“If It So Be That They Shall Serve Him According to the Commandments Which He Hath Given”

1. Ether 2:12 (refer in this text to 1 Ne. 1:20; Ether 2:7-15)

2. Mosiah 29:25 27 (refer in this text to Hel. 5:2)

3. Hel.2:13; 3 Ne. 9:9; Ether 8:21-22 (refer in this text to Ether 8:18-25)

4. 2 Ne. 26:11; Hel. 13:8-10 (refer in this text to Morm. 1:14-17)

“It is also my firm conviction that His protective hand is still over the United States of America. I know, too, that if we will keep the commandments of God—live as He has directed and does now direct, through His prophets—we will continue to have His protecting hand over us. But we must be true to the eternal verities, the great Christian virtues that God has revealed. Then, and only then, will we be safe as a nation and as individuals.” (Ezra Taft Benson, This Nation Shall Endure, p. 145)

“… we Americans must learn that [our nation] can continue to exist only as it aligns itself with the powers of heaven. If we turn our back upon the Almighty, even by ignoring him, we jeopardize our national future. If we deliberately oppose his purposes, we place ourselves in danger of destruction. These stern facts have been taught to Americans from the beginning of our national history, starting with our first President, George Washington. He realized and he publicly announced that we obtained our independence through an act of Providence, since we were far too weak to gain it by ourselves. Knowing this, he warned that if we are to survive as a free and independent nation, we must obey the Almighty God who brought us into being. Abraham Lincoln, another inspired President, said virtually the same thing, warning that if we fail to obey the commandments of God, we shall go down to ruin… . It is no imaginary ruin that faces our nation if we reject Jesus Christ, as Lincoln pointed out so dramatically. And it is possible that our greatness can be buried in profound obscurity if we refuse to turn to God… .” (Mark E. Petersen, Conference Report, Apr. 1968, pp. 59,61,62)

“Since 1960, the U.S. population has increased 41%… . But during the same … period there has been a 560% increase in violent crime; a 419% increase in illegitimate births; a quadrupling in divorce rates; a tripling of the percentage of children living in single-parent homes… . The health of any society, the happiness of its people, their prosperity, and their peace all find their roots in the teaching of children by fathers and mothers.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 1993, pp. 54,59-60)