Sunday School 24 - Alma 8-12 What is the power of your role in the Gospel?

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We had three testimonies in this story of witnesses; prophet, local guy and converted enemy. What a wild story. With all the attempts that Alma had experience in the first try a powerful convert had not come and it was his second try to the city of Ammonihah. Said the angel...

"Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you." (Alma 8:15)

As a missionary, I know disappointment and others can tell you stories of the Spirit asking a missionary or sain to keep trying. It's not always for their conversion but for yours. Trials and tribulations build us and the need to keep going back weighs heavy on us, especially for inactive saints who insist on us to leave their threshold. 

In our lives we wonder if our testimony is important because we are the local saint and not the prophet or an apostle or member of the seventy or stake president, heck, we are not a bishop or leader in the church. We are a local saint who loves God and His Son and our knowledge of things is local. Countrymen (world or country level), townsmen (state and city level), friends/inner circle (neighbors and friends) all of these played a role in conversion. Some hear a prophet and are converted, others are invited to church and are converted but the strongest is the friend or family that invited a person to church and are converted.

Mark 6:4-6 says "But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching."

Alma will not know that the Savior will know the prophet's experience. Jesus did as Alma did and testified of the Gospel and in the end He was rejected by everyone. 

When I write to the missionaries, I encourage them to open their mouths. The outcome is not the goal we cannot make goals for others to accomplish. I have told missionaries not to set conversion/baptism goals but to speak to everyone you see, be inviting and talk about Christ. Let the conversation lead to a baptism. Internalize the goal and you will see success. 

Failing successfully means seeing how God aims to help us in failures to see the light of our success. Alma's first mission didn't succeed but he readily raced to try again. Was he further converted? Of course and it wasn't because of an angel but because he had faith. Because he obeyed good people who were riding the fence (Amulek; Alma 10:6) and Zeezrom, who openly opposed the church, changed and it sickened him for what he done (Alma15:5).

As I said before, we must realize that our goals are not meant for others to accomplish so our spiritual goals should be our reflection pool and not the pool of our children's or classes. If they reject the message given by the Spirit, don't blame yourself. Were you obedient? Did you feel the he Spirit? Did you speak or act as the Spirit dictated in the moment? Then you did what you were meant to do.

Let me give an example. Back when we lived in Provo, Shelly and I taught ten-year-olds. We moved away to Virginia shortly after. One student made some bad choice years later but when we met again later, she came to me and told me how much she was changed and remembered the lessons when she saw me so many years later. When she first met me, she called me by name and she told me how much she meant to her and she then relayed her mistakes. With tears in her eyes she then told me to see me meant so much and she wanted to change. Possibly it was because I saw past the tattoos, piercings and bad habits and saw once again that blonde cut ten-year-old. 

Alma 8:15 says that Heavenly Father sent the angel to Alma that changed his life. We are sent to those that need an angel. Do I have a glow? Maybe, but I don't see it when I am shaving. But you know what? When you have received Christ as part of your continance, you are prepared with keys, resources and relationships that people need to sway people to do good. I encourage you to pray, fast, repent and bear your testimony. Open your mouth so that others can hear your heart and how Jesus has changed it.

Said the Apostle in his talk Living beneath our privilege

"We live beneath our privileges when we fail to partake of the feast of happiness, peace, and joy that God grants so bountifully. We can be satisfied with a diminished experience and settle for experiences far below our privileges. Or we can partake of an abundant feast of spiritual opportunity and universal blessings. (“Your Potential, Your Privilege” Deiter F. Uchtdorf, April 2011)

When you see others live below their privilege, show how they can accomplish achieving this state. If they don't follow suit, don't worry about it on the first try. If at first you don't succeed, try try again. If it's rejected, you tried. If you succeed,the scriptures say how great will be your joy.

Brothers and sisters we are blessed. Share those blessings as the Spirit dictates. You will bring joy to so many. Share and open your mouth. You are amazing. Have a great week.