Overcoming Our Modern-day Secret Combinations

In the Book of Mormon, in chapters two through four of third Nephi, we read of the struggle that the Nephites had with the Gadianton Robbers. In 3 Nephi 2:8 we read, “…that it was the object of all those who belonged to his [Kishkumen’s] band to murder, and to rob, and to gain power, (and this was their secret plan and their combination)…” Today, we too have similar bands to deal with. Gangs can be found in diverse places around the world, and they too can be described as having the objective to murder, and to rob, and to gain power. Most recently we have had to deal with the aftermath of such gang activity right here in our own neighborhoods. On January 21, near Kearns High School, 16 year old Esteban Saidi was shot in the abdomen, by fellow Kearns student Ricky Angilau. Saidi died later that night. The police have confirmed that the shooting was gang related, and that the gang situation all over the state has escalated. We are now facing a situation very similar to that of the Nephites, that we have modern-day secret combinations among us that pose a threat to the lives of our friends, neighbors, and family.
On Monday night, February 2, I had the opportunity to attend a town meeting that was held in the Kearns High Auditorium to address the gang problem. Many representatives of the Kearns and Salt Lake County communities were there to speak to us on how to heal our community. One of the speakers, a representative from an organization of Latino and Pacific Islanders against gang violence said, "This incident has the broken the silence in our community, the silence of us pretending that nothing's wrong." Many of us around our community have sat on the sidelines of an ever growing gang problem, and like the ancient Israelites, have said that there was no problem. Well, like those ancient Israelites who said that Jerusalem would not be destroyed, many of our community have been wrong, and have chosen not to see that the gang problem is destroying our communities here. It is time for us to no longer ignore what is going on around us, and we must take action in eliminating these modern –day secret combinations.
In Monday night’s meeting, Sheriff Jim Winder said, "We as human beings must take control of our individual circumstances." I have great pride of being a member of the Kearns community. In the past, I have had the opportunity to tell people where I was from. Many people, upon hearing that I was from Kearns, commented on the gang issues that we have had here. They asked what it was like to attend Kearns High School, with all the gangs. I was glad to tell them that a lot of what they had heard concerning gang activity at Kearns High was untrue. It remained true until this past January 21. Before, I would describe a place with a great cultural diversity. Here in Kearns, we have people of many different walks of life. We have people from South and Central America and Mexico. We have people from Samoa, Tonga, and other Pacific Islands. We have Asians, and we have Caucasians. I was able to tell them that Kearns High was a school that was able to take in all these many varied cultures, and blend them together peacefully.
I enjoyed my time there at Kearns High, and I never had fear that I would be caught in the crossfire of rivaling gangs. Since the time that I left Kearns High, I have had two younger brothers walk its halls. One of them was able to finish his time there without incident, but my youngest brother became so scared of the conditions there that he left the school to continue his education at home. Monday night was the first time that he returned to the school since leaving, and when the meeting was over, he ran from the building, trying to escape the bad memories that he had there. I wonder how a school and a community can change in such a short period of time. It only took two years for the conditions to deteriorate to what they are now.
How might we as members of the community of Kearns, of Salt Lake County, and of the State of Utah fix these problems that have become so rampant among us? How might we rid us of the fear to walk our neighborhood streets at night, and how might we make our schools safe again? If we search the scriptures, we will find the answers to such questions. Continuing the story in 3 Nephi, we find out that the Nephites, when facing the bands of robbers, grouped together. First, they formed alliances with the righteous Lamanites. There are many good people in our community. Many people who desire the same safety for themselves and their families as we do for ours. There are many people whose ideals have not sunk into the depths of depravity. We must join together with these people. We must put past us the boundary lines of religion or culture. Many people feel intimidated when they approach a Latin American store, or when they enter another religion’s meeting house. I can say that there are many good people from South America. I know that with personal experience. Don’t let the language be a barrier. Many of them know English, and would gladly talk with you. They don’t only because they feel alienated by those who don’t talk to them. I also can say by personal experience that there are good people who belong to the LDS Church, or the Catholic Church, or the Lutheran Church, or the Baptist Church, or the Methodist Church, or those who belong to no church at all. We must not let the fact that a person is not like us make it impossible for us to be friends. I fear that here in Utah, many people judge too soon, and lose out on opportunities of making good friends, just because someone doesn’t go to their church or speaks another language.
Another way that the Nephites fought against the robbers is that they gathered together their provisions and came together in one place, a stronghold, to withstand the robber’s onslaught. We may pull together all our resources and become a community that is active in the lives of its neighbors. There are many activities and organizations that will provide an alternative to our youth to joining a gang. There are they after school programs that involve such things as sports, or band, or dance, or other academic pursuits. There are also non-academic activities that can be an alternative to gang activity. Youth today can join the Boy Scout and Girl Scout programs, enjoy many activities that are held at the local libraries, and can read books or go the local theater to watch a movie. There are many fun activities, but none should replace the role of the parent. The role of a parent is vital in any community. The family is the basic building block of any community, and parents lie at the head of a family. In The Family: A Proclamation to the World, we read such things as “The family is ordained of God.” and “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.” If a parent or parents were to fail in their duty to teach their children how to live good lives, abiding by the law, and to fail in spending time with their children, it would prove to be the downfall of our civilization. If a parent does not teach to his or her children what he or she wants taught to them, they must expect that they children may learn something else from the world. In today’s world, no parent can take such a risk if they want their children to grow up to be good, law-abiding citizens. It can be as simple as a talk on the way to school or at the dinner table. Just don’t sit around and hope that they are good people. Help them to be good people. Help them with their homework. Take them on a family vacation, or sit down with them to talk. Most importantly, be a friend to them. If a child calls a parent their friend, it is unlikely that they will head down the wrong path.
Finally, in order to block out the influence of gangs and violence in our community, we need to figuratively come together in one place to keep out those who would do us harm. We do not need to literally build up walls to keep out evil from us, but if we can eliminate from us such evils as racism, pride, conceitedness, and greed, we can stop much of what there is. We must replace these things with love, brotherhood, service and humbleness. Most of all, we need to be aware of what is going on around us, and not sit idly by and watch our community fail. Stand up and make a difference. Take a step towards a brighter future and become involved in the community you care about. We cannot say that we don’t have time to do something when we spend three or more hours in front of the television a day. Many of us have the time to act, and we must act. As for the Nephites, doing such things eventually ended the danger that the robbers posed to them. They destroyed the Gadianton Robbers from among them. We read in 3 Nephi 4:33, “And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction.” I know that we can overcome our modern-day Gadianton Band, and that we can have peace among us, but we must come together. I pray that we can. God bless you all.

The Testimony of Stewart M. Davenport

I am very grateful for my life. I have had many blessings given to me, and I am grateful for the Gospel in my life. I was born to loving parents, who were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, and was raised in a home in which I was taught to read the scriptures and to love the Lord. I was taught to love my neighbors, and to give service to others always. I cannot say that I have always had a testimony in the Church, or in its many teachings. However, I relied upon my parents testimony until the desire to know for myself naturally came to me, about the age of twelve or thirteen. I began to pay more attention to what was being taught to me, and I tried to understand it all. Of course, one cannot understand every aspect of the Gospel at that age, but I strove to gain an understanding that I was capable of. I trusted my parents and church leaders, believing that they were caring and loving people, and that they would not lead me astray. I began to study the scriptures on my own, reading mainly in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I found a harmony in what was taught in the two books. I did not receive a strong manifestation of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, nor of the Church, right away. Rather, I began to receive it a little at a time, and I found myself hungering after it more and more as time went along. When I began to attend Seminary when I was in the ninth grade, we were studying the Book of Mormon. It felt natural to begin my Seminary studies with it, and I was eager to learn about it. It wasn't until that year in Seminary that I read the entire Book of Mormon. I began to read it, and was pleased with my understanding, (which was, what I thought at the time, very good). I enjoyed reading it. I was reading late one Friday night, in about the middle of the Book of Alma. I found it difficult to put the book down, and continued reading to the very early hours of the morning, while my younger brother slept on the top bunk. I found it so hard to put the book down that I finished the book that night. Afterwards, I pondered on what Moroni had said, inviting me to ask for a knowledge of it myself. I did as he had said, and knelt down in prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to know if the Book of Mormon were true, if the Church was true, and if Joseph Smith was a true Prophet. Up to that moment in my life, I had always had the misconception, as do many others, that I would have a grand moment of understanding and that I would have a great vision manifesting the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon unto me. Boy, was I wrong. I did not receive any great vision with angels or of any other like revelation. Rather, I began to feel, starting ever so small within my heart, a love for the book, and for the Church, and for Joseph Smith. But greater than all of these was my love for the Savior. I then knew, like the book had promised, that Jesus Christ really was my Savior, and that he had lived, died, and was resurrected for me, and for all mankind. I did not understand everything about the Atonement, nor did I gain a moderate understanding of how it worked until later years, but I knew then, even with my limited youthful knowledge, that it was true. Over time, my testimony began to get stronger, and began to influence my choices. I knew what the Lord desired of me, and I eventually chose to serve a mission. I was very excited the day that my call came to serve in the Spain, Malaga Mission. I very much loved the opportunity that I had to be there, and I look back on it often, and I will always be grateful for my experiences there. My understanding seemed to explode while I served. I began to better comprehend things that I never understood before. I also came to see how great the Atonement of Jesus Christ really was, how marvelous it was that one man could suffer for all the sins of, not only this world, but all the worlds that our Heavenly Father has created, does now create, and will create. I marvel that it is possible. I don't understand how it is, but I do know that it is, and I will be ever grateful for that. While on my mission, both my grandmother and my father died. My father died just five weeks before it was time for me to return home. I was given the opportunity to return home for his funeral. I was told that if I chose to return home, I would not return to the mission field, due to how close it was to my release date. It became the hardest decision that I have been faced with to this day. I wanted to go home, but I also knew the desires of my father, that I remain in the mission to finish, him having had the forethought to tell me that he wanted me to stay, in the event of such a situation. I struggled for many hours late into the night, prayerfully trying to decide if I should return home early to attend his funeral. I eventually chose to stay, honoring what I knew he wanted. It has since come to be a blessing in my life. I was blessed with the strength that I needed to finish my mission. I was even happy that I chose to stay, and I know that I pleased both my earthly father, and my Father in Heaven. When I returned home five weeks later, I met my mother and two younger brothers at the airport. It was a bittersweet reunion. I expected to have a hard time adjusting to life without my father at home, but I have found that knowing I will see him again, and that I am eternally sealed to him has helped me to continue to be strong. I am grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and what he did to make it possible for me to see my father again. I am also grateful for the knowledge of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know that Joseph Smith saw God and His son, Jesus Christ, and that he was called to restore Christ's Gospel. I know that he was, and still is a Prophet of God. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God, and that he does receive revelation from God to guide us in these days. I again say, that I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and that it is through him that we are saved. I say this in his holy name, even Jesus Christ. Amen.