Alma 8-16

Alma 8:18 says that Alma “returned speedily” when the Lord commanded him to return to Ammonihah, the place he had just come from where they had, “reviled him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city.” Not a place I would want to go back to let alone “speedily.”

Elder Henry B Eyring said “however much faith to obey God we now have, we will need to strengthen it continually and keep it refreshed constantly. We can do that by deciding now to be more quick to obey and more determined to endure….

“We must decide to obey and then do it. We build the faith to pass the tests of obedience over time and through our daily choices. We can decide now to do quickly whatever God asks of us. And we can decide to be steady in the small tests of obedience which build the faith to carry us through the great tests, which will surely come.”

I love the examples of God’s mercy in the Scriptures such as with Zeezrom. No matter what we have done there is an example of someone who has repented of a similar sin and been forgiven. This gives us hope for ourselves, and patterns to follow in our own repentant journey.

Alma 12:32 “Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption.”

God gave them the why before the how. Do you have your why? Is it strong enough to withhold the temptations of the world? The feeling in my why gets stronger the more time I spend with the Scriptures.

Alma 14 contains a horrific story, it’s hard to even read, but it’s inclusion in our record is beautiful. We all see and hear horrible things that happen in life. It’s easy to wonder, and many do, how a loving God could allow such things. Along with the horrible story we have Alma’s response, “But Alma said unto him: The spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth my hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.” (Alma 14:11) 

Alma knew it was but a fraction of a moment that would be well worth the Eternal Life to come. God will more than compensate for all our pain and suffering but He must allow people to make their own choices, to prove whom they will follow and how far they will go.

President Spencer W. Kimball speaks of pain and sorrow in this life in his book Faith precedes the Miracle, 97-100. It’s a long quote but I just couldn’t pair it down any more, it’s too important for us to understand amid all the turmoil in our world.

“If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence, then pain, sorrow, failure, and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the premortal past and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective.

“Is there not wisdom in his giving us trials that we might rise above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles, sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be immortalized and glorified?

“If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith.

“If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil—all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls.

“Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood.

‘For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things … righteousness … wickedness … holiness … misery … good … bad. …’ (2 Nephi 2:11.)

“Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery. …

I love the verse of ‘How Firm a Foundation’—

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow

For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

[See Hymns, no. 5]

“And Elder James E. Talmage wrote: ‘No pang that is suffered by man or woman upon the earth will be without its compensating effect … if it be met with patience.’

“The power of the priesthood is limitless but God has wisely placed upon each of us certain limitations. I may develop priesthood power as I perfect my life, yet I am grateful that even through the priesthood I cannot heal all the sick. I might heal people who should die. I might relieve people of suffering who should suffer. I fear I would frustrate the purposes of God….

“With such uncontrolled power, I surely would have felt to protect Christ from the agony in Gethsemane.... I might have saved him from suffering and death, and lost to the world his atoning sacrifice.

“I would not dare to take the responsibility of bringing back to life my loved ones. Christ himself acknowledged the difference between his will and the Father’s when he prayed that the cup of suffering be taken from him; yet he added, ‘Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.’ [Luke 22:42.]^”

Alma 16:16 “And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming”

Does this make you think of any counsel we have received in our day? To immerse ourselves in the scriptures daily and study the conference talks throughout the 6 months but most especially just before conference, putting ourselves in situations for the Lord to pour out His spirit on us, to prepare our hearts and our minds for His word for us. It may be that we are also preparing our hearts and minds for the return of the saviour. We are surely preparing our hearts and minds for our return to Him.