Week 2


I loved using the Book of Mormon Student Institute Manual as a supplement to my reading. It really helped me get more out of these chapters. Learning about the Chiasmus in Alma 36 was so thrilling. I remember getting taught about this very thing years ago but I had completely forgotten. Alma is an amazing writer to use such fascinating literary elements. It's like he wrote in code and we have to find the hidden message. Reading the story of Alma the younger is always stirring for me. God is so merciful. Just yesterday my friend shared a quote on his facebook by Elder Holland that I really liked. Elder Holland says, "I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it." God loves us so much and wants to show us mercy by forgiving us and taking away our guilt. I have felt this in my own life as I have earnestly prayed to be forgiven by the Lord. Just as he did with Alma, he took away my pain and replaced it with peace and confidence in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I also liked the manuals commentary about the Liahona. I thought it was interesting that different general authorities related the Liahona to multiple things; the scriptures, our patriarchal blessing, and the Holy Ghost. Each of these means of revelation and direction are just like the Liahona; meant to guide us on our path in the direction that God would have us go. Each is meant to make our journey through our own wilderness possible. God will show us the easier way to happiness as we follow the Liahona.

The three themes that stuck out to me the most in these chapters in Alma were faith (Alma 32 duh), prayer, and the atonement. I love to read Alma 32 and ask myself those questions to gauge where my faith is at. I love the lesson that humility is required in order to have sincere faith. I also like in verse 28 that it says the word is like unto a seed. I always compared faith to the seed because of the primary song but one time one of my mission companions pointed out to me that it compared the word to a seed and not faith. The word and the Spirit begin to swell and grow and that's how you know that the word or the scripture/principle is good and comes from God. Once you see this prayer/experiment work then your faith will increase as well. Prayer was also a big focus in Alma 33. It’s crazy that they thought they could only pray on their rameumptom and nowhere else. Also, let me just say how bazaar there memorized prayer was. How did they stray so far so fast?? I love that they are so excited when they learn that they can pray to God even though they are outcasts. They can pray to God anytime and anywhere. This is such an amazing blessing and miracle. Can you imagine if we could only pray at church? How sad! The other big theme was the atonement. This is perhaps the most complicated of all gospel miracles. The atonement was the great and last sacrifice which fulfilled the Law of Moses. No more blood was to be spilt or animal sacrifices to be made. But the sacrifices we make are now a broken heart and a contrite spirit. We must submit our will to the Lords. We must keep His commandments and live in a way that pleases Him. I know as we do this God will bless us more than we can imagine and we will happier than we have ever been before.