Come Follow Me Personal Thoughts: Book of Mormon Lesson #20

Book of Mormon Lesson # 20 Mosiah 25–28, Alma 36

My Soul is Pained No More

Introduction

Last week we saw the liberation of two sets of people—the third generation from the original settlers led by Zeniff who were living in the land of Nephi with Limhi, and the righteous remnant of the second generation led by Alma who had escaped into the wilderness only to be brought into bondage by the priests of Amulon. Now we see how dramatically things can change with a new, rebellious generation, led by Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah. It should come as no surprise to us; it was just six years go that Proposition 8 was overturned by the Supreme Court, since when laws have changed rapidly, all of which attack the notion of a “traditional” family. Truly Pres. Hinckley foresaw our day when he presented “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” fifteen years earlier in 1995. “We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.” But everyone has their agency and in Zarahemla about 120 BC, Mosiah’s sons and their friend, Alma the son of Alma (the converted priest of Noah, remember) were exercising theirs in rebellion. In their case, the Lord intervened directly.

A friend visited me a week ago—she counsels troubled teens and young women primarily. One of the buzz phrases they use in counseling and advice is “stop should-ing on yourself.” Don’t rue past mistakes. As we take the sacrament each week and repent of the wrongdoings we have committed in the past week, we go forward with a renewed determination not to repeat those errors. As the Lord helped Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah, He helps us go forward.

1. Limhi’s and Alma’s people join Mosiah’s people in the land of Zarahemla. Mosiah 25

We now have 4 distinct groups in Zarahemla, all of the same ethnic background but coming from different time zones if you like—I have put a chart at the end which helps with the flashbacks:

a. Limhi’s people, who were descended from Zeniff and the others who returned from Zarahemla to the land of Nephi.

b. Alma’s people, who had broken away from the group descended from Zeniff during the reign of Noah (including some of the children of the priests led by Amulon).

c. The Nephites who had remained in Zarahemla.

d. The Mulekites, the original residents of Zarahemla.

So now is the time for Alma and Mosiah to re-establish the Church established by Benjamin. Mosiah reads, as we have done, the records brought by Limhi that he translated through the Urim and Thummim, then Alma speaks to them and the people who desire to belong to the Church are baptized. There is a good article on the new Book of Mormon Central website on baptism in the Book of Mormon which helps explain the meaning of baptism to the people of the Book of Mormon. You can find it here
https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/what-is-the-purpose-of-baptism-in-the-book-of-mormon

In light of my comparison with the challenges we as a Church are faced with today, the question in the teacher’s manual is very apt: Mosiah authorized Alma to “establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla” (Mosiah 25:19–20). How were the people able to remain “one church” after being assembled into different congregations? (See Mosiah 25:21–24.) How can their example help us today as we face the challenges of remaining “one” in a worldwide Church?

2. Many Church members are led into sin by unbelievers. Mosiah 26–27:7

Talking of the “rising generation,” President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency emphasized the need to teach the youth of the Church to believe in God: “No charge in the kingdom is more important than to build faith in youth. Each child in each generation chooses faith or disbelief. Faith is not an inheritance; it is a choice. Those who believed King Benjamin learned that. Many of their children chose later not to believe. The scriptures give as a reason, ‘for they would not call upon the Lord their God’ (Mosiah 26:4)” (“Inquire of the Lord” [remarks at an evening with Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Feb. 2, 2001], 1, www.ldsces.org).

Speaking to the youth of the Church, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained why older Church members mentor those younger than them: “So much that we do in this church is directed toward you, those whom the Book of Mormon calls ‘the rising generation’ (Mosiah 26:1; Alma 5:49). We who have already walked that portion of life’s path that you are now on try to call back to you something of what we have learned. We shout encouragement. We try to warn of pitfalls or perils along the way. Where possible we try to walk with you and keep you close to our side” (Ensign, May 1995, 38).

There is a progression here; it reminds us that the devil wants us to be “miserable like unto himself” (2 Nephi 2:27). Some of the younger generation, which later included Alma and the sons of Mosiah, went from rebelling to sinning to getting others to sin with them. Here is Pres. Benson: “The mind has been compared to a stage on which only one act at a time can be performed. From one side of the wings the Lord, who loves you, is trying to put on the stage of your mind that which will bless you. From the other side of the wings the devil, who hates you, is trying to put on the stage of your mind that which will curse you. You are the stage manager—you are the one who decides which thought will occupy the stage. Remember, the Lord wants you to have a fulness of joy like His. The devil wants all men to be miserable like him. You are the one who must decide which thoughts you will accept. You are free to choose—but you are not free to alter the results of those choices. You will be what you think about—what you consistently allow to occupy the stage of your mind.”[1]

Mosiah 26:26–36 contains some wonderful divine counsel to Alma as the head of the Church at that time, but it applies to all of us who are in a position to counsel others. And for a time after he applied this counsel there was peace. Elder Cook: “Repentance and living righteously allow for peace of conscience, which is essential for contentment. Conscience is a moral compass pointing us toward peace. It is activated by at least two sources: the Light of Christ, a glorious birthright from our Heavenly Father (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:6–13; 93:2), and the gift of the Holy Ghost (see Doctrine and Covenants 39:6). When there has been a major transgression, confession is required to bring peace ‘Two sets of forgiveness are required to bring peace to the transgressor—one from the proper authorities of the Lord’s Church, and one from the Lord himself.’ [See Mosiah 26:29.] (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 41)]. Perhaps there is nothing to compare with the peace that comes from a sin-wracked soul unloading his or her burdens on the Lord and claiming the blessings of the Atonement.”[2]

3. Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah are visited by an angel. Mosiah 27:8–31; Alma 36: 1–23

There is a wonderful quote by Wilford Woodruff on the ministering angels which I will reproduce here but probably just excerpt for our lesson. Speaking of a man who had prayed for the visitation of angels, President Wilford Woodruff (1807–98) said:

I said to him that if he were to pray a thousand years to the God of Israel for that gift, it would not be granted, unless the Lord had a motive in sending an angel to him. I told him that the Lord never did nor never will send an angel to anybody merely to gratify the desire of the individual to see an angel. If the Lord sends an angel to anyone, He sends him to perform a work that cannot be performed only by the administration of an angel. I said to him that those were my views. The Lord had sent angels to men from the creation of the world, at different times, but always with a message or with something to perform that could not be performed without. I rehearsed to him different times when angels appeared to men. Of course, I referred to the angel visiting Joseph Smith. The Revelator John said that in the last days an angel would fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwelt on the earth. The reason it required an angel to do this work was, the Gospel was not on the earth. The Gospel and the Priesthood had been taken from among men. Hence God had to restore it again. Now, I have always said, and I want to say it to you, that the Holy Ghost is what every Saint of God needs. It is far more important that a man should have that gift than he should have the ministration of an angel, unless it is necessary for an angel to teach him something that he has not been taught” (“The Administration of Angels,” in Brian H. Stuy, comp. Collected Discourses, 5 vols. [1987–92], 5:233).

And here’s my favorite Nibley quote on angels—bit more succinct: “If you pray for an angel to visit you, you know what he'll do if he comes. He'll just quote the scriptures to you—so you know you're wasting your time waiting for what we already have. I'm quite serious about that.[3]

That being said, the Lord deemed it necessary for Alma’s salvation to send him an angel and what an incredible experience it was. Looking at that experience from a parental point of view, Elder Holland said, “Perhaps no anguish of the human spirit matches the anguish of a mother or father who fears for the soul of a child. … [But] parents can never give up hoping or caring or believing. Surely they can never give up praying. At times prayer may be the only course of action remaining—but it is the most powerful of them all” (“Alma, Son of Alma,” Ensign, Mar. 1977, 80–81).

Elder Holland again, “No one should think that the gift of forgiveness is fully realized without significant effort on the part of the forgiven. No one should be foolish enough to sin willingly or wantonly, thinking forgiveness is easily available. Repentance of necessity involves suffering and sorrow. Anyone who thinks otherwise has not read the life of the young Alma, nor tried personally to repent. In the process of repentance we are granted just a taste of the suffering we would endure if we failed to turn away from evil. That pain, though only momentary for the repentant, is the most bitter of cups. No man or woman should be foolish enough to think it can be sipped, even briefly, without consequence. … We learn that when repentance is complete, we are born again and leave behind forever the self we once were. To me, none of the many approaches to teaching repentance falls more short than the well-intentioned suggestion that ‘although a nail may be removed from a wooden post, there will forever be a hole in that post.’ We know that repentance (the removal of that nail, if you will) can be a very long and painful and difficult task. Unfortunately, some will never have the incentive to undertake it. We even know that there are a very few sins for which no repentance is possible. But where repentance is possible, and its requirements are faithfully pursued and completed, there is no ‘hole left in the post’ for the bold reason that it is no longer the same post. It is a new post. We can start again, utterly clean, with a new will and a new way of life” (However Long and Hard the Road [1985], 83–84).

The result is shown in this chart from the teacher’s manual

Carnal and fallen, to be cast off (Mosiah 27:25–27; Alma 36:11)	Redeemed of God, born of the Spirit (Mosiah 27:24–25; Alma 36:23)
Wading through much tribulation (Mosiah 27:28)	Snatched out of an everlasting burning (Mosiah 27:28)
In the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity (Mosiah 27:29)	Redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity (Mosiah 27:29)
In the darkest abyss (Mosiah 27:29)	Beheld the marvelous light of God (Mosiah 27:29)
Racked with eternal torment (Mosiah 27:29)	Soul pained no more (Mosiah 27:29)
Harrowed up by the memory of his many sins (Alma 36:17)	No longer harrowed up by the memory of his sins (Alma 36:19)
Felt exquisite and exceeding pain (Alma 36:20–21)	Felt exquisite and exceeding joy (Alma 36:20–21)
Soul racked with horror at the thought of being in the presence of God (Alma 36:14–15)	Soul longed to be in the presence of God (Alma 36:22)

4. Alma and the sons of Mosiah dedicate themselves to preaching the gospel. Mosiah 27:32–28:20; Alma 36:24

Having been so completely converted, what is the first impulse of the sons of Mosiah? Not only to repair the wrongs they had committed but going the extra mile (or many miles) for their brethren the Lamanites. This must have been a huge leap of a nascent faith. Pres. Hunter said, “There is the example of the four sons of Mosiah—Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni—who received a forgiveness of sins through the Atonement and then labored for years among the Lamanites to bring them to Christ. The record states that they could not bear the thought that any soul should perish (see Mosiah 28:3). … A great indicator of one’s personal conversion is the desire to share the gospel with others. For this reason the Lord gave an obligation to every member of the Church to be missionaries” (The Teachings of Howard W. Hunter, ed. Clyde J. Williams [1997], 249). Elder L. Tom Perry said: “After conversion comes the desire to share—not so much out of a sense of duty, even though that responsibility falls on the priesthood, but out of a sincere love and appreciation for that which has been received. When such a ‘pearl of great price’ comes into our lives, we cannot be content just to admire it by ourselves. It must be shared!” (Ensign, May 1984, 79).

Regarding Mosiah 28:11, we had a discussion about the Urim and Thummim. Here is a quote from President Joseph Fielding Smith, “The people of Limhi brought to Mosiah a record, ‘… engraven on plates of ore,’ [Mosiah 21:27] which record Mosiah translated by the aid of ‘two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.’ … Joseph Smith received with the ‘breastplate’ and the plates of the Book of Mormon, the Urim and Thummim, which were hid up by Moroni to come forth in the last days as a means by which the ancient record might be translated, which Urim and Thummim were given to the brother of Jared [see D&C 17:1]” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957–66], 1:161–62).