This is Your Watch

I noticed an interesting and sobering pattern in the Book of Mormon: great trials often follow the death of a prophet. We see this starting with Lehi. After Lehi and his family arrived in the promised land, Lehi became old and passed away. Nephi recorded, “And it came to pass after my father, Lehi, had spoken unto all his household, according to the feelings of his heart and the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, he waxed old. And it came to pass that he died, and was buried.” The very next verse says this: “And it came to pass that not many days after his death, Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael were angry with me because of the admonitions of the Lord” (2 Nephi 4:12-13). He described his anguish because of their actions and the feelings it caused him and said this: “Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry much unto the Lord my God, because of the anger of my brethren. But behold, their anger did increase against me, insomuch that they did seek to take away my life” (2 Nephi 5:1-2). Nephi and the believers soon left, and the family was tragically split. How Nephi must have longed in those difficult days to have his father back! Later Nephi himself passed away as recorded by his brother Jacob: “And it came to pass that Nephi died.” Jacob had no shortage of problems to deal with soon after this: “And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring many wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son” (Jacob 1:12, 15). He had to address this terrible iniquity among his people, and surely he longed for his brother to come back to help him handle this wickedness. But he had to move forward with the Lord’s help, without Nephi.

                We see a few other examples of difficult situations following the death of prophets. After Mosiah, son of Benjamin, set up a new government for the people, he died around the same time as Alma (the Elder): “Alma was the first and chief judge. And now it came to pass that his father died, being eighty and two years old, having lived to fulfil the commandments of God. And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old; making in the whole, five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem” (Mosiah 29:44-46). Both Alma and Mosiah were gone, and Alma’s son Alma found himself leading the church and the government. He didn’t have to wait long for some serious problems: “And it came to pass that in the first year of the reign of Alma in the judgment-seat, there was a man brought before him to be judged, a man who was large, and was noted for his much strength. And he had gone about among the people, preaching to them that which he termed to be the word of God, bearing down against the church” (Alma 1:2-3). Nehor slew Gideon and inspired the Amlicites who would wage war on the Nephites with the help of the Lamanites. Surely in those trying experience Alma wished on more than one occasion that he could have his dad and Mosiah back to help him. But he didn’t, and he had to trust in the Lord to move forward.

After his incredible labors among his people for many years, Alma too left the Nephite stage with his son in charge: “And when Alma had done this he departed out of the land of Zarahemla, as if to go into the land of Melek. And it came to pass that he was never heard of more; as to his death or burial we know not of” (Alma 45:18). Helaman didn’t miss a beat trying to preach to the people, but he immediately ran against a very difficult situation: “There arose a dissension among them, and they would not give heed to the words of Helaman and his brethren; But they grew proud, being lifted up in their hearts, because of their exceedingly great riches; therefore they grew rich in their own eyes, and would not give heed to their words, to walk uprightly before God” (Alma 45:23-24). This led to the rebellion of Amalickiah who soon defected to the Lamanites and caused the great war of which Helaman was a part. How often Helaman must have wished for his dad to return during those dark days!

After that very long war, Helaman also went the way of all the earth: “And it came to pass that all these things were done. And Helaman died, in the thirty and fifth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi” (Alma 62:52). Moroni, a prophet in his own right, also passed away: “And it came to pass that Moroni died also. And thus ended the thirty and sixth year of the reign of the judges.” There were perhaps a few years of peace, but soon “there were some dissenters who had gone forth unto the Lamanites; and they were stirred up again to anger against the Nephites” (Alma 63:3, 14). Pahoran also died, and his death caused a great dispute about who should be the next chief judge (Helaman 1:2). Paanchi tried to lead a rebellion, Pahoran (son of Pahoran) was murdered, and the Lamanites came upon them and captured the city, starting yet again another war. This was only five years after Helaman died. Surely Moronihah and Helaman (son of Helaman) longed in those challenging days to have their fathers back!

These examples highlight the sobering reality that problems will continue even for us after the death of our beloved prophet President Nelson. Surely there will be times when President Oaks will wish he could have President Nelson again by his side as he deals with difficult challenges. But he will have to move forward with all of us with faith in the future and what the Lord will reveal to help him and us. It reminds me of what President Hinckley once said while he was the president of the Church: “We of the First Presidency are constantly dealing with a great variety of problems. They come before us every day. At the close of one particularly difficult day, I looked up at a portrait of Brigham Young that hangs on my wall. I asked, ‘Brother Brigham, what should we do?’ I thought I saw him smile a little, and then he seemed to say: ‘In my day, I had problems enough of my own. Don’t ask me what to do. This is your watch. Ask the Lord, whose work this really is.’ And this, I assure you, is what we do and must always do.” And that is perhaps what should reassure us the most in this new time of transition—although our beloved prophet may have passed on and can no longer help us solve new problems, the Lord is still there as He always has been. And He will continue to direct the affairs of His Church as He has always done. This is our watch, and as we turn to the Lord He will help each of us to move forward with faith despite the challenging days ahead.