Preserved: The Errand of Angels and Armies of Helaman

As our ward’s young women leaders planned their Young Women in Excellence program, they asked the young women to sing. They had the “As Sisters in Zion/We’ll Bring the World His Truth” Especially For Youth anthem in mind for the song.

 

As the leaders approached the girls with this option, the young women agreed to sing, with some modifications. They wanted to sing the second verse of both songs. During the singing of “As Sisters in Zion’s” second verse, one of them would read the words.

 

I love the anthem and especially the accompaniment, but when they told me their plan, I decided to play the songs out of the songbook and just link them together simply with the transitional measure for the chorus of “We’ll Bring the World His Truth.”

 

As we practiced the song, the words really began to stand out to me as they sang and emphasized them:

 

The errand of angels is given to women;

And this is a gift that, as sisters, we claim:

To do whatsoever is gentle and human,

To cheer and to bless in humanity’s name.

(As Sisters in Zion, Hymn 309)

 

We are as the army of Helaman.

We have been taught in our youth.

And we will be the Lord’s missionaries

To bring the world his truth.

 

We have been saved for these latter days

To build the kingdom in righteous ways.

We hear the words our prophet declares:

“Let each who’s worthy go forth and share.”

 

We are as the army of Helaman.

We have been taught in our youth.

And we will be the Lord’s missionaries

To bring the world his truth.

To bring the world his truth.

(We’ll Bring the World His Truth, Children’s Songbook page 172)

 

Since it’s part of my calling stewardship, I asked the young women and their leaders to perform the song as prelude before our ward conference.

 

Armies of Helaman

 

The morning of ward conference, I opportunely encountered the armies of Helaman in my scripture study. This army of young men from the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi volunteered to fight against the formidable Lamanites, their former nation and culture. Their parents covenanted with God to never go to war again and buried their weapons deep in the earth.  And they’d kept that covenant despite being mowed down violently by neighboring Lamanites. Everyone who made the covenant, and lived through the persecution, eventually moved to their previous enemy’s territory and found refuge with the Nephites.

 

The Lamanites waged war against the Nephites. The Nephite army protected all people in its borders and respected the covenant the Anti-Nephi-Lehi people made to not go to war. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies provided food and supplies to the army but felt they should do more.

 

2,000 of their sons, who hadn’t made the covenant to bury their weapons of war, joined the Nephite army under Helaman’s command. In one battle, the 2,000 young men were used as a decoy to draw the Lamanite army away from its stronghold. The strategy worked.

 

Preserved by the Lord

 

Helaman asked if they were willing to turn back and help the Nephite army who planned to attack from the rear after the Lamanites left their protection. They agreed. I absolutely love the faith in their answer Helaman recorded in a letter to his general, Moroni.

 

And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.

 

For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.

 

Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

 

And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it. (Alma 56:45-48)

 

They turned back to the battle and found the Nephite army about to be swallowed up by the Lamanites. The young men fought valiantly alongside their more battle-experienced brothers. The Lamanites yielded the battle.

 

How had the young men fared?

 

[B]ehold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain.

 

But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war. (Alma 56:55-56).

 

And how did they fare during the next battle Helaman recorded?

 

[M]y little band of two thousand and sixty fought most desperately; yea, they were firm before the Lamanites, and did administer death unto all those who opposed them.

 

Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.

 

And it came to pass that there were two hundred, out of my two thousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood; nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds.

 

And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.

 

Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually. (Alma 57:19, 21, 25-27)

 

They rose to the battle roles they were capable of. The young men’s courage helped to relieve and to save the older warriors who battled for their nation’s freedom, and for the young men’s survival. And according to their faith, the Lord preserved their lives.

 

The Lord’s Youth Battalion

 

When songs are easy for me to play, my mind sometimes wanders from the page. As I heard Keala read and the rest of the girls sing “The errand of angels is given to women,” I flashed to a lesson I taught in seminary explaining how the Aaronic priesthood holds the keys to the ministering of angels. I testified that this opportunity was theirs.

 

As the Holy Ghost finished connecting that memory to what I was feeling as they sang, I played the transitional measure and the young women sang, “We are as the armies of Helaman, we have been taught in our youth…”

 

Tears flooded my eyes. They are as the armies of Helaman!  Many had already stepped up to battle! Some of them had already experienced deep wounds during their battles.

 

I saw an image of their valiance as they fought against the adversary to build the kingdom of God with those who have been fighting this mortal battle longer than them.

 

President Russell M. Nelson invited every youth to “enlist in the youth battalion of the Lord” and take part in “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on earth.”  I saw that they would be wounded in many ways, but I saw that through their faith, the Lord preserved them.

 

The Lord Preserved Then and Will Preserve Now

 

The Lord preserved the armies of Helaman! Though soon they will be battle-weary and wounded, the Lord will preserve these young women, too.

 

His promised preservation to another elect lady applies to all.

 

[I]f thou art faithful and walk in the paths of virtue before me, I will preserve thy life, and thou shalt receive an inheritance in Zion.

 

Zion! The City of our God!  Fighting virtuously and valiantly for the Lord’s cause preserves our life according to the Lord’s will and we receive an inheritance with the Savior in Zion.

 

The battle rages around us. “Let each who’s worthy go forth and share” and “bring the world His truth” and trust in the preservation of the Lord.