Remembrance

Last week I wrote about the theme of deliverance. So many wonderful things happened to the Nephites in approximately a five-year span: King Benjamin's speech, the discovery and deliverance of the people of Limhi, the deliverance of the people of Alma, and their reunion in the land of Zarahemla. Yet only a generation later they were dealing with the unbelievers persecuting the members of the church.

Remembrance is a key theme in the Book of Mormon. As Alma the Younger would later ask the people as he ministered among them: "Have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?" (Alma 5:6)

We discussed in gospel study the importance of remembering the difficult circumstances of those that have gone before us. As the old saying goes, "those that don't study history are doomed to repeat it." We should study the scriptures, world history, American history, church history, and our family history so that we might not have to suffer as previous generations did due to poor choices or disobedience. Alma the Younger didn't learn from his father's experiences, and so he had to learn firsthand.

My wife pointed out that it is interesting that the lesson falls on the same weekend as Memorial Day, as we remember the sacrifices make for our freedom. The liberty that was granted to us by God and preserved by those sacrifices is not unassailable. If we don't recognize it, value it, and fight for it, we could lose it. Although America isn't perfect, we are blessed to live in a land free of the oppression and tyranny that infests so many other nations. Remembrance of this becomes more important with each passing year as those who experienced firsthand events such as World War II dwindle in numbers. 

Deliverance

The Church has produced a number of Book of Mormon videos to accompany our study this year. I'm not sure how they decide which parts get a video. The story of the people of Alma in chapters 23 and 24 of the book of Mosiah did not make the cut. I was a little surprised as their story of coming into bondage and eventually being delivered is frequently used in lessons and talks.

I'm not going to go through all the details, you can read the story for yourself, but the most cited passage is likely the following:

"And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God. And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death. And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts. And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me...And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage." (Mosiah 24:10-16)

 I was trying to think of a modern-day application of these principles and I pulled the biography of Thomas S. Monson off the shelf, which included many experiences of East German Saints who lived behind the Berlin Wall, and President Monson's ministry among them. I flipped through looking for an appropriate section of the book to share in our family gospel study, and was blessed to find two pages that aligned closely with the travails of the people of Alma.

One story told how the translator had to edit then-Elder Monson's talks on the fly, such as changing references to President McKay to simply David O. McKay to avoid raising any suspicion with the government which was monitoring their activities. Another story told of how church leaders instructed the members that the only book they were allowed to have was the scriptures and everything else should be destroyed. One brother described how difficult it was for him, as he had spent years scraping together a small but cherished library of church books and manuals. Yet he decided to obey the counsel, and burned each one in the fire. He made the right decision, because his home was later searched by the police, and they did not find any unauthorized printed materials.

Those accounts are only a small sampling of the oppression which the East German Saints lived under, but President Monson described how faithful they were despite the difficult circumstances. At one point, he promised them in a church meeting that "if you will remain true and faithful to the commandments of God, every blessing any member of the church enjoys in any other country will be yours."

He felt the gravity of his promise later that night and prayed that his promise would be fulfilled, despite what seemed like insurmountable challenges. The words of the Psalm came to his mind, "Be still, and know that I am God."

I almost had to have someone else take over the reading, because I was having a hard time getting through it. The two accounts fit together so nicely.

"Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people. For behold, I will show unto you that they were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God, yea, even the God of Abraham and Isaac and of Jacob."  (Mosiah 23:21-23)

Like the people of Alma, the East German Saints desired to live by the word of God, and yet they did not enjoy the freedom to fully practice their religion. They could have decided that worship was not worth the trouble and turned against the God who was allowing them to suffer. Many of them may not even have been at fault for what had happened to their people, but they were still forced to live with the consequences of a wicked political regime. Many of them probably died without seeing the promise of deliverance fulfilled. And yet they were able to wait patiently on the Lord, knowing that he would not forsake them.

Favorite Star Wars Films

Really just listed in order of personal preference.

1. The Empire Strikes Back. I mean, it's the best one. I love it.
2. Return of the Jedi. It's really close between IV and VI, but the fact that this came out when I was 7 years old and pretty much at the peak of my adoration for Star Wars pushes it up to #2 on my list. The nostalgia is strong with this one.
3. A New Hope. Dropping the OG down to #3 is a little controversial...it's an awesome movie, but ever since I was a little kid I've felt that the last part of the film (the final attack on the Death Star) drags a little bit.
4. Rogue One. I love how they were able to tie it directly into the beginning of Episode IV, and the minimal use of lightsabers and Jedi talk. Hopefully this is the future of Star Wars filmmaking. 
5. The Phantom Menace. Sure it has its issues, but I'm not as offended by it as is the general populace. In Darth Maul, it brought us the only compelling villain that they've been able to come up with since 1983. Also, it brought us one of the great pieces of Star Wars music. 
6. Solo. Although it took a beating at the box office,  I thought it was a decent movie that went off the rails towards the end. The ending was not at all consistent with Han Solo's character arc. The folks who made this definitely thought Greedo shot first.
7. Attack of the Clones. Get rid of all the boring separatist talk, replace Count Dooku with Darth Maul (who should have never been killed off) and fix up the Padme/Anakin dialogue a little, and this is a much better movie. No big deal.
8. Revenge of the Sith. Definitely a 21st century movie. The total screen time devoted to lightsaber duels in this movie (12 minutes) is nearly as much as the screen time devoted to lightsaber duels in the first five Star Wars movies combined (14 minutes).
9. The Force Awakens. I enjoyed it the first couple of times. But watching its two sequels actually makes you feel worse about this one.
10. The Last Jedi. I enjoyed it in the theater. But it's the first one that I haven't bought on DVD.
11. The Rise of Skywalker. I'm just really hoping that this is truly the end of the so-called "Skywalker saga". It took 40 years, but they've almost made me dislike Star Wars at this point. 

I really came down hard on lightsabers. Not against a good lightsaber battle, but they've just overdone it to the point where it's not special anymore.