Protected by armor

Moroni has his troops wear armor into battle, when the lamanites wore none. The nephites were overwhelmingly protected. In theory that seems so obvious, however in practice, there would be cause for deep reservation. The armor would have been heavy, restrictive and hot. They would have fatigued much sooner, would have been slower, more awkward, and had difficulty maneuvering. The style of fighting at the time was unencumbered, it was what they were good at, and the lamanites could have litterally ran circles around them. It sounded good, but pragmatically it could have set them up for defeat.

The important thing was that their leader commanded it, they obeyed, and they were blessed.

On my mission there were many rules that sounded good, but had some practical limitations. For example we were asked to speak only the mission language. At first it seems obvious that speaking a language all the time will make you better, but in some cases, it could actually make it worse...Most of the missionaries in my mission were american. In many cases we reinforced our own bad accents and grammar--instead of hearing primarily natives speaking the language, when we were inundated with other people making the same mistakes we were prone to make, they started to sound correct. It also threw a huge burden on top of an already heavy load. It was really difficult to have two people trying to work together unable to effectively communicate because of an artificial limitation. It can be incredibly isolating, especially for new missionaries. And it is tiring because progress comes so slowly and there is virtually no repreive.

However, when our Mission president asked, I found myself saying "Esta bem" ("OK") To my suprise, my concerns, which I still think are valid seemed irrelevant, I just wanted to obey.

There are many things that we hear that sound good, but can be hard to embrace in practice. Food storage, Tithes and offerings, missionary work, family history etc. etc. I'm sure each one of us can think of several things we don't do as well as we should, and all of the reasons why.

Obviously we are blessed when we are obedient, and it is a worthy challenge to overcome all of our excuses, becoming more obedient. One thing I think is notable however is that at least two battles were avoided completely because of the nephites preparation. When the Lamanites first saw the armored nephites, they ran in fear. Later Moroni fortified a city and when the Lamanites arrived, they "Durst not attack,""therefore they retreated"

What if just because we have food storage, the devourer is rebuked, and we never need to use it.