NOTE: This isn’t how I gave the actual talk. What happened was, I was sitting in Sunday School when the Elder’s Quorum president asked if I could go and help out with the Sacrament Meeting the ward was putting on for the senior citizens’ home. I said, “Sure.”
He said, “Oh, can you talk to?”
“Okay. When are we going?”
“Right now.”
So I had to basically come up with a 10-minute talk on the spot, so I just scribbled down some notes. And gave my talk based on those notes. Now, I’m reconstructing those notes into prose, for the purposes of getting the talk down on paper.
You’ll notice some strong similarities to this talk and the one I helped Amber write (shown below) because they are based on the same story. The story of Lachoneus and Gidgiddoni has really struck me as I’ve read the Book of Mormon this time. In fact, I had just spent the last week in my personal study in reading, re-reading, pondering and writing about their story.
So I felt, in a way, very fortunate, to have this outlet to express what I had been studying the week prior.
The Holy Ghost has been a great guide for me in my life. I have learned that by following its inspiration, I will benefit. Furthermore, I am blessed to live in a day when the Church is restored, and righteous leaders seek and follow guidance.
The blessing of seeking, receiving and following inspiration is not unique to our time. In any time, when the people have sought God’s help, have sought to be inspired by His spirit, they have received such a blessing.
Such was the case with Lachoneus and Gidgiddoni.
Their story starts with a threat, made by the leader of the Gadianton Robbers, Giddianhi.
Giddianhi had garnered much power, and the Gadianton Robbers had become a real threat to the freedom of the Nephite. Now, in a letter, Giddianhi, spelled out to Lachoneus, the chief judge of the Nephites, his plans to overthrow the Nephites and take complete control. He asks Lachoneus to surrender.
Lachoneus’ response in 3 Nephi 3:12 is instructive:
“Now behold, this Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man, and could not be frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a robber; therefore he did not hearken to the epistle of Giddianhi, the governor of the robbers, but he did cause that his people should cry unto the Lord for strength against the time that the robbers should come down against them.”
Couple that with what the Nephite Army does as soon as they see the Robber army on the battlefield, told in 3 Nephi 4:8:
“And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of Giddianhi, had all fallen to the earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.”
The Nephites’ first and last preparation, and their habit in-between, to this war with the Gadianton Robbers was to pray.
But the Nephites were doing more than just praying. Lachoneus pleaded with his people to reconcile their lives with Christ’s. We read this heartfelt plea from the Nephite chief judge in 3 Nephi 3:15:
“Yea, he [Lachoneus] said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers.”
Under these desperate circumstances, Lachoneus’ leadership was inspiring. And, as he leaned upon the Lord, so did his people:
“And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that they did cause fear to come upon all the people; and they did exert themselves in their might to do according to the words of Lachoneus” (3 Nephi 3:16).
In these conditions, it is becoming apparent that the Nephites are on the right track. Not only are they seeking guidance, they are trying to live their lives in a manner that qualify themselves for such guidance. In our lives, we must not only seek the Holy Ghost, we must be worthy of its presence.
And, in such a condition of seeking and living worthily of inspiration, is it really a surprise that the Nephites received such?
There were two revelations that really saved the Nephite nation.
The first came to Lachoneus almost immediately after receiving Giddianhi’s threatening letter:
“Yea, he [Lachoneus] sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should gather together their women, and their children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance, save it were their land [obviously, you can’t pack your land with you], unto one place.”
Once there, Lachoneus had his people toil in preparing defenses, just as we ought to defend ourselves against Satan. Keeping Satan out of our hearts enables us to have free communion with the Spirit.
Then, one of the more intelligent things Lachoneus did was to appoint God-inspired men to lead his army. He chose Gidgiddoni to lead the Nephites in battle. The Nephite men thought it wise to take the battle to the Robbers, to fight the Robbers in their own land, instead, of bringing the battle to Zarahemla.
In considering the plan, Gidgiddoni consulted the Lord. It is here that Gidgiddoni got the second instruction that saved the Nephite nation:
“Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord [note the emphasis the Nephites had put on praying], and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands.
“But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands” (3 Nephi 3:20-21).
These two instructions, the one to gather and the one to wait for the Robbers to arrive, may not have made much sense to the Nephites when they were received. Regardless, the Nephites followed the inspiration they received.
The reasons behind the Lord’s instructions to gather and wait soon became apparent. The Robbers were, in a sense, nomadic. They traveled lightly, with the intent to steal their substance along the way. But in calling the Nephites to gather not just themselves, but all their substance into one place, the Lord had taken away the Robbers source of substance.
Unable to steal their food, the Robbers arrived at Zarahemla, already weary, half-starved, and in ready-to-be-defeated condition. This is why the decision to stay in Zarahemla proved pivotal. The Robbers were not in good condition to fight; whereas, the Nephites were well-rested. Indeed, the promise the Lord gave to Gidgiddoni, that if they would stay-put, the Lord would deliver the Robbers into the Nephites’ hands was fulfilled:
“And notwithstanding the threatenings and the oaths which Giddianhi had made, behold, the Nephites did beat them, insomuch that they did fall back from before them” (3 Nephi 4:12).
In the middle of the battle, Giddianhi fell, and his Robbers fled.
Later, they would regroup, under a new leader, Zemnarihah.
Zemnarihah was convinced that the Robbers could still win, if they cut the Nephites off from their supplies. “But behold, this was an advantage to the Nephites; for it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites, because of their much provision which they had laid up in store” (3 Nephi 4:18).
So once again, the Nephites were prepared, and the Robbers were unprepared for the Nephites’ preparations. While the Nephites were well-fed inside the city, the Robbers had to rely on wild meat for their food. But the animals were soon scarce, and once again, the Robbers starved. In this condition, the Robbers were then slain by small battalions that Gidgiddoni sent out each night.
So we can see the difference between inspired leaders and uninspired leaders. Lachoneus and Gidgiddoni had sought the Lord; Giddianhi and Zemnarihah had not. We can see how the Nephites (1) sought inspiration, (2) lived to qualify for that inspiration, and (3) upon receiving that inspiration, they followed it. The Nephites were, therefore, victorious. And the Robbers had no choice but to disband.
And this victory, wrought by prayer, ended with yet another prayer:
“And they did rejoice and cry again with one voice, saying: May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection.
“And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction” (3 Nephi 4:30, 33).
