Day 35 Mosiah 27-29

 

Alma the Younger Visited by an Angel

Look for the Youtube Video below.  It's a good one.

We are on Day 35!  We are more than a third of the way done with our 90 day Book of Mormon Reading and I don't know about you, but I am loving it!  I have felt inspired every single day and am thankful for this opportunity to study, learn, and grow as I read these chapters and reflect on the meanings and how to apply them to my life.

In Mosiah 27, we learn that Alma shared the concerns that the church had about how they were being persecuted and he brought it to King Mosiah's attention.  King Mosiah made a decree that it was forbidden to persecute the Church of God.  If you did not believe, you must still show respect, treat others as you would like to be treated (The Golden Rule) and work diligently for what you receive, each person according to their desires and needs.  King Mosiah also made a point to say that no one was better than anyone else, everyone needed to be treated as equal, and not more important or more worthy than anyone else.

The sons of King Mosiah and also the son of Alma were among the unbelievers.  Alma the Younger was wicked and used flattery and influence to draw many people away from the Church.  While Alma and the sons of Mosiah were going about trying to influence people to not follow Alma the Prophet or King Mosiah, an angel came and appeared to them.  It is pointed out in these chapters that the sons of Mosiah were "exceedingly wicked".

Alma was addressed by the angel and told that the people in the church prayed and asked God to stop Alma and the sons of Mosiah from their wickedness.  The angel told Alma he heard the people's prayers and he was calling on Alma to repent and stop persecuting the church.  He was so stricken after the visit from the angel that he couldn't talk or walk and had to be carried to his father Alma.

Alma recovered after 2 days of prayer by the faithful followers of Alma his father.  Alma repented and he along with the sons of Mosiah went about mending relationships and trust.  They taught about the Savior among the people and Alma shared how he was a changed person and had been born again in the Holy Spirit.  The sons of Mosiah and Alma the Younger began to speak about peace and good will towards others and practiced this in their treatment of others.  Alma also testified that the Lord lives.

Likening Chapter 27 unto Me

I had years of my Alma the Younger moment but instead of it lasting 2 days, it has lasted 2 years.  I had lost my testimony of The Church and didn't want anything to do with it.  When the Holy Spirit withdrew from me, I was lost and alone. I felt like a ship tossed on the waves of life.  I desired at times to literally "crawl in a hole and die" and remember saying this. I cried all of the time.  I felt like God turned his head away from me and did not love me, like me, or that I was a mistake, and should have never been born (in fact, this was actually said to me by a family member and so I felt it was reconfirmed to me because it's how I saw myself, too.)  I literally remember telling my mother that because she was the product of an unwanted pregnancy (her words) and my father was a "failed Catholic priest" (his words), who if he had stayed a priest, would not have had children, I was not intended, I was not wanted, I was forced upon this earth by choices others made, but that God himself did not desire me.  It was the loneliest feeling to feel such a way.  When I came to understand the Love my Savior has for me and that I was created "fearfully and wonderfully", that I mattered, that I had purpose, and that "before God formed me in my mother's womb, he knew me" everything changed.  Every single thing in my life changed.  It did not matter anymore what others thought of me, it did not matter how others spoke of me, and what their experiences in the past had been of me.  I was a NEW CREATION in Christ.  I AM a new Creation in Christ!  The below song brought me to Christ, when I was feeling the way I described above.  Christ didn't give up on me even when I wanted to give up on me.

In Mosiah Chapter 28, The sons of Mosiah took a small group of people up to King Mosiah and asked him if they could go to the City of Nephi and teach the Lamanites.  King Mosiah prayed and the Lord promised to protect his sons as they sought to teach the Lamanites and bring peace between them and the Nephites.  King Mosiah gave all of the records that he translated and the records and plates of brass to Alma the Younger and asked him to keep them safe and pass them down to the people of God.  King Mosiah's sons did not want the responsibility so Alma took it on to pass them down "even as Lehi did at the time he left Jerusalem",

In Mosiah Chapter 29, the people want to appoint Mosiah's son Aaron as their king but Aaron is teaching the people in Nephi and refused to be King.  Mosiah suggests that instead of Kings, they should call judges.  Alma the Younger becomes their first Chief Judge and High Priest.  When Alma and King Mosiah passed away that ennded the reign of the Kings.

Likening the Scriptures Unto Me

I want to say something very important about Chapter 29.  There is ALOT here.  I felt impressed as I read, to judge for myself how I see things going in our country right now.  I felt like this chapter could be considered a litmus test of sorts for what we should expect and how we should treat our own country and liberties.  Please read Chapter 29 VERY carefully.  Take Notes, learn what the Prophets and God want for us here upon this land, this precious land we have been given.  This book was written for our day and there are gems in this chapter.  I felt the Holy Spirit very strongly testify that when I see and experience things as pertaining to this country and how we are led, we can be sure that if we follow the example of King Mosiah and Alma, we will KNOW what the right way is.  We will learn what we should do in our own country.