“A Young Army,” Book of Mormon Stories (2023)
A Young Army
Sons who trusted God
The Nephites were at war with the Lamanites and needed help. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies wanted to help. But they had made a promise to the Lord not to fight. Two thousand of their young sons had not made that promise. Instead, the sons promised to fight to protect their families. These sons were called stripling soldiers.
The stripling soldiers chose the prophet Helaman to lead them. They were a small group compared to the big Lamanite army. But Helaman knew the stripling soldiers were honest, brave, and faithful. With Helaman leading them, they went to help the Nephites.
Alma 53:19–22; 56:9–10, 17, 19
The Nephite soldiers were tired. But when the stripling soldiers came, the Nephites were glad. The young army gave them hope and strength. Together, they prepared to fight the Lamanites. The parents of the stripling soldiers also helped by bringing food and supplies to them.
The Lamanites had captured many cities and kept their armies in them. The Nephite leaders wanted to get the Lamanites to leave one of the cities. They made a plan and asked the stripling soldiers for help.
The stripling soldiers pretended to carry food to Nephites living in a nearby city. When the Lamanites saw the small group, they left their city and chased after the stripling soldiers. The Lamanites thought it would be easy to capture them.
The stripling soldiers ran away from the Lamanites. Then a Nephite army started chasing the Lamanites. The Lamanites wanted to catch the stripling soldiers before the Nephites reached them. The Nephites saw the stripling soldiers were in trouble and marched faster to help them.
After some time, the stripling soldiers could not see the Lamanites. They started to wonder if the Nephites had reached the Lamanites and were fighting.
Helaman was worried. He thought the Lamanites might be trying to trap them. He asked his young soldiers if they would go fight the Lamanites.
The stripling soldiers remembered what their mothers had taught them. Their mothers had taught them to trust God and not doubt, because He would keep them safe. These sons believed in God and wanted to keep their promise to protect their families. They told Helaman that they were ready to go and fight.
Helaman was amazed by their courage. He led them back to fight the Lamanites.
The stripling soldiers saw the Lamanites and Nephites fighting. The Nephites were tired. They were about to lose when the young soldiers came.
The stripling soldiers fought with the strength of God. The Lamanites were scared of them and stopped fighting. The stripling soldiers had helped win the battle!
In the battle, many Nephites and Lamanites died. Helaman was worried that some of his young soldiers might have died too. But after the battle, Helaman counted everyone. He was very happy to see that none of the stripling soldiers had been killed. God had protected them.
More sons joined the stripling soldiers. They kept helping the Nephites fight. In these other battles, the stripling soldiers all got hurt, but none of them died. They remembered what their mothers taught them. They trusted God, and He protected them.