We Will Go

Alma 27:

10: But the king said unto him; Inquire of the Lord, and if he saith unto us go, we will go; Otherwise we will perish in the land.

I love the king's faith in this verse. It stands out to me because I so often struggle. I inquire of the Lord but I don't always act on what I'm told. My lack of faith sometimes keeps me asking the same questions over and over again and not acting on the answers I receive. But it's stated so plainly here- If the Lord saith go, we will go. When the Lord tells me to go, I will go.


17 Now the joy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the earth.

"A fullness of joy is found only among resurrected, exalted beings… In mortality men experience joy only in righteousness – that is, in obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel – the gospel being the “glad tidings of great joy.” Joy is characteristic of the presence of the Holy Ghost, from whom it comes. It is experienced only when the Spirit is present, and that most acutely in the manifestation that our sins have been remitted, in the knowledge that our path is pleasing to and approved of God, and in our helping others find the way to light and salvation." DCBM, 3:188-89


23 And behold, we will set our armies between the land Jershon and the land Nephi, that we may protect our brethren in the land Jershon; and this we do for our brethren, on account of their fear to take up arms against their brethren lest they should commit sin; and this their great fear came because of their sore repentance which they had, on account of their many murders and their awful wickedness.

I love this verse because of the character of the Nephites. They truly understand the atonement and the doctrine of repentance. They willingly give up part of their lands and offer their own lives to protect these Lamanites- the same lamanites who have, with their own hands, killed family and friends of the Nephites. The Nephites know the past sins of the Lamanites and yet they forgive them and offer protection. Protection from what many would say they deserved as payment for their past crimes. But these Lamanites have changed, they have even stopped calling themselves Lamanites. They have repented and become new creatures in Christ. What I find remarkable is that the Nephies were able to ALLOW them to change. So often people change, but those around them can't accept it. They can't let go of past hurts. They won't forget the injury of injustice caused by this person's actions. Those people do not understand the full measure of Christ's atonement. If he can forgive these people their murders how can we not forgive much smaller offenses?


28 And they did look upon shedding the blood of their brethren with the greatest abhorrence; and they never could be prevailed upon to take up arms against their brethren; and they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it.


Russell M. Nelson:
"The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life… As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven… Think of the alternative [to death]. If all sixty-nine billion people who have ever lived on earth were still here, imaging the traffic jam!... Scriptures teach that death is essential to happiness: Our limited perspective would be enlarged if we could witness the reunion on the other side of the veil, when doors of death open to those returning home… We need not look upon death as an enemy… I know by experiences too sacred to relate that those who have gone before are not strangers to leaders of this Church. To us and to you, our loved ones may be just as close as the next room – separated only by the doors of death." Ensign, May 1992, 72-74