Alma 36

“I Could Remember My Pains No More”

Sharing tender spiritual experiences with those we love can be a source of strength for them and us. Speaking to his son Helaman, Alma recounted his experience seeing an angel, feeling the torment of his sins, and finding deliverance through Jesus Christ. This lesson is intended to help you turn to Jesus Christ in faith and feel the joy of His deliverance.

Study skill—marking passages. Marking scriptures can help students make meaningful connections and retain what they learn. They can underline, shade, or outline key words or phrases. Electronic versions of the scriptures include helpful tools to mark scriptures.

Student preparation: Invite students to come prepared to share an example of someone who found peace in Christ after suffering for a time. What helped this person find peace?

Possible Learning Activities

Opposites

To begin this lesson, help students think about spiritual change and what facilitates it. One way to do this is to write the following words on the board and have students write the opposite of each.

• Pain →

• Regret →

• Sadness →

Ponder when you may have sinned and experienced a feeling on the left. Has that feeling ever become what you listed on the right? What happened to make that transition possible?

After discussing the above, you might point out that when negative feelings are caused by sin, only the Lord can help us transform those feelings into their positive opposites.

Give students an opportunity to silently reflect on how the Lord has helped them change when they have sinned. Display the following self-assessment and ask students to record in their journals any impressions they have as they ponder. These could be questions, feelings, or promptings to act.

Ponder how true the following statements are for you:

• When I have sinned, I know how to turn to the Lord to receive forgiveness, peace, and hope.

• I have confidence that with the Lord’s help I can change.

• I turn to the Lord regularly for this help.

Today you will study how Alma the Younger’s feelings of deep agony over his sins were turned to feelings of joy and peace as he cried out to the Savior. As you study, look for how you can seek the Lord’s help to overcome sin and its effects and experience joy through Jesus Christ.

Alma’s mighty change

After rejecting the gospel that was taught to them, the Zoramites joined the Lamanites to stir them up in anger against the Nephites. The Zoramites and Lamanites then attacked the Nephites, leading to a great war. Many of the Nephites’ hearts also “began to wax hard” against God’s word (Alma 35:15). In response to the spiritual decline of the Nephites, Alma called his sons together to “give unto them every one his charge, separately, concerning the things pertaining unto righteousness” (Alma 35:16). He first spoke with his son Helaman and recounted his conversion experience.

Display the following image. Invite students to work with a partner to answer the question that follows.

Another option is to write words similar to the following on the board: Alma, sons of Mosiah, destroy church, angel, three days. Then ask partnerships to recount the story using each of the words or phrases.

• What do you remember about Alma the Younger and what is depicted in this picture?

Read Alma 36:6–11 and look for details you may have missed.

• Why do you think the angel’s words had such a strong impact on Alma?

• Besides seeing an angel, what might lead someone to realize that he or she needs to change?

You may want to help students understand the value of marking scriptures and encourage them to practice this skill during this lesson. If the option is available, consider displaying an electronic version of the scriptures or a paper set and demonstrating ways to mark scripture passages.

For the following activity, consider inviting students to mark words and phrases in different ways. Consider working through the first set of verses as a class, modeling the activity for them. Then students could work through the second and third sets of verses on their own. When they finish, they could share with partners or the class what they found and how they marked it.

Read Alma’s description of what he experienced and felt during the three days he couldn’t move in the following sets of verses. Consider marking what is suggested.

• Alma 36:12–16: words or phrases that describe how Alma felt about his sins

• Alma 36:17–18: words or phrases that indicate what Alma remembered and did that led to his change

• Alma 36:19–21: words or phrases that describe Alma feeling something opposite to or contrasting with what he initially experienced

Give students an opportunity to share what they noticed or learned as they studied verses 12–21. If necessary, consider asking a question like “What did you notice by comparing Alma’s emotions before and after his change?” You could also ask some of the following questions.

• What impresses you about what led to Alma’s change?

• What truths can we learn from his experience?

One truth we can learn is that Jesus Christ has power to deliver us from the pain of our sins and fill us with joy.

• How did Alma invite the Savior’s power of deliverance?

The following statements could help students further understand the bolded truth. You could also invite students to study verses 24–26, looking for ways Alma exercised faith in Jesus Christ.

President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

You need not know everything before the power of the Atonement will work for you. Have faith in Christ; it begins to work the day you ask! (Boyd K. Packer, “Washed Clean,” Ensign, May 1997, 10)

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

As we honestly confess our sins, restore what we can to the offended, and forsake our sins by keeping the commandments, we are in the process of receiving forgiveness. With time, we will feel the anguish of our sorrow subside, taking “away the guilt from our hearts” and bringing “peace of conscience.” (Neil L. Andersen, “Repent … That I May Heal You,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2009, 42)

• What additional insights did you gain from the statements?

It may be helpful to point out that help from Jesus Christ can begin the moment we ask for it but the process of repentance and feeling forgiven may be more gradual.

Consider having students discuss in small groups or pairs how they would respond in the following situations.

What would you say to a teenager who:

• Feels tremendous regret and pain because of his or her sins.

• Feels his or her sins aren’t terrible and will resolve themselves over time without repentance.

Take a moment to reflect on your own situation and how today’s lesson could apply to your life. Consider one thing you might do today to turn to the Savior and invite His power of deliverance into your life.

Consider sharing your testimony of how you have been blessed by the Savior’s healing power and your confidence in His desire to bring peace and joy to your students’ lives.

Commentary and Background Information

Alma 36:12–16. What do some of the words Alma used mean?

President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Racked means “tortured.” Anciently a rack was a framework on which the victim was laid with each ankle and wrist tied to a spindle which could then be turned to cause unbearable pain.

A harrow is a frame with spikes through it. When pulled across the ground, it rips and tears into the soil. The scriptures frequently speak of souls and minds being “harrowed up” with guilt.

Torment means “to twist,” a means of torture so painful that even the innocent would confess. (Boyd K. Packer, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” Ensign, May 2001, 23)

Alma 36:19. If I repent, do I forget my sins?

Speaking of the memory of our sins, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

Satan will try to make us believe that our sins are not forgiven because we can remember them. Satan is a liar; he tries to blur our vision and lead us away from the path of repentance and forgiveness. God did not promise that we would not remember our sins. Remembering will help us avoid making the same mistakes again. But if we stay true and faithful, the memory of our sins will be softened over time. This will be part of the needed healing and sanctification process. Alma testified that after he cried out to Jesus for mercy, he could still remember his sins, but the memory of his sins no longer distressed and tortured him, because he knew he had been forgiven (see Alma 36:17–19). (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Point of Safe Return,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 101)

How does the suffering involved in repentance compare to suffering we will experience if we do not repent?

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Any pain entailed in repentance will always be far less than the suffering required to satisfy justice for unresolved transgression. The Savior spoke little about what He endured to satisfy the demands of justice and atone for our sins, but He did make this revealing statement:

“For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

“Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup” (D&C 19:16–18). (D. Todd Christofferson, “The Divine Gift of Repentance,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 40)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Chiasmus

Consider helping students understand that Alma 36 is an example of a Hebrew literary form known as chiasmus. In chiasmus, words or ideas are arranged in a certain order and then repeated in reverse order. This repetition emphasizes important ideas and words, and often the writer’s main idea is at the center of the chiasmus.

In the chart below, notice that that the central message of the chiasmus is found in Alma 36:17–18, when Alma turned to Jesus Christ for relief.

If you choose to include this information in the lesson, be careful that it does not replace the main content of Alma 36.

Alma 36:2–3, 27–29. If we trust in God, He will support us in our trials

If students identify this truth, help them deepen their understanding of it by asking them to find other scripture accounts to add to those Alma mentioned that confirm this truth. Then consider having students practice using one or more of these accounts to explain to another person how God could help them in their trials. You might present a scenario to students about someone who feels discouraged by trials he or she is facing.

Exceedingly great joy

Consider inviting students to read Alma 36:25–26, looking for how Alma’s efforts to teach the gospel influenced him and others. Students could share what they find. Help students understand that we can receive great joy as we seek to bring others to Christ.