Three Book of Mormon Challenges: Challenge 3

Elder H. Bryan Richards gave three Book of Mormon challenges in a conference talk a couple of years ago. Here are my thoughts on challenge 1 and challenge 2.

And now for Elder Richards' third challenge:

3. "If you were going to teach your children three great truths that you would want them to remember, what would they be?" With this question, Elder Richards encourages us to read Helaman, chapter 5, where Helaman, a Book of Mormon prophet, asked his sons to remember three things "that ye may . . . lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, . . . that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life" (Hel. 5:8).

This chapter of Helaman actually uses the word remember several times. As I read it, I count four truths that he teaches. You could probably combine numbers 1 and 2 or numbers 3 and 4 to get to three truths. But I think it's worth mentioning them individually.

1. "Remember to keep the commandments of God" (Hel. 5:6).

2. Helaman named his two sons Nephi and Lehi after their ancestors, the first two prophets of the Book of Mormon. "This I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works. . . . I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them" (Hel. 5:6-7).

3. "Remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ" (v. 9).

4. "Remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation" (Hel. 5:12).

Those are certainly great teachings. If I had to choose three things for my children to remember, what would they be? I'm not sure. Certainly obedience and faith in Christ. I also think remembering the faith and works of ancestors is a valuable thing for children to do. So those three would be strong contenders. I'm wondering, though, if there are other things I would add to my list.

There are other places in the Book of Mormon where fathers taught their children--often in a "last words" sort of situation. What did they teach?

Lehi taught his children (2 Ne. 1-3)

• obedience to God's commandments (2 Ne. 1:16)
  
• the plan of redemption, centered on "the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah" (2 Ne. 2:8) and including doctrines of judgment, opposition, agency, and the fall of Adam and Eve (see 2 Ne. 2)
  
• the promises and covenants of God unto his people; in this case, specifically one promise given to Lehi' ancestor regarding his posterity (2 Ne. 3)

Enos often heard his father, Jacob, teach about (Enos 1:3)

• eternal life
  
• the joy of the saints

King Benjamin taught his sons

• the value of the scriptures and the importance of studying them (Mosiah 1:3-7)
  
• "many more things" :) (Mosiah 1:8)

In King Benjamin's last words to his people (which included his sons), he taught them (Mosiah 2-4)

• service to God
  
• service to each other
  
• our relative nothingness, and our dependence on God
  
• punishment for sin and blessings for righteous living
  
• the redemption of Christ
  
• the importance of yielding our hearts to God
  
• faith in God
  
• the importance of giving to those in need

Alma taught his son Helaman (Alma 36-37)

• remember the captivity of your fathers
  
• trust in God and you will be supported in trials and delivered from bondage
  
• obedience and its blessings
  
• repentance, faith, humility, good works, resistance of sin
  
• counsel with God in all you do
  
• give heed to the words of God (scriptures); look to God and live

Notably, one of the main things Alma shared with Helaman was his own testimony and conversion experience. It seems that might be one of the most important things you would want your children to remember: that their parents had a firm testimony of the truth.

Alma taught his son Shiblon (Alma 38)

• obedience and its blessings
  
• trust in God and you will be delivered and lifted up at the last day
  
• "there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ" (v. 9)
  
• be diligent, temperate, humble, bold, sober

Again, Alma shares his own testimony and conversion experience.

Alma taught his son Corianton (Alma 39-42)

• turn away from temporal lusts
  
• Christ redeems men from sin
  
• the doctrine of the resurrection and the state of souls between death and resurrection
  
• wickedness never was happiness
  
• the plan of redemption, including the fall, atonement, punishment for sin, repentance, God's mercy and justice, and agency

Moroni recorded these teachings from his father, Mormon (Moroni 7-9); this is perhaps the reverse: not what Mormon wanted Moroni to remember but what Moroni did remember from Mormon's teachings:

• do things with real intent; "a man being evil cannot do that which is good" (7:10)
  
• how to judge good from evil
  
• faith and the products of faith (miracles, repentance, communication from God through angels and the Holy Ghost)
  
• hope, specifically hope of eternal life through the atonement of Christ
  
• charity
  
• repentance, baptism, and redemption
  
• the Atonement includes pure mercy for children and those who are without the law
  
• labor diligently, for we are accountable to God for the trust he has placed in us

This has been a good exercise. Good to think about what other fathers have taught and what I should teach. If I had to choose only three things to teach my children, I think it would be these three things (though I might give a different answer 20 years from now):

1. The Doctrine of Redemption: I want my children to have a solid understanding of the plan of salvation and all that entails, including the Fall, the Atonement, faith, repentance, obedience, and endurance. Perhaps this is cheating because there are so many things included in the doctrine of redemption that it allows me to teach more than just three things. :) But I want my children to understand not just faith, but how faith is related to redemption, for instance. I want them to have clear knowledge of justice and mercy and eternal salvation and how we make the Atonement operative in our lives.

2. Build Your Foundation on Christ: I want my children to understand the importance of having a solid relationship with the Savior and how to build that relationship. I want them to trust in Him and do all that is necessary to sustain a dynamic, life-giving relationship with Him.

3. Your Father had a Vibrant Testimony of Christ Born of Personal Experience: Perhaps the most important thing I want my children to know is that I know. I want them to be able to say, like Helaman's warriors, "We do not doubt our father knew it." And more than knowing that I know, I want them to know how I know. Like Alma, I want my children to know the experiences that have brought me to my testimony. I want them to see the development of my conversion and understand how it worked in my life so they may understand how it might work in theirs. I want them to be able to see my gradual change of heart and be able to witness the influence of the Spirit in my life. I want them to sense the depth of my conversion and feel the strength of my love for my Savior as well as for them.