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If you have doubts about the Book of Mormon and aren’t sure if it is ancient scripture that was tailored by ancient prophets to be valuable in our day, you may wish to read a few passages in the book of Helaman. It deals with a time period shortly before the First Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth, and seems to have parallels related to the challenges of the latter days before the Second Coming of Christ.

My wife, after considering some of the wild events in America over the past year, recently read me several verses from Helaman chapter 7. This chapter deals with the anguish over evil felt by the great prophet Nephi2, the son of Helaman2. After being rejected by the people in the northern part of their land, he returned to the great city of Zarahemla and was surprised to see how wicked the people in the land of his nativity had become. He also saw that the government had become terribly corrupted with a perverted system of justice:

4 And seeing the people in a state of such awful wickedness, and those Gadianton robbers filling the judgment-seats—having usurped the power and authority of the land; laying aside the commandments of God, and not in the least aright before him; doing no justice unto the children of men;

5 Condemning the righteous because of their righteousness; letting the guilty and the wicked go unpunished because of their money; and moreover to be held in office at the head of government, to rule and do according to their wills, that they might get gain and glory of the world⁠, and, moreover, that they might the more easily commit adultery, and steal, and kill, and do according to their own wills—

6 Now this great iniquity had come upon the Nephites, in the space of not many years⁠; and when Nephi saw it, his heart was swollen with sorrow within his breast; and he did exclaim in the agony of his soul. . . .

Then follows his famous prayer upon a tower by his home, along a major road leading into the city. What happens after a crowd gathers in wonderment is a remarkable example of a murder mystery solved by the power of asking the right questions and by monitoring the behavior of the guilty.  But it was the details in vv. 4 and 5 that deeply impressed my wife with its applicability to this moment in U.S. and world history. Key points include:

  • Nephite society, once established on righteous principles and blessed with many wise leaders such as King Benjamin, King Mosiah2, and righteous chief judges, had greatly decayed (v. 4).
  • Those in power in the judgment seats of the Nephites were members of a criminal organization, a “secret combination” known as the Gadianton robbers (v. 4).
  • They had “usurped power and authority,” suggesting that once in office, they had expanded their power improperly (v. 4). The word “usurp” might also hint that the way those judges obtained their position was suspect, perhaps not fairly by “the voice of the people” as required by the law King Mosiah2 had given them when he did away with kings (Mosiah 29: 25–26).
  • These judges and rulers trampled upon the commandments of God and were unjust, “doing no justice” unto the people (v. 4).
  • They condemned the righteous (v. 5), apparently using corrupted law to punish their innocent ideological opponents.
  • They let “the guilty and the wicked” go free “because of their money” (v. 5).
  • Through their collaboration with the wicked and apparently using the wealth they received in their graft, they further entrenched the power of their criminal organization at the very top of government, allowing them “to be held in office at the head of government” (v. 5). This also points to a lack of accountability for abuse of office, also contrary to the guardrails that King Mosiah2 had given (Mosiah 29: 28–29).
  • Instead of doing their duty and being accountable to the people, they abused their offices “to rule and do according to their wills.” Their goal was “to get gain and glory of the world” (v. 5). This language is an echo from the Book of Moses, possibly similar to a text on the brass plates that may have influenced Book of Mormon writers. In the Book of Moses, after Cain had made a dark covenant with Satan, founded a “secret combination” (Moses 5:51) to protect him from discovery or repercussions, and then killed Abel under the protection of his secret combination, Cain rejoices that he is “the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain” (Moses 5:31).

We pondered how some of the controversies of our day resonated with this passage, and how America has seemed to decline in terms of the liberty and principles our Founding Fathers sought to give us.

A National Awakening Stirred by Nick Shirley

Painfully, in the past week or two, it seemed that every day there were new shocking reports about corruption being exposed in Minnesota and then other states. The impact of these new reports has been staggering and depressing for many of us because of what it means is happening to our country and to the tax dollars we pay. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you may be relying on trusted sources of information that are no longer worthy of our trust.)

For many, these shocking revelations began with the reporting of an independent “citizen journalist,” Nick Shirley, a YouTuber with a large audience on X.com. After admiring his work and his courage, I didn’t know until moments before finishing this article that he is actually a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a returned missionary. My respect would be high in any case.

Nick did the basic work that investigative journalists used to do: he connected with experts, gained knowledge and clues to pursue, then knocked on doors and investigated. His expert guide was a Minneapolis citizen, “David,” who for years has been suspicious of numerous daycare centers sprouting up in his part of town with no sign of children being served. Empty parking lots, no activity – but when he checked state databases, he saw these facilities were raking in millions of dollars. He saw the same with numerous health care centers being formed without evidence of patients coming in, and similar fraud for medical transportation services.

There appeared to be a large network of Somali people who had become involved in what appeared to be a fraudulent business model, made possible if not actively supported by legislation from politicians, who received votes from that community and significant donations from businesses taking money from the state. But it’s not just elected politicians or portions of an ethnic community – there are layers of cooperating bureaucrats who support the crime by ignoring reports of fraud, writing the checks, and generally facilitating the corrupt business model. The judicial system also helps by being relatively blind to the crimes, and there are NGOs or non-profits that also benefit.

Nick Shirley teamed up with David and began knocking on doors to ask about childcare and health care services. They found empty buildings with darkened windows for the most part, but when they found owners or employees, the response to basic questions was hostile, including calling the police. They found more people (likely owners or employees, but apparently no clients) when they went to office buildings with numerous health care facilities and knocked on doors. Government data showed how much these empty facilities were getting from taxpayers. Over $9 billion appears to have been fraudulently taken from taxpayers.

Shirley’s findings and adventures are summarized in a 42-minute video on X.com that has been viewed 137 million times (as of Jan. 3, 2026). In follow-up work, Shirley found more examples, such as a daycare facility that was shut down for violating rules, only to open again on the same day under a new name, and continuing to get payments from the state.

Others have now joined the fun. For example, Rich McHugh of NewsNation explored some Minneapolis healthcare facilities, finding them to largely be empty fronts. One dilapidated old building was the home of 60 different health care companies apparently pursuing the same grift. Now others are exposing related fraud in places like Seattle. Reports of much greater fraud from California, New York, Maine, and Illinois are surfacing.

For days, as Nick Shirley’s video was going viral, the mainstream media said nothing about the story. Local Minneapolis TV stations were silent. Numerous voices on social media mocked the media about their silence, until finally, they stepped up and did their job — that is, the job of criticizing Nick Shirley for doing theirs. Negative reports came from PBS, CNN, etc.  CBS did their best to defend the Minnesota system by saying that there was no evidence of fraud at daycare centers. No evidence at all — unless one opens their eyes.

The brazenness of these cases of fraud was remarkable. It was painfully obvious to anyone paying attention. As one pundit put it:

[This fraud] did not go on for years because the perpetrators were crafty. It went on because the DA’s, prosecutors, police, judges, mayors, governors, and Congress critters were relying on this demographic for vote harvesting.

All these politicians and purported public servants knew full well what was occurring.

They were all a part of it.

They bragged about it. [capitalization added]

Such widespread support for this fraud may explain why many reported cases of fraud were simply ignored by prosecutors, as one whistleblower has reported. Further, even when a case of fraud does result in actual conviction, some judges have been surprisingly lenient with convicted fraudsters, even letting them go completely free. What has happened to our justice system?

More Pain for Americans as More Fraud Is Revealed

The exposures triggered by Shirley’s work only added to the pain that Americans had been facing since early 2024, when we began learning that much of the many billions being spent by USAID was not for humanitarian purposes, but for advancing radical leftist ideology in foreign countries and even supporting censorship in ours. Americans thought Elon Musk and DOGE were going to shut down the grift that was being exposed, ranging from corruption in USAID to many thousands of people receiving illicit social security payments and much more, but Congress ended up doing almost nothing and Musk was soon largely out of the picture. What happened? In fact, our Republican-controlled Senate still has not passed the “No Taxpayer Funding for the Taliban Act” that the House passed months ago, making it possible that taxpayer money will continue to reach the Taliban via the U.N. or other organizations. Is there a chance that money for “humanitarian aid” given to terrorists might be used improperly? My guess is yes. So why are we not taking vigorous steps to ensure our taxpayer dollars aren’t going to the Taliban, the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab, or other criminal gangs?

Through the exposés from DOGE and now those triggered by Nick Shirley as well as other citizen journalists like Mike Benz, there is a growing sense that much of the money we pay to the government is wasted or used in harmful ways. We see thousands of people, the political class included, simply stealing tax dollars to live exorbitant lifestyles as they engage in despicable corruption. It’s not just foreign aid, but large projects like campaigns to fight homelessness or to build high-speed trains that seem to eat up vast sums of money without making life better for anyone except the “contractors,” “consultants,” and politicians in on the scheme. Giant budgets that seem to bring harm or waste have become commonplace.  What is happening to our nation?

Mere Conspiracy Theories? Or Meaningful Evidence Related to the Book of Mormon’s Prophecies for Our Day?

As Americans wake up to massive fraud, it is not surprising that conspiracy theories (or secret combination theories) arise. But how can they be lightly dismissed? We are trained by a corrupted media and corrupted education system to instantly bristle when someone proposes a conspiracy is afoot. Yet the history of the world is covered with the tracks of conspirators doing whatever it takes to get gain and grab power. Wars, assassinations, usurping power, punishing political opponents – these fruits of secret combinations and plots abound across the centuries, so why should we close our ears to such possibilities and blindly trust that all is well in our world when the symptoms of secret combinations are worse than ever?

Especially for students of the Book of Mormon, how can we pretend to take that book seriously when we refuse to seriously discuss and consider its second most prominent theme, the dangers of secret combinations?

Rampant fraud like the money laundering operations we’ve seen from Minnesota generally require orchestration and support if not payoffs at multiple levels. It requires cooperation between givers, recipients, regulators, and others. They may cooperate because they share common interests or perhaps even a common formal conspiracy, but such cooperation is at least indicative of what the Book of Mormon calls “works of darkness” or “secret combinations.” (See my related articles on this topic beginning with “A Practical Guide to the Book of Mormon’s Most Neglected Theme: Secret Combinations” in Meridian Magazine.) In some cases, we can close loops and see how the fraud works: politicians provide help and favors to a group to gain their political support. They then enable fraud or turn a blind eye to it, and in turn may receive donations from those receiving tax dollars to keep fueling the cycle of fraud and the quest for power, in accord with Helaman 7:4–5.

In other cases, it’s hard to see the dealings and money flows, but it’s easy to see evidence of fraud from the behavior of those in power. When there are active efforts to prevent audits or investigations, that’s a clue. When questions are asked and the result is not just denial, but a frenzied effort to destroy or suppress evidence (e.g., smashing cellphones, doctoring videos, doing new construction over a crime scene just days after an assassination where many questions remain, or washing biological evidence from a rooftop), the most logical thing is to recognize that there is corruption and a coverup. Coverups typically involve more than one person acting in collusion for an evil purpose – a true “secret combination” or “works of darkness” per Book of Mormon standards. Such circumstantial evidence based on destroying evidence or other behavior indicative of guilt can be used to convict in courts of law, and did identify and help convict the killer in the crime mystery that was unfolded beginning with Nephi2’s prayer and sermon on his tower (see Helaman 7 and 8).

While many citizens have also become discouraged by judges who seem to usurp authority to block what may be legitimate efforts of the Administration to enforce legitimate laws, that’s only one indicator of the kind of judicial corruption discussed in Helaman 7. The most disturbing thing, perhaps, that we see over and over from judges across the nation (and attorney generals and prosecutors in many regions) is leniency on crime. The result is violent, repeat offenders being released over and over, allowing them to victimize more people. The tragic murder of Iryna Zartuska in North Carolina is one example. Her killer had been arrested many times before, but a lenient judicial system kept this dangerous man on the streets. Also consider Jeanette Marken, the 75-year-old woman in Seattle who was severely wounded and blinded by a thug on the street who was well known to police. You may not have heard about it, of course, because mainstream media apparently refuses to cover crimes that don’t fit the narratives they wish to promote. Their silence helps cover the corrupt judicial system that allowed him to be on the street.

It’s important to realize that violence and chaos on the streets is a goal for Marxist radicals who want to create pressure from above (at the top) and from below (on the streets) to pave the way for toppling the American system and imposing their desired tyranny/”liberation of the people.” The revolutionaries are enemies of our nation and our Constitution, yet they grow in power and brazenness. As with the wicked rulers at Ammonihah, we have a class of people who did “study that they may destroy the liberty” of the Nephites (Alma 8:17).

Justice seems to be blocked at many levels – including the justice that many Americans wanted to see for the criminals involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s illicit activity. There were dozens of young women who were victims of sexual abuse, something we have long known based on their testimony and other evidence, but when Americans were demanding the release of the Epstein files, suddenly we were told by the Department of Justice that there’s nothing there that needs to be released, no black book, and no perpetrators except Epstein himself. Such statements surprised many voters, making it seem clear that the government was protecting somebody. It took the passage of a new law with almost unanimous support from Congress to compel the Administration to release all of the files, redacting only the names of victims, but still only a fraction of the files have been released and some have been heavily redacted, such as numerous entirely black pages. Violating that law can have serious consequences, and yet the law has been broken. What’s going on?

Some of the most discouraging news for many of us, in terms of justice and fairness, occurred just a few days ago, when a Fulton County Georgia Board of Elections Attorney admitted publicly that the county certified at least 315,000 early votes in the 2020 presidential election without the required poll-worker signatures. Those votes were counted illegally. Without the required checks and signatures, we do not know if machines had been properly cleared of data before new votes were counted and can’t be sure that the count was properly done. Such votes are illegal, but were counted anyway.

This is quite a bombshell, actually confirming allegations that were made about the Georgia 2020 vote. The officials there surely knew of these problems but kept it hidden for five years until faced with hard data, unable to deny the evidence. The election was decided by less than 12,000 votes in Georgia. That’s just 4% of the clearly confirmed number of illegally counted votes from just one county. Questioning the election results could get a person shamed and deplatformed a few years ago, but now strong evidence has come out confirming that serious election fraud happened in Georgia, as further evidence is likewise coming to light from other states (e.g., Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, etc.). Regardless of which party one favors, the fact that widespread election fraud may have happened, again with precious little investigative journalism from the mainstream media, is cause for serious concern about corruption in our society. How could this happen in America?

“Awaking to [Our] Awful Situation”: The Book of Mormon Shows a Path to Victory

With so much disturbing news of sweeping corruption, many Americans are feeling discouraged and depressed by fraud and corruption in high places. But there is hope that is found in the Book of Mormon, which has become more relevant today than ever with its nuanced and detailed teachings on secret combinations. We can remain depressed and resign ourselves to a decaying society, or we can awake to the divine value of the Book of Mormon as a tool to prepare us for this very moment.

While the Book of Mormon shows two civilizations brought down by the power of murderous secret combinations and warns of dire dangers in our day, it also gives us a message of hope: secret combinations are fragile and can be exposed, resisted and overcome. Of special value are the comments of Moroni as he reviews the rise of a dangerous secret combination in early Jaredite society. After Jared, the daughter of Jared, and Akish conspire to slay the king and put Jared on the throne, they apply vile oaths preserved in their records from ancient days to form a secret combination. Moroni then departs from Jaredite history to speak to us, the Gentiles who would receive the Book of Mormon. His terrifying warning in Ether 8 also carries a vital message of hope:

18 And it came to pass that they formed a secret combination, even as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God;

19 For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man.

20 And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations, for it hath been made known unto me that they are had among all people, and they are had among the Lamanites.

21 And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi.

22 And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not.

23 Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.

24 Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.

25 For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.

26 Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved.

Moroni foresaw our day, noting that there will be similar secret combinations, but also a global threat described as “this secret combination” – perhaps a combination of many different groups of criminals and secret societies aiming at international control. His call is not to just give up and wait for God to solve our problems, but a commandment from God that we must “awake to a sense of [our] awful situation.” If awakening could do nothing except heighten our awareness of doom, this would be a cruel commandment. But since God does not give commandments unless he prepares a way (not necessarily an easy way!) for us to fulfill it (1 Nephi 3:7), this commandment in Moroni 8 24 (also see v. 26) implies hope and the possibility of successfully resisting and exposing it. Indeed, Moroni was “commanded to write these things” not to afflict us with depression, but “that evil may be done away.” That’s a message of hope in spite of the grave dangers of our day.

The Book of Mormon gives us such extensive teachings on secret combinations for a reason: the Lord wants us to be aware of the dangers of our day that threaten the Saints and the freedom of all nations, and He wants us to resist and stop the evil. There are many teachings in the Book of Mormon that show how secret combinations were shut down, exposed, or successfully resisted. Helaman 7 and 8, for example, shows what one person with inspired questions or inspired courage can do in the face of evil. Helaman 6 tells us that righteous Lamanites, when they discovered their awful situation of Gadianton robbers in their society, “they were exceedingly sorrowful; and they did use every means in their power to destroy them off the face of the earth” (v. 20). And they were successful! “And it came to pass that the Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton; and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites” (v. 37). There are other examples, too, in which righteous people were able to expose, resist, delay, or defeat great evil associated with secret combinations. These details deserve more attention and more application to our day. In fact, attention to this issue may be a matter of life and death for us and our families, for these secret combinations tend to bring not just waste and poverty, but chaos, violence, enslavement, religious persecution, and even the slaying of the Saints (Moroni 8:22).

Let’s dig into the Book of Mormon and the topic of secret combinations with an eye to fulfilling the Lord’s commandment to apply these things “that evil might be done away.” Let’s share the Book of Mormon, testify of the Book of Mormon, and learn from the Book of Mormon how best to resist the overwhelming evil before us, in our truly awful situation. Something tells me that Nick Shirley’s efforts to awaken our society to corruption and fraud are related to his own awareness of the Book of Mormon’s detailed teachings that Latter-day Saints most often ignore, afraid to be caught talking about “conspiracy theories.” Don’t be deceived. We live in a world of conspiracy facts where so many suspicions of corruption that were recently decried as conspiracy theories have become conspiracy facts. There are crazy theories that we need to reject. But there is also great evil that we need to oppose. This is not the time for silent surrender. It is a time for action with the divinely inspired Book of Mormon as a sword of knowledge to guide us in defending freedom and doing away with evil.