In Greek mythology, the mother Thetis took her baby Achilles to the River Styx — which offered powers of invincibility — and dipped his body into the water.

But as Thetis held her baby by the heel, that spot on his foot was not washed by the water of the magical river.

Achilles grew up to survive many great battles, until one day a poisonous arrow lodged in his heel — his one area of vulnerability. He died shortly after.

Each of us also has areas of spiritual vulnerability that if not tended could become our destruction.

"Like the fabled Achilles, who was immune to every lethal blow except to his heel, many of us have a special weakness that can be exploited to our spiritual downfall," said Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve to BYU students June 7, 1992. "For some that weakness may be a taste for liquor. For some it may be an unusual vulnerability to sexual temptation or a susceptibility to compulsive gambling or reckless speculation. For others it may be a craving for money or power. If we are wise, we will know our special weaknesses, our spiritual Achilles' heels, and fortify ourselves against temptations in those areas."

But, Elder Oaks added, the weaknesses of Latter-day Saints are not the only areas where they are vulnerable. "Satan can also attack us where we think we are strong — in the very areas where we are proud of our strengths. He will approach us through the greatest talents and spiritual gifts we possess. If we are not wary, Satan can cause our spiritual downfall by corrupting us through our strengths as well as by exploiting our weaknesses."

Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve said in a BYU devotional address on March 15, 1988, that every mother — like Thetis — would like to find the secret of protecting her children, making them invulnerable from the fiery darts of the adversary.

"Unfortunately, we cannot protect ourselves from the slings and arrows of misfortune. In fact, we are told to carry the shield of faith to protect us from the fiery darts of the adversary. We also know from Lehi's advice to his son Jacob that there must be "opposition in all things" in this mortal probation (2 Nephi 2:11).

"A basic reason for our learning experiences in this life is to enable us to endure to the end. Our challenges, learning experiences, and the opposition we come up against are supposed to strengthen us, not defeat or destroy us."

Ironically, the scriptures teach us that the fictional Thetis was looking for protection for her son in all the wrong places.

The 2,000 stripling sons of the people of Ammon — like Achilles — also faced great battles. "They entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives" (Alma 53:17).

Yet unlike Achilles, their protection was not just skin deep.

"Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him" (Alma 53:21).

Both the stripling warriors and Achilles had mothers who wanted to protect their sons. Yet, the stripling warriors found protection in their righteousness and their mothers' teachings.

We as Church members can protect ourselves from our own vulnerabilities — or Achilles' heels — in the same way.

"What will protect you from the sin and evil around you?" questioned President Thomas S. Monson in his April 2011 general conference address. "I maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior and of His gospel will help see you through to safety."

And, like the 2,000 stripling warriors, we are not alone.

"As we face the temptations of our times, the confusion of choice, the embarrassment of error, the pursuit of perfection, our Heavenly Father is there to listen, to love, to inspire. Our Father to whom we earnestly pray is not an ethereal substance or a mysterious and incomprehensible being. Rather, He has eyes with which to view our actions, lips with which to speak to us, ears to hear our plea and a heart to understand our love" (Teachings of Thomas S. Monson, p. 260).