pgs. 402 and 403...whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free.

17 But behold, the resurrection of Christ ^aredeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.

  18 Yea, and it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance, that whosoever repenteth the same is not ^ahewn down and cast into the fire; but whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire; and there cometh upon them again a ^bspiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness.

  19 Therefore repent ye, repent ye, lest by knowing these things and not doing them ye shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation, and ye are brought down unto this second death.

  20 But behold, as I said unto you concerning another ^asign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his ^blight unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of ^cthree days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead.

  21 Yea, at the time that he shall yield up the ^aghost there shall be ^bthunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours, and the earth shall shake and tremble; and the ^crocks which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass, shall be ^dbroken up;

  22 Yea, they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be ^afound in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath.

  23 And behold, there shall be great ^atempests, and there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called ^bvalleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great.

  24 And ^amany highways shall be broken up, and many cities shall become desolate.

  25 And many ^agraves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many.

  26 And behold, thus hath the ^aangel spoken unto me; for he said unto me that there should be thunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours.

  27 And he said unto me that while the thunder and the lightning lasted, and the tempest, that these things should be, and that ^adarkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days.

  28 And the angel said unto me that many shall see greater things than these, to the intent that they might believe that ^athese signs and these wonders should come to pass upon all the face of this land, to the intent that there should be no cause for unbelief among the children of men—

  29 And this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be saved, and that whosoever will not believe, a ^arighteous judgment might come upon them; and also if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own condemnation.

  30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto ^ahimself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are ^bfree; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a ^cknowledge and he hath made you free.

  31 He hath given unto you that ye might ^aknow good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might ^bchoose life or death; and ye can do good and be ^crestored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 15

The Lord chastened the Nephites because he loved them—Converted Lamanites are firm and steadfast in the faith—The Lord will be merciful unto the Lamanites in the latter days. About 6 B.C.

  1 And now, my beloved brethren, behold, I declare unto you that except ye shall repent your houses shall be left unto you ^adesolate.

  2 Yea, except ye repent, your women shall have great cause to mourn in the day that they shall give suck; for ye shall attempt to flee and there shall be no place for ^arefuge; yea, and wo unto them which are^bwith child, for they shall be heavy and cannot flee; therefore, they shall be trodden down and shall be left to perish.

  3 Yea, wo unto this ^apeople who are called the ^bpeople of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he ^cchastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.

  4 But behold my brethren, the ^aLamanites hath he hated because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the iniquity of the ^btradition of their fathers. But behold, salvation hath come unto them through the preaching of the Nephites; and for this intent hath the Lord ^cprolonged their days.

  5 And I would that ye should behold that the ^amore part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk circumspectly before God, and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses.

  6 Yea, I say unto you, that the more part of them are doing this, and they are striving with ^aunwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily.

  7 And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a^achange of heart unto them—

Chapter 14 verse 30 teaches that if we make poor choices with our agency we hurt ourselves. Even though this seems like a simple concept we don't always follow it.  When Elder Bednar came to our stake conference in June he talked a lot about agency in the Saturday night adult session.  He taught me to understand agency in a new way.  For example, he taught that when we are baptized we commit to using our agency a certain way.  After that we should realize that we have agreed to give up certain choices in exchange for the blessings and the promise we are given.  Later when we receive our endowment in the temple the same thing happens.  We agree to use our agency in the way God has asked in exchange for the knowledge and blessings he is willing to bestow.  This is an amazing gift to all of us and one we should cherish every day of our lives.

pgs. 400 and 401...ye have sought happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness...

29 O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye ^astiffnecked people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you? Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by ^bfoolishand ^cblind guides? Yea, how long will ye ^dchoose darkness rather than ^elight?

  30 Yea, behold, the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity.

  31 And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become ^aslippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them.

  32 And in the days of your poverty ye shall cry unto the Lord; and in vain shall ye cry, for your desolation is already come upon you, and your destruction is made sure; and then shall ye weep and howl in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts. And then shall ye lament, and say:

  33 O ^athat I had repented, and had not killed the prophets, and ^bstoned them, and cast them out. Yea, in that day ye shall say: O that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that he gave us our riches, and then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches are gone from us.

  34 Behold, we lay a tool here and on the morrow it is gone; and behold, our swords are taken from us in the day we have sought them for battle.

  35 Yea, we have hid up our ^atreasures and they have slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land.

  36 O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them.

  37 Behold, we are surrounded by ^ademons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls. Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us? And this shall be your language in those days.

  38 But behold, your ^adays of probation are past; ye have ^bprocrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for ^chappiness in doing iniquity, which thing is ^dcontrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.

  39 O ye people of the land, that ye would hear my words! And I pray that the anger of the Lord be turned away from you, and that ye would repent and be saved.

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 14

Samuel predicts light during the night and a new star at Christ’s birth—Christ redeems men from temporal and spiritual death—The signs of his death include three days of darkness, the rending of the rocks, and great upheavals of nature. About 6 B.C.

  1 And now it came to pass that ^aSamuel, the Lamanite, did prophesy a great many more things which cannot be written.

  2 And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I give unto you a sign; for ^afive years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.

  3 And behold, this will I give unto you for a ^asign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.

  4 Therefore, there shall be one ^aday and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is ^bborn.

  5 And behold, there shall a new ^astar arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.

  6 And behold this is not all, there shall be many ^asigns and wonders in heaven.

  7 And it shall come to pass that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder, insomuch that ye shall ^afall to the earth.

  8 And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall ^abelieve on the Son of God, the same shall have everlasting life.

  9 And behold, thus hath the Lord commanded me, by his angel, that I should come and tell this thing unto you; yea, he hath commanded that I should prophesy these things unto you; yea, he hath said unto me: Cry unto this people, repent and prepare the way of the Lord.

  10 And now, because I am a Lamanite, and have spoken unto you the words which the Lord hath commanded me, and because it was hard against you, ye are angry with me and do seek to destroy me, and have ^acast me out from among you.

  11 And ye shall ^ahear my words, for, for this intent have I come up upon the walls of this city, that ye might hear and know of the judgments of God which do await you because of your iniquities, and also that ye might know the conditions of repentance;

  12 And also that ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the ^aFather of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name.

  13 And if ye ^abelieve on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his ^bmerits.

  14 And behold, again, another sign I give unto you, yea, a sign of his ^adeath.

  15 For behold, he surely must die that ^asalvation may come; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he ^bdieth, to bring to pass the ^cresurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the ^dpresence of the Lord.

  16 Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the ^aresurrection, and ^bredeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the ^cfall of Adam being ^dcut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as ^edead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual.

Our readings today and tomorrow include the prophecy of Samuel.  Samuel pleaded with his people to listen to him and repent.  One of the most specific prophecies in scripture is the one by Samuel concerning the birth and death of Jesus Christ. The following chart from the Institute Manual outlines this prophecy and the recorded fulfillment of each specific event:

The Birth of Jesus Christ	The Fulfillment
1. Christ to be born in five years (v. 2)	3 Nephi 1:13
2. No darkness for a day, a night, and a day (vv. 3–4)	3 Nephi 1:15
3. A new star to arise (v. 5)	3 Nephi 1:21
4. Other signs
a. Many signs and wonders in heaven (v. 6)	3 Nephi 2:1
b. People to fall to the earth (v. 7)	3 Nephi 1:16–17

The Death of the Lord	The Fulfillment
1. Sun to be darkened, moon and stars not to give light for three days (vv. 20, 27)	3 Nephi 8:19–23
2. Signs of the earth
a. Thunderings and lightnings for many hours (v. 21)	3 Nephi 8:6–7
b. Earth to shake and tremble and be broken up (vv. 21–22)	3 Nephi 8:12, 17–18
c. Tempests, mountains to be laid low, valleys raised (v. 23)	3 Nephi 8:5–6
d. Highways to be broken up, cities to become desolate (v. 24)	3 Nephi 8:8–11, 13
3. Many graves to be opened and people resurrected who shall appear unto many (v. 25)	3 Nephi 23:9–14

pgs. 398 and 399...ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them...

 7 And behold, an ^aangel of the Lord hath declared it unto me, and he did bring ^bglad tidings to my soul. And behold, I was sent unto you to declare it unto you also, that ye might have glad tidings; but behold ye would ^cnot receive me.

  8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of the Nephites, except they repent I will take away my word from them, and I will ^awithdraw my Spirit from them, and I will suffer them no longer, and I will turn the hearts of their brethren against them.

  9 And ^afour hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence.

  10 Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the ^afourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come except ye repent, saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generation shall visit your destruction.

  11 But if ye will repent and ^areturn unto the Lord your God I will turn away mine anger, saith the Lord; yea, thus saith the Lord, blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me, but wo unto him that repenteth not.

  12 Yea, ^awo unto this great city of Zarahemla; for behold, it is because of those who are righteous that it is saved; yea, wo unto this great city, for I perceive, saith the Lord, that there are many, yea, even the more part of this great city, that will harden their hearts against me, saith the Lord.

  13 But blessed are they who will repent, for them will I spare. But behold, if it were not for the righteous who are in this great city, behold, I would cause that ^afire should come down out of heaven and^bdestroy it.

  14 But behold, it is for the righteous’ sake that it is spared. But behold, the time cometh, saith the Lord, that when ye shall cast out the righteous from among you, then shall ye be ^aripe for destruction; yea, wo be unto this great city, because of the wickedness and abominations which are in her.

  15 Yea, and wo be unto the city of Gideon, for the wickedness and abominations which are in her.

  16 Yea, and wo be unto all the cities which are in the land round about, which are possessed by the Nephites, because of the wickedness and abominations which are in them.

  17 And behold, a ^acurse shall come upon the land, saith the Lord of Hosts, because of the peoples’ sake who are upon the land, yea, because of their wickedness and their abominations.

  18 And it shall come to pass, saith the Lord of Hosts, yea, our great and true God, that whoso shall ^ahide up treasures in the earth shall find them again no more, because of the great curse of the land, save he be a righteous man and shall hide it up unto the Lord.

  19 For I will, saith the Lord, that they shall hide up their ^atreasures unto me; and cursed be they who hide not up their treasures unto me; for none hideth up their treasures unto me save it be the righteous; and he that hideth not up his treasures unto me, cursed is he, and also the treasure, and none shall redeem it because of the curse of the land.

  20 And the day shall come that they shall hide up their treasures, because they have set their hearts upon riches; and because they have set their hearts upon their riches, and will hide up their treasures when they shall flee before their enemies; because they will not hide them up unto me, cursed be they and also their treasures; and in that day shall they be smitten, saith the Lord.

  21 Behold ye, the people of this great city, and hearken unto my words; yea, hearken unto the words which the Lord saith; for behold, he saith that ye are ^acursed because of your riches, and also are your riches cursed because ye have set your hearts upon them, and have not ^bhearkened unto the words of him who gave them unto you.

  22 Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember your ^ariches, not to thank the Lord your God for them; yea, your hearts are not drawn out unto the Lord, but they do swell with great pride, unto ^bboasting, and unto great ^cswelling, ^denvyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities.

  23 For this cause hath the Lord God caused that a curse should come upon the land, and also upon your riches, and this because of your iniquities.

  24 Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do ^acast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time.

  25 And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our ^afathers of old, we would not have ^bslain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out.

  26 Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a ^aprophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your ^bsins and iniquities, ye are ^cangry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a ^dfalse ^eprophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he ^ftestifieth that your deeds are evil.

  27 But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: ^aWalk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a ^bprophet.

  28 Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh ^aflatteringwords unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him.

Verse 24 gives us straightforward counsel to follow the prophet.  We know that is not always easy.  From the following quote by President Harold B. Lee we know that it will get even harder as we get closer to the second coming.  This is a good reminder to recommit myself and be firm in my conviction!

“We have some tight places to go before the Lord is through with this church and the world in this dispensation, which is the last dispensation, which shall usher in the coming of the Lord. The gospel was restored to prepare a people ready to receive him. The power of Satan will increase; we see it in evidence on every hand. There will be inroads within the Church. There will be, as President Tanner has said, ‘Hypocrites, those professing, but secretly are full of dead men’s bones.’ We will see those who profess membership but secretly are plotting and trying to lead people not to follow the leadership that the Lord has set up to preside in this church.

“Now the only safety we have as members of this church is to do exactly what the Lord said to the Church in that day when the Church was organized. We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through his prophet, ‘as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; . . . as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.’ (D&C 21:4–5.) There will be some things that take patience and faith. You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory.’ (D&C 21:6.)” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, p. 152).