Alma I’s Conversion & Ministry
READ Mosiah 18:1-2
Was Alma a “wicked priest” in need of repentance?
What doctrinal teachings did Alma learn from Abinadi’s sermon?
READ Mosiah 18:3-7
Why did many believe Alma’s words when they would not believe
Abinadi’s – even though Alma is only teaching what he had heard Abinadi say?
READ Mosiah 18:8-10
What are the qualifications Alma lists for baptism?
What constitutes the “fold of God”?
Why must we be willing to bear each other’s burdens, comfort and
mourn with each other?
What
must you do to qualify to stand as a witness of God?
How can
you become a witness of God?
What do
all witnesses of God do after they have received the witness?
How
will the world react to your witness?
What is the purpose of baptism?
Hadn’t these people been baptized before – as they are members of
the Church – so why are they being baptized again?
What does it mean to “pour out” His Spirit “more abundantly” upon
those who have been baptized and what is implied about how the Spirit works
with people who have not been baptized?
READ Mosiah 18:12-13, 18
By whom was Alma ordained with priesthood so that he could
baptize?
How did priestly office function in Alma’s branch of the Church?
Is priesthood power different from priesthood ordination?
As a wicked Priest of King Noah, did Alma have authority to
perform ordinances?
Do the ordinances performed by a wicked man “with authority” count
with God?
How did Alma obtain the power and authority in the priesthood
necessary to perform the ordinance of baptism?
READ Mosiah 18:14-16
What happens right after they are baptized and what does this
show?
Why does the Holy Spirit manifest itself upon the people
immediately after baptism, without any mention of laying on of hands?
READ Mosiah 18:17
Were they baptized into membership in the Church?
READ Mosiah 18:19-22, 27-29
How did they become the children of God?
Blessings & Curses
Alma’s people are discovered by King Noah and flee into the
wilderness when he sets the army on them (see Mosiah 18:32-34). They start a new colony in the wilderness
called Helam. The Lamanites invade King
Noah’s land and Noah suffers death by fire at the hands of his own people after
he convinces them to leave their families and flee into the wilderness. Noah’s son, Limhi, becomes a vassal king to
the King of the Lamanites (see Mosiah 19:25-27).
READ Mosiah 21:2-5, 13-15
What was the “word of the Lord” that must be fulfilled?
Why did the Lord not deliver the Nephites even when they “humbled
themselves in the depths of humility” and “cried mightily to God”?
READ Mosiah 21:29-35
What did all this affliction cause to happen to King Limhi and his
people?
Finally, King Mosiah’s scouts find Limhi and his people and help
them escape from the Lamanites and find their way back to Zarahemla (see Mosiah
22)
READ Mosiah 23:20-24
So, one can guess that King Limhi’s people had to be humbled to
the point that they wanted to repent, but Alma’s people had repented previously
– why were they captured by the Lamanites, too?
READ Deuteronomy 28:25, 48
What curses were associated with the Law of Moses?
What is the difference between “sin” and the “effects of sin”?
Why was the curse still in effect after the people had repented –
were they not forgiven?
READ Mosiah 23:10 and Mosiah 24:10-16
How are these curses or effects of sin stopped?
