This kind of praying is not what he expected.
Alma, Amulek, and their brethren were astonished when they visited the city of the Zoramites and saw what the local religion had become. It was so different from what they were used to—and so different from what the Lord had originally commanded!
Of course, “different” ways of worship aren’t necessarily wrong. But the Zoramites had been taught the true gospel and deliberately turned away from it.
The people had become boastful and prideful, and they persecuted the poor. No wonder the missionaries were so disappointed!
But things take a happy turn as Alma and Amulek find humble people—those who were marginalized and kicked out of the fancy synagogues—who are ready to learn about the tru gospel once more.