Happiness

It came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.

- 2 Nephi 5:27

If what Nephi says is true, that the Nephites lived after the manner of happiness, would it therefore be safe to assume the Lamanites lived after the manner of sorrow?

In Helaman 4:22 we are told there were Nephites who ignored God's words, choosing to go against His commandments, "and that they had become a wicked people, insomuch that they were wicked even like unto the Lamanites."

Ammon explained that, before he and his brethren brought them the joyful news of the gospel, "the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss" (Alma 26:3). Alma explained to his son Corianton, "behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness" (Alma 41:10).

So we know that wickedness will not bring us lasting happiness, but how do we go about living after the manner of happiness? And why does Nephi believe he lived in a happy manner? After all, he had been threatened with death by his brothers (see 1 Nephi 16:37), had nearly starved (see 1 Nephi 16:19), and nearly drowned at sea (1 Nephi 18:13), and felt sorrow over his own sins (see 2 Nephi 4:26).

Nephi understood, even in all of his difficulties, that God's plan for him was a plan of happiness. In spite of the numerous unfair things to happen to him, he knew that Christ's atonement would bring him happiness even in the worst of circumstances.

President David O. McKay said the principal reason the Church was organized was "to make life sweet today, to give contentment to the heart today, to bring salvation today.... Some of us look forward to a time in the future - salvation and exaltation in the world to come - but today is part of eternity" (as quoted by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf).

Happiness can be yours now. You do not have to wait until after death to find true joy. Nephiknew the key to happiness was to be found through the Atonement. In his darkest hour, Nephiwrote: "Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.... O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever" (2 Nephi4:28, 34).

While we may not know the reason for the trials we face, God does. Everything we face in life was meant to help us find happiness - even our trials. We are told that "men are, that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25). This is possible, but it is entirely up to us. Many people choose to go through life focusing on what all has gone wrong and how others have wronged them.

When you are having a bad day, you can still choose to be happy. You can put on a smile, you can sing a happy song. You may not be able to control your feelings, but you can control the way you act. Your actions, in turn, can impact how you feel. Thus, you can choose to be happy.

While attending Brigham Young University, I met a fellow student who said, on a daily basis: "Life is good and we are blessed." He was incredibly happy because he chose to be. He allowed the atonement to work in his life to overcome any sorrows and sins.

Happiness is not found in the fleeting fun of a video game, a new CD, a new car, or any other worldly pleasure. Meaningful happiness comes through keeping the commandments of God.

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught, "If there is any message that runs through all of the Book of Mormon, it is this great, transcendent message - that when the people lived in righteousness, they were happy and they were prospered; and when they fell into wickedness, they were miserable, they were at war, they were in poverty, they were in trouble."

We do not have to learn from our own experiences only. We must learn from those who have gone before. We can see that sin brought sorrow to those in the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible. This lesson is as applicable today as it was then. The only way to find lasting happiness is through following the ways of the Lord.

Happiness comes from keeping God's commandments. Happiness also comes from serving others. When you serve others and see the happiness it brings to them, you cannot help but to be happy yourself - happiness is incredibly contagious.

Happiness can also be found in creating. Nephi, prior to summarizing that his people were living after the manner of happiness, explained that he had taught them "to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores" (2 Nephi 5:15).

Think of the last thing you accomplished. Did you not feel joy after doing so? When we are creating we are learning. When we are creating we are working. Working and learning bring us everlasting joy.

Elder Marlin K. Jensen stated, "I think it is a regrettable sign of our times that most family activities today take place in a recreational rather than a work setting. I'm grateful I was able to work alongside my grandparents and parents, and in turn am able to work with our sons and daughters."

If you are to ever find lasting happiness, do not lounge around in your free time. Instead, take advantage of the time to learn a new skill - a new sport, a new hobby, a new language - anything! I have an older brother who designs video games in his spare time. The challenge stimulates his mind as he problem solves and he finds joys as he succeeds in their creation. This hobby has led him to a career as a teacher at Brigham Young University - Hawaii.

I recently took up the hobby of stop-motion animation. While I'm not very good at it, but I find joy in it because it stimulates my mind as I am working and learning. The process of creating bring me joy. The video below is a sample of my work. It is a parody of the story of Ammon, found in Alma 17 and 18. I realize it is not accurate, but that is why is it called a parody!

You do not have to choose the same hobby as me - whatever you choose to do is up to you. Just be sure it is helping you to learn, create, and stay active mentally and physically (which is really what work is all about).

Goals for this week:

• Identify any sins which are dragging you down. Work to rid your life of them. Seek the help of parents or church leaders to help you overcome them, if necessary.
• Learn a new hobby or skill.

Keeping the Faith

And thus Satan did lead away the hearts of the people to do all manner of iniquity; therefore they had enjoyed peace but a few years.

- 3 Nephi 6:16

In the early chapters of 3 Nephi, we see the Nephites and Lamanites become righteous as they observe signs of Christ's arrival and as they rely on God to overcome trials. However, in both instances, we the people as a whole fall back into less righteous activities.

After observing the new star (see 3 Nephi 1:21), the people began to fall away only five years later. We read that "the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen" (3 Nephi 2:1).

We learn that Satan was behind it all as he led the people to believe the things were "wrought by men... and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing." (3 Nephi 2:2).

Later, in the 26 A.D., the Nephites had again returned to righteousness as they turned to the Lord for aid to defeat the wicked Gadianton robbers. We are told that by their righteousness, "they began again to prosper and to wax great;... and there was great order in the land; and they had formed their laws according to equity and justice" (3 Nephi 6:4). However, only five years later, in "the thirtieth year, they were in a state of awful wickedness" (3 Nephi 6:17).

I have often been amazed by these two experiences. As a youth I never believed that an entire group of people could fall into wickedness in the short space of five years. I could imagine one or two people falling away - but not an entire civilization.

According to a Gallup Poll, shortly after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, 47% of Americans claimed to have attended church in the past 7 days. Most surprisingly, to me, was that in the early months of 2003, a follow-up poll showed the percentage had dropped to 38%.

In less than two years, Americans seemed to have forgotten the lesson to turn to God in all things (see Deuteronomy 4:30). Upon learning this, the idea of the Nephites reverting back to a sinful state suddenly seemed very realistic to me.

Perhaps most impressive about the events of 30 A.D. is that, while the Nephites gave way to sin, the normally wicked Lamanites had remained true to the gospel of Jesus Christ. "In the thirtieth year the church was broken up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord" (3 Nephi 6:14).

How can we remain steadfast and immovable?

The difficulty in doing so is best explained by King Benjamin: "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?"(Mosiah 5:13).

Elder Neal A. Maxwell spoke of what he called the "ebb and flow of faith" - the reason we do not remain steadfast after receiving a testimony of the truth. He explained, "otherwise basically decent people simply get caught up with the cares of the world. If instead of drawing closer to the Master we become a stranger to Him, then we have lost our way. The decent people to whom this happens haven't engaged in major transgression, as a rule, but they have distanced themselves from the Savior, and He has become a stranger to them." As you look at the Gallup Poll chart above, you see that the faith of Americans seems to ebb and flow.

We can prevent ourselves from weakening in our faith, and thus remain steadfast, by consistently learning of Him. Elder Henry B. Eyring stated, "The Master... knows the mistake we can so easily make: to underestimate the forces working for us and to rely too much on our human powers. And so He offers us the covenant to 'always remember Him' and the warning to 'pray always' so that we will place our reliance on Him, our only safety. It is not hard to know what to do. The very difficulty of remembering always and praying always is a needed spur to try harder. The danger lies in delay or drift."

Our Heavenly Father knows the struggles your face on a daily basis: grades, friends, dating, work, drugs, family difficulties, and more. These concerns can cause us, even when we have the best of intentions, to be drawn away from the Lord. We are able to remain strong, immovable, and steadfast, only when we "always remember Him" (see D&C 20:77,79; 3 Nephi 18:7,11; Moroni 4:3; and Moroni 5:2) and "pray always" (see 3 Nephi 18:15, 18-19; D&C 93:49; Luke 21:36; 2 Nephi 32:9; and D&C 10:5).

When it comes to your spirituality, you can either progress or fall backward. You take a great risk in believing Satan's lie that can simply stand still. On the surface, it would seem like you should be able to do so, and that is how Satan is able to deceive you. However, ponder the following example:

Think back to the last time you felt the Spirit powerfully. Perhaps it was while attending a youth conference, in sacrament meeting, or during a family home evening. During the experience you likely experienced a "spiritual high." You felt the power of the Spirit and you felt great! Now imagine doing nothing more. A week later you may still feel that it was a great spiritual experience. A month later you may still remember it being a great spiritual experience, but the feeling has dimmed. As time passes your memories will dim. Unless you are constantly pursuing the Spirit, you will fall backwards - you can not stand still. You probably know someone who felt the Spirit at a youth conference and determined to remain steadfast, but was inactive less than a month later. Unless we work at progressing, we will ultimately forget God.

So how do we "always remember Him?" Simply by learning more of Him through reading our scriptures, as King Benjamin counseled. Additionally, we must pray always. However, sometimes we may not feel like praying - a feeling we get from Satan. "If ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray" (2 Nephi 32:8).

Brigham Young stated, "it matters not whether you or I feel like praying, when the time comes to pray, pray. If we do not feel like it, we should pray till we do." He further added, "if the Devil says you cannot pray when you are angry, tell him it is none of his business, and pray until that species of insanity is dispelled and serenity is restored to the mind."

There have been periods in my life where I have not been as prayerful as I should have been. Then something bad would happen in my life and I would feel like I should pray for help. But then Satan would get to me and I would resist praying because I did not want to be one of those people that only prays when things are bad, then ignores God when things are good. Of course, when things became good again, I felt no need to pray and so the cycle continued. I knew I should pray, but my pride got in the way.

I was as the Nephites in 3 Nephi. "Now they did not sin ignorantly, for they knew the will of God concerning them, for it had been taught unto them; therefore they did wilfully rebel against God" (3 Nephi 6:18).

Never forget God. Do not allow yourself to become complacent with how your relationship with Him is going. Always seek to become closer to Him. You will find greater happiness as you do so.

Goals for this week:

• Pray always and always remember Him by reading your scriptures daily.
• Attend church weekly along with your youth activities. Actively participate in your church meetings. Speak up in class discussions. Just because no one else is doing it does not mean that you can not take the time to feel the Spirit by answering questions and listening.