Alma 9

Remember the Lord’s Blessings

How has the Lord blessed you? What does He expect you to do after receiving those blessings? When Alma and Amulek called the people of Ammonihah to repent, the people rejected their teachings. Alma taught that the Lord expected them to be more righteous than the Lamanites, who had not been taught the truth. He urged the people to remember the blessings of the Lord. This lesson is intended to help you recognize and remember the blessings the Lord has given you.

Ask questions that help students learn by the Holy Ghost. A few carefully chosen words can increase the effectiveness of a question. A well-crafted question will engage the minds and the hearts of your students and give the Holy Ghost an opportunity to teach.

Student preparation: Consider inviting students to take one or two minutes to write down several examples of blessings they have received from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Possible Learning Activities

The Lord’s blessings to you

In your study journal, take a few minutes to list blessings you have received from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. (Consider including blessings that have come because you are a member of Christ’s Church.)

You could invite several students to write one or two of the blessings or gifts they have received on the board. Ask students how they feel about those gifts and why. Consider adding blessings you thought of as well.

• How does remembering these blessings and gifts affect you?

• How often do you think about these blessings? Is there something you can do to focus on them more?

As you study today, you will have opportunities to add to your list. Seek Heavenly Father’s guidance to recognize His blessings to you and to know how you can remember them throughout your life.

Alma and Amulek preach to the people of Ammonihah

When Alma and Amulek preached the word of God to the people of Ammonihah, the people were hard-hearted.

Read the words Alma spoke to them in Alma 9:8–11, 20–22, looking for words and phrases that indicate blessings the Lord gave these people that they had forgotten.

• What did you find?

• What characteristics of the Lord did Alma highlight in verse 11? (Consider marking these traits in your scriptures.)

It may be helpful to know that the term long-suffering refers to the Lord’s patience and restraint when there is cause for anger.

Take a moment to ponder the ways the Lord has shown you patience. You may want to add these examples to your list of blessings.

Consider inviting students to share their thoughts.

Later, Alma testified of additional characteristics of the Lord that can help us understand Alma’s message. Read Alma 9:26 and consider marking these characteristics. It may be helpful to know that in the scriptures the word equity means “fair” or “just.”

As Alma continued preaching, he emphasized that Jesus Christ is full of grace, equity, truth, patience, mercy, and long-suffering. Ponder why Alma wanted the people of Ammonihah to understand these characteristics of the Savior.

Comparing and contrasting two peoples

The scriptures often compare or contrast ideas, events, and people in a way that teaches gospel principles. Looking for these comparisons or contrasts can be a useful scripture study skill. Alma compared two groups of people who were in different situations—the Lamanites and the people of Ammonihah. Fill out the following chart in your journal. Look for how Alma emphasized the Savior’s traits.

Create this chart on the board and have students recreate it in their journal. You may want to divide the class into two groups and have one group study the Lamanites and the other study the people of Ammonihah. Or you could divide your class into smaller groups and have them fill out the chart together.

	What you learn about the people	How the Lord demonstrates grace, equity, truth, patience, mercy, or long-suffering toward these people
Lamanites (Alma 9:14–17)
People of Ammonihah (Alma 9:20–25)

When students have finished, ask them to share what they learned. You may want to point out that although the Lord is merciful to those who are ignorant of His commandments (see Alma 9:16), those who knowingly rebel against the gospel and refuse to repent will receive greater condemnation (see verses 23–24). You may even have students cross-reference Doctrine and Covenants 82:3 with these verses. Be sure that students feel and see the Lord’s great mercy is extended to all those who are willing to repent.

• How did sending Alma and Amulek to warn and testify to the people of Ammonihah show the Lord’s mercy?

• Why do you think that Alma’s teachings about God in Alma 9 are important for us to remember in our day?

What has the Lord given you?

Alma marveled at how quickly the people of Ammonihah forgot the blessings the Lord had given them as a people (see Alma 9:8–11). To help them repent and turn back to the Lord, Alma reminded them of the many blessings they had received (see verses 20–24).

• What are some reasons we may forget what the Lord has done for us?

Provide students with time to ponder on the blessings they have personally received from God. Encourage them to add to the list they made at the beginning of class and help them to think of ways to remember these blessings. You could display the following questions for students to silently ponder.

• What has the Lord “made known unto [you] according to [your] desires, and [your] faith, and prayers”? (Alma 9:20).

• How have you been blessed by the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in Alma 9:21?

• How has God delivered you from trials? (See Alma 9:22.)

Consider inviting a few students to share some of their answers.

Take a moment to do something to help you remember the blessings the Lord has given you. The following are some ideas:

• Take a picture of the list you made in class and put it where you can see it often, such as the wallpaper on your phone.

• Write your feelings in your study journal and make a plan to record your blessings regularly.

• Set a reminder in your calendar to regularly reflect on what the Lord has done for you.

Consider inviting a few students to share what they did or what they plan to do and how they feel about it. You may share your own plans as well.

Bear your testimony of the principles taught in this lesson and the love God has for His children.

Commentary and Background Information

What are some of the blessings the Lord has given to members of His Church?

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared some of the gifts the Lord has given us:

Some ask, “Aren’t there many of other faiths who love Christ?” Of course there are! However, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having a witness of His reality not only from the Bible but also from the Book of Mormon; knowing His priesthood has been restored to the earth; having made sacred covenants to follow Him and received the gift of the Holy Ghost; having been endowed with power in His holy temple; and being part of preparing for His glorious return to the earth, we cannot compare what we are to be with those who have not yet received these truths. ‘Unto whom much is given much is required’ [Doctrine and Covenants 82:3].” (Neil L. Andersen, “Never Leave Him,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 41)

Sister Sheri L. Dew, who served as a counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, testified of similar blessings:

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). (Sheri L. Dew, “We Are Women of God,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 98)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Alma 9:1–7. The reaction of the people of Ammonihah

If useful, invite students to read Alma 9:1–7, looking for how the people of Ammonihah responded to Alma and Amulek. Consider asking questions like the following: What words or phrases showed that they did not understand God and how He works among His children? How did their unbelief affect their willingness to hear the Lord’s servants? What do you know about God that helps you listen to his prophets?

Video

If useful, consider showing the video “Alma and Amulek Are Delivered by the Power of God” (22:56) from time codes 4:20 to 6:23, available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. This video portrays a shortened account of what Alma testified to the people of Ammonihah and how they received him.

Alma 10:22–23. “Prayers of the righteous”

If your students would benefit from discussing the power of the prayers of the righteous, explain that after Alma taught and testified, he was about to be arrested. Amulek interrupted with his account of the angel visiting him. Invite students to read Alma 10:22–23, looking for the effect that the prayers of the righteous had on the people of Ammonihah. Students could also read Alma 62:40 and Helaman 13:12–14 to see how the prayers of the righteous affected the Nephites during the days of Captain Moroni and Samuel the Lamanite. Invite students to discuss how the prayers of the righteous can bless us and others today.

It may be helpful to explain that once the righteous were destroyed or removed from Ammonihah, the prayers of the righteous ceased to protect the city, and “every living soul of the Ammonihahites was destroyed” by the Lamanites (Alma 16:9).