This is my friend and fellow Cook Doc Eberly receiving his HeroBand. He got it on August 30, 2008 and the cool thing about his HeroBand is that it was number 2008.

Today was a great Sunday. SFC Kluse and I had our own Sacrament meeting “High on the mountaintop” here at COP Malekshay (8200 Ft. elevation)
I opened with prayer and then we sang Redeemer of Israel and proceeded with the blessing and taking of the sacrament. For our lesson we went over the items that were emailed to us from Brother Wikle this week and then listened to a talk by John Bytheway entitled “Righteous Warriors” In this fireside Brother Bytheway does a great job in bringing out some key reasons of why the “War chapters” of the book of Alma are so important to our generation. Below are some of the key points that he touched on in his talk. I wanted to share them with you because of how this touched me because of where I currently find myself, here in the middle of a war zone. As I followed Brother Bytheway through these chapters I could relate to Moroni, Helaman, Teancum, Pahoran, and the 2000 Stripling Warriors. Their words describe well the pains and sacrifice that a warrior goes through as he works to defend life and liberty. These men were all men of God and what separated them from their enemy the Lamanites was their willingness to seek, understand and live God’s will at all times and in all things. We can learn so much from these amazing military men. The lessons we can learn through these chapters will help us all in our fight against Satan and the evils of today’s world.
Nephites vs. Lamanites
(See the “War Chapters” in Alma 43-62)
Here is a list that describes why the Nephites were successful in the war against the Lamanites
1.Preparation (Spiritual and Temporal)
2.Remembrance (Reminders of Covenants)
3.Hard Workers (Building fortifications)
4.Accepted responsibility for failures and gave gratitude to God for successes
5.Discernment (being aware of poisons i.e. Internet, movies, music, TV etc.)
6.Respect for life on both sides (for themselves as well as the lives of the Lamanites)
The Lamanites on the other hand are described as follows:
1.Distracted
2.Decoyed
3.Lured
4.Snared
5.Ambitious for power
6.Blood Thirsty (their leaders were)
7.They gave away their agency
8.Compromised one thing to get another and ended up getting nothing.

All of the “War Chapters” verify the promise of the Book of Mormon: “keep the commandments and ye will prosper in the land”. I want to close with an invitation that all of us may live each day “As the Army of Helaman” for we too “have been taught in our youth” to quote the primary song. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and know that we are blessed daily by our Father in Heaven when we obey his commandments and live by our covenants. Our Savior lives and taught us the only way back to our Father. May we all be strong in following his perfect example, is my prayer in his sacred name, Jesus Christ, Amen.