Do Ye Not Remember?

Alma 9 records Alma’s efforts to teach the people of Ammonihah about their need to repent and be redeemed through the Savior, Jesus Christ. To try to help these wicked people recognize their need to repent, Alma called upon them to remember what God had done for them and for their fathers.

When reading about the way the Nephites in Ammonihah treated the Lord’s servants, it is easy to forget that they were once a gospel-living and “highly favored people of the Lord” (Alma 9:20).

In fact, part of Alma’s message to the people in Ammonihah was that because they had hardened their hearts despite being so richly blessed, their state was worse than that of the Lamanites, who sinned mostly in ignorance.

What does this contrast teach us about how God judges His children?

This contrast teach us that God expects greater obedience from those who have received the knowledge and blessings of the gospel. He Judges His children fairly.

As what Sister Sheri L. Dew, who served as a member of the Relief Society General Presidency said in October 1999 General Relief Society Meeting, titled, “We Are Women of God”:

“We are unique. We are unique because of our covenants, our spiritual privileges, and the responsibilities attached to both. We are endowed with power and gifted with the Holy Ghost. We have a living prophet to guide us, ordinances that bind us to the Lord and to each other, and the power of the priesthood in our midst. We understand where we stand in the great plan of happiness. And we know that God is our Father and that His Son is our unfailing Advocate.

“With these privileges comes great responsibility, for ‘unto whom much is given much is required’ (Doctrine and Covenants 82:3)”

As you read about the great blessings God gave the people of Nephi (see especially Alma 9:19–23), ponder the great blessings He has given you.

What are you doing to stay true to these blessings?

I have gained a brand new experience when I studied these verses, these scriptures reminds me that it is important to remember the spiritual experiences or the blessings I have had in the past.

20 Yea, after having been such a highly favored people of the Lord; yea, after having been favored above every other nation, kindred, tongue, or people; after having had all things made known unto them, according to their desires, and their faith, and prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and which is to come;

21 Having been visited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord; and having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of translation;

22 Yea, and after having been delivered of God out of the land of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord; having been saved from famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every kind; and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed; having been brought out of bondage time after time, and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been prospered until they are rich in all manner of things—

All these blessings that the Lord had given to me such as bring back my once broken family, get to know His true Restored Church, get to be baptized into His Church, get to seal in the temple as an eternal family, and so much blessings that the Lord have given me.

All in all I am trying my best to do the little simple things as good as possible, such as reading the scriptures according to the Come Follow Me resources, doing the best I can in my calling, attend the church sacrament meeting weekly, teach my children and remind them how great is the God is to able to bring our family back together again.

What changes do you feel you need to make?

There is something I learned from the Book of Mormon Central YouTube Come Follow Me (Insights into Alma 8–12, June 8–14) today is that:

• All the sacred ordinances which include Baptism, Sacrament and Temple Covenants are an invitation to us to remember God’s deliverance in mercy and fulfil the promises that He made with His children.
• The core messages of the Book of Mormon and the summary of our covenants and obligations with God is that:

13 Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that: ^aInasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land? And again it is said that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

• To prosper is to have God’s presence in your life and the Sacrament is an invitation to remember the great deeds that our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ done for us, and we recommit ourselves to offer our hearts and love to God and fully committed in the covenant path to keep the commandments.

I feel the changes that I need to make is to better prepare myself for the Sacrament meeting every week and always remember the deeds that God done for me and my family and seen His promises.

I feel that I need to communicate with God regularly through prayers even though I know that He knows what I am thinking and going through, and remember Him always through everything I do.