Lesson #35 Helaman 13-16. Samuel The Lamanite

Attention Activity:
Tell class members that you are going to do a word association game. You are going to say a word and they are going to say the first thing that comes to mind. (You can have them write it down or raise hands and wait to answer, but don't have them shout it out--it can get out of control quickly.) Start saying the names of some famous people in the scriptures (you can also mix in some fun people like SpongeBob or Bill Cosby). Some that are good are
Moses
Adam
John the Baptist
Paul
Nephi
Abinadi
Mormon
Gordon B. Hinckley
Thomas S. Monson
Joseph Smith
Brigham Young
Alma the Younger
Do this for a while, but not too long. You don't want the activity to outdo the lesson. End the list with Samuel the Lamanite. Usually the thing that they will think of is him standing on the wall. Ask, "We know the story of Samuel the Lamanite, and many other prophets, but we sometimes don't think about what they taught. Does anyone know what it was the Samuel the Lamanite taught that made people so upset?" (People might know about the prophecies of Christ and that is part of it, but it is more.) Tell the class that we are going to talk about what it was that Samuel the Lamanite taught.

Class Discussion

Look in Helaman 13:6, 10, 14, 32, 37, and 38 for the word that Samuel the Lamanite uses that would have upset the Nephites (destruction). We learn something interesting about destruction in each verse. Have students pick one or two of the verses and see what we learn from each one.

Verse 6. The only way to avoid destruction is to repent and come unto Christ
Verse 10. The things that we do affect others and can lead to the destruction of later generations. (If you want to explore this truth further you can refer to: Jeffrey R. Holland, “A Prayer for the Children,” Ensign, May 2003, 85. This is one of the best talks ever on how what we do affects others, especially our posterity.
Verse 14. The good part of a nation can help keep that nation from destruction. (This verse is easily applied to an individual. We can choose to allow some wickedness in thinking that it won’t do much damage. But the more we let in the more it crowds out the light. President Boyd K. Packer said:
The mind is like a stage. During every waking moment the curtain is up. There is always some act being performed on that stage. It may be a comedy, a tragedy, interesting or dull, good or bad; but always there is some act playing on the stage of your mind.
Have you noticed that shady little thoughts may creep in from the wings and attract your attention in the middle of almost any performance and without any real intent on your part? These delinquent thoughts will try to upstage everybody. If you permit them to go on, all thoughts of any virtue will leave the stage. You will be left, because you consented to it, to the influence of unrighteous thoughts. If you yield to them, they will enact for you on the stage of your mind anything to the limits of your toleration. They may enact themes of bitterness, jealousy, or hatred. They may be vulgar, immoral, even depraved. When they have the stage, if you let them, they will devise the most clever persuasions to hold your attention. They can make it interesting all right, even convince you that they are innocent, for they are but thoughts. What do you do at a time like that, when the stage of your mind is commandeered by the imps of unclean thinking, whether they be the gray ones that seem almost clean or the filthy ones that leave no room for doubt? If you can fill your mind with clean and constructive thoughts, then there will be no room for these persistent imps, and they will leave.
Boyd K. Packer, “The Message: Worthy Music, Worthy Thoughts,” NewEra, Apr 2008, 6–11
It is important that we keep our lives pure so that the good does not become crowded out by the wicked and lead to destruction. This would be a good time to ask the class, “How do we make sure that we do have more good in our lives than bad?” Answers could include how we spend our time and what we let into our lives.
Another great quote from President Boyd K. Packer that can be used here is, “The scriptures are full of help on how good can influence your mind and evil control you, if you let it. That struggle will never end. But remember this:
All the water in the world, However hard it tried, Could never sink the smallest ship Unless it [gets] inside.

And all the evil in the world, The blackest kind of sin, Can never hurt you the least bit Unless you let it in.”
Boyd K. Packer, “The Spirit of Revelation,” Ensign, Nov 1999, 23)
Verse 32, 37, 38. All three of these teach roughly the same idea. We can get to a point where our destruction is sure and turning back is “everlastingly too late.” It might be helpful with these verses to point out that Samuel was talking to this specific group of people and referring to a time in the future if they don’t repent. He would not have come to warn them if it was too late for them to make a change. A great cross reference here is Alma 34:32-35. The scriptures teach that this time does come if we choose not to repent before we die. Samuel’s message was a message of hope and not of unchangeable doom. Prophets always teach hope and repentance, but we are limited by time and cannot procrastinate once we have been warned.

“What would lead to this condemnation from the prophet?” Look in Helaman 13:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 31, 33, 35 to find the words that show what the Nephites are guilty of that leads to their destruction. (Riches and treasure) Having riches is not a sin, but what had the Nephites done with riches that made it so bad? (set their hearts on them.) This is a great place for application. If the great sin wasn’t they were doing or what they had, but the real problem was where they put that in relation to God. What are some of the other things that can come before God in our lives and how can we know if something comes before God? (A great quote to share here from Marvin J Ashton is “What takes our time is what we love and what we love it what takes our time.) What we do in our free time is a great indicator of what we really have in our hearts and where God fits into our lives. A great cross reference is Exodus 20 in the 10 Commandments and 3 Nephi 13:33.

What is the resolution to this problem of the people being destroyed? What does that have to do with what Samuel the Lamanite teaches in the next chapters? Help students to understand the significance that the next thing that Samuel the Lamanite talks about is the birth and death of Christ. It is the atonement of Christ that can really solve their problems. That is why Samuel the Lamanite tells them that he is coming and that they need to prepare for it. He understands that they only hope they have to avoid destruction is to accept Christ, and so he teaches them about him. It is also true for us that only Christ can save us from the destruction of sin and death.

The story of Samuel the Lamanite is the great example of this principle. Look in Helaman 16:1-6. What do we know about the life of Samuel the Lamanite that would qualify him for this kind of protection. (Look in Helaman 13:2-4. Samuel was willing to do everything the Lord asked him to do. Clearly the Lord was first in his life.)

Application
“What things will you do in your free time to make sure that God is first in your life THIS WEEK?”