Helaman 3; 6

“Thus We See”

Imagine writing a letter to help people who will live hundreds of years in the future. The prophet Mormon essentially did just that. As he abridged the Nephite history and engraved it on the gold plates, he occasionally pointed out important truths using statements such as “thus we see.” The truths he highlighted can help us with the challenges we face today. This lesson can help you identify truths from the scriptures and analyze how those truths can impact your life.

A survival guide

• If you were asked to write a school survival guide for 12- and 13-year-olds, what would you include?

Read what President Russell M. Nelson said about a survival guide for your life:

[Book of Mormon] prophets, as inspired by the Lord, saw our day and selected the doctrine and truths that would help us most. The Book of Mormon is our latter-day survival guide. (Russell M. Nelson, “Embrace the Future with Faith,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 75)

• How are the doctrine and truths you find in the scriptures helping you survive spiritually? Can you think of any recent examples?

As you study Helaman 3 and Helaman 6, you will have the opportunity to practice identifying doctrine and principles from the scriptures. This can help you have more meaningful scripture study and bring you and your family closer to Christ.

“Thus we see …”

Amid all the contention recorded in Helaman 1–6, there were temporary moments of peace. In Helaman 3, many thousands were baptized into the Church, and the Church prospered. In Helaman 6, following the conversion of many Lamanites, the Nephites and Lamanites lived in unity as both groups turned to the Lord. In both of these chapters, Mormon paused his narration of Nephite history to highlight important doctrine and principles of truth. He did this by using the statement “thus we see.”

Read Helaman 3:27–30; 6:34–36 to identify the “thus we see” statements of truth. Consider marking those truths in your scriptures and recording them in your own words in your study journal.

Next, choose one of the truths you found, and list some of the spiritual dangers, challenges, or attacks on faith that this truth can help you survive. For example, if you used the truth if we choose to willingly believe in the Lord’s words, then He will pour out His Spirit upon us (see Helaman 6:36), you might list dangers like needing scientific proof before believing the scriptures, believing worldly experts more than believing prophets, or trusting logic over spiritual impressions.

Recall the statement by President Nelson from the beginning of this lesson about the Book of Mormon being our latter-day survival guide.

1. Complete the following:

   On a piece of paper write “How to survive …” and finish the statement with one of the dangers, challenges, or attacks you listed. For example, if you used the previously identified truth, you could write, “How to survive an attack on a spiritual impression.” Use the truth you chose to create a one-page survival guide. Explain in drawings or words how this truth can help a teenager survive spiritually. Incorporate at least two of the following ideas into your survival guide:

   • Why this truth can help someone spiritually survive the difficulty you listed

   • Other scriptures that relate to this truth or help with the difficulty you listed

   • How this truth brings you or others to Jesus Christ or helps you receive His strength

   • What could happen to people if this truth is not known or not followed

   • How the world would change if everyone chose to live by this truth

Optional: Want to Learn More?

Helaman 3:27–28. I struggle with so much. Is the gate of heaven really open to me?

Elder J. Devn Cornish of the Seventy taught:

Our members often ask, “Am I good enough as a person?” or “Will I really make it to the celestial kingdom?” Of course, there is no such thing as “being good enough.” None of us could ever “earn” or “deserve” our salvation, but it is normal to wonder if we are acceptable before the Lord, which is how I understand these questions. …

… The God of heaven is not a heartless referee looking for any excuse to throw us out of the game. He is our perfectly loving Father, who yearns more than anything else to have all of His children come back home and live with Him as families forever. He truly gave His Only Begotten Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life! [see John 3:16]. Please believe, and please take hope and comfort from, this eternal truth. Our Heavenly Father intends for us to make it! That is His work and His glory [see Moses 1:39].

… None of us will ever be “good enough,” save through the merits and mercy of Jesus Christ [see 2 Nephi 2:6–8], but because God respects our agency, we also cannot be saved without our trying. (J. Devn Cornish, “Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It?,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2016, 32–33, 34)

Helaman 6:35–36. What does it mean that the Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that our choices and actions can cause us to withdraw from the Holy Spirit:

Precisely because the promised blessing [of baptism and the sacrament] is that we may always have His Spirit to be with us, we should attend to and learn from the choices and influences that separate us from the Holy Spirit.

The standard is clear. If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that thing. If that which is intended to entertain, for example, alienates us from the Holy Spirit, then certainly that type of entertainment is not for us. Because the Spirit cannot abide that which is vulgar, crude, or immodest, then clearly such things are not for us. Because we estrange the Spirit of the Lord when we engage in activities we know we should shun, then such things definitely are not for us. (David A. Bednar, “That We May Always Have His Spirit to Be with Us,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2006, 30)