Alma 59-63

1. Alma 59-63

2. Alma 59:9 Moroni understood that it was easier to keep the city from falling into the hands of the Lamanites than to retake it. President Benson taught that it was better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent (Teachings, 1988, 285).

3. Alma 60:13 “You need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God.”

4. Soon after the beginning of World War II the First Presidency of the Church stated: “In this terrible war now waging, thousands of our righteous young men in all parts of the world and in many countries are subject to a call in the military service of their own countries. Some of these, so serving, have already been called back to their heavenly home; others will almost surely be called to follow. But ‘behold,’ as Moroni said, the righteous of them who serve and are slain’ do enter into the rest of the Lord their God,’ (Alma 60:13) and of them the Lord said, ‘those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them (D&C 42:46)….

5. “…Their salvation and exaltation in the world to come will secure. That in their work of destruction they will striking at their brethren will not be held against them. That sin, as Moroni of old said, is to the condemnation of those who ‘sit in their places of power in a state of thoughtless stupor,’ those rule in the world who in a frenzy of hate and lust for unrighteous power and dominion over their fellow men, have put into motion eternal forces they do not comprehend and cannot control. God, in His own due time, will pass sentences upon them” (Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., David O. McKay, C.R., April 1942, 95-96).

6. A few months later Elder Harold B. Lee said: “It is my conviction that the present devastating scourge of war in which hundreds of thousands are being slain, many of whom are no more responsible for the causes of war than our own boys, is making necessary and increase of missionary activity in the spirit world and that many of our boys who bear the Holy Priesthood and are worthy to do so will be called to that missionary service after they have departed this life” (C.R., 1942, 73).

7. To our young men who go into the service, no matter whom they serve or where, we say live clean, keep the commandments of the Lord, pray to Him constantly to preserve you in truth and righteousness, live as you pray, and then whatever betides you the Lord will be with you and nothing will happen to you that will not be to the honor and glory of God and to your salvation and exaltation. There will come into your hearts from the living of a pure life you pray for, a joy that will pass your powers of expression and understanding….

8. “…The Lord will always be near you; He will comfort you; you will feel His presence in the hour of your greatest tribulation; He will comfort you to the fullest extent that accords with His all-wise purpose. Then, when the conflict is over and you return to your homes, having lived the righteous life, how great will be your happiness- whether you be of the victors or of the vanquished- that you have lived as the Lord commanded. You will return so disciplined in righteousness that thereafter all Satan’s wiles and stratagems will leave you untouched. Your faith and testimony will be strong beyond breaking. You will be looked up to and revered as having passed through the fiery furnace of trial and temptation and come forth unharmed. Your brethren will look to you for counsel, support and guidance. You will be the anchors to which thereafter the youth of Zion will put their faith in man” (Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., David O. McKay, C.R. April, 1942).

9. Alma 60:23 “The inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also!” How do we cleanse the inner vessel today? “We have made some wonderful strides in the past. We will be lengthening our stride in the future. To do so, we must first cleanse the inner vessel by awaking and arising, being morally clean, using the Book of Mormon in a manner so that God will lift the condemnation, and finally conquering pride by humbling ourselves” (Ezra Taft Benson, Witness and a Warning, 79).

10. Alma 60:19-36 “Moroni’s Letter to Pahoran” We like Pahoran, can choose to not be offended. Believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else. “…As described by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, the Church is not ‘a well-provisioned rest home for the already perfected’ (C.R., Apr. 1982, 57). Rather, in the Church is a learning laboratory and a workshop in which we gain experience as we practice on each other in the ongoing process of ‘perfecting the Saints.’

11. “Elder Maxwell also insightfully explained that in this latter-day learning laboratory known as the restored Church, the members constitute the ‘clinical material’ (Jesus, the Perfect Mentor,’ Ensign, Feb. 2001, 13) that is essential for growth and development… “You and I cannot control the intentions or behavior of other people. However, we do determine how we will act. Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended” (C.R., Oct. 2006, 95-97).

12. Alma 60:36 We need more politicians like this! Alma 62:9 What happened to those who would not defend their country? “Someone asked me once how I felt about amnesty for the draft card burner and the deserter. I told him that I thought every one of them should be taken before General Moroni to be judged” (Vaughn J. Featherstone, Ensign, Nov. 1975, 7-10).

13. Alma 61:9 Pahoran handled it well (Matt. 5:25). He chose not to be offended! Alma 62:35-37 “Tribute to Teancum!” Alma 63:4-9 Two migrations • By land 2. By sea

14. What happened to those people? Only speculation and theories can be advanced, but the most common is that the ships were lost at sea. This is exactly what the Nephites thought happened to them (Alma 63:8). A second theory is that they went to Japan. The basis of this theory is the prayer Elder Heber J. Grant offered when he dedicated Japan in 1901 to receive the restored gospel.

15. According to Alma Taylor’s reminiscences of the event, Elder Grant, “spoke of those who, because of iniquity, had been cut off from among the Nephites… and said we felt that through the lineage of those rebellious Nephites who joined with the Lamanites, that the blood of Lehi and Nephi (and of all Israel) had been transmitted unto the people of this land, many of whom have the features and manners of the American Indians, (and he) asked the Lord that if this were true that He would not forget the integrity of His servants Lehi and Nephi and would verify the promises made unto them concerning their descendants in the last days upon this (the Japanese) people for we felt that they were a worthy nation” (Palmer 91).

16. A third theory is that they went to Hawaii. In speaking to the Hawaiians at Laie, Elder Matthew Cowley said to them: “Brothers and sisters, you are God’s children- you are Israel. You have in your veins the blood of Nephi” (Cole 384). Expounding this theory, some believe that they went not only to Hawaii, but also to other Polynesian Islands as well.

17. Does the Church have an official position on any connection between Hagoth and the Polynesians? No! In a letter to the mission president of the Samoan Mission dated September 6, 1972, and signed by N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney, under the letterhead of the First Presidency, they wrote: “You asked if the Polynesian people are Lamanites or Nephites. There has been much speculation about the origin of these people. We have, however, no scriptural evidence or revelation from the Lord that would tell us exactly where these people came from or their background.

18. Teachings of General Authorities: Elder Mark E. Peterson, in his conference message of 1962 said, “The Polynesian Saints are characterized by a tremendous faith. Why do they have this great faith? It is because these people are of the blood of Israel. They are heirs to the promises of the Book of Mormon. God is now awakening them to their greatest destiny. As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men (Peterson, 457).

19. When the cornerstone was laid at the New Zealand Temple, Elder Hugh B. Brown stated in the closing prayer: “We thank Thee, O God, for revealing to us the Book of Mormon, the story of the ancient inhabitants, the ancestors of these whose heads are bowed before Thee here, came from the western shores of America into the South Seas pursuant to Thy plan and now acknowledgement of thy kindness, Thy mercy, and Thy love for them and those who went before them…

20. “…We humbly thank Thee that this building is erected in this land, so that those faithful Maoris who came here in early days, descendants of Father Lehi, may be remembered by their descendants and saved through the ordinances that will, in this House, be performed in their behalf” (Cummings 63; quoted in Cheesman 14).

21. President Kimball speaking of Hagoth and his party said, “President Joseph F. Smith the president of the Church reported, ‘You brethren and sisters from New Zealand, I want you to know that you are from the people of Hagoth.’ For New Zealand Saints, that was that. A prophet of the Lord had spoken… It is reasonable to conclude that Hagoth and his associates were about nineteen centuries on the islands, from about 55 B.C. to 1854 before the gospel began to reach them. They had lost all the plain and precious things which the Savior brought to the earth, for they were likely on the islands when the Christ was born in Jerusalem.’ (Temple View Area Conference Report, February 1976, 3)” (Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4 vols. [1987-91] 3:329).

22. Where are the descendants of the people of Hagoth today? “The belief that Polynesian ancestry includes Book of Mormon people can be traced back at least to 1851, when George Q. Cannon taught it… President Brigham Young detailed the belief in a letter to King Kaehameha B in 1865. Other church leaders have since affirmed the belief, some indicating that among Polynesian ancestors were the people of Hagoth, who set sail from Nephite lands in approximately 54 B.C. (Alma 63:5-8). In a statement to the Maoris of New Zealand, for instance, President Joseph F. Smith said, “I would like to say to you brethren and sisters…you are some of Hagoth’s people,and there is NO PERHAPS about it” (Cole and Jenson, 388).

23. President David O. McKay substantiated what happened to some of Hagoth’s people when he gave the following proclamation in the dedicatory prayer of the New Zealand Temple: “We express gratitude that to these fertile Islands Thou didst guide descendants of Father Lehi, and has enabled them to prosper” (“Dedicatory Prayer Delivered by Pres. David O. McKay at New Zealand Temple,” Church News, May 10, 1958, 2).