Alma 31-32

1. Alma 31-32 Faith in Jesus Christ

2. Words that rock your world. Things that make you go ARRGGHH! • The Tribe has spoken • May I please see your license and registration please? • I’m sorry, there’s nothing more we can do • Your father has taken a new job in Hyrum and we are moving • You’re fired • You have been called to serve in the Ogden, Utah mission • Dear John... • To be continued • I thought you’d spend tonight with the family • You have Brother Richards this tri for seminary • Let’s just be friends Alma 31-32

3. Alma 31:5 (look at the missionaries in vs 6-7!) • If you had to narrow the Book of Mormon down to one verse, one which would you choose? • Random Name Generator Alma 31-32

4. “I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures, the distance narrows and the spirituality returns and I find myself loving more intensely.” (“What I Hope You Will Teach My Grandchildren and All Others of the Youth of Zion” (Spencer W. Kimball, address to Church Educational System religious educators, July 11, 1966, 4).

5. “Often we spend great effort in trying to increase the activity levels. We work diligently to raise the percentages of those attending sacrament meetings. We labor to get a higher percentage of our young men on missions. We strive to improve the numbers of those marrying in the temple. All of these are commendable efforts and important to the growth of the kingdom. But when individual members and families immerse themselves in the scriptures regularly and consistently, these other areas of activity will automatically come. Testimonies will increase. Commitment will be strengthened. Families will be fortified. Personal revelation will flow” (Ezra Taft Benson, “The Power of the Word,” Ensign, May 1986, 81).

7. Alma 31 Thou has separated us (see v. 16) We will be saved; all others will be damned (see v. 17) Thou has elected us (see v. 16) Zoramites We do not believe in Christ (see vv. 16-17) Selfless or Selfish

8. Alma 31 President Brigham Young: “The least, the most inferior person now upon the earth…is worth worlds.” (In Journal of Discourses, 9:124.) Selfless or Selfish

9. Alma 31 Grant us success in bringing people to Christ (see v. 34) Give us patience (see v. 31) Their souls are precious (see v. 35) Alma Give us power and wisdom to bring our brethren to Thee (see v. 35) Selfless or Selfish

10. Believe and be saved the minister said,Believe and be saved and rise from the dead. Through grace ye are saved from sin and from hell, So simply believe and all will be well. The preacher continued and read from the book, How all can reach heaven, both angel and crook. When all had been said and the church recessed; With money collected and everyone blessed; The preacher retired to his spacious new home, In his humble Mercedes with everything chrome. He sat in his study, his thoughts running deep, He dozed for a moment, and died in his sleep. Alma 31-32

11. He ran to Saint Peter and wearing a grin, Said "I believe in the Savior, so please let me in" "Oh no, not another", said Peter with a sigh, "Satan's sure working, the tolls running high." The preacher looked puzzled, then saw in a flash, God's plan for salvation, beginning at last. Believing is nothing, if nothing is done. In getting to Heaven you follow the Son. To follow a leader, you do what is said, Faith without works is nothing but dead. Satan knows Jesus, believes in him too. So what's the difference between the devil and you? Believe in the Savior, but always recall, Faith is important, but sure isn't all. Alma 31-32

12. Read Alma 32:21 • What is required to grow fruit from a seed? (make a detailed list) Alma 31-32

13. GERMINATION: To expand into a greater being from a small existence; to begin to grow after a period of dormancy Alma 31-32

14. DORMANCY: Lying asleep; inactive; capable of being activated; dormant seeds are ripe seeds that do not germinate because they are subject to external environmental conditions. Alma 31-32

15. WATER: The uptake of water by seeds is called imbibition, which leads to the swelling and the breaking of the seed coat. Alma 31-32

16. OXYGENIf a seed is buried too deeply within the soil or the soil is waterlogged, the seed can be oxygen starved. Some seeds have impermeable seed coats that prevent oxygen from entering the seed, causing dormancy. Alma 31-32

17. Light/darknessMany seeds will not germinate until sufficient light and temperature for growth of the seedling occurs. Alma 31-32

18. Home Grown vs Store BoughtWhy does home grown food have more nutrients than store bought food? Alma 31-32

19. What do we need to germinate our seed of testimony? ALMA 32:28

20. What do we need to germinate our seed of testimony? ALMA 32:30

21. “This is good doctrine. It tastes good. I can taste the principles of eternal life, and so can you….I know that when I tell you these words of eternal life as they are given to me, you taste them, and I know that you believe them. You say honey is sweet, and so do I. I can also taste the spirit of eternal life. I know that it is good(Joseph Smith, HC, 6:312).

22. What do we need to germinate our seed of testimony? ALMA 32:34

23. “Too often we approach the gospel like a farmer who places seed in the ground in the morning and expects corn on the cob by the afternoon” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, The Way of the Disciple, Ensign, May 2009, 76-77).

24. What do we need to germinate our seed of testimony? ALMA 32:37

25. What do we need to germinate our seed of testimony? ALMA 32:41-42

26. “Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God. There is an obedience that comes from a knowledge of the truth that transcends any external form of control. “We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see” (Boyd K Packer, Conference Report, Apr. 1983, 89-90). Alma 31-32

27. “You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness, then the light will appear and show the way before you. “I have learned over and over again that all of us must walk by faith - near the edge of the light. Each of us must learn to take a few steps into the darkness of the unknown before the light begins to appear (Boyd K. Packer, “The Edge of the Light,” Brigham Young University 18 Stake Fireside, 4 Mar. 1990). Alma 31-32

28. Who do you know (personally or scripturally) that is a pillar or example of faith? In what circumstances has your faith nourished you? Martin Handcart Company Alma 31-32

29. Francis Webster said: "We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Every one of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with Him in our extremities! "I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up for I cannot pull the load through it. I have gone to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me! I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the Angels of God were there. "Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No! Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company." Alma 31-32

30. Alma 31-32

31. Alma 31-32 Faith in Jesus Christ