Alma’S Son Alma Returns to the Church

Event 68

Reference: Mosiah 27:1-37; 28:1-20

AND now it came to pass that the persecutions which wereinflicted on the church by the unbelievers became so greatthat the church began to murmur, and complain to theirleaders concerning the matter; and they did complain toAlma. And Alma laid the case before their king, Mosiah.And Mosiah consulted with his priests.MormonLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.2 And it came to pass that king Mosiah sent a proclamationthroughout the land round about that there should not anyunbeliever persecute any of those who belonged to thechurch of God. 3 And there was a strict commandthroughout all the churches that there should be nopersecutions among them, that there should be an equalityamong all men; 4 That they should let no pride norhaughtiness disturb their peace; that every man shouldesteem his neighbor as himself, laboring with their ownhands for their support. 5 Yea, and all their priests andteachers should labor with their own hands for theirsupport, in all cases save it were in sickness, or in muchwant; and doing these things, they did abound in the graceof God. 6 And there began to be much peace again in theland; and the people began to be very numerous, and beganto scatter abroad upon the face of the earth, yea, on thenorth and on the south, on the east and on the west, buildinglarge cities and villages in all quarters of the land. 7 And theLord did visit them and prosper them, and they became alarge and wealthy people.8 Now the sons of Mosiah were numbered among theunbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma wasnumbered among them, he being called Alma, after hisfather; nevertheless, he became a very wicked and anidolatrous man. And he was a man of many words, and didspeak much flattery to the people; therefore he led many ofthe people to do after the manner of his iniquities. 9 And hebecame a great hinderment to the prosperity of the churchof God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causingmuch dissension among the people; giving a chance for theenemy of God to exercise his power over them.10 And now it came to pass that while he was going about todestroy the church of God, for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and tolead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to thecommandments of God, or even the king— 11 And as I saidunto you, as they were going about rebelling against God,behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and hedescended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it werewith a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shakeupon which they stood; 12 And so great was theirastonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood notthe words which he spake unto them. 13 Nevertheless hecried again, saying:MormonLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church ofGod? For the Lord hath said:Angel of LordThis is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shalloverthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.The Lord14 And again, the angel said:MormonBehold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also theprayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayedwith much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought tothe knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I cometo convince thee of the power and authority of God, that theprayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.15 And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold,doth not my voice shake the earth? And can ye not also behold mebefore you? And I am sent from God. 16 Now I say unto thee: Go,and remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of Helam,and in the land of Nephi; and remember how great things he hasdone for them; for they were in bondage, and he has deliveredthem. And now I say unto thee, Alma, go thy way, and seek todestroy the church no more, that their prayers may be answered,and this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off.Angel of Lord17 And now it came to pass that these were the last wordswhich the angel spake unto Alma, and he departed. 18 Andnow Alma and those that were with him fell again to theearth, for great was their astonishment; for with their owneyes they had beheld an angel of the Lord; and his voicewas as thunder, which shook the earth; and they knew thatthere was nothing save the power of God that could shakethe earth and cause it to tremble as though it would partasunder. 19 And now the astonishment of Alma was so greatthat he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth;yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move hishands; therefore he was taken by those that were with him,and carried helpless, even until he was laid before hisfather. 20 And they rehearsed unto his father all that hadMormon happened unto them; and his father rejoiced, for he knewthat it was the power of God. 21 And he caused that amultitude should be gathered together that they mightwitness what the Lord had done for his son, and also forthose that were with him. 22 And he caused that the priestsshould assemble themselves together; and they began tofast, and to pray to the Lord their God that he would openthe mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and also that hislimbs might receive their strength—that the eyes of thepeople might be opened to see and know of the goodnessand glory of God.MormonLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.23 And it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed forthe space of two days and two nights, the limbs of Almareceived their strength, and he stood up and began to speakunto them, bidding them to be of good comfort: 24 For, saidhe,I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord;behold I am born of the Spirit. 25 And the Lord said unto me:AlmaMarvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations,kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born ofGod, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state ofrighteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons anddaughters;The Lord26 And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this,they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. 27 I say unto you,unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know,because I was like to be cast off. 28 Nevertheless, after wadingthrough much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord inmercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, andI am born of God. 29 My soul hath been redeemed from the gall ofbitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; butnow I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked witheternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.30 I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had beenspoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that hewill come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating,he will make himself manifest unto all. 31 Yea, every knee shallbow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the lastday, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall theyconfess that he is God; then shall they confess, who live withoutGod in the world, that the judgment of an everlasting punishmentis just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble, and shrinkbeneath the glance of his all-searching eye.Alma32 And now it came to pass that Alma began from this timeforward to teach the people, and those who were with Almaat the time the angel appeared unto them, traveling roundMormon about through all the land, publishing to all the people thethings which they had heard and seen, and preaching theword of God in much tribulation, being greatly persecutedby those who were unbelievers, being smitten by many ofthem. 33 But notwithstanding all this, they did impart muchconsolation to the church, confirming their faith, andexhorting them with long-suffering and much travail tokeep the commandments of God.MormonLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.34 And four of them were the sons of Mosiah; and theirnames were Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni;these were the names of the sons of Mosiah. 35 And theytraveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and amongall the people who were under the reign of king Mosiah,zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they haddone to the church, confessing all their sins, and publishingall the things which they had seen, and explaining theprophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hearthem. 36 And thus they were instruments in the hands ofGod in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, tothe knowledge of their Redeemer. 37 And how blessed arethey! For they did publish peace; they did publish goodtidings of good; and they did declare unto the people thatthe Lord reigneth.1 NOW it came to pass that after the sons of Mosiah haddone all these things, they took a small number with themand returned to their father, the king, and desired of himthat he would grant unto them that they might, with thesewhom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi thatthey might preach the things which they had heard, and thatthey might impart the word of God to their brethren, theLamanites— 2 That perhaps they might bring them to theknowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of theiniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might curethem of their hatred towards the Nephites, that they mightalso be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that theymight become friendly to one another, and that there shouldbe no more contentions in all the land which the Lord theirGod had given them.3 Now they were desirous that salvation should be declaredto every creature, for they could not bear that any humansoul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that anysoul should endure endless torment did cause them to quakeand tremble. 4 And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners. And theLord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them;nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because oftheir iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they shouldbe cast off forever.MormonLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.5 And it came to pass that they did plead with their fathermany days that they might go up to the land of Nephi. 6And king Mosiah went and inquired of the Lord if heshould let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preachthe word. 7 And the Lord said unto Mosiah:Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and theyshall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the handsof the Lamanites.The Lord8 And it came to pass that Mosiah granted that they mightgo and do according to their request. 9 And they took theirjourney into the wilderness to go up to preach the wordamong the Lamanites; and I shall give an account of theirproceedings hereafter.MormonWilderness10 Now king Mosiah had no one to confer the kingdomupon, for there was not any of his sons who would accept ofthe kingdom.Land ofZarahemla11 Therefore he took the records which were engraven onthe plates of brass, and also the plates of Nephi, and all thethings which he had kept and preserved according to thecommandments of God, after having translated and causedto be written the records which were on the plates of goldwhich had been found by the people of Limhi, which weredelivered to him by the hand of Limhi; 12 And this he didbecause of the great anxiety of his people; for they weredesirous beyond measure to know concerning those peoplewho had been destroyed.13 And now he translated them by the means of those twostones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.14 Now these things were prepared from the beginning, andwere handed down from generation to generation, for thepurpose of interpreting languages; 15 And they have beenkept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he shoulddiscover to every creature who should possess the land theiniquities and abominations of his people; 16 Andwhosoever has these things is called seer, after the mannerof old times. 17 Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records,behold, it gave an account of the people who weredestroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back tothe building of the great tower, at the time the Lordconfounded the language of the people and they werescattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, andeven from that time back until the creation of Adam.MormonLand ofZarahemla121 to 92 B.C.18 Now this account did cause the people of Mosiah tomourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow;nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the whichthey did rejoice. 19 And this account shall be writtenhereafter; for behold, it is expedient that all people shouldknow the things which are written in this account.20 And now, as I said unto you, that after king Mosiah haddone these things, he took the plates of brass, and all thethings which he had kept, and conferred them upon Alma,who was the son of Alma; yea, all the records, and also theinterpreters, and conferred them upon him, and commandedhim that he should keep and preserve them, and also keep arecord of the people, handing them down from onegeneration to another, even as they had been handed downfrom the time that Lehi left Jerusalem.