Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles used Helaman 5:9 to teach that only the miraculous Atonement makes salvation possible: “No Other Way Nor Means Whereby Man Can Be Saved”Įlder Richard G. Honor the names that you bear, because some day you will have the privilege and the obligation of reporting to them (and to your Father in heaven) what you have done with their name” (“Your Good Name,” Improvement Era, Mar. So I want to say to the boys and girls, to the young men and women, to the youth of the Church and of all the world: Honor your fathers and your mothers. “I have thought of this many times, and I want to tell you that I have been trying, more than ever since that time, to take care of that name. My pillow was as wet as though water had been poured on it-wet with tears of gratitude that I could answer unashamed. “He stepped forward and took me in his arms, and as he did so, I became conscious again of my earthly surroundings. “‘I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed.’ I smiled and looked at my grandfather and said: Quickly this vivid retrospect came down to the very time I was standing there. “Everything I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen-everything I had done. “‘I would like to know what you have done with my name.’ Then-and this I would like the boys and girls and young people never to forget-he looked at me very earnestly and said: His stopping was an invitation for me to stop. “When Grandfather came within a few feet of me, he stopped. I had been given his name and had always been proud of it. I remember how happy I was to see him coming. In mortality he weighed over three hundred pounds, so you may know he was a large man. I became aware that he was a very large man, and I hurried my steps to reach him, because I recognized him as my grandfather. I followed this trail, and after I had walked for some time and had traveled a considerable distance through the forest, I saw a man coming towards me. “I began to explore, and soon I found a trail through the woods which seemed to have been used very little, and which was almost obscured by grass. I found myself standing with my back to a large and beautiful lake, facing a great forest of trees. … “One day … I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had passed to the Other Side. President George Albert Smith (1870–1951) provided a modern illustration of the profound influence that a good name may have upon a person: “The record attests that Nephi and Lehi did pattern their lives after their forebears or namesakes and did bring honor to the names given them” ( Family Pecan Trees: Planting a Legacy of Faith at Home, 66–67). It made a difference in the lives of Helaman’s sons, Nephi and Lehi. “Though all of Adam’s children may not have received names of significance, many have, and it has made a difference. Asay (1926–99) of the Presidency of the Seventy helps us appreciate what this meant to Nephi and Lehi: Helaman had a special way of transferring his heritage to his sons-he named them after their noble ancestors to help his sons remember their righteous works. The Lord declared this principle true in our day as well: “When the wicked rule the people mourn” ( D&C 98:9). This warning was fulfilled with the destruction preceding the Savior’s appearance (see 3 Nephi 8–11). This corruption proved the truth of Mosiah’s caution that should this ever occur, “then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction” ( Mosiah 29:27). At this time prior to the Savior’s coming, however, the Nephites “who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good” ( Helaman 5:2).
Government by the voice of the people was preferred to a monarchy in which an unrighteous king might lead them to destruction. When the people desired a king 62 years previously, Mosiah counseled that government should be by “the voice of the people” ( Mosiah 29:26), stating it was not common for the majority of the people to desire unrighteousness. Nephi and his brother Lehi worked diligently to stem the tide of iniquity and turned many back to the Lord. During this period of spiritual darkness, the people were “ripening for destruction” ( Helaman 5:2). Like his great-grandfather Alma, Nephi gave up his position as chief judge and devoted himself full-time to the Lord’s work (see Alma 4:15–20). Their laws became so corrupted that they had little effect for good. At this crucial point in Nephite history, the wicked outnumbered the righteous.
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