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I'll never forget the sick, helpless feeling I had when it became undeniably clear my son wasusing heroin.We live in a nice Utah Valley neighborhood and are surrounded by families whose children servemissions, go to college and marry in the temple. We expected all of our children would do thesame. My wife and I were married in the temple. We love our Savior. We built our family aroundthe Gospel and worked hard to repent of our own sins and live as well as we know how.The problems began small. In middle school Paul was caught with marijuana in his locker andsuspended from school. At first it felt like a punch to the gut, but realizing we had both madedumb mistakes in our lives we reconciled ourselves to our children's opportunity to choose theirown dumb mistakes. We committed ourselves to facing whatever twists and turns their livespresented us—even if their sins were different than ours had been.Then things got worse. Over the next few years deceit and theft became more frequent. WhenPaul began to complain of headaches we took him to doctor after doctor. Even powerful migraineprescriptions seemed to give him no relief from the symptoms he claimed to have. He begansleeping longer and longer—which at first we attributed to his attempt to get relief from theheadaches. We didn't see any of the usual signs of addiction so we continued to take him at hisword about his problems and behavior.
Then one cool fall night as my wife and I were at a soccer game for one of our other children, oneof our daughters called in a panic. She had surprised Paul in his room in the act of using heroin.He was strung out and incoherent. She had yelled at him. The scene was awful for her—hescreamed and pleaded with her not to tell us promising he would never use again. She didn'twant him to run away so she lied to him—agreeing to keep it a secret. Even years later, I can stillhear her sobbing, whispering voice in the phone telling me what she saw.
As I drove from the soccer field to our house my arms felt limp. My insides felt like molten leadand my mind ran from one confused, helpless and panicked thought to another. How could this betrue? Why would he do this? Is his life ruined forever? How in the world will I deal with it all?
It has now been five years. In that time we've been through an exhausting marathon of emotions—ups anddowns, hopes and despairs. All told Paul has spent over a year in various recovery programs. He'sspent about four of the past 48 months in jail. He's gone through long periods with no familycontact. We've had warm and wonderful reunions—scarce moments of hope which set us up forthe crushing pain of disappointment. I remember holding him one day in his bedroom as hesobbed in my arms after an interview with his stake president. After weeks of counseling with hispriesthood leaders this fine leader told him under the inspiration of the Spirit that he was forgiven.He wept and wept and I knew in that moment what Nephi meant when he said of Laman andLemuel, "I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness."Within two weeks he had relapsed and left home.We've probably approached this challenge the way most parents do. We studied, prayed, andcounseled with everyone we could find. We devoured books, articles and web resources--westudied like a life depended on it. Because it did.In our pursuit of wisdom, I had a few advantages because of the work I do. I was able to talk torenowned scholars on addiction recovery. I read some of the most respected books on the topic. Ivisited with the founder of one of the most effective recovery programs in the world. And while Ilearned a great deal about the psychology of recovery from these good people, I remainedconvinced that the problem is fundamentally a spiritual one. I became more and more convincedthat chemical addictions are, in principle, no different from any habitual sin. So while studying thework of scholars I began a careful study of the work of prophets. I scoured the scriptures to learn allI could about spiritual principles for assisting others in the grip of awful sin.Then about a year ago I struck gold. I was reading the Book of Mormon with this challenge inmind. I enjoyed the familiar chapters of first Nephi. I hunkered down to digest the Isaiah chaptersin 2nd Nephi. And when I got to the engaging book of Alma I noticed how much I was lookingforward to the Captain Moroni chapters.I've always wondered why Mormon--who had to condense 1000 years of history into 500 pages--dedicated 17 precious chapters to a bunch of battles. Don't get me wrong—I've always enjoyedthose chapters. But I guess I never quite got their spiritual significance. So I secretly suspected theymight have been Mormon's marketing ploy to help sell the book to 12-year old boys. The rest ofthe book of Alma made complete sense. Numerous chapters on missionary work—demonstratingthe power of the word in changing the world. Then poignant advice to Alma's sons. Then all ofthese battles.Then the revelation came.Amalickiah's OfferAs I was reading Chapter 46 I found a key that unlocked the seventeen action-packed warfarechapters. And as they unfolded, I became increasingly convinced that Mormon wasn'tmarketing, he was teaching. Having seen our day, he invested a substantial amount of his literarycapital to teach us how to battle an enemy that would reign with blood and horror in our time. Heknew that Satan would invade not with armies but with addictions.In verse 3 we first meet Amalickiah, who is described as "a large and strong man." He is a man whowants only one thing—to be king. His goal is absolute power. He wants to subject everyone tohimself. Amalickiah, I realized, is Satan. To accomplish his goal, he makes the Nephites an offerthat sounds eerily familiar.He says, in essence, "I'll make a deal with you. You all have lusts and desires that you wantgratified. You want power, a feeling of freedom. You want fun. I can give you all that. All you haveto do is let me rule over you. I'll give you a little bit of power so long as you surrender your agencyto me. Let me be your king and I'll give you what you want right now."That's when it hit me. That's how he puts everyone into bondage. That's how every addiction beginsand how every sin begins to control us. He zeroes in on our weaknesses—our rebellion, laziness,insecurity, jealousy, loneliness—you name it. And he offers immediate gratification of thatweakness. All we have to do is agree to be his slave. We make an implicit pact that in exchange forsome pleasure we'll give up some of our agency. We'll make him our king. And bythe time we find the pleasure inevitably diminished we already have too little remaining agency toescape on our own power. He has consolidated his position, reinforced his authority, and madeoverthrowing him virtually impossible. As Mosiah taught, once a tyrant becomes king, he cannotbe dethroned without "the shedding of much blood."1So the first key to unlocking these chapters is understanding that Amalickiah is Satan. His offer isto swap pleasure for bondage.I began to employ this key. As I did, these seventeen chapters unfolded naturally. I began to seeclearly how we succumb to addictions. I could see the tremendous effort required to regainfreedom. I found keen insight into principles for regaining liberty from bondage. I read so muchthat seemed perfectly designed for addicts attempting to get their lives back.But then I read things that made me suspect these chapters were not written primarily for theaddict. I concluded they were written for the helper. I felt blessed to discover that the protagonist inthe complex drama is me. It is not the individual addict but the person trying to deliver someonefrom ambivalence about their own bondage. What Mormon gave us is a character who loves theNephites (the sometime addicts) and is trying to save them from themselves.He gave us Moroni.Now I know I'm not alone in saying Moroni has always been a hero to me. But now I began to seewhy Mormon gave him not only seventeen chapters but his own son as a namesake. CaptainMoroni is every parent, friend or loved one who has tried to help someone get out of the bondagethey sold themselves into. He is the righteous but imperfect savior figure. Mormon admires himdeeply. Mormon wants us to pay very close attention to Moroni because: "if all men had been, andwere, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shakenforever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." 2I always thought this last statement meant that if I were more like Moroni, the Devil would leave mealone. But now I discovered a second meaning—that if I was more like Moroni, the Devil wouldhave no power over the hearts of those I love. Moroni does not spend time showing us how hegot himself free of bondage—he teaches us how he helped others do it. He shows us how toparticipate in the redemption of our own children.But even while Mormon extols Moroni's virtues, he reminds us that you needn't be perfect to be asavior. He lets us know Moroni was powerful, but imperfect. In the midst of massive abridging,Mormon leaves plenty in the story to show us Moroni has some really bad days. For example, in afit of anger he breaks his agreement with Amalickiah3 In another angry moment he rips into poorPahoran ("Can you think to sit upon your thrones in a state of thoughtless stupor?"4)
Mosiah 29:212 Alma 48:173 In Alma 54:20 Moroni agrees to exchange prisoners with no other stipulations. After receiving Ammoron'shypocritical and shockingly deceitful response Moroni is furious and reneges on the deal—adding the stipulationthat Ammoron must surrender before Moroni will exchange prisoners.4 Alma 60:7There's even a hint that Moroni's decision to liberate prisoners of war from Gid led toAmmoron's policy of executing women, children and low-value captives in the future.5It's hard to adequately describe the endowment of hope I received when I realized that I couldqualify to be my son's Moroni. I didn't have to be perfect. I could lose my temper once or twice.I could even make a wrong decision now and again. Apparently Moroni's "perfectunderstanding"6 did not preclude mistakes.To be a Moroni, we need to be strong. Now, I've had many, many weak days. But I know fromfive years of torment with my son that remaining emotionally vulnerable in the lives of errantchildren is an exalting experience. It is a Gethsemane. And like Gethsemane did for Christ, itendows us with the strength we need to participate in their salvation. I've gained that strength asI've willingly stayed in Gethsemane for my son. I am stronger today than I was five years ago andI know that strength is helping me fight more effectively for his freedom.To be a Moroni, our final qualification is an eternal commitment to the "liberty and the freedom ofhis country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery."7 My son is sealed to me. I will not breachthat sealing. I am eternally committed.Moroni was unconditionally committed to fighting for his brethren. So am I. Moroni had aperfect understanding of the Gospel principles involved with delivering others from bondage.Thanks to Mormon, so can I. Moroni lead a thirteen-year effort to deliver the often ambivalentNephites out of the bondage they created. I accept that my work with Paul may take years aswell.According to Mormon's job description, I can be my son's Moroni. Moroni is all of us who wantto be saviors on Mount Zion—who hope to aid in the deliverance of those we love from the awfulgrip of addiction. And these precious warfare chapters in Alma give each of us a "perfectunderstanding" of how it's done.With that said, I invite you to join me in careful study of these chapters. See what the Spirit has toteach you through them. My goal in this paper is not primarily to draw attention to what I'velearned; it's to demonstrate the depth of wisdom available in these chapters. My guess is that youwill find wisdom in them through your own study that is more relevant to your current strugglesthan you'll gain by reading what the Spirit taught me. But I'll share the understanding I'vegained in hopes of enticing you to a more personalized experience.
5Alma 56:12 'reports that only chief captain prisoners were left alive after the successful liberation of Nephitewomen, children and military prisoners from Gid.6 Alma 48:117 Alma 48:11 1. Moroni's Promise: You may be weak and outnumbered—but victory has nothing to do with the strength of the enemy.I stumbled across a television program one night called Intervention. It follows addicts and theirfamilies through the horrifying details of their lives. In the episode I watched a heroin-addictedgirl who ate cat food from a can while living in a garbage-strewn abandoned house. Her familylived only a few miles away and would have gladly taken her in—but she didn't want to dealwith their constant haranguing about her heroin use. So here she sat in piles of filth, supportingherself by prostitution. The camera (it's shocking what people will let you film) followed her outonto a street where she met a regular "customer" who preyed on her for the $10 she needed forher next shot of heroin.As the show continued the family joined together and promised to cut off contact with her untilshe chose to enter rehab. That's when I began to lean forward. Rather than bolt from the roomshe stared at her united family in confusion. She was uncertain how to deal with this uniformfirmness. Finally she sobbed and relented. She agreed to enter a program. There was hope.A van picked her up and drove her hundreds of miles to the rehab facility. I prayed she would see itthrough. As I did I realized I wasn't just praying for them, I was praying for us. It was nolonger just her story, it was mine.Within 24 hours she fled the program. I sat in front of the television crying and crying. Not just forthem, but for me. I felt hopeless. By this point I had been on this girl's roller coaster more thanonce. I began to worry in the pit of my soul that the monster was too strong—or that my son wastoo weak. I imagined looking 30 years from now into the aged face of my boy as a human wreck.Perhaps he'd have an illegitimate child or two. He would have wasted his entire life. Or perhaps itwould end with a late night phone call about his fatal overdose. From my research I knew thatsuccess rates for even the finest rehab programs were in the 5-10% range. By this time I knew countlessstories of relapse and very few successes. My deepest fear as I sobbed that night was that for myprecious son the day of salvation might be past. 8 I felt hope slipping away that any power wascapable of saving him from his past choices.
That hopelessness turned to faith when I began to understand Captain Moroni's promise.You're likely familiar with the promise Prophet Moroni makes in the final verses of the Book ofMormon. It's an unequivocal promise that by complying with certain principles you can beassured of receiving a testimony of the Book of Mormon—"He will manifest the truth of it untoyou..."9For anyone who thinks they may never get free of addiction__or for anyone who worries theremay be no way out for their dear one—Captain Moroni makes an equally unequivocal promise.He shows us how irrelevant the power of the enemy is when predicting success or failure in theepic battles of our lives. Think heroin is strong? Do you worry that meth will never let go? Is atoxic mix of pornography and masturbation too powerful? Do you fear that alcohol is embeddedin your very cell structure and will never be gone? Captain Moroni has a promise for you.
8 Helaman 13:389 Moroni 10:4These chapters refer to a total of nineteen battles. In every one of them the Nephites should havelost. And in fact, in a few they do. For example, in the Second Lamanite Invasion, the raginghordes of invaders slaughter tens of thousands of Nephites and conquer most of the Eastern cities—Moroni, Nephihah, Lehi, Morianton, Omner, Gid and Mulek. And yet, at other times theoverwhelming advantage of the Lamanites does not lead to Nephite loss.The lesson here is that the predictor of success or failure has nothing to do with the strength of theenemy. It has everything to do with the condition of the Nephites. Moroni repeatedly assures hispeople that the overwhelming forces of the Lamanites were not the reason they were losing thewar: "had it not been for the war which broke out among ourselves... if we had united our strengthas we hitherto have done... if we had gone forth against them in the strength of the Lord, weshould have dispersed our enemies..."10Moroni ultimately succeeds in helping the Nephites regain their freedom because his primaryattention is on the condition of the Nephites not the strength of the Lamanites.And that's our challenge, too. We cannot protect our children from a bondage they yearn for. Wecan't fight the Lamanites when the Nephites are desperate to surrender to them. When wecompel our, kids into rehab, push away their pushers, or in other ways fight their battles for them wewill always fail. But when we consider first how our actions affect the spiritual condition of ourloved ones, we are assured of eventual success.Hear Moroni's promise. Against "an enemy which was innumerable"11:First Lamanite Invasion ...the Nephites had all power over their enemies... there was not asingle soul of the Nephites which was slain."12The Battle of Gid... the Nephites had power over them; and in these circumstances they foundthat it was not expedient that they should fight with the Nephites."13First Battle of Antiparah ...there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth."14Second Battle of Antiparah ...the [Lamanites] did leave the city... and thus the city ofAntiparah fell into our hands."15Siege of Cumeni... they yielded up the city unto our hands; and thus we had accomplished ourdesigns in obtaining the city Cumeni."16Battle of Manti And thus it came to pass, that by this stratagem we did take possession of thecity of Manti without the shedding of blood.17
10 Alma 60:1611 Alma 58:812 Alma 49:2313 Alma 55:2314 Alma 56:5615 Alma 57:416 Alma 57:1217 Alma 58:28Battle of Nephihah... Thus had Moroni and Pahoran obtained the possession of the city ofNephihah without the loss of one soul...18Seven times Moroni shows us that when we fight the right way, we win. So as we begin toexplore Moroni's principles for battling addiction, keep this promise in mind. Your primaryconsideration is the effect your actions will have on the spiritual condition of your loved one. Ifyour actions serve to undermine their agency or increase their resistance to your well-intendedefforts, you will lose. But if you refuse to fight battles for an unwilling captive—if you followMoroni's principles for honoring their agency—victory is not just possible, it is inevitable.I am a witness that the Book of Mormon is a book for our day. In a day when secretcombinations cover the earth, luring millions of Father's valiant sons and daughters into thebondage of drugs, pornography, gambling, sex and other pernicious addictions, we have ahandbook on how to do battle in a way that always works.These nineteen battles make us would-be Moronis an absolute promise. But be careful, because thepromise comes with conditions. You must learn Moroni's lessons to receive the same endowmentof power Moroni received. If you want the miracles, you'll have to apply the principles embeddedin Moroni's campaign. And trust me, applying these principles will feel like Gethsemane to you.They will stretch you, humble you, tax you—they will bring you to your knees as you struggle tobe a savior for your child. But if you're willing to go through Moroni's Gethsemane, you arepromised a miracle in the Garden Tomb. Friday will be dark. But Sunday morning—anddeliverance—will come.But long before your eventual victory, you will have hope. "Yea, and it came to pass that theLord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he didspeak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hopefor our deliverance in him."19
18 Alma 62:2619 Alma 58:11So we made the deal. He agreed to a painful list of sacrifices—no contact with friends, relocationout of the area, attendance at a 12-step program, no lying, no drug use, etc. We agreed that if heviolated these strict agreements—agreement designed to help him turn his life around—he wouldhave to leave home immediately.
He enthusiastically honored the agreements for a full 24 hours. Almost immediately he begancomplaining about the constraints. He was fidgety, resentful, and finally dishonest. He arrangedfor drugs to be dropped at our house then lied about it when confronted.
Now here we sat on Friday night. It was snowing lightly outside. Three days ago we made someagreements. One of them was that if he violated the deal he would need to leave immediately. Thetemperature was about 28 degrees outside. I sat in my room for a long time praying about whetheror not I should follow through with the agreed-upon consequence. How could I? He had nowhere togo. He had nothing to eat. He had no money.
Parents in our situation often lament their lack of influence. We wonder how we can help our child"want to change." I learned from Moroni that this is the wrong question. The right question is,"What am I doing that is keeping my child from wanting to change?" The most potent lessonMoroni offers parents is that when we stand between our child and justice, we often standbetween our child and God.
Moroni faced ambivalent "addicts" throughout his 13-year campaign. Time and again after theyhad covenanted to defend their freedom, they backslid. Large factions of the Nephites wouldactively collude with the Lamanites in a way that would inevitably bring them back intobondage. Like my son, within hours of making an agreement they hungered again for bondage.
Seven years into Moroni's campaign he was still agonizing over the weakness of his own people.As hordes of Lamanite forces threatened to invade Nephite lands, Moroni had to decide what to do.He had two options—he could face the Lamanites—and fight a battle the Nephites were dividedabout fighting. Or he could face the Nephites. Facing the Nephites meant that disaster would come.Lives could be lost. Cities could fall as Lamanites descended while Nephites were fighting eachother. Destruction was possible. But Moroni treated one principle as sacrosanct: No victory waspossible so long as the Nephites weren't sure they wanted to fight. He knew that to attempt to fightthe battle for the ambivalent Nephites would violate agency. Had he tried to beat back bondagefrom an unwilling people, he would have robbed them of their right to choose their own demise.
So how did Moroni help his people to "want to change?" He trusted God. He trusted that if heallowed the people to experience the consequences of their choices, they would learn in God'sway.
Agency is not simply the power to choose. It is the power to create consequences. Agency is theGod-given power to become like God by making choices that create consequences. To thedegree we make choices that produce positive consequences, we become more like God. When wemake negative consequences, we become less like Him and more like the adversary. When Godevicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He sent them into the world 'to learn by their ownexperience.' In essence, He sent them forth to learn to exercise agency.One of the primary ways we develop our agency is by experiencing the consequences of ourchoices. When the consequences are painful, we learn. Over time we can become wiser and gaingreater agency by creating better consequences.As I read Moroni's campaign, I realized that Moroni wasted little time sermonizing with theuncommitted. Instead, he allowed them to make their choices and then refused to stand betweenthem and God. He let them experience the full measure of justice for their choices—trusting thatmany of them would learn to choose more wisely.In Moroni's case, "justice" meant severe punishment. For some Nephites—it was the deathpenalty.The Lamanites were closing in. A Nephite faction called the Kingmen welcomed them with openarms. In doing so, they committed treason. In Nephite law—as in most any society--theconsequence for putting your nation at risk was death. Moroni "sent a petition... unto the governorof the land, desiring that he should... give him power to compel those dissenters to defend theircountry or to put them to death.20 The petition was granted. Was Moroni being merciless? Was heoverreacting? Was he using the law to try to change the Kingmen's beliefs and remove theiragency? These are all questions any Moroni faces when trying to help someone change whodoesn't want to change.So what can we learn from Moroni?Notice the language here. Moroni didn't care what the Kingmen believed. He cared what theydid. This was not about forcing others to change their political opinions; it was about punishingthem for treason. His goal was to hold them accountable to "defend their country." Period. HadMoroni not inflicted the legal consequences of treason on the Kingmen, he would have beenguilty of consenting to their crimes.The difference between Moroni and many of us is that he trusted that exposure to the naturalconsequences of justice would teach those who seemed unwilling to protect their freedom.As I sat in my room agonizing over what to do with my boy, the question in my mind turned 180degrees. Whereas I had been wondering what I should "do"—I realized that if I withheld from himthe natural consequence of his choice, I would be interrupting Father's attempt to teach him. Fatherdesigned a world that teaches powerful and immediate lessons through natural and social laws.When you are lazy you go hungry. If you overeat you get heavy and sick. If you lie you aremistrusted and ostracized.We need not do much to help people learn proper principles other than to stop interrupting God'sattempt to teach them.I walked downstairs and through choking sobs told him he had to leave. I told him how much Iloved him. I told him that I believed at some future time he'd figure out how to have a happy lifeand that when he did I would be there to help him get it. Then I helped him pack up his fewbelongings: He had no luggage so we placed his things into two big black trash bags. He shuffledwordlessly out to my car with me. I asked him where he wanted me to take him. He suggested aWal-Mart not far from our home. He exited my car in the parking lot and retrieved his bags fromthe back seat. As I pulled out of the parking lot I could see him in the rear view mirror standing
20 Alma 51:15 next to his two trash bags with snow falling lightly between us. I drove a short distance, pulled to the side of the road, and cried. When our children are in bondage, we frequently face these choices. I do not know how every parent should deal with every such choice. But I know that my tendency is the opposite of Moroni's. On the face of it, you might think that Moroni's decision to enforce the consequences of treason on the Kingmen is employing compulsion. And that a decision to withhold information from police about a son's drug use is merciful. I've come to suspect the opposite is frequently true. Moroni is the merciful one who has faith in God's plan of teaching. And my tendency is to control. Any time I try to "get my child to change" I employ some form of compulsion. If I fight at all costs to keep my child from going to jail, I rob my child of his agency. He made a choice and I won't allow him to experience it. If my rude child is shunned by peers and I lash out at them for their inhospitality, I steal the experience from my child. If I pay off the debts of a sister who continues to spend foolishly, I keep her from becoming motivated to learn restraint. If I replace a car for a child who carelessly wrecks it, I weaken his agency and rob him of an invitation to greater responsibility. If as a Relief Society president, I leave a sister in her stewardship who never completes her visiting teaching, I am removing from her the natural consequences of failed stewardship.
Frequently, rather than impose consequences, we yell, cry, guilt-trip or nag. Nagging is a form of control. It is a way of taking responsibility away from the other person. It puts the burden on the nagger to monitor and motivate the other person. Moroni did not nag. He was not willing to attempt to change the Nephites' beliefs by force. Rather, he treated treason as treason. Then he let people decide whether treason produced the consequences they wanted.
When we remove natural consequences from those we love, we take control of a process that God ordained. We are assuming our own design of the world is superior to His or that those we love are too fragile to learn in His way. Moroni had no such belief. When he found himself fighting harder than the Nephites for their own freedom, he stopped his campaign against Lamanites and allowed them to face the full legal measure of justice their actions invited. He did it in the first year of the war. As a result, Amalickiah was expelled and a few Nephites executed. 21 He did it in year seven and 4000 Nephites were executed. 22 In year 10 he faced it again. 23 The lesson for me in all of this is that it takes enormous faith in God's ultimate wisdom to witness the misery of those you love as they progress through their own painful learning process. It can take years. You may have to watch them repeatedly make the same mistakes.
21 Alma 46:29, 3522 Alma 51:1923 Alma 53:8-9 6
Lamanites . You'll remember the testy exchange of epistles between Pahoran and Moroni. Moronibegins to suspect Pahoran is guilty of—at the very best—gluttony, at the worst, treason. Instead hediscovers there is yet another faction of Nephites that yearns to subject themselves to a King. He begins to"doubt, because of the wickedness of the people, whether they should not fall..."24 But on discovering thatPahoran—and many others--are faithful, he takes courage.25 In fact, he is "filled with exceedingly greatjoy."26 When I think about what was going on at the time in the war, that phrase blows me away.Surrounded by Lamanites, facing bloody divisions in his own people, outnumbered, outgunned andphysically spent—how could he possibly feel "exceedingly great joy?" And then it filled me with joy. Irealized that Moroni didn't need for the war to be over in order to feel hope and joy—he just neededassurance that at least some part of the Nephites still wanted to fight.As I sat on the side of the road I pleaded with God to watch over my boy. I begged Him to protect Himfrom any misery more than he needed to bring him home. But most of all I pleaded with Father to bringmy boy home. To us. To Him.And then a sweet, quiet feeling came over me with the impression, "Trust in me. There is still much goodin him." I realized that hope lay not in Paul's current condition, but in his potential. He still loved hisfamily. He still prayed in his desperate times. He still had memories of innocent happiness. He was stillsealed to me and my wife. And while part of him might be disloyal to his people today, I could takecourage that the good in him would gain strength. The key for now was for me to fight the real battle—not the battle against drugs, but the battle for Paul's will.So Moroni left defensive troops to hold back the Lamanites, and fought a fourth civil war. He raised thestandard of liberty and demanded that people decide where they stood.27 As he invited the Nephites todeclare their loyalty, "they became exceedingly strong."28 Thousands who had been sitting on the sidelinebegan to step forward and take up arms. The Kingmen were overthrown or executed for treason. It was thisfinal, awful confrontation that influenced the Nephites toward full resolution. They were no longerambivalent. They wanted freedom.Moroni whispers to me from the dust that the hardest war I will fight will not be against drugs, but againstmy own unwillingness to let justice teach my son. He assures me that the instant Paul's internal war is won,the power of the Atonement combined with Gospel wisdom are more than sufficient to help him win thewar with drugs.Within a year of this last internal war, the Nephites were free. The war turned immediately when theNephites were united within themselves. In a very short period of time, not only were the Nephites free, buttens of thousands of Lamanites dropped their weapons and joined the Nephites.29
24 Alma 60:1125 Alma 61:5-626 Alma 62:127 Alma 62:4-628 Alma 62:629 Alma 62:27, 29, 30If you want to have your son back, sometimes you have to drop him off at Wal-Mart.
The righteous Ammonite converts felt some of the same temptation. When they saw theenormous suffering the Nephites were enduring, the "were about to break the covenant whichthey had made and take up their weapons of war..." 30 Every parent of an addicted child knows thesame feeling. It is pure agony to watch them suffer—even if their suffering is a direct result oftheir own choices. And yet any attempt we make to rush their deliverance violates spiritualprinciples that set the pace of the process.
While I watched my son get deeper and deeper into his addiction, I felt deep dread. After he lefthome things got worse by degrees. He isolated himself from past friends who were leading positivelives. He began not just using but selling drugs. He neglected his health and appearance. He startedbecoming a person I didn't know. Finally, it appeared he may have permanent brain damage. Hehallucinated constantly—imagining voices and developing paranoid delusions.
With each step in his decline I became more and more fearful that he'd crossed a threshold thatmade his bondage irreversible. Then I looked across the breadth of Moroni's campaign: 19battles over 13 years. There were many, many dark days. When Moroni saw the indecisiveness ofthose he loved, he "grieved and [was] also filled with fear, lest by any means the judgments ofGod should come upon our land, to our overthrow and utter destruction."31 So did I.
Moroni told me that deliverance may take years. But that doesn't mean it won't happen.Since the pace of deliverance is set not by the strength of the addiction, but by the willingness ofthe hostage—Moroni's job is to be patient. He must refuse to be tempted to try to rush things byfighting the muscle of the Lamanites when the problem is the will of the Nephites.I draw great comfort from Helaman's promise to the Ammonites when they wanted to intervene,that, "God would strengthen us, insomuch that we should not suffer more because of thefulfilling the oath..." 32 My oath is to trust God and not my own wit and will. My work in themeantime is to never move any faster than my loved one is willing to move. And—as we sawearlier--to let him experience the full consequences of any choices he makes in the meantime.
If we fight Moroni's way, victory can happen at any time. Because of the power of theAtonement; it is never too late. I may have to give up some fond but temporal hopes. I may hope myson graduates from High School. I want him to go college. I dearly wanted him to serve a mission.But if I really love my son I must be willing to let go of my aspirations for his earthly life and worryultimately only for his eternal life. So long as he is saved in the kingdom of God, I
30 Alma 56:731 Alma 58:932 Alma 56:8will be happy. In Helaman's words, I know that he will not suffer more because I failed to take up myweapon and compel change.In the meantime, Moroni is willing to lose precious cities like Nephihah and Lehi. At one point he evenwatches his namesake city of Moroni overrun by the enemy. He refuses to divert his attention to battlesthat he needs to be willing to lose in order to focus on the real war. The war for the Nephites' will.Moroni's faith is that the instant the Nephites are willing, the battle will turn. For example, after 10 yearsof the campaign "the Nephites were not slow to remember the Lord"33 and "the Nephites began again tobe victorious, and to reclaim their rights and their privileges."34In the past three months we've seen this same principle verified with Paul. Six months ago he was facinghomelessness yet again. He broke into our home and stole checks which he tried to pass at our bank. Indoing so he crossed a legal line for the first time from misdemeanors to felonies. Warrants were alreadyout for his arrest for violating previous parole. His cell phone had been damaged through some neglectbut he was still able to receive text messages. After careful deliberation, my wife and I texted him: 'If you turn yourself into the police, we will ask that this be prosecuted as a misdemeanor. If you do not, we don't think we will be helping you by hiding the crime you committed. We love you.'He called the police who found him passed out from alcohol consumption at a local park and bookedhim into jail.Two months ago he was released from his longest jail sentence yet. And when he got out, something wasdifferent. There was a quietness and resolve in him that we've never seen before. There was distaste for thelife he had led. There was a greater clarity about the many false friendships he had.He's been sober now for five months. But most importantly he seems less divided about what he wants.Perhaps he is ready to truly fight for freedom.
33 Alma 55:3134 Alma 55:28Now if it's possible for us to feel resentful toward someone who inconveniences us a little, you canappreciate how hard it is to remain loving toward a child who presents you with years of pain, worry andsuffering. In our case, over the past five years it's hard to calculate how much time, treasure and tormentwe've willingly offered on the smallest hope it would help free our son from his hell. And in the momentswhen it looked like our sacrifices were not only unappreciated but resented, mountainous waves ofresentment and anger would wash over me.But when it comes to unappreciated sacrifice, Moroni has a bit of an advantage over me. This guy enduredstarvation, bloody warfare, and even terrible wounds.35 And for his trouble he was frequently hated, reviledand threatened by those he was fighting for. As I read through Moroni's story with my son in mind, Irealized that had I been Moroni I would have lasted about six months. At the point where a large body ofNephites was uninterested in freedom I would have issued an ultimatum to the tune of, "Look you losers,when you get tired of bondage, let me know. I'll be north of the narrow neck somewhere. Email me."Moroni on the other hand retained his influence by retaining contact.Moroni is about as strange a warrior as you'll find throughout all history. He was a brilliant strategist. Hewas a phenomenally successful fighter. But when he hacked into an enemy with his sword he didn't feelanger, he felt empathy. "he was a man who... had sworn with an oath to defend his people... even to the loss of his blood..."36 "he was a man... [who] did not delight in bloodshed..."37 "[Moroni and his warriors were]... sorry to take up arms against the Lamanites... did not delight in the shedding of blood... sorry to be the means of sending so many of their brethren out of this world into an eternal world, unprepared to meet their God."38 "[The instant Moroni had an advantage over his "enemy"] ...he said unto them: If ye will bring forth your weapons of war and deliver them up, behold we will forbear shedding your blood."39Five centuries later, Mormon considered him a mentor as he struggled to figure out how to be both prophetand protector of the remaining Nephites. I imagine the immense soul challenge involved for Mormon inraising a sword over his head to extinguish the life of someone who was connected to the slaughter of hiswife and children. Here were men who--while mustering the force required to crush bone and split sinew--found a way to retain a tender remorse for the viscous work they knew they must do.With Paul, when my mood was right I could show love. When he was acting up I could also show strictresolve. But showing love and resolve simultaneously required a strength of soul that
35 Alma 52:3536 Alma 48:1337 Alma 48:1138 Alma 48:2339 Alma 52:37taxed me to my limit. Moroni taught me that a campaign for freedom demands more of me than love orresolve. It means showing resolve at times in a piercingly loving way.Paul spent three months in a fine rehab program. We visited him twice a week and spent hours with him infamily therapy sessions. I did all of it willingly because I love my boy. Within days of getting out hestarted making the irrational compromises that were so often part of his addiction. For example, Iremember the helpless panic I felt when we finished a 30-minute debate about whether or not heshould start smoking again. In his resentful, hungry logic he told me that other addicts had assured him thatyou should only try to quit one thing at a time and that if he started smoking he would actually do better atstaying off illegal drugs. And since smoking wasn't illegal, he continued, I shouldn't be so worriedabout it. He looked at me with a patronizing smile and concluded with, "I know you and Mom havedifferent beliefs than I do about tobacco, but I hope you'll respect my decision."
In that moment I had an overwhelming urge to tell him to get lost forever. I wanted to turn around andwalk away and never see him again. I knew it would be painful to lose him, but accepting that loss wouldbe less painful than the torment of uncertainty he kept inflicting on my life. I had my sword over my headand I just wanted to bring it down on him to end my pain.That's how. I handled a previous battlefield moment with Paul. After another attempt at sobriety we hadsimilarly helped Paul get on his feet. He had found a job and received his first small paycheck. The nightafter he cashed it he rang our doorbell at 3am. I opened it to find him with pupils dilated to the size ofdimes, staggering drunk holding a hookah pipe he had bought with the money left after purchasing volumesof liquor. My body shook with rage as I told him to get off our property and slammed the door. I bolted thedoor with my son still standing in a stupor on the porch. I turned my back to the door, leaned back against itand wept in despair.But this later time it was different. As we finished the smoking debate, I felt the same urge to cut him off.But then I found Moroni's voice inside me. I found a way to be firm and just—to give Paul the unflinchingaccountability he needed to grow—and at the same time to express unequivocal love. I wish I had found thisvoice more often over the years."Paul," I said, "our agreement was that we would help you so long as you showed a resolve to stick withyour agreements. You are not. I respect your right to make your own choices. Please respect mine as well.I am confident from what you're saying that you will relapse soon. I will not be a part of that. Sometimein the future when you are ready to sacrifice everything it will take to do this the right way, we will help.I know you'll figure this out eventually. I love you. Good bye, son."It has been so difficult for me to develop the strength to "shed blood" when needed but to take no delight init. When I slammed the door on Paul I had a perverse desire to hurt him. I wanted not only to protect myselffrom pain, but to dish it out to him, as well. Over the years I've tried to replace my voice with Moroni's.One of the best examples of how to do so came from my oldest daughter, Tara. At one point when Paulwas asked to leave home Tara agreed to let him live with her rather than see him go live with other addicts.She told him he could not use drugs in her apartment and would have to pay his own bills. Initially heworked hard at his job and paid his bills. Life was tough because he had lost his car and now had to walk towork in the winter weather. No one in our family had done more for Paul that Tara. As she's the oldest ofour children she was the first to drive. Shewas always his confidant. She would drive him anywhere he asked without complaint at her owninconvenience. Growing up, she was always the first to share her candy, her money, her kindness. She toldPaul he was welcome in her apartment but would be asked to leave if he was dishonest or brought drugsinto her apartment.It wasn't long before his drug use impeded his ability to work. With rent due and the threat of eviction hestole money from Tara to cover his bills. She was deeply hurt—least of all because of the loss of money,but more because she expected some loyalty from him.Six days before Christmas Tara confronted him. Just days earlier, Paul had started exercising. After monthsof physical neglect he had spent himself doing pushups. I dropped him off at his apartment after talking tohim over lunch. Tara sat down with him and reviewed the evidence of his theft. He hung his head andstared at the ground. She asked him if he could list all the things he had lost to his drug habit. He began tocry. She told him he could no longer stay in her apartment. His shoulders sagged and he looked completelydesolate. She told him he had two days to decide where he would go.
She shook with emotion as she delivered this awful message. She felt so hurt, so violated, but so torn. Sheloved her brother and didn't want him to suffer. And yet she knew that if she did not wield this swordjustly, she would not be doing her part to help him get free of his bondage. And yet in her pity, she didn'tshrink from the fight. Instead, she held her ground. She delivered her message. Then she moved next tohim on the couch, and began to massage his sore shoulders.
If Moroni were leading my campaign, he would counsel me often for fighting without love. Hisapproach to deliverance shows me that what my son needs is not watered down consequences inthe name of love. What he needs is a full dose of consequences delivered in unmistakable compassion.Compassion does not mean I withhold consequences. It means I deliver them with the charity of asavior.
The "savior's" role is to be there when they truly want deliverance, not to save them from theirown experience.
Then an image crystallized in my mind. It was a moment when Moroni realized that he would haveto mobilize all the Nephite resources in order to prevail against so powerful a foe. At a low point inhis; campaign he wrote a threatening epistle to Ammoron (Amalickiah's successor) promising, will comeagainst you with my armies; yea, even I will arm my women and my
40 We eventually discovered—to our great relief--that a pedestrian had been bruised but not badly hurt and that the other cars he hitwere parked.children, and I will come against you."41 I suspect Ammoron thought this threat was just silly. Sendheavily armed primary children against trained soldiers? Ammoron's answer, in essence, was, "Bringthem on."And Moroni did. And so did we.I realized that for all the worry, praying and acting my wife and I had done, we had never declared totalwar. The scriptures promise great spiritual power through unified prayer. Christ promised His disciplesthat when even just a few gathered together in His name, He would be with them.42 Likewise, it was whenthe Lehite survivors gathered together at the temple following the great destruction that Christ appeared.43It was when the Lehite disciples prayed together that the Lord appeared to them to answer questions andendow them with power.44 We also see this principle illustrated in the temple where the crowning symbolof unity is beautiful unified prayer which precedes entry into Father's presence.So we united our whole family in fasting and mighty prayer. Grandparents, aunts and uncles joined in theirrespective homes. Our children gathered in ours. I testified to them that through this kind of unified faith wecould enable those on the other side of the veil to participate more powerfully in Paul's redemption. Wediscussed how God respects our agency and can not intervene more actively that we invite Him to throughour active faith. To the degree we exercise our faith we open doors that allow angels access to our lives andthe lives of those we love.I remember the optimistic and hopeful feeling we had as we gathered together to dedicate and later close ourfast. I then invited each child to share their feelings, testimony or expressions of commitment. I feltimpressed to testify that we would be limited in power to help Paul with his addictions if we weren't willingto examine and sacrifice our own. Each of us has secret sins and habits with which we struggle that impedethe Spirit's presence in our lives. I challenged our family to decide what sins we were willing to sacrifice inorder to gain greater power to save our brother. Some in the family were shy about the discussion but allexpressed a willingness to rise to greater levels of faithfulness in order to wage this war.With our women and children armed, we were ready to fight with an intensity we had never engaged before.Miracles began happening almost immediately. One of them led to Paul's arrest and 18 month sentence. Inretrospect, this was exactly the blessing he needed. I learned that angels fight like Moroni—sometimes byoffering protections, other times by imposing pain—but always in ways that influence for good.When Moroni armed "their women, and all those of their children, as many as were able to use a weapon ofwar"45 entire families were delivered and reunited. The Lamanites, in the face of unified families,"brought forth [their weapons] and cast them at the feet of the Nephites, pleading for mercy."46
41 Alma 54:1242 Matthew 18:2043 3 Nephi 11:1-844 3 Nephi 27:145 Alma 55:1746 Alma 55:23S ection — 2 Prin ciples for D evelopin g a B attle PlanThe previous five principles helped me change my own approach to helping my son. The nextfive principles were as much for him as for me.I learned a great deal from Moroni about how to advise my son once he decided he would fight forhis freedom. In truth, there were multiple false starts before he seemed to develop a fullresolve (Moroni's campaign didn't make sustained progress until year twelve). But even when hewas almost ready to fight for his life these strategies helped him learn to wage war.But that didn't mean the previous eleven years were a waste. During those eleven years theNephites accomplished three things: 1. First, they developed an understanding of the spiritual nature of their struggle. Moroni spent as much time "preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God" 47 as he did preparing swords and shields. There is so much in the recovery literature that would cause you to conclude the problem is fundamentally psychological or physiological. Moroni would say the problem is first and foremost spiritual. And until a spiritual resolve develops, there will be no victory. This is not to say you should not get all the psychological and physiological intelligence you can gather as well. Moroni's armies wielded swords as well as words. But over the course of the thirteen years through small successes and repeated failures, the Nephites came to believe their weakness was not in arms but in faith.
2. Second, during these thirteen years their ambivalence was slowly turning to commitment. Eachtime some faction would emerge that yearned for bondage by demanding a king, Moroni would turnattention inward rather than outward. He would confront and address Nephite motives strictly. Herefused to fight for the Nephites when they weren't sure they wanted to fight for themselves. Aftertwelve years the mixed motives had disappeared and deliverance came in short order.
1. And third, they developed skill in the principles of deliverance. They learned when to defend,when to attack, when to be patient and when to be courageous. They learned they were powerlesswithout God and unbeatable with Him.Paul's five year effort has provided him with all three of these benefits.Below I share some of the Moroni principles that helped him develop skill and understanding totake back his life.
47 Alma 48:7more closely at his colleagues—much older men, many there for crimes related to drug or alcoholabuse. As he got to know his colleagues he was disturbed by how few even entertained the possibility thattheir future could be separated from drug abuse. In the back of his mind he had always thought his choiceswere voluntary and that "someday" he'd get serious about life and give it all up. So he was sobered a bit bywitnessing how person after person in the jail equated their lives with their drugs. Most passed the time byreminiscing about past parties and fantasize about getting loaded after their release. Something began tosettle into Paul a bit more deeply than in previous jail stays. He began to seek out those who seemed towant to change and to connect with LDS resources at the jail.As Paul got nearer his release date, he became anxious about both how he could survive and how he couldchange his life once he got out. Survival was the first challenge because he had lost everything once againbefore being picked up by police while passed out on the ground in the park. He had not paid rent for 3months and his landlord had seized all of his meager possessions. He had thousands of dollars indebts to various agencies—including the courts. And he had an unprocessed charge for a DUI that still hungover his head. His life was a mess. On release his plan was to head to a homeless shelter until he could get ajob and apply for indigent aid to help him get on his feet. He understood clearly that we would not cushionhim from the misery he had created.But we felt an impression that some of his protestations about wanting to change seemed strongerthan in times past. Of course we were concerned his expressions could be either shallow or disingenuous.But we decided there was enough possibility that we had little to lose and much to gain for him through alimited test.I asked Paul to read Alma 49 with me. I asked him to start by focusing on the promise of these chapters—but also on the peril. Amalickiah's Lamanites were coming against the Nephites with an overwhelminglypowerful army. They had significantly upgraded their arms after studying previous battles with theNephites such that they were confident "they should easily overpower and subject their brethren to theyoke of bondage, or slay and massacre them according to their pleasure."48 I assured Paul that Satan felt thesame way about him. He knew Paul's weaknesses and had prepared a plan to easily drag him right backinto bondage. Paul nodded at this insight but said little more.Then we read the result. Moroni was ready when the Lamanites attacked. He knew they had an absolutenumerical advantage over his people. And yet, when the Lamanites arrived, the Nephites "were preparedfor them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi."49 In fact, rather thanrolling over them with indomitable force, Amalickiah's hosts, "were exceedingly astonished at theirmanner of preparation for war."50In fact, they were so shocked that, "his chief captains durst not attack the Nephites..." because, "Moronihad altered the management of affairs among the Nephites, insomuch that the Lamanites... could not comeupon them."51
48 Alma 49:749 Alma 49:850 Alma 49:951 Alma 49:11I asked Paul if he thought it was possible to create a similar plan. I asked him if he was willing tosacrifice everything it would take to make a plan that made failure impossible. I assured him itcould be done. But, like the Nephites, he would have to "alter the management of affairs" of his lifein order to accomplish this. Moroni's plan involved a tremendous amount of work and preparation.It involved the surrender of a great deal of freedom and comfort in the short term. But it alsopromised complete safety. After the Lamanites inflicted their worst on the Nephites, we read that,"the Nephites had all power over their enemies," such that "there was not a single soul of theNephites which was slain."52I told Paul that this would have to be his plan. I could teach him how to assemble the plan. But hewould have to be in charge of it. He would have to want it. And if at any time it appeared it wasmy plan and not his, I would immediately disengage and he would be on his own. I would not bepart of a half-measure strategy. But I would give every effort possible so long as his only goal wasvictory. He agreed. So far so good.Had he equivocated, I would have offered modest help to help him find a shelter or some socialservices, but would have done nothing to support a half-hearted plan.Moroni's Three Defenses: earth, stone and men.Next Paul and I backed up to study Moroni's preparations for the attack. Now that we knew theresults were worth the incredible investment of effort and temporary sacrifice of freedom, weexamined his strategy. It's packed pretty tightly into two verses. I pointed out three things Moronidid to neutralize Amalickiah's [Satan's] huge advantage:
1. ... erecting small forts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about toenclose his armies2. ... building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders oftheir lands; yea, all round about the land.3. And in their weakest fortifications he did place the greater number of men... 53
I find three different resources suggested in Moroni's approach, all of which play different roles indefending us when we're weaker than the enemy.
First, is a combination of forts and earth—both of which serve the same purpose. The purpose ofthe banks of earth is to put distance between us and the enemy. The first thing Paul needed was aplan to put as much physical distance as possible between himself and any sources of temptation.It's a lot of work and a lot of bother to do this, but if you do it well enough the earth and forts willbe "so high that the Lamanites could not cast their stones and their arrows at them that they mighttake effect."54 Paul and I discussed all the ways Satan could find his way to him and how he wouldbuild so much distance between himself and these sources that they could not take effect. Forexample:
52 Alma 49:2353 Alma 48:8-954 Alma 49:4 • I will cut off contact with every friend from my past for 60 days—even those who were not themselves temptations, but who are connected to those who are. I will associate only with family.
• I will have no cell phone—when I have any phone a call can come at any weak moment and start mythoughts running the wrong way.• I will shut down my MySpace account. Anyone can make contact with you anywhere on earth throughsocial networking and draw you back into the same peer group.• I will list all the places I will stay in and all those I will not go near in order to keep myself distantfrom temptation.
55 Deuteronomy 32:1556 Ephesians 2:2057 Psalms 18:258 Moses 7:53powerful warriors in these places to protect the vulnerable. Paul did the same. He created a planinvolving his most faithful allies who would defend him to the death—people who, like Moroni,"had sworn an oath to defend his people... even to the loss of his blood.59He thought of ways to surround himself with those who had better aspirations. He made sure thattrusted people knew that he was trying to recover from addiction and encouraged themto challenge him if he seemed to be rationalizing his way into problems. He got a jobthat surrounded him with fine and positive people. He reported to me every night about his dayand any tempting thoughts or situations he faced. He positioned his priesthood leaders and returnmissionary friends in his life in ways that increased their influence and distanced him from unrighteousmen.When he had completed his plan I asked him to examine it. As he reviewed the strategy I askedhim to consider, "If you put all this in place, will you be completely safe during this period of intensefighting?"Prior to this conversation he had seemed worried, anxious, and even gloomy about his prospects after somuch prior failure. But now, looking over his strategy, he was overcome with a different feeling.He felt hope. He looked at all the elements of his plan and answered, "If I do this, I will win. Wewill win."
I find that the best way to learn from the scriptures is to keep the symbols clear and consistent. Forexample, in my reading, I concluded that the Nephites represented my loved one who had given himselfto bondage. Amalickiah (and later Ammoron) represented Satan. Who, then, are the Lamanites? They arethe temptations—the forces Satan uses to impose his will on us. They could represent the drugs, theimpulses, the weaknesses, or the misguided friends that Satan deploys to manipulate us into surrenderingour agency to him.
One of Paul's big challenges once he tired of bondage was to develop a strategy to deal with the force ofthese temptations. Moroni's strategy was to use work.
Immediately after Moroni captured an enormous Lamanite army in the Battle of Mulek, he put them towork. He concluded the best way to keep them from plotting, colluding or getting into mischief was totire them out. The same is true of an addict. Idle hands truly are the Devil's playthings. Busy hands arehealthy hands. So "after the Lamanites had finished burying their dead and also the dead of theNephites... Moroni, caused that they should commence laboring in digging a ditch round about...Bountiful.60 Why? Well, I'm sure Moroni wanted the ditch. But he
59 Alma 48:1360 Alma 53:3also understood, "it was easy to guard them while at their labor."61 The best way to eliminate destructiveimpulses is to redirect them—into work. Hard work.Even after Many Lamanite prisoners defected to the Nephite side, Moroni knew that they would not trulychange their character until they changed their habits. One of the problems with addictions is that theydiminish one's capacity to do the hard work required to solve life's problems. So the most direct therapyone can employ to build atrophied will power is work.And that's the kind of therapy Moroni offered them. In the crucial early days of their conversion, "all theprisoners of the Lamanites did join the people of Ammon, and did begin to labor exceedingly, tilling theground, raising all manner of grain, and flocks and herds of every kind; and thus were the Nephites relievedfrom a great burden; yea, insomuch that they were relieved from all the prisoners of the Lamanites."62 Hardwork turned tempters into helpers.One of the most potent parts of Paul's most recent plan has been a positive work plan. He committed towork from 8-5 every day. In the evenings he had a structured work schedule including vigorous physicalexercise five days a week, reading time, Institute attendance, and so on. It was important that the planinvolve things he enjoyed doing. But they needed to be productive things he enjoyed doing.Again, Paul's goal was to create a plan that would keep him safe for 60 days. After that he would begin toadjust it to gradually return by degrees to normalcy. But in the short term the solitary goal was safety. Hewanted to prove to himself that he was capable of maintaining sobriety for a longer period of time than hehad done for quite a while. And with that confidence in the spiritual and personal muscle he wasacquiring, he would then begin taking back "cities" he had lost. For now, the goal was not to regain all hislost land, but rather to stop the losses.The combination of earth, stone, men and work are a potent way of doing so.
61 Alma 53:562 Alma 62:29Even these challenges might sound surmountable except that no one is less equipped to dealpatiently with such extended growth processes than an addict. Addiction is Satan's perfect planfor sapping a person's capacity for patience. It is an easy off ramp from the road to progress—and taken too often causes the soul's muscle to atrophy through disuse.
So here's Paul, two months into a new life, sometimes feeling lonely, incompetent and illequipped to endure the process patiently until he is free from the consequences of five years ofchoices. In short, he's at constant risk for falling back into familiar escapes.
Enter Moroni. No one has more authority to testify that deliverance is a process than Moroni.Every time Moroni would muster up a bit of Nephite resolve to fight for freedom, some of themwould stare at the enormity of the war and lose their nerve. One of Moroni's toughest challengeswas recruiting—at his lowest point he laments that they aren't receiving the food, troops and armamentsthey know are available. 63 The irony of a campaign to free an addict—or captive—is that theyneed the most motivation at the times things are the least hopeful. They need to muster up morefood, troops and armaments at the time when they most despair of the campaign's futility.Moroni had the most difficult time recruiting at the time that he most needed recruits.
So how do you maintain hope during the low times of a thirteen year war? You use tendermercies not final deliverance as a measure of God's commitment to you.
If you look intentionally for the interim miracles in the war, you build the faith and characternecessary to enable the ultimate miracle—a complete change of heart. But be warned, Godknows better when you are ready for the ultimate miracle than you do. If getting what you wantto have is more important than becoming who He wants you to be, you will ultimately achieveneither.So patience is the key. And patience can be built by developing the skill of gratitude.
Gratitude is the best inoculation against despair and impatience. For example, here's Helamancounting the dead at the end of one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war. He examines thebutchered body of his dear friend and fellow leader, Antipus. Almost all of his captains havelikewise fallen along with thousands of their troops. 64 Helaman is surveying the remains of hisbrethren and, with great trepidation, asks for a body count of his teenage heroes—the StriplingWarriors. He braces against the depressing news he knows he'll receive. Be it 100 or 1000 dead—he can hardly bear any more loss. 65 On hearing the number, he must have asked for it to berepeated more than once before he dared believe it: zero. Absolutely none of his "sons" had died.
So, Helaman tells us, that sitting in the midst of terrible carnage, he feels "great joy." 66 His heartswells with gratitude that "not one soul of them had fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought asif with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous
63 Alma 60:2, 3, 564 Alma 56:5165 Alma 56:5566 Alma 56:56strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; andfor this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war."67Somehow, even in the midst of continual struggle, Helaman says it's possible to feel great joy. It'spossible because Helaman is intentionally watchful for interim miracles that build his faith and patiencefor the ultimate miracle of deliverance.Paul has done a good job watching for interim miracles, too. He counts his blessings. He looks for thehand of the Lord in small blessings given along the way.When the larger picture still looks dim, it takes active effort to look for the smaller miracles. But they arealways there. In the midst of our afflictions God always holds our hands, brings comfort, and offers hope.We must always remember His goal is not to give us a certain quality of life; it is to prepare us for eternallife. The measure of His love for us is not "how things are" but "who He helps us become." He cannotdeliver us until He makes us into the kind of person who is fit for freedom. And freedom is a quality ofcharacter not of circumstance.Knowing this, He generously offers hope and encouragement along the way in the form of tender mercies.But we have to want to see them in order to witness their abundance. If we demand that God show up in theform of a blessing we crave right now, we'll miss His perfect affection along the way.Helaman gives us another great example of watching for tender mercies. After some wonderful militarysuccesses he has overextended his armies. They have recaptured some crucial cities but have far too fewresources to maintain them in the face of an aggressive enemy. The Nephites watch with mounting worryas the Lamanites receive "great strength from day to day, and also many provisions."68 In contrast,Helaman and his men are starving.69 They wonder why Lamanites who are hundreds of miles from homecan be so well supplied when he and his men are famished in the middle of their own country. A smallration arrives which leaves him resentful that, "this is all the assistance which we did receive, to defendourselves and our country from falling into the hands of our enemies, yea, to contend with an enemy whichwas innumerable.70At this point, Helaman could very easily give up. He could feel resentful that God, his leaders, his friendsand others aren't giving him what he deserves right now. But Helaman knows how to get through thesediscouraging times. He turns to God for tender mercy."Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of thehands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and ourpossessions, for the support of our people."71And as He always does, God answered.
ibid 68 Alma 58:5 69 Alma 58:7 70 Alma 58:8 71 Alma 58:10"Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliverus; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and didcause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him."72
Notice, He doesn't send food. He doesn't send guns. He doesn't send troops. Although Helamanwould have loved any of these. Instead, he sends hope. For which Helaman is grateful. Gratitude fortender mercies is the most potent inoculation against despair.
Helaman's intentional gratitude infused him and his men with hope. "And we did take couragewith our small force which we had received, and were fixed with a determination to conquer ourenemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and thecause of our liberty."73
Paul isn't the only one who has been sustained by tender mercies. Father has lovingly encouraged mywife and me over the years through talks, testimonies, and many small miracles. He's sent angelsfrom both sides of the veil to minister to Paul, protect him from harm and awaken him to his peril.For example, the snowy night when I dropped Paul off at Wal-Mart, I remember pulling off to theside of the road and praying. I pleaded with God to watch over my boy. I begged him to sendangels to protect him from any misery that would not serve him. I placed him in the care of theGood Shepherd. And, like Helaman, I felt peace. I received a witness that God loved my boy andthat He would watch over him as only He knew how. I knew that angels would be deployed asneeded and that while the road could be painful and long, He would not give up. So I tookcourage with my "small force" because I knew that with Him nothing was impossible.
I drove home and shared these feelings with my wife. Within an hour we received a phone call. Acouple from Texas was staying at a hotel near Wal-Mart and saw Paul in his pathetic condition.They bought him a hamburger and talked with him to find out his situation. On learning his namethey called the police to see if he was in some kind of trouble. In addition, they looked up his lastname in the local phone book and attempted to track down his family. I knew it was the voice ofan angel when I heard the man say into the phone, "I just want you to know your boy is okay.He's pretty scared and pretty cold. I guess he's on his way to jail, but at least he'll be safe. He's anice young man and we pray this will help him straighten out."
When things are tough and we're not ready for deliverance, God always sends help.When you lack courage, He may send 2000 teenage warriors.74While your choices may bring you injury, he may keep your injuries from killing you. 75When you're too weak to fight, sometimes He slows down the enemy.76When you're lost and alone, sometimes He sends an angel from Texas.
72 Alma 58:1173 Alma 58:1274 Alma 56:15-1775 Alma 57:2576 Alma 56:18-19 6. React to relapse thoughtsMoroni has one central belief about bondage that carries through his entire campaign. It's a belief thatdrives his entire battle strategy. It's a principle that he risked everything to pursue. Any modem commanderwould think Moroni a fool for many of his most crucial decisions. But Moroni had perfect faith that if hewas true to this one idea, he and his people would ultimately be victorious. And they were.Moroni repeatedly tells us that the source of all the Nephite problems was not in their foes but in theirheads: "For were it not for the wickedness which first commenced at our head, we could have withstoodour enemies that they could have gained no power over us."77Of course, when Moroni refers to the "head" he is referring to political leadership. But the addictiveanalogy requires no translation. You can predict lost battles—both military and chemical—far inadvance by watching what happens in your head.As we've seen, the hunger for bondage comes long before the bondage itself. Three times Moroni findselements of the Nephites who want to enslave themselves to a king. And we've seen how he respondedimmediately to this distraction. But ultimate success depends not on us "Moronis" responding, but on theaddicts themselves learning 1) to spot danger signs far in advance; and 2) to react in ways that once againbanish these thoughts.Not all of these "head" problems point the addict directly at relapse. In other words, Satan may not try toget Paul by presenting him with heroin. Instead, he presents him with secondary temptations that weakenhis spirit in order to make them vulnerable again to their old demons.Alma tells us about four kinds of secondary temptations. He testifies that Nephite bondage alwaysbegan with, "their quarrellings and their contentions, yea, their murderings, and their plunderings,their idolatry, their whoredoms, and their abominations..." which resulted ultimately in "their wars andtheir destructions."78Moroni's history shows that when Satan can't get you directly back into bondage, he'll work on youindirectly through quarrels, anger, greed and lust. Once you succumb to these temptations you getdisconnected from the Spirit. And the instant you drift from the Spirit you'll find that your addictivetemptations will flare again and you'll be easy prey for the old offer of bondage.For example, things were going along just fine in Nephite lands in the 21st year of the reign of the judges.In fact, "there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi, since the days of Nephi, than in thedays of Moroni ..."79 Then a quarrel breaks out between the lands of Lehi and Morianton over some beachfront property.80 It sounds like the equivalent of my kids arguing over who gets to sit by the door in the carand who has to sit on the dreaded hump in the middle. Just as happens in our back seat, the fight escalatesuntil "the people of Morianton took up arms
77 Alma 60:15 78 Alma 50:21 79 Alma 50:23 80 Alma 50:25against their brethren, and they were determined by the sword to slay them." 81 The peopleof Morianton are so "stubborn" 82 and proud that rather than admit their error they abandontheir beautiful city and head for Desolation. Moroni knows that having an enemy on hisNorthern frontier would mean death to the Nephites, so he attempts to intervene. By thistime Morianton and his people would rather fight to the death than admit they were wrong.And that's exactly what they do—they go to war against Moroni's full army.83
He had a little money in his pocket from his new job. He was feeling happier andmore confident. He believed the bad years were behind him. Then he got into a fight with hisyounger brother. The pattern was painfully familiar. Timothy had been talking nonstop andPaul was getting frustrated about not having a turn to make a comment. At first Paul waspatient. Then he fumed. And as the minutes wore on he wore down. Finally he erupted with asarcastic comment. Timothy exploded. My wife corrected Paul for his rudeness. He tookoffense at her correcting him because we "always favor Timothy." And with that, he startedmaking plans to head to Desolation.Now, it was not his plan to go use drugs. But I'm confident if he had followed through withhis plan, his refusal to repent would have made him vulnerable to other temptations and hewould have been back into his addiction in short order.
His plan was simply to leave home. He rationalized that "I'm an adult, I should be living onmy own anyway" ignoring the fact that leaving meant he was abandoning his 60-daydefensive plan and heading outside of his protected area. In his stubbornness, he refused toadmit his wrong and yelled that "I can't help getting angry at Timothy when he acts like that.When he does that I'm going to hit him! That's just how I react." Yes, he was on his way toDesolation.
But fortunately for Paul, he was attentive to this warning sign. He knew that his problemsbegan in his head and that quarrels were one of the methods Satan used to get him to puthimself in vulnerable circumstances. Moroni was convinced that the way Morianton wasdealing with his quarrel could have "consequences would lead to the overthrow of theirliberty."84 And in fact, it did. Within months after the Morianton squabble the Lamanitesattacked deep into Nephite lands.
Paul responded differently. He noticed his anger and recognized it as a fast track tovulnerability. He returned to his family and apologized. He opened a frank conversation that led toa better accommodation between us, him and his brother. He returned from the road toDesolation back to his home.
Satan is clever. Like Amalickiah he senses when our quarrels, anger, greed and lust make usvulnerable to his attacks. He times his campaigns around our indulgence in these weaknesses.Sometimes it's when we surrender to our pride in our quarrels with friends and loved ones.Other times it's when we become angry and impatient at life's challenges. For some it's giving in to 81 Alma 50:2682 Alma 50:3583 Alma 50:3584 Alma 50:32greed by neglecting spiritual commitments. For others it's the lure of lust that separates us from the Spirit.One way or another, you can count on Satan appealing to any weakness you have in order to get you tohead away from home toward Desolation so he can destroy your liberty.Knowing this in advance, you'd be wise to identify the ways Satan will do this to you and learn to identifyyour emotions for what they are when they happen. They are problems in the head. And all bondage beginsthere.
"What I learned," he said, "is that this is a lie. I learned over time that if I can just distract myself for 15 minutes, the impulse would either disappear or diminish to the point that I could handle it easily. I just needed to have two or three easy ways of distracting myself for that amount of time." So that's what he learned to do. When it was possible, he would drop down and do a few sets of pushups and situps. In other situations he would breathe deeply for a few minutes. He would likewise recite a scripture that had deep meaning for him. "It was remarkable how quickly my emotions could change. Whereas a few minutes earlier I felt this awful force that I was convinced would clutch at me until I succumbed, just 5 minutes later I realized I could create different emotions that completely replaced that deceptive threat."
When I understand that war against addiction requires skill, I become much more patient and careful in the repentance process. We know, for example, about the miraculous preservation of the Stripling Warriors in the first battle of Antiparah. But a closer reading helps us realize that Helaman also put the unskilled youths into the least risky role in the plan. 85 They were to simply act as decoys. Helaman understood that he had to match risk with skill, and that "we were not sufficiently strong to contend with them; yea, I would not suffer that my little sons should fall into their hands." 86 In the end, the young soldiers were thrown into the bloody fray, but Helaman did so only when it was clear there was no alternative.
It is pure foolishness for an addict to assume that some powerful spiritual convictions are enough to empower them to conquer years of habit. A wise plan puts defense first, then in deliberate and measured ways exposes him to increased risk in a way that allows for retreat if problems occur. When the stripling warriors emerged from the safety of Judea, they were to stay a measured distance from the seasoned Lamanite soldiers. Was it risky? Yes. But it was an incremental risk. The stripling warriors may not have been as good at fighting as the Lamanites, but they were as good at running. So that was their role." And it came to pass that we did flee before them, northward. And thus we did lead away the most powerful army of the Lamanites."87
If you follow Moroni's entire campaign, you can see that he was neither impatient nor proud about his goals. For the first few years his goal was simply to stop the losses. 88 He tried to keep the Lamanites from making any further progress by strengthening Nephites behind their defenses. It's not until the 10 th year that Moroni holds a council of war and plans to help the Nephites take back their lives. 89 He does so in measured, careful ways that don't put them at risk of losing all they've protected. A good war plan for recovery from addiction should do the same thing. It should allow for a significant period of time where the sole goal is safety. You should hide behind your defenses and build up your strength—period. And then you should begin to venture out in calculated ways to try to regain your freedoms—but with a plan for retreat should problems occur. 85 Alma 56:30-3986 Alma 56:3987 Alma 56:3688 Alma 51:28-Alma 52:1489 Alma 52:19And if problems occur, be sure you use them as a powerful source of skill building. Relapse is not the end;of the world. Rather, it should be the beginning of learning. If you lose some of your men—as happened toMoroni—you should stop and reassess your plan. You should increase your skill. You should measure yourrisks more accurately—did you rush into freedom too quickly? You should examine your thoughts todiscover the patterns that predicted and created the relapse: Did you indulge in quarrels, greed, anger or lustin ways that separated you from the Spirit? You should identify the very specific strengths you need towork on that will make you a more skillful warrior in this long campaign.Moroni faced "relapse" many times. But rather than give up, he got smarter. He studied the root cause ofthe problems and adjusted his plan. Usually the root causes lay in things the Nephites were doing and as wesaw earlier, when that was the case, he confronted and addressed those internal problems. Because he waswilling to learn from every setback and deal aggressively with the real problems, eventually theNephites gained great power. After Moroni's fourth battle with recalcitrant Nephites, he began to see thefruits of his labors. It's a beautiful and hopeful description for anyone who wonders if they can ever get freefrom bondage to Satan. Listen to it carefully because it is full of promise for every one of us who struggleswith sin. "And he did raise the standard of liberty in whatsoever place he did enter, and gained whatsoever force he could in all his march towards the land of Gideon. And it came to pass that thousands did flock unto his standard, and did take up their swords in the defense of their freedom, that they might not come into bondage. And thus, when Moroni had gathered together whatsoever men he could in all his march, he came to the land of Gideon; and uniting his forces with those of Pahoran they became exceedingly strong, even stronger than the men of Pachus, who was the king of those dissenters who had driven the freemen out of the land of Zarahemla and had taken possession of the land."90If we fight in God's way, we will win. It will be difficult. But the very difficulty is designed to make of usthe kind of people suited for freedom. Recovery from addiction is a process of becoming not just arriving.Make no mistake, blood will be spilled. Regaining your freedom is a cruel, brutal slog. Even the perfectlyfaithful stripling warriors suffered great injuries in the Battle of Cumeni:"... there were two hundred...who had fainted because of the loss of blood... neither was there one soul among them who had not receivedmany wounds."91But if we fight His way, the conclusion is also sure: "and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of ourwhole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish..."92Which leads me to my final testimony. I do not yet understand how the following statement is true. At thispoint I simply know that it is. I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is a sealing power. And to faithfulparents this sealing makes unconditional promises. It does not violate the agency of our wandering ones, butthere is an inexorable, powerful and undeniable force that ensures that these children will be somehow,someday back in the arms of their anxious, aching,
90 Alma 62:4-691 Alma 57:2592 ibidworried but worthy parents. I testify with Lorenzo Snow that, "in the next life we will have our wives, andour sons and daughters. If we do not get them all at once, we will have them some time, for every kneeshall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Christ. You that are mourning about yourchildren straying away will have your sons and your daughters...," President Snow continues, "This is justas sure as that the sun rose this morning over yonder mountains. Therefore, mourn not because all yoursons and daughters do not follow in the path that you have marked out to them... Inasmuch as we... standas saviors... we will save our posterity."93
Moroni's campaign took thirteen years. Ours may take more. In fact, in some difficult circumstances, asPresident Snow suggests, the campaign may extend into the next life. But the sealing power of Christ'sAtonement is the most potent force in the universe and will not be robbed. We must fight. Just as Moroni,we are imperfect saviors. But if we stand as saviors on mount Zion, we will be joined by a Savior whowill ultimately give us victory and give us our children.Let us take up the title of liberty "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace,our wives, and our children."94 Let us fight to become the kind of people who can lead our children tofreedom.
93 Lorenzo Snow, The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.195
94 Alma 46:12Appendix - The BattlesOf 19 battles, five are internal battles—in Moroni's mind, these internal battles are the central cause of all ofthe problems. In 6 battles Nephites win without a single loss of life. Of 13 battles between Nephites andLamanites, in 10 the Nephites are victorious. In 3 they lose
What do we learn from the wins and losses? Certainly there were more battles than this—why these?
Alma chapters 45-46 – Amalickiah conspires to be king. Moroni leads a political battle then captains an attackon Amalickiah in which he flees to the Lamanites. Treason is punished with death (46:35). Few deny thecovenant of freedom.
Alma chapter 49 – Lamanites attack w/o Amalickiah. Not a single soul lost (49:23). Nephites have allpower over their enemies.
Alma chapter 50 – Morianton dissents after conflict with city of Lehi over land rights. Teancum chasesthem and kills Morianton. Peace restored. 50:35-36.
Alma chapter 51 –King-men try political change and fail (7). Then they rebel and are compelled through forceto support law (15-20). Many are slain in battle while the Lamanites converge on Nephite lands.
Alma chapter 51:22-37. Lamanites take many cities (51:26). They are stopped in their progress byTeancum but not before they conquer many cities. Teancum assassinates Amalickiah.
Alma chapter 52--Many are slain on both sides. Moroni retakes Mulek through clever strategy.Jacob, a Lamanite commander, is killed.
Alma chapter 53:8-9 – Loss of cities on the West due to dissension (not major detailed battle). The Nephites'weak forces put them in danger. The Stripling Warriors volunteer and provide great hope.
Alma chapter 56--Antipus and Helaman defeat much larger Lamanite army – no loss of Stripling warriors.Antipus and many chief captains (56:51) and Nephite soldiers killed.
Alma chapter 57--The city is retaken with no bloodshed—Lamanites flee (57:4). (57:12) The city is retakenwith no bloodshed.
Alma chapter 57:17-36. Gid had been taking prisoners to Zarahemla. When they heard of battle they roseup and overpowered Gid who then returned and saved the day just in time. No loss of StriplingWarriors. But 200 of the Stripling Warriors are wounded.
Alma chapter 58—Helaman, Gid and Teomner take the city by superior knowledge of geography draw themout and leave small forces to take city, then circle back. No loss of blood (58:28)
Alma chapter 59—Nephihah is lost because of conflict in the central government which keepreinforcements from being sent.
Alma chapter 61—Pacus is appointed king of the Nephites by a Kingmen faction. He makes a pact withLamanites. Zarahemla lost and Pahoran government goes into exile.Alma chapter 62:1-11—Kingmen insurrection is put down. Many rebels are killed and the legalgovernment is restored. The treason laws are strictly enforced.
Alma chapter 62:14-16 – Many Lamanite prisoners are taken, all covenant to become Ammonites (not a lotof detail).
Alma chapter 62:18-26—Moroni breaches the wall and lets in armies by night. Not one soul lost (26).Lamanite prisoners all join Ammonites (27-30).
Alma chapter 62:30-37—Lamanites flee Lehi and other cities then consolidate into one army. Teancumassassinates Ammoron. Moroni attacks and Lamanites flee from land (39). The war ends.


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What you need to know about Section 230
Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman, Brian Sozzi, Myles Udland, and Alexis Keenan discuss Section 230 ahead of today's big tech hearing.
Video Transcript
JULIE HYMAN: The Senate Committee on the Judiciary is set to begin a hearing where they're going to examine Section 230 once again. This is the law that essentially makes it OK for various social media platforms to have all kinds of content on their sites. And there are different laws governing them then govern traditional media. But I'm not explaining it very well. So let me bring in Alexis Keenan, because she will do a much better job of it. Alexis, what do we need to know about this law and why it's being scrutinized?
ALEXIS KEENAN: OK, Julie, sure, so yeah-- and you got it there. This is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. This is the law that really made the internet what it is. It allows these platforms that host user generated content to go in and moderate what users post without the fear that they will have the type of liability that would attach to a company like ours, a media company, or a publisher, for that matter.
So this is actually the second time in the past month that these two CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, of Facebook and Twitter respectively, will face a congressional hearing to testify about this law. And it's really over that power that they wield, through this 230 law, that allows them to remove, amend, or just let a post stand. And so that power is under so much controversy these days. Because you have Republicans on one side, saying that they're not using this power correctly. Both sides, really, Republicans and Democrats, and folks in the middle, too, saying that the companies are misusing the power.
Liberals would like to see the power used more broadly, more aggressively, to take down content, while conservatives have argued that conservative viewpoints and thoughts-- speech, really, online-- is being taken down too aggressively. Now though today, the CEOs will be specifically asked to address their decisions to block an October 14 post by the New York Post. It's a story that was challenging President-elect Joe Biden and his representations that he made about his son Hunter Biden's Ukrainian business dealings.
Now Twitter has since said that it was wrong, their decision that they made to take down the URL of that post, to really block people from proliferating that story and sharing it online. Facebook took a similar action with that same story. But both CEOs here are expected today to really tout their moderation efforts, these policies that they've put in place to get information to people online, on their platforms, that can be relied upon. They'll be touting their efforts to get people out to vote and to make sure that the information that they're receiving online is as accurate as it can be.
$Now Twitter did share some advance notice of what its CEO Jack Dorsey plans to tell lawmakers today. One of his main points is that he does not believe that eliminating that 230 law will really address the concerns that lawmakers are going after here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Jason Mauza is an Award-winning sound editor for Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. Jason won Leo Award for 2 times: in 2004 for SG-1 and in 2009 for Stargate Atlantis.
Credits[edit | edit source]
Sound Editor[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
- Jason Mauza 's official profile on LinkedIn
- Jason Mauza on IMDb


text:
Have you seen this boy?
Police are seeking community assistance to help locate a 12-year-old boy missing from the Brisbane CBD since Tuesday (November 17).
The boy was last seen in King George Square at 8.45pm and has not been seen since.
Concerns are held for his safety and wellbeing due to his young age and he suffers medical conditions.
The boy is described as Aboriginal, 172cm tall with a solid build, short black hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact police.
If you have information for police, contact Policelink by providing information using the online suspicious activity form 24hrs per day at www.police.qld.gov.au/reporting or call 131 444.
You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, via crimestoppersqld.com.au 24hrs per day or call 1800 333 000.


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A Colorful Christmas! (Illumination's The Grinch)
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From Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures, Illumination presents Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, a new animated movie, is based on the Dr. Seuss classic about a grumpy Grinch who tries to steal Christmas! Boys and girls ages 3 to 7 will to love to release their creativity with tons of fun doodles and activities. Featuring 128 pages and a chunky rainbow pencil that writes in four different colors: red, blue, green, and yellow!
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text: kimsuinan00 0 Report post Posted November 10 Looking for the Best Budget Audiophile Headphones? . Replicating the sound of the live performance with the headphones is quite impossible some years ago. However, with the advancement in technology this is quite easy and effortlessly. Audiophile Headphones can easily replicate the sound. . Here are the Premium Quality Audiophile Headphones currently available in the market. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites