7.12.2009

pgs. 378 and 379...remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation.

10 And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, ain the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.
  11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath asent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.
  12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
  13 And it came to pass that these were the words which Helaman ataught to his sons; yea, he did teach them many things which are not written, and also many things which are written.
  14 And they did remember his words; and therefore they went forth, keeping the commandments of God, to teach the word of God among all the people of Nephi, beginning at the city Bountiful;
  15 And from thenceforth to the city of Gid; and from the city of Gid to the city of Mulek;
  16 And even from one city to another, until they had gone forth aamong all the people of Nephi who were in the land southward; and from thence into the land of Zarahemla, among the Lamanites.
  17 And it came to pass that they did apreach with great bpower, insomuch that they did confound many of those cdissenters who had gone over from the Nephites, insomuch that they came forth and did confess their sins and were baptized unto repentance, and immediately returned to the Nephites to endeavor to repair unto them the wrongs which they had done.
  18 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might aspeak, and they also had what they should speak given unto them—
  19 Therefore they did speak unto the great astonishment of the Lamanites, to the convincing them, insomuch that there were eight thousand of the Lamanites who were in the land of Zarahemla and round about abaptized unto repentance, and were convinced of the bwickedness of the ctraditions of their fathers.
  20 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did proceed from thence to go to the aland of Nephi.
  21 And it came to pass that they were taken by an army of the Lamanites and cast into aprison; yea, even in that same prison in which Ammon and his brethren were cast by the servants of Limhi.
  22 And after they had been cast into prison many days without food, behold, they went forth into the prison to take them that they might slay them.
  23 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi were encircled about aas if by bfire, even insomuch that they durst not lay their hands upon them for fear lest they should be burned. Nevertheless, Nephi and Lehi were not burned; and they were as standing in the midst of fire and were not burned.
  24 And when they saw that they were encircled about with a apillar of fire, and that it burned them not, their hearts did take courage.
  25 For they saw that the Lamanites durst not lay their hands upon them; neither durst they come near unto them, but stood as if they were struck dumb with amazement.
  26 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did stand forth and began to speak unto them, saying: aFear not, for behold, it is God that has shown unto you this marvelous thing, in the which is shown unto you that ye cannot lay your hands on us to slay us.
  27 And behold, when they had said these words, the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison did shake as if they were about to tumble to the earth; but behold, they did not fall. And behold, they that were in the prison were Lamanites and Nephites who were dissenters.
  28 And it came to pass that they were overshadowed with a cloud of adarkness, and an awful solemn fear came upon them.
  29 And it came to pass that there came a avoice as if it were above the cloud of darkness, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, and seek no more to destroy my bservants whom I have sent unto you to declare good tidings.
  30 And it came to pass when they heard this avoice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a bstill voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—
  31 And notwithstanding the mildness of the voice, behold the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison trembled again, as if it were about to tumble to the earth; and behold the cloud of darkness, which had overshadowed them, did not disperse—
  32 And behold the voice came again, saying: aRepent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; and seek no more to destroy my servants. And it came to pass that the earth shook again, and the walls trembled.
  33 And also again the third time the voice came, and did speak unto them marvelous words which acannot be uttered by man; and the walls did tremble again, and the earth shook as if it were about to divide asunder.
  34 And it came to pass that the Lamanites could not flee because of the cloud of darkness which did overshadow them; yea, and also they were immovable because of the fear which did come upon them.
  35 Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.
  36 And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did ashine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld.

Helaman 5:12 has long been one of my favorite scriptures.  I remember learning it in seminary and being so moved by it.  Over the years I have thought about it so many times and been lifted up by the great message it teaches.  One of the things I love about it is the word "when."  That word shows that we ALL will have mighty storms in our lives and the Lord has planned for that.  He knows it is the nature of our time here on earth to face trials.  It reminds me of the "wise man/foolish man" song we sang in primary.  For both the foolish man AND the wise man the rains come down and the floods come up.  The only difference is what foundation they are built on.  It is an amazing promise that if we build our spiritual houses upon the foundation of Christ we cannot fall, no matter what storms we are called on to bear.