Alma 25-28

1. Alma 25-28 Joy through conversion

2. Alma 26 • When was the last time you felt JOY? • Elder Thomas story • Alma 26:1-9 • Is there anything wrong with feeling such joy? • Read Alma 26:10-12, 16. • What is the principle??? • Joseph Smith is a good example. His purpose was to glorify God with the plates • Search Alma 26:22, 23-29, 30-37 to find principles of joy

3. Alma 26 • Should Latter-Day Saints be the happiest people on the earth? • Prove it! • Why are LDS People the most depressed in the world? • Why did Pres. Hinckley say there are too many “pickle suckers” in the church?

4. Book of Mormon Evidences Alma 23:17 Name Convention

5. Book of Mormon Evidences When a child is born, we say in English that his father and mother "called him X" or "named him X." The same is true in naming places, for example, "He called his ranch Pleasant Valley." But Hebrew expresses it quite differently: "He called the name of his son X." In Hebrew, it is the name that is "called," not the child or the place. Perhaps the best-known example from the Bible is the one found in Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." This idiom is found in a number of places in the Book of Mormon: "we did call the name of the place Shazer" (1 Nephi 16:13) "and they called the name of the city Moroni" (Alma 50:13-14) "he had three sons; and he called their names Mosiah, and Helorum, and Helaman" (Mosiah 1:2) "they called their names Anti-Nephi-Lehies" (Alma 23:17)

6. Book of Mormon Evidences Alma 24 Caching Weapons

7. Book of Mormon Evidences When this practice is compared to the practice of “caching" by the Anasazi or the Hopi and other Pueblo tribes, we can gain a better understanding. The practice was to break or bury something upon the beginning or ending of and event.  This is still a common practice by the Pueblo Indians. These caches of partially buried artifacts can still be seen at almost all Anasazi ruins including Mesa Verde, Canyonlands, Chaco Canyon, KeetSeel, Awatovi and numerous others.  In the history of the Hopi or Anasazi upon leaving a village they break lots of pottery and either bury it or spread it in the direction they will be migrating. This not only showed the next group of migrating tribes the direction that the previous tribe exited but also deterred the thought of returning to the previous village. To this day it is still a major offense and extremely looked down upon to take or disturb a cache due to the sacred nature involved in the practice.

8. Every sin has a weapon… The sin of pornography has it’s weapon of computer The sin of drugs has it’s weapon of bad peers The sin of academic dishonesty has it’s weapon of late nights Read Alma 24:20-24,26-27

9. Conversion Guide to the Scriptures, lds.org Changing one’s beliefs, heart, and life to accept and conform to the will of God. Conversion includes a conscious decision to give up one’s former ways and change to become a disciple of Christ. Repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, the reception of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and continued faith in the Lord Jesus Christ make conversion complete. A natural man will be changed into a new person who is sanctified and pure, born again in Christ Jesus.

10. People must be converted and become as little children: Matt. 18:3; • When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren: Luke 22:32; • Convert the sinner from the error of his way: James 5:20; • King Benjamin’s words wrought a mighty change in the people: Mosiah 5:2; • All mankind must be born again, yea, born of God: Mosiah 27:25; • Repentance brings a change of heart: Hel. 15:7; • As many as were converted did truly show that they had been visited by the power and Spirit of God: 3 Ne. 7:21; • Because of their faith in Christ at the time of their conversion, they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost: 3 Ne. 9:20;

11. Working in pairs, you will have 90 seconds per verse (station) to discover a principle/lesson/truth • After, we will discuss principles of happiness and conversion. • Example: Alma 28:14— “How do converted people feel about missionary work?” • Principle: If I am truly converted, I should be excited and anxiously share the gospel

12. Let’s begin

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28. You’re done!

29. Take out your cell phone • Based on the scriptures you just studied, please share (appropriately): “To be trule converted means…” • Text “78092” and your answer to 37607 • http://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/5LbyqpnznO347O5

30. Ward Business - Alma 27:22-23 • How would you repay them? • Alma 27:27 • Do you know of any other people that have made covenants and now must repay a debt?

31. "A group of religion instructors [were] taking a course on the life of the Savior and focusing particularly on the parables. "When the final exam time came, ... the students arrived at the classroom to find a note that the exam would be given in another building across campus. Moreover, the note said, it must be finished within the two-hour time period that was starting almost at that moment. "The students hurried across campus. On the way they passed a little girl crying over a flat tire on her new bike. An old man hobbled painfully toward the library with a cane in one hand, spilling books from a stack he was trying to manage with the other. On a bench by the union building sat a shabbily dressed, bearded man [in obvious distress]. "Rushing into the other classroom, the students were met by the professor, who announced they had all flunked the final exam.

32. "The only true test of whether they understood the Savior's life and teaching, he said, was how they treated people in need. "Their weeks of study at the feet of a capable professor had taught them a great deal of what Christ had said and done." In their haste to finish the technicalities of the course, however, they failed to recognize the application represented. “We must at times search our own souls and discover what we really are. Our real character, much as we would wish, cannot be hidden. It shines from within us transparently. Attempts to deceive others only deceive ourselves. We are often like the emperor in the fairy tale who thought he was arrayed in beautiful garments when he was in fact unclothed.” "Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart": President James E. Faust (April 1998)

33. How would you define joy? J= Jesus O= others Y= you Are you a YOJ?

34. Alma 25-28 Joy through conversion