In our discussion of the vision of the tree of life, we had a thought presented about the iron rod that I thought I would share with you.

Having been raised in the church I have always heard that the iron rod is the word of God as Nephi instructed us. We have always been told that the Scriptures, the Ensign, Conference Reports, messages from the General Authorities, etc., are this word, and I agree. However, there are those who, having received all of this, still fall away and are lost...yet we are told that if we hold fast to the iron rod we will not be lost.

In our discussion, we came to the conclusion that the word of God also means personal revelation and confirmation of the things we read, see and hear. That if we live our lives so that we are entitled to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, then we will receive a personal witness of these truths and may not be deceived and led away. The Word of God is literally that, his confirmation that the course we are on is acceptable and pleasing to him and the witness of the Holy Ghost to the truthfulness of the things we are learning. This is where true happiness and peace lie no matter what is going on in the world around us. (Mark)

The thrilling account of the 2,000 Stripling Warriors has always been a favorite of mine. Surely the truths given in the following scripture are a comfort to all:  "Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them" (Alma 56:47).

It is surely true that if we put our whole faith and trust in God, all will be well with us and we will be delivered, in an eternal sense. However, I have been asked by mothers, who taught this same truth to their sons before their sons lost their lives in war, why their sons were not also spared.

One day as I pondered this, trying to find an acceptable answer to a sister who had been particularly disturbed by this, I turned to Alma 27:12: “Get this people out of this land, that they perish not; for Satan has great hold on the hearts of the Amalekites, who do stir up the Lamanites to anger against their brethren to slay them; therefore get thee out of this land; and blessed are this people in this generation, for I will preserve them.”

The date at the bottom of Alma 27:12 places this between 77 and 90 BC. The time of the battle of the Sons of Helaman is given as 63 BC.

The Lord direictly told Ammon that if he would get the people out of the land He, the Lord, would “preserve” the lives of “this generation.”

These young men were probably about 20 years of age, as the Law of Moses specified this was the minimum age for an Israelite to go to war. (See Leviticus 1:3). They could easily have been babies when that promise was given, and thus part of the generation to whom the promise was given. Therefore, the mothers of these young warriors had a promise directly from God that not only would their sons be blessed with an eternal safe haven, based on their obedience, but also that their mortal lives would be preserved.

I believe that this was an inspired answer. It makes great sense, and helped that woman lift a heavy burden she had carried. A specific promise given by God for specific circumstances may have symbolic meaning to us all, but should not necessarily be applied in the same way for all. (Leslie)

I have a story dealing with the epistle from Moroni to Pahoran. I do not know the source -- my dad told it to me many long years ago.

A flood warning had gone out to all residents of a small valley. The flood was expected to be fierce and cause much damage to property and livestock. Therefore, the civic leaders had ordered an evacuation of all persons in the flood area. All persons left, except for one man, who remained in his house against all pleas from others to leave.

The flood came and the waters rose. People in a rowboat passed the man's house and saw him standing at a second floor window staring out at the water rushing by below. "Climb aboard and we'll take you to safety", the people in the boat cried. "No need!" said the man in his house. "The Lord will take care of me and protect me." The boat left.

A little while later, the water was deeper and the man had to climb to the attic. Another boat passed by with people in it. Upon seeing the man in his attic window, the people cried out to him, "Climb aboard and we'll take you to safety." Again, the man replied, "no need for that! The Lord will protect me." This boat, too, passed by.

Time passed and the flood waters rose still higher. The man was forced out of his house onto the roof and he was hanging on to his tv antenna to avoid being swept off the roof. A helicopter, looking for refugees from the flood, spotted the man. It flew over to him and dropped a rope ladder. "Climb on and we'll take you to safety." "Nope! The Lord promised me that if I had faith, He'd protect me. I'm staying here." The helicopter flew on.

Shortly thereafter, a huge wall of water rushed into the valley as a dam upstream broke open. The man was swept away and drowned. As he approached the Pearly Gates, he was upset. He'd had faith in the Lord that He would save him from the flood. After being ushered into heaven,
the man asked Saint Peter if it would be possible to gain an appointment to meet with the Lord.

Saint Peter arranged the meeting. After being ushered into the Lord's presence, the man expressed his feelings. "Lord, why did you let me die
in that flood?" "My son, what do you mean?" asked the Lord. "Well, You promised that You'd protect me and save me if I had faith in you. I
had faith in you. I believed in you. Yet still I drowned! Why did you not save me from drowning?"

To which the Lord replied, "My son, I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What more should I have done?"

I think of this story whenever I read Moroni's epistle to Pahoran when Moroni states something to the effect that "If you think you can sit on
your butt and do nothing and expect that the Lord will decide to be gracious and save you, you are sadly mistaken."

In Pahoran's case, the boats and helicopter don't fit the situation since he was trying to do all he could to rectify the sorry state he was in. However, the sitting on one's butt scenario does apply to a lot of people out there in the world. It helps remind me that I need to pray as though everything depended on the Lord, then work as though everything depended on me and for me to make use of what the Lord sends. (Mary-Margaret)