#stripling warriors

The parents of these young men were Lamanites who had buried their "weapons of war" and made a covenant to never again take a life, not even in self defense. When they were faced with destruction, the Nephites offered them shelter in the land of Jershon. Many years later, when the Nephites were themselves threatened in an existential war, these parents began to question their covenant to not take up arms. Ultimately, they chose to keep their promise to God, but many of their young sons (who had not taken the oath) chose to fight in defense of the Nephites. They became known as the Stripling Warriors.

The Stripling Warriors are held up as examples of righteousness and obedience. The account relates how, in at least two key battles, none perished. One of the primary takeaways is that if we have faith and are obedient, we will be preserved until our work on the earth is finished.

This belief in the preservation of the righteous is related in Alma 57:25-27 following one of those key battles:

25 And it came to pass that there were two hundred, out of my two thousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood; nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds.

It is interesting to me that the heroes of the story, those who were righteous, obedient and blessed, were all wounded. Some severely. And in that fact I see a metaphor for mortality in general: Even the most righteous, who exercise faith and endure to the end, will be wounded along the way.

"But behold, it came to pass they had many sons, who had not entered into a covenant that they would not take their weapons of war to defend themselves against their enemies; therefore they did assemble themselves together at this time, as many as were able to take up arms, and they called themselves Nephites.

"And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage.

"Now behold, there were two thousand of those young men, who entered into this covenant and took their weapons of war to defend their country.

"And now behold, as they never had hitherto been a disadvantage to the Nephites, they became now at this period of time also a great support; for they took their weapons of war, and they would that Helaman should be their leader.

"And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.

"Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.

"And now it came to pass that Helaman did march at the head of his two thousand stripling soldiers, to the support of the people in the borders of the land on the south by the west sea." — Alma 53:16-22

"And it came to pass that before the dawn of the morning, behold, the Lamanites were pursuing us. Now we were not sufficiently strong to contend with them; yea, I would not suffer that my little sons should fall into their hands; therefore we did continue our march, and we took our march into the wilderness.

"Now they durst not turn to the right nor to the left lest they should be surrounded; neither would I turn to the right nor to the left lest they should overtake me, and we could not stand against them, but be slain, and they would make their escape; and thus we did flee all that day into the wilderness, even until it was dark.

"And it came to pass that again, when the light of the morning came we saw the Lamanites upon us, and we did flee before them.

"But it came to pass that they did not pursue us far before they halted; and it was in the morning of the third day of the seventh month.

"And now, whether they were overtaken by Antipus we knew not, but I said unto my men: Behold, we know not but they have halted for the purpose that we should come against them, that they might catch us in their snare;

"Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle?

"And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.

"For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.

"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.

"And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

"And it came to pass that I did return with my two thousand against these Lamanites who had pursued us. And now behold, the armies of Antipus had overtaken them, and a terrible battle had commenced.

"The army of Antipus being weary, because of their long march in so short a space of time, were about to fall into the hands of the Lamanites; and had I not returned with my two thousand they would have obtained their purpose.

"For Antipus had fallen by the sword, and many of his leaders, because of their weariness, which was occasioned by the speed of their march—therefore the men of Antipus, being confused because of the fall of their leaders, began to give way before the Lamanites.

"And it came to pass that the Lamanites took courage, and began to pursue them; and thus were the Lamanites pursuing them with great vigor when Helaman came upon their rear with his two thousand, and began to slay them exceedingly, insomuch that the whole army of the Lamanites halted and turned upon Helaman.

"Now when the people of Antipus saw that the Lamanites had turned them about, they gathered together their men and came again upon the rear of the Lamanites.

"And now it came to pass that we, the people of Nephi, the people of Antipus, and I with my two thousand, did surround the Lamanites, and did slay them; yea, insomuch that they were compelled to deliver up their weapons of war and also themselves as prisoners of war.

"And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain.

"But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war." — Alma 56:39-56

I was reading in Alma 56 & 57 about the general and prophet Helaman and his 2,000 stripling warriors. It’s a story I’ve read a thousand times. But today I read Alma 56:46 where Helaman calls these young men his sons, something he’s been doing quite regularly apparently “for they were all of them very young”, and they call him father.

Some context for this verse: They have just finished leading their enemies on a wild goose chase, allowing their allies to come up on the enemy from behind. Helaman and his “sons” are safely out of danger and he asks them if they want to go back and help their allies. In essence, they say “Of course, Dad! We can’t ditch our friends.”

Helaman is such a proud dad.

But the title of this post is Plo Koon & His Stripling Clones. Well, here’s the thing: stripling is another term for that awkward gangly stage known as the teenage years. And honestly, when I read verse 46 I could just see Plo Koon thinking of and calling his clones his little sons. And he does see them as stripling warriors. They may look like men, but they’ve only been alive for less than a decade.

And both Helaman and Plo Koon must lead their sons to war.

Helaman’s sons are there by choice. They are there to defend their homes and families. And while through their faith and a miracle, they all survive, Helaman must command them in the most effective way possible. Even if that means losing his little sons.

Larry M. Gibson (1st Counselor of the General Young Men's Presidency)

If I'm preparing to be a missionary, do I have the answers to the questions that Russel M. Nelson said we should ask the missionaries about?

Lighthouses give off a unique kind of light, each having their own characteristics.

"Like lighthouses, we all have unique characteristics that set us apart but we all give off the important light of Christ."

"If you are preparing to be a missionary, utilize the resources we have like never before. These tools are meant to help prepare this rising generation to greatness."

Elaine S. Dalton (President of the General Young Women's Presidency)

"The Lord is calling for a new generation of stripling warriors, of both young men and young women."

"You were born to lead the world, not be led by it."

"Guard against rationalizations like YOLO."

Here's one you can print and color.

Our Young Men are singing this in church on Mother's Day. This will be in the program so the moms can read along as they're sung to.