score, and we are just as liable to listen to voices that alleviate our

guilt rather than stir us up to repentance. If scripture’s prophets begin to sound boorish or repetitive

on this point, it is only because we are as blind and self-congratulatory as the Nephites. (Helaman: a

brief theological introduction. Kimberly Matheson Berkey. Pg. 98.)

Quote #11: What pure, unadulterated hypocrisy it is for those who reject the living prophets to say ‘If

we had lived in former days, we would have accepted the prophets whom others rejected.’ Prophets

are prophets, truth is truth, and rebellion is rebellion. The spirit which leads men to fight God in one

age is the same that operates in every age. Those who reject the Lord’s anointed today would have

done so anciently. (McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:622)

Quote #12: Every wrong decision one makes restricts the area in which he can thereafter exercise

his agency. The further one goes in the making of wrong decisions in the exercise of agency, the

more difficult it is for him to recover the lost ground. He then becomes an abject slave. By the

exercise of his agency, he has decreased the area in which he can act, almost to the vanishing point.

(Romney, “Perfect Law of Liberty,” 45)

Quote #13: The pivotal occasions when Christ has come to the earth, meaning both his first and his

second comings, have been preceded by signs so that the faithful may know and be blessed. Signs

help the Lord’s people to be prepared and, because they know what to watch for, to avoid deception.

(Parry and Parry, Understanding the Signs of the Times, 1).

Quote #14: Regarding the coming of Christ, Samuel most impressively quotes specific words found

in the Nephite scriptures. It is interesting to note that “the name” of Christ in the center of King

Benjamin’s speech in Mosiah 3:8 is found in Samuel’s text in Helaman 14:12. These words are (the

twenty-one-English-word) title for the Lord – “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of Heaven and

of earth, the creator of all things from the beginning.” The Nephites had taken the name upon

themselves by way of covenant, as they were instructed by King Benjamin. (John W. Welch.

Inspirations and Insights from the Book of Mormon. Pg. 235)

Quote #15: Elder John A. Widtsoe taught that evidence can remove honest doubt and give

assurances that build faith. ‘After proper inquiries, using all the powers at our command’, he said, ‘the

weight of evidence is on one side or the other. Doubt is removed.’ ‘Doubt of the right kind – that is,

honest questioning – leads to faith’ and ‘opens the door to truth, ‘for where there is doubt, faith cannot

thrive (Evidences and Reconciliations, 28-29). Elder Joseph Fielding Smith likewise affirmed that

evidence, as convincing as in any court in the land, proves ‘beyond the possibility of doubt that

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery spoke the truth’. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:124) (Welch, “Power of

Evidence in the Nurturing of Faith, 155)

Quote #16: In a book full of slippery treasures, an unsteady earth, and Nephite morality in a constant

tailspin, the Lamanites are virtually the only immovable thing within these pages. Their firmness is so

extreme, in fact, that it has secured for them a fixed promise from the Lord. It is precisely through this

exemplary faithfulness, in other words, that the Lamanites secure the covenant future that the

Nephites are in the process of forfeiting.

The most miraculous nationwide conversions, the most famous and faithful band of soldiers (Alma

53), and even the famous “remnant” to whom the Book of Mormon itself is addressed – all belong to

the Lamanites. They have their moments of wickedness too, to be sure, but when they get it right,

they get it far more right than the Nephites ever did. (Helaman: a brief theological introduction.

Kimberly Matheson Berkey. Pg. 101-102)

Quote #17: Scriptures repeatedly warn that the father of contention opposes the plan of our Heavenly

Father. Satan’s method relies on the infectious canker of contention. Satan’s motive: to gain personal

acclaim even over God Himself. The work of the adversary may be likened to loading guns in

opposition to the work of God. Consecutive attacks with these guns containing germs of contention

are aimed and fired at strategic targets essential to that holy work. These vital targets include – in

addition to the individual – the family, leaders of the Church, and divine doctrine. (Nelson, “Canker of

Contention,”69).

Quote #18: If we come away from our reading of Helaman shaking our heads at the blindness and

willful stupidity of the Nephites, patting ourselves on the back for noticing what they failed to see, or

eagerly sleuthing for secret enemies lurking in the shadows, we will have missed the message of this

text. The message of Helaman is not “be hypervigilant against threat” but rather “you are not as good

at assessing threats as you think you are”. The book of Helaman encourages readers to turn a self-

critical eye on themselves, their relationships, and their treasures; to look in the mirror of prophetic

words to see where we fall short and where God is staring pointedly back at us; to excavate the

invisible corners of our hearts and clear room for heaven to surprise us. (Helaman: a brief theological

introduction. Kimberly Matheson Berkey. Pg. 11