Below are the quotes that were used in the video.
Lessons that can be learned from Helaman’s 2,000 Stripling (young) Warriors:
President Russell M. Nelson: “Now, to each member of the Church I say, keep on the covenant path. Your commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing and privilege available to men, women, and children everywhere.” (“As We Go Forward Together,” Ensign, Apr. 2018, 7)
Elder Richard G. Scott: “Their humble, lifelong commitment to forsaking their sins did more to protect their families than anything they could have done on the battlefield. Their submission did not deprive them of blessings. It strengthened them and blessed them and blessed future generations. (“Personal Strength through the Atonement of Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 83)
Elder D. Todd Christofferson: “Divine covenants make strong Christians. I urge each one to qualify for and receive all the priesthood ordinances you can and then faithfully keep the promises you have made by covenant. In times of distress, let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact. Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer. He will sustain you as you work and watch. In His own time and way He will stretch forth his hand to you, saying, “Here am I.” (“The Power of Covenants,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2009, 22)
Elder Alvin F. Meredith III: “In the face of affliction or trial, you may be like me and hope that the rescue will be immediate. … When we must wait, rest assured that the Savior is always watching, ensuring that we will not have to endure more than we can bear. To those who are waiting … , perhaps still in the midst of suffering, do not lose hope. Rescue always comes to the faithful, whether during mortality or in the eternities.” (Alvin F. Meredith III, “Look down the Road,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 115–16)
President Russell M. Nelson: “[You] will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. …
“… Obedience to the commandments of God will provide physical and spiritual protection.” (“Face the Future with Faith,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 34–35)
Elder Dale G. Renlund: “Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him. If He simply wanted us to be obedient, He would use immediate rewards and punishments to influence our behaviors.
“But God is not interested in His children just becoming trained and obedient “pets.” …
“God established a plan whereby we can become heirs in His kingdom, a covenant path that leads us to become like Him, have the kind of life He has, and live forever as families in His presence. Personal choice was—and is—vital to this plan, which we learned about in our premortal existence.” (Dale G. Renlund, “Choose You This Day,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 104)
Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “Pahoran's was not a resentful rejoinder lamenting the fact that Moroni was foolish without the facts. Pahoran did not engage in sarcasm or bitterness by lamenting that things were at least as rough for him as they were for Moroni and the army. He could have been sarcastic, saying he no longer had any throne to sit upon "in a state of thoughtless stupor." He could have justifiably boiled over at the accusation of his being a traitor, telling Moroni to do his job as chief captain and that Pahoran would do his job as governor. Instead, this exchange permitted these two leaders to rally themselves and their forces to retake the city. Moroni, when he received Pahoran's reply, indicated that his "heart did take courage," and that he rejoiced "because of the faithfulness of Pahoran." (Meek and Lowly, 24-25).
Elder M. Russell Ballard: “What we need now is the greatest generation of missionaries in the history of the Church. We need worthy, qualified, spiritually energized missionaries who, like Helaman’s 2,000 stripling warriors, are “exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity” and who are “true at all times in whatsoever thing they are entrusted” (Alma 53:20)” (M. Russell Ballard, in Conference Report, Oct. 2002, 50-51; or Ensign, Nov. 2002, 47).
President Boyd K. Packer: “The “shield of faith is not produced in a factory but at home…” (General Conference, April 1995).
Alma 58:8-14 Helaman’s 2060 (little group) fighting an “innumerable” army.
Summary: In the fight against the evils of our day, pour out your soul and the Lord will give you assurances – peace, faith, hope, courage and a fixed determination. In the end you will be victorious.
Elder David A. Bednar: “Let me suggest that one of the primary reasons so much information is recorded about war in the Book of Mormon is to help you and me in these latter days appropriately seek the gift of courage. I testify and promise that the courage you will need can be invited into your life through fervent prayer and diligent study of the Book of Mormon (Brigham Young University-Idaho Commencement, August 22, 2003).
Elder David A. Bednar: One of the greatest indicators of spiritual maturity is revealed in how “we respond to the weaknesses, inexperience and potentially offensive actions of others … ultimately [it] is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make … Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended” (And Nothing Shall Offend Them, General Conference, October 2006).
Ezra Taft Benson: “You have been born at this time for a sacred and glorious purpose. It is not by chance that you have been reserved to come to earth in this last dispensation of the fulness of times. Your birth at this particular time was foreordained in the eternities. You are to be the royal army of the Lord in the last days. In the spiritual battles you are waging, I see you as today’s sons of Helaman. Remember well the Book of Mormon account of Helaman’s two thousand stripling warriors” (Ensign, May 1986, 43).
- “They did assemble themselves together” (Alma 53:16). It was the youth’s idea to assemble. What influenced them to have a desire to do this?
- “By the power and word of God, [their parents] had been converted unto the Lord” (Alma 53:10).
- Buried their weapons of war “deep” (Alma 24:16-17).
- Left old lifestyle behind in moving to Zarahemla (Alma 53:10).
- Parents “moved with compassion and were desirous [willing] to … (Alma 53:13).
- Made and kept covenants (Alma 53:14-15).
- Summary: Influence of righteousness on children.
- “Protected by the Nephites [former enemies] (Alma 53:10).
- Generalized Summary: Influence of community on our children.
- They strengthened their commitment by making a covenant (Alma 53:17).
- When? “in all cases…” (Alma 53:17).
- They chose a prophet as their leader (Alma 53:19).
- “Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness” (Alma 57:21).
- Loving, trusting relationship (56:10, 17, 27, 30, 39, 44, 46, “father”/ “my sons”).
- “They were exceedingly valiant for courage” (Alma 53:20).
- “They were…true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted” (Alma 53:20) .
- “They were men of truth and soberness” (Alma 53:21).
- “They did think more upon … their fathers than they did upon their lives” (Alma 56:47).
- They had “exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe” (Alma 56:47-48; 57:26).
- Received many wounds (Alma 57:25-26).
- They “put their trust in God continually” (Alma 57:27).
- They “stood fast in that liberty wherewith God had made them free” (Alma 58:40).
- They were “strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day” (Alma 58:40).
- They kept God’s “statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually” (Alma 58:40).
- “Their faith was strong in the prophecies” (Alma 58:40).
President Russell M. Nelson: “Now, to each member of the Church I say, keep on the covenant path. Your commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing and privilege available to men, women, and children everywhere.” (“As We Go Forward Together,” Ensign, Apr. 2018, 7)
Elder Richard G. Scott: “Their humble, lifelong commitment to forsaking their sins did more to protect their families than anything they could have done on the battlefield. Their submission did not deprive them of blessings. It strengthened them and blessed them and blessed future generations. (“Personal Strength through the Atonement of Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 83)
Elder D. Todd Christofferson: “Divine covenants make strong Christians. I urge each one to qualify for and receive all the priesthood ordinances you can and then faithfully keep the promises you have made by covenant. In times of distress, let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact. Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer. He will sustain you as you work and watch. In His own time and way He will stretch forth his hand to you, saying, “Here am I.” (“The Power of Covenants,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2009, 22)
Elder Alvin F. Meredith III: “In the face of affliction or trial, you may be like me and hope that the rescue will be immediate. … When we must wait, rest assured that the Savior is always watching, ensuring that we will not have to endure more than we can bear. To those who are waiting … , perhaps still in the midst of suffering, do not lose hope. Rescue always comes to the faithful, whether during mortality or in the eternities.” (Alvin F. Meredith III, “Look down the Road,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 115–16)
President Russell M. Nelson: “[You] will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. …
“… Obedience to the commandments of God will provide physical and spiritual protection.” (“Face the Future with Faith,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 34–35)
Elder Dale G. Renlund: “Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him. If He simply wanted us to be obedient, He would use immediate rewards and punishments to influence our behaviors.
“But God is not interested in His children just becoming trained and obedient “pets.” …
“God established a plan whereby we can become heirs in His kingdom, a covenant path that leads us to become like Him, have the kind of life He has, and live forever as families in His presence. Personal choice was—and is—vital to this plan, which we learned about in our premortal existence.” (Dale G. Renlund, “Choose You This Day,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 104)
Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “Pahoran's was not a resentful rejoinder lamenting the fact that Moroni was foolish without the facts. Pahoran did not engage in sarcasm or bitterness by lamenting that things were at least as rough for him as they were for Moroni and the army. He could have been sarcastic, saying he no longer had any throne to sit upon "in a state of thoughtless stupor." He could have justifiably boiled over at the accusation of his being a traitor, telling Moroni to do his job as chief captain and that Pahoran would do his job as governor. Instead, this exchange permitted these two leaders to rally themselves and their forces to retake the city. Moroni, when he received Pahoran's reply, indicated that his "heart did take courage," and that he rejoiced "because of the faithfulness of Pahoran." (Meek and Lowly, 24-25).
Elder M. Russell Ballard: “What we need now is the greatest generation of missionaries in the history of the Church. We need worthy, qualified, spiritually energized missionaries who, like Helaman’s 2,000 stripling warriors, are “exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity” and who are “true at all times in whatsoever thing they are entrusted” (Alma 53:20)” (M. Russell Ballard, in Conference Report, Oct. 2002, 50-51; or Ensign, Nov. 2002, 47).
President Boyd K. Packer: “The “shield of faith is not produced in a factory but at home…” (General Conference, April 1995).
Alma 58:8-14 Helaman’s 2060 (little group) fighting an “innumerable” army.
- 1 Nephi 14:12-13 Parallel to today’s number of members of the church vs. Satan’s forces.
- What do you do?
- Pour out your soul in prayer to God (v. 10)
- God will not take battle away – visit you with assurances, give you hope for deliverance, peace to your soul. With this assurance (peace, faith, hope) (v. 11).
- God gives “courage“ and a “fixed determination” to conquer and maintain (v. 11).
- Enables us to fight with all our might (v. 13).
Summary: In the fight against the evils of our day, pour out your soul and the Lord will give you assurances – peace, faith, hope, courage and a fixed determination. In the end you will be victorious.
Elder David A. Bednar: “Let me suggest that one of the primary reasons so much information is recorded about war in the Book of Mormon is to help you and me in these latter days appropriately seek the gift of courage. I testify and promise that the courage you will need can be invited into your life through fervent prayer and diligent study of the Book of Mormon (Brigham Young University-Idaho Commencement, August 22, 2003).
Elder David A. Bednar: One of the greatest indicators of spiritual maturity is revealed in how “we respond to the weaknesses, inexperience and potentially offensive actions of others … ultimately [it] is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make … Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended” (And Nothing Shall Offend Them, General Conference, October 2006).
Ezra Taft Benson: “You have been born at this time for a sacred and glorious purpose. It is not by chance that you have been reserved to come to earth in this last dispensation of the fulness of times. Your birth at this particular time was foreordained in the eternities. You are to be the royal army of the Lord in the last days. In the spiritual battles you are waging, I see you as today’s sons of Helaman. Remember well the Book of Mormon account of Helaman’s two thousand stripling warriors” (Ensign, May 1986, 43).