Sunday Thoughts

This Sunday as we discussed the 2000 Stripling Warriors in Sunday School I was both humbled and inspired. Anyone familiar with the story knows that the 2000 young men who took up arms in defense of their parents who had made an oath to God to bury their weapons of war credited their safety and success to their faith in God. When asked why the had such faith they told Helaman their mother's had taught them faith and they did not doubt what their mothers had taught them. The scriptures also tell us that these young men not only had faith and were righteous young men but that they followed every word "with exactness". That is a powerful statement. It made me realize that these warriors didn't just follow some of the commandments all the time or all the commandments some of the time. They followed every word with exactness, meaning they lived the gospel exactly as it was taught unto them. In fact the following list tells us some of the characteristics of these young men:
a. “They were exceedingly valiant for courage” (Alma 53:20).

b. “They were … true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted” (Alma 53:20).

c. “They were men of truth and soberness” (Alma 53:21).

d. They had “exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe” (Alma 57:26).

e. They “put their trust in God continually” (Alma 57:27).

f. They “[stood] fast in that liberty wherewith God [had] made them free” (Alma 58:40).

g. They were “strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day” (Alma 58:40).

h. They kept God’s “statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually” (Alma 58:40).

i. “Their faith [was] strong in the prophecies” (Alma 58:40).

These young men were so valiant that when asked to fight, never having done so before, they readily accepted. They then chose not Moroni or some other General or Captain in the army as their leader, but they chose Helaman, the prophet of the Lord. They trusted in the Lord to save them over any man or person. What an amazing faith.

As a mother I could only hope that my children could grow to be such amazing people. I hope my boys grow up to be as valiant and steadfast and I hope Abby grows to have such faith. I realized during the lesson however that if my children are to develop such attributes and qualities, I need to be the kind of mother these young men had. They attributed their faith to their mothers and I have no doubt that those mothers, who were part of the group who buried their weapons of war after hearing the gospel from Ammon, led by example. I am sure they too kept every word of God with exactness. I am sure these young men grew up seeing the total devotion and complete reverence their mothers had for God and it made a huge impact on their spiritual development. If I hope to raise children like these, I must be a mother just like them. It is a tall order but one I hope to be able to fulfill. Keeping the commandments with exactness sounds like a challenge for me but, when I look into the faces of my little stewards, I want nothing more for them than to do just that!!