Mormon 2

Mormon 2:13

But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin.

The people of Mormon's time were fulfilling the prophesy of Samuel the Lamanite. Who in speaking of their time said:

Helaman 13:38

But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yeah for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.


Happiness is not something that can be forced or faked. It's not something that we can buy, or make, or steal or even earn. In your heart you will know if you are happy. And unhappiness comes from living contrary to the knowledge that we have, contrary to the light of Christ.

Alma 41:10,11

...Behold I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness. And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

Mormon 2:14

And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives.

Happiness, on the other hand, flows from living in harmony with your values, living at peace with yourself, and most especially by living righteously, by sincerely seeking to become like Christ and living for God and not for yourself.

Mathew 10:38, 39

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not wothy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

My belief is this: That those who seek to live for themselves will find no value in their own lives, but those who give up their own interests and desires and dedicate themselves to the work of the Lord will find great happiness and joy. It's also interesting to me that the people of Mormon's time, though they had only misery would fight and struggle to preserve their own lives, where as one of the marks of a true disciple has always been a willingness to give up their physical life. Why wouldn't the people who actually find joy in life be the ones seeking to preserve it. I guess for me the answer is, they realize that just like life could not give them happiness, death can not take it from them. God is the source of all good things including happiness. And while life is a great gift from God, neither life nor death have any inherent happiness or unhappiness, neither are inherently good or evil and both are part of God's plan. And most importantly those with a testimony of the savior will know that through him they will live again.

Helaman 13

Helaman 13:21-22

Behold ye, the people of this great city, and hearken unto my words; yea, hearken unto the words which the Lord saith; for behold, he saith that ye are cursed because of your riches, and also are your riches cursed because ye have set your hearts upon them, and have not hearkened unto the words of him who gave them unto you. Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember your riches, not to thank the Lord your God for them; yea, your hearts are not drawn out unto the Lord, but they do swell with great pride, unto boasting, and unto great swelling, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities.

This chapter is Samuel the Lamanite preaching to the wicked city of Zarahemla. And what I found most interesting this time I read it was how applicable it seems to be to our current society. Is there any question that our current financial crisis was caused by a society full of people with their hearts set upon riches? Whether it was the great masses of people who were accumulating far to much debt trying to get rich off of real estate and other ventures, or the greed of the large financial institutions that irresponsibly exploited the peoples greed for their own profit. Either way the recent events have shown us just how "slippery" our riches can be.

Helaman 13:38

But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.

(Incidentally this is one of my favorite Book of Mormon scriptures) I also felt that this was very applicable to our present society. And it's interesting to note that Samuel says that happiness can not be obtained in iniquity. Many times we look at our neighbors and those around us who we think are living righteously and I have heard some people speculate that maybe God allows the wicked to prosper but he will not uphold them or something like that, the idea comes from people who are trying to understand how wicked people can have all types of riches. Has anyone else ever heard anything like that? Well the whole idea I think is based on someone having their hearts set upon riches. Money has nothing to do with righteousness or happiness and other peoples money is no indicator of whether those people are happy and if someone is unhappy does it really matter how much money they have? The righteous prosper and the wicked do not, and money never enters into any part of the equation. And until we understand that prospering is all about happiness and has nothing to do with money, in some way our heart will always be set on riches.

I also found it interesting that in this chapter Samuel does not say that the people will be destroyed immediately, but that if they do not repent they will be destroyed in four generations from now. Maybe we will have to wait a couple hundred years to see the real consequences of our actions.