Alma 24 – Weapons of War

The last few chapters I have read have been observing the people of God and their conversion to the Lord’s gospel.  Alma, Ammon and his brethren felt strongly they could turn the hearts of the Lamanites to the truth and pleaded with Mosiah, their father, to let them go serve them.  What a test of faith!  It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for them.  Aaron and his brethren had been put in prison in some very adverse conditions for a very long time. 

Eventually, the Lamanites saw the truth and changed their names to Anti-Nephi-Lehites.  I wrote in the margin that the dictionary says Anti=mirror, or like.  So their new name says they were like the Nephites and Lehites – strong in gospel truths and commitment.  They proved their love of truth by laying down their weapons of war.  These were the tools used to take the life of another as well as to defend themselves from their enemies.  They were ready to give all, and for many, that is exactly what was required.  They prostrated themselves on the ground and prayed in the very act of the Lamanites murdering them. 

Somehow, this show of conversion affected the Lamanites to the point many of them put down their weapons of war and joined with the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.  After the dust settled, and counts were made, it was discovered the only ones who actually converted over were the Lamanites.  The Ammulonites and the Amalekites were those who remained hardened and enemies to the people of God.  Why is this?  What was different?  This is the very sad answer:  They were apostates to the truth.  Verse 30 of Alma 24 nearly breaks my heart.  “And thus we can plainly discern (a teaching verse), that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God and have had great knowledge or things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things.” 

As a mother of some wayward children, this is such a concern.  I must remind myself daily that I know the Lord has a plan. He loves his children and I’ve received promises that somehow binds them to me.  They will someday be required to lay down their weapons of war and confess that Jesus is the Christ and that they have been wrong.  It could happen in this life and I pray daily that it will, as we have been told repentance without our bodies is much more difficult.  Again, I remind myself . . . .

So what are the weapons of war our children deal with?  The weapons of war of today are mostly those that have to do with the family and our bodies.  Satan has pulled out his big guns to destroy these two things.  Our beautiful young people are destroying their bodies with drugs, tattoos, piercings, eating disorders and various other forms of deformity that are definitely “marking” them as Satan’s territory.  Some of our youth manage to come back after some of this “marking”.  They ache to have these markings still a part of their body.  I consider this the battle scars. 

The second line of attack is the destruction of our families.  Our young people are divorcing at an alarming rate.  This is just one more reason, if not the biggest reason, for our young couples to make time to renew their covenants in the temple frequently.  The Lord has blessed us with temples conveniently placed around the globe for this very purpose.  It is critical to return often.  As I watch the disintegration of my daughter’s family, it is evident to me that her husband was totally off base when he said the Lord didn’t require them to sacrifice so much to attend the temple.  Wrong!  He not only expects it, it is the one piece of doctrine that will save us from Satan’s buffetings.  I know this to be true as much as I know air and water are critical for our every moment.

So what does this mean to me?  I have only one course of action I can take.  Set a righteous example and to speak of Christ at every opportunity.  He is my King, my Salvation.  He is my Redeemer and the Redeemer of all those who sincerely seek for a better life.  It is he who knows our heartaches and our hearts – the desires of our hearts.  He is the judge.  For this I am most grateful. 

Alma 22 - What Do I Teach?

Alma 22 – Aaron teaches Plan of Salvation

Again we see the first thing that is taught to the Lamanites is the basic Plan of Salvation.  This is important to know.  Why?  Let’s examine what exactly is taught when Aaron expounds the scriptures:

• Creation of Adam
• Fall of man
• Carnal state of man
• Plan of redemption
• Plan of redemption prepared from the foundation of the world
• Christ’s roll in Plan of Redemption
• Man is powerless to redeem self
• Christ atones for our sins
• Faith and repentance are the key to accessing that atonement
• Christ breaks the bands of death, so grave shall have no victory
• Sting of death swallowed up in hopes of glory

 The fascinating thing to me is all this knowledge is spelled out in two verses, Alma 22:13-14. 

What was King Lamoni’s response to this truckload of information?  Remember this is the same man, the father of Lamoni, who Aaron tried to teach earlier under a hostile encounter.  Now he has asked what needed to be done to root the evil out of his being and have this spirit that would fill him with joy.  Whereas before he was willing to give only half of his kingdom to spare his life, now he is willing to give everything he owns that he might have this spirit.  What a transformation!  (verse 15)

Aaron’s response is simple.  Verse 16 – “. . . bow down before God (pray) if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.”  This is the same instruction given to converts who are searching for truth.  It is not a hard, long list.  What was the result of King Lamoni’s prayer?  He too was overcome by the Spirit of God to the point of being struck as though he were dead.  (v18)   I don’t think we see much of that these days. 

When King Lamoni was revived, what was his next action?  In verse 23 we see he ministered to his people insomuch that his entire household were converted unto the Lord.  In Luke 22:32 Christ tells Simon Peter that “. . . when we are converted, strengthen thy brethren.”  I believe this is a natural tendency of a righteous man anyway.  We want to share the joy that comes to us.  Nobody wants to be happy alone.  At least that is my experience.

This is a chapter we must remember when we’re given the opportunity to “open our mouths” to share the gospel.  It is extremely dense in gospel doctrine. 

Alma 19 - Conversion Alters Lives

I love this chapter of the Book of Mormon.  It is a stand-alone story of conversion that is powerful and creates an amazing image.  It could be a movie!

Lamoni, the king, is so overpowered by the Spirit that he lay as if dead for two days and two nights.  The Queen didn’t believe he was dead.  Ammon went into the King and told her that “. . . he is not dead, but he sleepeth in God, and on the morrow he shall rise again; therefore bury him not.” Ammon asked her, “Believest thou this? And she said unto him: I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I believe that it shall be according as thou hast said.” (v8-9)

What tremendous faith on the part of the Queen!

When Lamoni awoke, as Alma said he would, he immediately declared he had seen the Redeemer and told of his coming to earth to redeem mankind, who believe on his name.  Bearing his testimony of this experience was so intense that “. . .his heart was swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit (v13)”.

What an amazing experience for a missionary, for those being taught and for those who were witnesses!  This is proof to all of us that when it is time, we can be touched by the Spirit and we will be totally changed.  I experienced a similar change – not as dramatic in time, but to me just as life changing.  My entire countenance changed. 

It is stories such as Ammon’s experience with Lamoni and his household, my own conversion and the conversion of many others that gives me the faith to leave my concerns for my wandering children to my Heavenly Father.  When the time is right, they will have their own conversion.  It will be just as dramatic to them, and they will be just as driven to do right afterward.  I believe it is in our Spiritual DNA so to speak.  We are covenant children, and it is part of the blessing attached to that covenant.  It may not happen in this life, which will truly be a very sad thing; but we know it will happen. 

Alma 18 - Open Your Mouth

This chapter shows us two things. 

1.     It shows us the process of a person steeped deep in evil tradition who comes to a knowledge of his baseness to the point of desiring truth to be rid of the evil that is within. 

2.     It shows the process we as missionaries will need to go through as we teach. 

After hearing what Ammon had done for his flocks, his servants and of his amazing strengths, first he was in awe and then fear.  He feared of being judged by this man of such power, and he knew in his heart he had done horrible things – not the least of which was kill his servants when they failed to protect his flocks from the Lamanites.

As Ammon proceeds to answer his question and alleviate his fears, Lamoni is astonished and marvels that such a man can be so full of good and knowledge while at the same time be so strong against the powers of evil.  By the time he has heard about God and the Plan of Redemption, which includes the history of how man came to be in the first place, he desires to repent. 

And this is the work of missionaries:  To assist the Lord in bringing to pass his work and his glory - the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39). 

I suspect very few of us will be called upon to slay the bad guys with our swords.  Our swords will be the word of God.  We must know it.  We will be called upon to teach in humility as did Ammon.  We will be required to tell it from the beginning – the creation of the earth, our purpose on earth, the part we play in the Plan of Redemption.  We will be required to help in the saving of souls from the lies of the world/Satan.

I made note of six stages Lamoni went through in this chapter:

• Awe
• Fear
• Astonishment
• Marvel
• Belief
• Desires to repent

I also have instructions to those teaching.  These are the things Ammon did as he taught King Lamoni:

• A true servant keeps the commandments.  (He followed through with the things he said he would do.)
• A true servant will ask what needs to be done.  (Ask the needs of those we are serving.)
• A true servant is humble in his greatness.  (Give glory to the Lord.)
• A true servant/teacher will start at the very basics. (First find out if they even believe in God.)
• A true servant/teacher will start at the creation.  This is also a temple reference for me. (Is this not what happens in the temple?)
• A true servant/teacher will teach the plan of redemption, happiness.  (Don’t most people have an innate desire to know where they came from, why they’re here and what happens after death?  We need to know how to explain this.)
• A true servant/teacher will teach of Christ and his roll in the plan of happiness. (As we teach the Plan of Redemption, it is impossible to do so without speaking of Christ and His roll in this plan.)

As an experiment, I tried talking out loud during a hike in the mountain and telling my imaginary investigator of the creation and the Plan of Salvation.  This was a challenge.  I suspect strongly that when I am called upon to do so, the Spirit will assist.  There is a reason for practicing these things before called upon.  However, I have faith that it will happen as we have been told.  “Open your mouth”, and the Lord will put in it what needs to be said.  I’ve enjoyed reading the letters home from some of the missionaries in our neighborhood who have had amazing experiences in this area - some of them even in foreign languages they never spoke before.  What an amazing experience this must be.  I so look forward to my day when I will be able to do so.

Alma 8 - Open Your Mouth

I’m often intrigued by Amulek, who was the man who rescued Alma when he came into the land of Ammonihah. 

He admits he is not a real righteous person, yet an angel speaks to him.  How can that be?  Maybe he was better than he supposed? 

The examination given by Zeezrom gives a very thorough account of how much Amulek had learned in a very short period of time.  I draw a comparison to my own “learning” and I don’t think it was that fast.  However, I felt the Spirit almost instantly as I started studying the scriptures, praying for guidance, and keeping the commandments.  Maybe if I had been called upon to defend my position in a court of law, I might have been assisted by the Spirit to give profound answers, as was Amulek.  I know that when I bore testimony of truths I had learned, I was guided by the Spirit in what I said – which is really why I enjoyed bearing testimony so much (and still do).  It would seem that the Spirit puts the words in our mouths and as we say them, the Spirit testifies to us that what we are saying is truth.

I know this is what happened to me just this week as I was talking with my daughter about the importance of temple worship.  For some reason, her husband has not felt the need to return to the temple often, as we have been instructed.  He is very knowledgeable in the gospel, and therefore feels he is exempt from this very thing that would protect his family.  In frustration, I felt myself slip into teaching mode and bore my testimony of the things we learn in the temple such as parenting skills, relationship skills, and I could probably go on, but that is not the purpose in this post.  By the time I finished on the topic, I was weak, which is an indication of the Spirit having spoken through me.  It is my unique “sign”. 

I suspect strongly this is what happened to Amulek.  As he opened himself up to the Spirit, he was given the words to say.  The more he spoke, the more the Spirit gave him to say.  This is probably why we are told to just open our mouths as we speak to strangers on the street.  Ask them if they are LDS, and see where the conversation leads.  I’m still reticent to do that, but I talked with a couple yesterday who have turned that into a daily experience and have had some amazing things happen as a result.

We must learn to open our mouths and let the Spirit guide us as we teach our children, go about our daily tasks, and live the lives we have been sent here to live (2 Nephi 25:26).  I’m certain as we do this, we will be blessed.  I just read the last April talk by Linda K. Burton and she bore strong testimony on that very thing.  As they were raising their children they were extremely overwhelmed and took it to the Lord.  The Spirit let them know there were three things that were truly important.  Everything else was secondary.  Those three things were:  Daily scriptures, daily prayer and weekly FHE.  We can do that.  In so doing, we will then be guided by the Spirit that the things we teach will be of Christ, His mission and our responsibilities as covenant people.

There is a Path to Return

Alma 9 – There is a Path for Our Return

It had to be a great comfort to Alma to have Amulek traveling with him as he preached to the people.

In Verse 17 he said, “And at some period of time (speaking of those who have fallen away from the path of righteousness) they will be brought to believe in his word, and to know of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers; and many of them will be saved, for the Lord will be merciful unto all who call on his name.”

I believe this is a promise to all of us.  I think Alma is speaking about covenant people whose forefathers made poor choices.  Just the same, at “some period of time”. . .   We know that the Lord will someday return to earth (Isaiah 40:5) and that ALL flesh shall see it together.  Oh how I pray my wandering children won’t wait for that event, but that somehow the Spirit can have sway with them so that they can have some joy in this life before they realize how poor their choices have been. 

In verses 20-23 Alma tells the people how they have been highly favored of the Lord.  I suspect this is because they have temple blessings.  V20 – all things have been made known to them.  Aren’t all things made known to us in the temple?  V21 - They have been visited by the Spirit of God, heard the voice of the Lord and had the spirit of prophecy as well as many gifts (gifts of the spirit).  Again, I think temple.  They have been delivered.  Alma mentions the famines, sickness, diseases that create bondage and how the Lord has delivered them time after time. (v22).  He tells them they have prospered until they are rich in all manner of things – and then they have transgressed contrary to the light.  How disappointing it is to watch a loved one who has been so abundantly blessed in the ways of the Lord, and then chooses to “go it alone”.  It breaks a parent’s heart to watch and feel so helpless to fix.  But the Lord’s ways are just.  This much I know:  The way for their return was planned long before this world was created.  Our Savior has made way for their return and it is available to them whenever they are ready to make the change that will allow that path to open up.