Alma 31

(October 8, 2015)

                I struggle to imagine what Alma must have been feeling as he began his mission.  He fully well knew what it was to be persecuted, to be hungry, and to be hated.  When he was crying for patience to deal with the afflictions that would come upon him, he wasn’t praying in the abstract – he was praying for patience to deal with a particular set of afflictions that he was familiar with.  And, despite this, he was praying for this patience so he would be able to help the very people who would afflict him.

                What faith and courage, and especially what love, to knowingly approach persecution for the purpose of saving the people who would be persecuting you!  Not unknowing, but likely still bearing scars from persecutions suffered in the past.  The example of Alma here is astonishing.