Mosiah 21

 (Below is a list of questions and quotes that help me think about each verse as I read it. The numbers represent the verses in the chapter.)

When you humble yourself, call upon the Lord, and repent of your sins, He will hear your prayers and ease the burdens of your sins in His own time. When you covenant to serve God and keep His commandments, the Lord will provide a way for your deliverance. The Lord will try your patience and faith to help you increase your trust in Him. Wickedness brings suffering. As we humbly make and keep gospel covenants and repent of our sins, the Lord can deliver us from our suffering.

1-4. Have you ever had someone make a promise to you but not keep it? How did it make you feel? have you ever made a promise and not kept it? How did that make you feel? Why didn't the Lamanites kill Limhi's people? Even though the Lamanites were cruel and hated the Nephite people, how did they feel about their promises or oaths? What can you learn about the importance of a promise from this example? What are some covenants or promises you have made with the Lord? Are you as careful about the promises you make with God, whom you love, as the Lamanites were about the promises they made to the Nephites, whom they hated? What can you do to be more faithful in keeping your covenants?

1. How would you define the peace the King Limhi and his people had? Would you consider their peace to be a perfect peace? Is it possible to have perfect peace when you know there are enemies around you? Why or why not?

2. How would you describe the peace of the Lamanites?  What was it that disturbed or altered their ability to have peace? Is there anything that stirs you up in your life which in turn affects your peace? What can you do to restore you peace?

3. Have you ever been ridiculed, bullied or persecuted? How would you define this experience? Is it something you would want to experience every day? What can you do to ensure that nobody ever receives that kind of treatment from you? Why is it so important to consider the feelings of others - even those you don't know?

4. What prophecy had been given by Abinadi that is being fulfilled in the lives of the people of King Limhi?

5. How can you receive deliverance from the trials or adversity that you are currently experiencing? (See verse 14) What are the some of the sources of the trials and challenges we experience?

"No one wants adversity. Trials, disappointments, sadness, and heartache come to us from two basically different sources. Those who transgress the laws of God will always have those challenges. The other reason for adversity is to accomplish the Lord’s own purposes in our life that we may receive the refinement that comes from testing. It is vitally important for each of us to identify from which of these two sources come our trials and challenges, for the corrective action is very different." - Richard G Scott, GC, October 1995

6. What evidences were there that Limhi's group had not yet humbled themselves and turned to the Lord? how does this contrast with how Alma's people responded to their bondage? Reflecting on the experience of Limhi's group, what do you learn that might help you respond appropriately to your own trials?

7-12. What are some ways the people could have reacted after their third unsuccessful attempt to deliver themselves from Lamanite bondage?
13-16. What did Limhi's people do when fighting failed to deliver them? How did humbling themselves bring about more change than going to war? What was the Lord able to do for them that they were unable to do for themselves? What kind of problems do people have today that are like bondage? How could humbly pleading with the Lord help deliver you from bondage?

"God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble. ... Let us choose to be humble. We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters, esteeming them as ourselves, and lifting them as high or higher than we are. We can choose to humble ourselves by receiving counsel and chastisement. We can choose to humble ourselves by forgiving those who have offended us. We can choose to humble ourselves by rendering selfless service. We can choose to humble ourselves by going on missions and preaching the word that can humble others. We can choose to humble ourselves by getting to the temple more frequently. We can choose to humble ourselves by confessing and forsaking our sins and being born of God. We can choose to humble ourselves by loving God, submitting our will to His, and putting Him first in our lives." -Ezra Taft Benson, GC, April 1989

13. What does the word submit mean? How did the humble attitude that the people of Limhi adopted, help them to endure the burdens placed upon them by the Lamanites? How can humility help you bear the burdens that are placed upon you? Why is it so important to submit to the will of the Lord? How does knowing of His deep and abiding love for you help you to more readily submit yourself to His will? What blessings come to the submissive and humble?
14. What role does prayer play in increasing your humility? How does sincere prayer and a deep need help you to know and accept the Lord's will in your life?
15. How does the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ help to ease your burdens and heartaches?
15-16. What are your attitudes during affliction?

“The Lord will give relief with divine power when you seek deliverance in humility and faith in Jesus Christ.  Don’t say, ‘No one understands me; I can’t sort it out, or get the help I need.’ Those comments are self-defeating. No one can help you without faith and effort on your part. Your personal growth requires that. Don’t look for a life virtually free from discomfort, pain, pressure, challenge, or grief, for those are the tools a loving Father uses to stimulate our personal growth and understanding. As the scriptures repeatedly affirm, you will be helped as you exercise faith in Jesus Christ. … Faith in Christ means we trust Him; we trust His teachings. That leads to hope, and hope brings charity, the pure love of Christ—that peaceful feeling that comes when we sense His concern, His love, and His capacity to cure us or to ease our burdens with His healing power” -Richard G Scott, “To Be Healed,” Ensign, May 1994

16. Even though Limhi's people were not immediately delivered from their afflictions, how did the Lord bless them? Have you ever felt that the Lord helped you get through a trial a little at a time? What does this teach about what the Lord will do when people humble themselves, begin to repent, and call on Him for help? How do you think you might benefit from having to wait for the Lord to deliver you from the burden of your sins? What are you doing to seek the Lord’s power of deliverance from your sins? 

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Prov. 3:11–12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain." -Richard G Scott, GC, October 1995

17. How do you think that the people of Limhi were blessed through the need of the many widows among them? How could this opportunity for service and unity among the people have helped to humble them? In what ways has providing service to others helped to humble you?
18-24. How can you tell that Limhi's people were in bondage and lived in fear? Why did they want to find King Noah's priests? Whom did Limhi mistake Ammon and his brethren for? Why do you think Limhi had such great joy when he found out who they were? How might Ammon be an answer to Limhi's people's prayers?

24. How was the arrival of Ammon and his brethren an answer to the prayers of Limhi’s people?
25-28. What did Limhi's search party finally discover? What did they think they had found? Why was meeting Ammon a relief to Limhi? 

32-35. What words and phrases in these verses indicate that Limhi and his people had repented?
“[Repentance] is essential to your happiness in this life and throughout eternity. Repentance is much more than just acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart. … It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments” (True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 132).