Helaman 11

 (All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20 green6/21 9/22  Brown 11/23.) 

CHAPTER 11

Nephi persuades the Lord to replace their war with a famine—Many people perish—They repent, and Nephi importunes the Lord for rain—Nephi and Lehi receive many revelations—The Gadianton robbers entrench themselves in the land. About 20–6 B.C.

  1 And now it came to pass in the seventy and second year of the reign of the judges that the contentions did increase, insomuch that there were wars throughout all the land among all the people of Nephi.
  2 And it was this ^asecret band of robbers who did carry on this work of destruction and wickedness. And this war did last all that year; and in the seventy and third year it did also last. They want the contention and stoke the fire to the point of war. But why? Surely some of them die when there is war...
  3 And it came to pass that in this year Nephi did cry unto the Lord, saying:
  4 O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword; but O Lord, rather ^alet there be a ^bfamine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee. In our day...will the civil war be followed by famine?
  5 And so it was done, according to the words of Nephi. And there was a great famine upon the land, among all the people of Nephi. And thus in the seventy and fourth year the famine did continue, and the work of destruction did cease by the sword but became sore by famine. What "work of destruction" will cease when our famine gets bad? Will we be grateful for that part of it? 
  6 And this work of destruction did also continue in the seventy and fifth year. For the earth was smitten that it was ^adry, and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; and the whole earth was smitten, even among the Lamanites as well as among the Nephites, so that they were smitten that they did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land. Thousands have to die before people start to connect the famine to their wickedness and start to repent. So sad, but true...
  7 And it came to pass that the people saw that they were about to perish by famine, and they began to ^aremember the Lord their God; and they began to remember the words of Nephi.
  8 And the people ^abegan to plead with their chief judges and their leaders, that they would say unto Nephi: Behold, we know that thou art a man of God, and therefore cry unto the Lord our God that he turn away from us this famine, lest all the words which thou hast spoken concerning our ^bdestruction be fulfilled.
  9 And it came to pass that the judges did say unto Nephi, according to the words which had been desired. And it came to pass that when Nephi saw that the people had ^arepented and did humble themselves in sackcloth, he cried again unto the Lord, saying:
 10 O Lord, behold this people repenteth; and they have swept away the band of Gadianton from amongst them insomuch that they have become extinct, and they have concealed their secret plans in the earth. Where is the record of this part? When did they destroy the SC?
 11 Now, O Lord, because of this their humility wilt thou turn away thine anger, and let thine anger be appeased in the destruction of those wicked men whom thou hast already destroyed. How were the righteous spared during this famine? 
 12 O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, yea, thy fierce anger, and cause that this famine may cease in this land.
 13 O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth ^arain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season of grain.
 14 O Lord, thou didst hearken unto ^amy words when I said, Let there be a famine, that the pestilence of the sword might cease; and I know that thou wilt, even at this time, hearken unto my words, for thou saidst that: If this people repent I will spare them. This holds true in our day as well.
 15 Yea, O Lord, and thou seest that they have repented, because of the famine and the pestilence and destruction which has come unto them.
 16 And now, O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, and try again if they will serve thee? And if so, O Lord, thou canst bless them according to thy words which thou hast said. This is a great example of making a case as you plead to the Lord
 17 And it came to pass that in the seventy and sixth year the Lord did turn away his anger from the people, and caused that ^arain should fall upon the earth, insomuch that it did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit. And it came to pass that it did bring forth her grain in the season of her grain.
 18 And behold, the people did rejoice and glorify God, and the whole face of the land was filled with rejoicing; and they did no more seek to destroy Nephi, but they did esteem him as a ^agreat prophet, and a man of God, having great power and authority given unto him from God.
 19 And behold, Lehi, his brother, was not a ^awhit behind him as to things pertaining to righteousness.
 20 And thus it did come to pass that the people of Nephi began to prosper again in the land, and began to build up their waste places, and began to multiply and spread, even until they did ^acover the whole face of the land, both on the northward and on the southward, from the sea west to the sea east.
 21 And it came to pass that the seventy and sixth year did end in peace. And the seventy and seventh year began in peace; and the ^achurch did spread throughout the face of all the land; and the more part of the people, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, did belong to the church; and they did have exceedingly great peace in the land; and thus ended the seventy and seventh year.
 22 And also they had peace in the seventy and eighth year, save it were a few contentions concerning the points of doctrine which had been laid down by the prophets. past or current?
 23 And in the seventy and ninth year there began to be much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many ^arevelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that they did put an end to their strife in that same year. Contention put down by truth. I love this verse. We all experience "strife" and find things about which we disagree with others. When these disagreements move us to have negative feelings of contention, anger, judgment, withdrawing, etc, we need to change something. But what? How? At some level, the strife is based on not agreeing about what is "true". So the first thing that must be accepted is that "truth" exists. That it does not change and is not created by man. If you can agree on that, then you can know that truth by revelation. Accept that revelation and your strife will be over. One cannot receive revelation while feeling the negative effects of "strife", so we must first work on our own hearts and humble ourselves and then unite with the other person in a quest for "truth". Truth only has One source, so you must inevitably come to the same answer. It will come through revelation.

Receiving Revelation: Power of the Holy Spirit) 

In the Bible Dictionary, under the heading "revelation" we find the following:

Divine revelation is one of the grandest concepts and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for without it, man could not know of the things of God and could not be saved with any degree of salvation in the eternities. Continuous revelation from God to His Saints, through the Holy Ghost or by other means, such as visions, dreams, or visitations, makes possible daily guidance along true paths and leads the faithful soul to complete and eternal salvation in the celestial kingdom. The principle of gaining knowledge by revelation is the principle of salvation. It is the making known of divine truth by communication with the heavens and consists not only of revelation of the plan of salvation to the Lord’s prophets but also a confirmation in the hearts of the believers that the revelation to the prophets is true. It also consists of individual guidance for every person who seeks for it and follows the prescribed course of faith, repentance, and obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. “The Holy Ghost is a revelator,” said Joseph Smith, and “no man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations” (HC 6:58). Without revelation, all would be guesswork, darkness, and confusion. In the Lord’s Church the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve are prophets, seers, and revelators to the Church and to the world. In addition, every person may receive personal revelation for his own benefit. It is contrary to the laws of God for any person to receive revelation for those higher in authority  

So how do you end strife? 
With Truth.
How do you know Truth?
Revelation.
How do you receive revelation?
Seek it. Have faith. Repent. Keep the commandments.
Repeat.
Daily.
Without revelation...
all
would be guesswork
darkness
confusion.

 24 And it came to pass that in the eightieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there were a certain number of the dissenters from the people of Nephi, who had some years before gone over unto the Lamanites, and taken upon themselves the name of Lamanites, and also a certain number who were real descendants of the Lamanites, being stirred up to anger by them, or by those dissenters, therefore they commenced a ^awar with their brethren.
 25 And they did commit murder and plunder; and then they would retreat back into the mountains, and into the wilderness and secret places, hiding themselves that they could not be discovered, receiving daily an addition to their numbers, inasmuch as there were dissenters that went forth unto them.
 26 And thus in time, yea, even in the space of ^anot many years, they became an exceedingly great band of robbers; and they did search out all the ^bsecret plans of Gadianton; and thus they became robbers of Gadianton.
 27 Now behold, these robbers did make great havoc, yea, even great destruction among the people of Nephi, and also among the people of the Lamanites.
 28 And it came to pass that it was expedient that there should be a stop put to this work of destruction; therefore they sent an army of strong men into the wilderness and upon the mountains to search out this band of robbers, and to destroy them.
 29 But behold, it came to pass that in that same year they were driven back even into their own lands. And thus ended the eightieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
 30 And it came to pass in the commencement of the eighty and first year they did go forth again against this band of robbers, and did destroy many; and they were also visited with much destruction.
 31 And they were again obliged to return out of the wilderness and out of the ^amountains unto their own lands, because of the exceeding greatness of the numbers of those robbers who infested the mountains and the wilderness.
 32 And it came to pass that thus ended this year. And the robbers did still increase and wax strong, insomuch that they did defy the whole armies of the Nephites, and also of the Lamanites; and they did cause great fear to come unto the people upon all the face of the land.
 33 Yea, for they did visit many parts of the land, and did do great destruction unto them; yea, did kill many, and did carry away others captive into the wilderness, yea, and more especially their women and their children. So traumatic!
 34 Now this great evil, which came unto the people because of their iniquity, did stir them up again in ^aremembrance of the Lord their God. What do you prefer...famine? war? slavery? fear? There is no protection in wickedness. Wake up!
 35 And thus ended the eighty and first year of the reign of the judges.
 36 And in the eighty and second year they began again to ^aforget the Lord their God. And in the eighty and third year they began to wax strong in iniquity. And in the eighty and fourth year they did not mend their ways.
 37 And it came to pass in the eighty and fifth year they did wax stronger and stronger in their pride, and in their wickedness; and thus they were ripening again for destruction.
 38 And thus ended the eighty and fifth year. They only had 2 solid years of peace, then contention began and within 5 more years they were ripening again for destruction. This also could play out...