Stripling Warriors

The story of the 2,000 Stripling Warriors is by in large told in Alma 56 in a letter from Helaman to Moroni.  It is a great story...one of the "kid stories" of the Book of Mormon.  Kids love it, and it is often seen as a straight forward story about faith.  The 2,000 young men were taught to trust God and not one of them died.

I don't know why, but as I read that story this morning I did not see the faith and bravery of the young men, which is what I thought I would write about, all I could see was the way the two armies worked together.  Helaman and his sons marched speedily to lead away the Lamanites who pursued them with equal speed.  Antipus and his army followed, knowing that if they did not catch up, Helaman's army would be slaughtered.  They marched so quickly that it left little energy to fight by the time they did catch up and many men, including Antipus, fell quickly to the swords of the Lamanites.  But, it was then that Helaman's army returned, even though they were unsure about why the Lamanite army had stopped.  They were unsure if it was a trap or if Antipus needed their help and yet they turned back because unwillingly to stay away if it was the latter.

When Helaman's army arrived they found Antipus' men on the verge of scattering.  These young warriors fought with such vigor that the whole Lamanite army turned to fight them.  This gave the men of Antipus a chance to regroup and come again upon the rear of the Lamanite army, after which a victory was won.

Alone neither one of the Nephite armies would have survived.  Together, they conquered.  There is a lesson in that...It could be thought of in terms of ward members helping one another, families, spouses, or friends.  A chance to regroup is often all we need to face life's challenges head on.

I sometimes underestimate how valuable a chance to regroup is.  The Sabbath day is often a way for me to regroup.  Even some time spent with the scriptures, or cuddling with my kids makes all the difference.  But I suppose my point is that even when it feels like we are falling, or failing, we need not to give up.  Our Heavenly Father is aware of all of us and He will come to our aid if we reach out to Him, whether it is through other people or through the Spirit, the results are the same--we can conquer.