Helaman 1:1-13

1:1-13 - We are finally out of the Book of Alma! That's not said as a good thing, because of course I love Alma and Teancum and Pahoran and... but it's more of a milestone for me, so that's pretty exciting, plus we are one step closer to the time when the Savior comes!!! So all the big players from the last book have died, Alma, Helaman, Shiblon, CM, Teancum, Nephihah, and Pahoran. The IM starts Helaman off by describing it as "a stark contrast between the fruits of good and evil. We see the results of evil upon society as well as the individual. The personal growth and blessings obtained by Saints who remain faithful in challenging circumstances can provide us with courage to remain true to righteous principles during difficult times. We can contrast the discord brought by wickedness with the great peace and joy obtained by righteousness. Noting these contrasts provides motivation to chart a course based upon principles that will bring happiness and avoid the misery that comes from disobedience." This sounds like a completely reasonable definition for success in life, it's happiness. I feel that if you have peace, genuine peace, and happiness in your life, then that is success, and that means that you don't desperately wish for things, that you don't get angry with other people over trivial stuff, and ideally, there is no anger in your life at all.  If you're rich and unhappy, then you are unsuccessful in life. If you are happy and poor, then you are successful in life. If you are keeping the commandments and you are happy then you win no matter how much money you make, no matter how many friends or family you have, if you are not keeping the commandments, you're not genuinely happy and secure, and to me, being unhappy is the worst kind of failure because there is truly nothing that makes up for it. There is no amount of money that can compensate for unhappiness, rich people who overdose or kill themselves are a testament to that. There is no amount of power that can make you truly happy, ruthless dictators demonstrate that. There is no amount of fame or stardom or recognition that will make you sleep well at night, all the celebrities who run away screaming from the cameras show us that. There's no physical beauty or athletic achievement that can fill the void created by the veil, anorexic supermodels and drug addicted athletes teach us that. But for all those who have worldly success and can't fill their void fast enough, there is a disciple of Christ who is poor in spirit and probably not screamingly wealthy, although that can happen as the righteous and prospering Nephites showed us yesterday, who is kneeling in the shadows thanking their Heavenly Father for their blessings and asking for opportunities to serve others. Anyway, so we make it to the 40th year, 9 years after the major war ended, and only 3 years since the last battle, and "there began to be a serious difficulty among the people of the Nephites," because Pahoran died and replacing him became to big deal. Pahoran had 3 sons that wanted to take over the judgement seat of their father, Pahoran, Paanchi, and Pacumeni. The people voted and elected Pahoran Jr. to the judgment seat, and when his brother Pacumeni "saw that that he could not obtain the jugdment seat, he did unite with the voice of the people." Seems reasonable. But the other brother Paanchi was not so compliant, and he "was exceedingly wroth; therefore, he was about to flatter away those people to rise up in rebellion against their brethren." Oh no, we've seen this before, but apparently the Nephite intel was on it because before he was able to carry out his plans "he was taken, and was tried according to the voice of the people, and condemned unto death." I hadn't realized before that it was probably Pahoran Jr. who had to judge him and sentence his brother to death, and that must have been very difficult for him. They were able to stop the leader, Paanchi, from rebelling, but what about the rest of the group of people who supported him? Yeah, they were mad, "and behold, they sent forth one Kishkumen, even to the judgment seat of Pahoran, and murdered Pahoran as he sat upon the judgment seat." Two of Pahoran's sons were now dead, and the people had basically divided into at least 2 groups, the first being those who want to be free and law abiding, and the other who were wicked and rebellious and they formed the first of what we encounter as "secret combinations," because "they all entered into a covenant, yea, swearing by their everlasting Maker, that they would tell no man that Kishkumen had murdered Pahoran." Just a few points here, first is I wonder how Mormon knew all this. If this was truly a secret society, then how did their records along with their names and who did what end up documented in the hands of Mormon? I'm sure it's not an elaborate explanation, I just can't think of one right now. Another point is that it might seem like the group is trying to protect Kishkumen (who my daughter calls King Kuku, which I thought was funny,) but in actuality, they are protecting themselves. They know that if Kishkumen was caught he could tell who all was involved and give evidence to support his claims. So it might appear that they are sticking up for each other, but we all know that the wicked do not support their own, so truly, I'm confident that they were more afraid of what would happen to themselves if they were caught than what would happen to their people who did the actual work. And the last point is that while the idea of secret combinations seem shocking from a Book of Mormon stand point, I always wondered "I don't get it, what's so different about them?" And I realized that the only reason that I didn't really understand what secret combinations are and why they are dangerous is because there are so many of them in our day and age that they are everywhere and common knowledge to everyone. I know that we all deal with them all the time, whether they wear baggy pants and backwards hats or if they wear a suit and tie and smile in our faces. In fact, the IM quotes Elder M. Russell Ballard as teaching "The Book of Mormon teaches that secret combinations engaged in crime present a serious challenge, not just to individuals and families but to entire civilizations. Among today's secret combinations are gangs, drug cartels, and organized crime families. The secret combinations of our day function much like the Gadianton robbers of the Book of Mormon times. They have secret signs and initiation ceremonies. Among their purposes are to 'murder, and plunder, and steal, and commit whoredoms and all manner of wickedness, contrary to the laws of their country and also the laws of their God.' If we are not careful, today's secret combinations can obtain power and influence just as quickly and just as completely as the did in Book of Mormon times. Do you remember the pattern? The secret combinations began among the 'more wicked part' of society, but eventually 'seduced the more part of the righteous' until the whole society was polluted... The Book of Mormon teaches that the devil is the 'author of all sin' and the founder of these secret combinations. He uses secret combinations, including gangs, 'from generation to generation according as he can get hold upon the hearts of the children of men.' His purpose is to destroy individuals, families, communities, and nations. To a degree, he was successful during Book of Mormon times. And he is having far too much success today. That's why it is so important for us as priesthood holders to take a firm stand for truth and right by doing what we can to help keep our communities safe." I know that everyone is familiar with the gangs and the drug dealers and all that type of stuff, but I think it's important to consider that perhaps not all, or even perhaps the most powerful secret combinations do not wear crazy clothes, walk the streets at night or listen to loud music. So while we are quick to condemn the lower level worker of iniquity, let's not forget that they probably answer to higher ups and therefore we must guard ourselves against all evil by putting on the whole armor of God.