This week’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide covers Alma 5-7, which includes Alma’s discourse about changed hearts and his ministry in Gideon.
Following are a few quotes from past and present Church leaders about these chapters.
Alma 5
“Each member of this restored Church has much to learn from Alma’s inspired teachings.
“We begin with faith in Jesus Christ, because ‘it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world’ (Alma 5:48). We must repent because, as Alma taught, ‘except ye repent ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of heaven’ (Alma 5:51). Repentance is an essential part of God’s plan. Because all would sin in our mortal experience and be cut off from God’s presence, man could not ‘be saved’ without repentance (Alma 5:31). …
“To be cleansed by repentance, we must forsake our sins and confess them to the Lord and to His mortal judge where required. Alma taught that we must also ‘bring forth works of righteousness’ (Alma 5:35). All of this is part of the frequent scriptural invitation to come unto Christ.”
— President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, April 2019 general conference, “Cleansed by Repentance”
“When we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism, we are filled with the heavenly music that accompanies conversion. Our hearts are changed, and we ‘have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually’ (Mosiah 5:2). But the Spirit will not endure unkindness or pride or envy. If we lose that delicate influence in our lives, the rich harmonies of the gospel can quickly become dissonant and can ultimately be silenced. Alma asked the poignant question: ‘If ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?’ (Alma 5:26).”
— Elder Wilford W. Andersen, then a General Authority Seventy, April 2015 general conference, “The Music of the Gospel”
“Our outward appearance is a reflection of what we are on the inside. Our lives reflect that for which we seek. And if with all our hearts we truly seek to know the Savior and to be more like Him, we shall be… He is our precious Savior, our dear Redeemer. We ask with Alma of old, ‘Have ye received his image in your countenances?’ (Alma 5:14).”
— Sister Margaret D. Nadauld, then the Young Women general president, October 2000 general conference, “The Joy of Womanhood”
“Alma described what happens when we are not only present but counted as Christ’s disciples when he said, ‘Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?’ (Alma 5:14.) Have ye ‘felt to sing the song of redeeming love?’(Alma 5:26.) Spirituality is all about feeling the Spirit of God, wanting it with us, sharing the Spirit with others and heeding its prompting.”
— Sister Elaine L. Jack, then the Relief Society general president, April 1994 general conference, “‘Walk with Me’”
“The Lord knows us and loves each of us and desires to bless us in our important work. We must be willing to come unto Him; to accept His will over our own wants; to bring souls unto Him; to feed His lambs and His sheep, so that at that great day when we meet Him face to face He will say, ‘Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness’ (Alma 5:16).”
— Sister Joanne B. Doxey, then the second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, October 1987 general conference, “Strengthening the Family”
Alma 6
“While we should all love and admire our parents, we need to know that the choices we make will have a direct impact upon our children and our posterity. To some of us it may be necessary to move away from our comfort zones, as did Alma, who fled from the servants of King Noah and taught the gospel in very difficult circumstances. He brought about change not only in his family but also in others. To experience a change of heart, it is important that we think of others and ‘join in fasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who [know] not God’ (Alma 6:6).”
— Elder Edward Dube, General Authority Seventy, in the June 2016 Ensign article, “Experiencing a Change of Heart”
“Following the sustaining vote in a general session of stake conference, we who are sent place our hands on the head of the new stake president and bestow upon him the keys of the priesthood necessary to preside over and direct the affairs of the stake. These keys to preside over the stake come by delegation from the President of the Church and the other 14 Apostles who hold all the keys upon the earth. Within these keys are spiritual authority and power.
“The Lord has always given keys to His chosen Apostles. … Some of these keys are then shared with local leaders. In Zarahemla, Alma ‘ordained priests and elders, by laying on his hands according to the order of God, to preside and watch over the church’ (Alma 6:1).”
— Elder Neil L. Andersen, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the December 2009 Ensign article, “The Spiritual Gifts Given the Stake President”
“In gospel-sharing homes we pray for guidance for ourselves, and we pray for the physical and spiritual well-being of others. We pray for the people the missionaries are teaching, for our acquaintances, and for those not of our faith. In the gospel-sharing homes of Alma’s time, the people would ‘join in fasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God’ (Alma 6:6).”
— Then-Elder M. Russell Ballard, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2006 general conference, “Creating a Gospel-Sharing Home”
“I recall what the Lord said through Alma the Younger in Alma 6:6. ‘Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in fasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God.’
“Are you praying for those who, as Alma said, ‘knew not God’?
“When we are performing the Lord’s work, we must do it the Lord’s way. I suggest to you that if you prayerfully approach this work and ask your Father in heaven to reveal to you the means by which you might be an instrument in His hands in bringing individuals into the Church, the way will be provided for you to do just that.”
— Elder Gene R. Cook, then a General Authority Seventy, April 1976 general conference, “Are You a Member Missionary?”
Alma 7
“To truly help others come unto Christ, you first need to understand who He is. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only one who could be the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
“Only He could live a perfect life, atone for your sins, suffer all your ‘pains and afflictions and temptations’ (Alma 7:11), and then lay down His life and take it up again. Because of Jesus Christ, all of God’s children will rise again and can receive His most sacred and glorious blessings.
“As you understand who the Savior is — and what your eternal destiny can be because of Him — you will want to live your life in a way that pleases Him. And it certainly pleases Him when you proclaim His gospel, in word and deed, to those you interact with each day.”
— President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the March 2024 For the Strength of Youth article, “Simply and Powerfully Helping Others Come Unto Christ”
“Most scriptural accounts of the Atonement concern the Savior’s breaking the bands of death and suffering for our sins. In his sermon recorded in the Book of Mormon, Alma taught these fundamentals. But he also provided our clearest scriptural assurances that the Savior also experienced the pains and sicknesses and infirmities of His people.
“Alma described this part of the Savior’s Atonement: ‘And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people’ (Alma 7:11). …
“Why did He suffer these mortal challenges ‘of every kind’? Alma explained, ‘And he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities’ (Alma 7:12). …
“Our Savior experienced and suffered the fulness of all mortal challenges ‘according to the flesh’ so He could know ‘according to the flesh’ how to ‘succor [which means to give relief or aid to] his people according to their infirmities.’ He therefore knows our struggles, our heartaches, our temptations, and our suffering, for He willingly experienced them all as an essential part of His Atonement. And because of this, His Atonement empowers Him to succor us — to give us the strength to bear it all.”
— Then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2015 general conference, “Strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ”
“The Saints, or members of the Church, also come to know our Savior through afflictions and trials. Let us not forget that even He had to suffer all things. ‘And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities’ (Alma 7:12). …
“It does not matter the circumstances, trials, or challenges that might surround us; an understanding of the doctrine of Christ and His Atonement will be the source of our strength and peace — yes, brothers and sisters, that internal tranquility that is born of the Spirit and which the Lord gives to His faithful Saints.”
— Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, General Authority Seventy, April 2011 general conference, “Called to Be Saints”
“As this Easter season approaches, and always, we rejoice in the most meaningful invitation ever extended to mankind. It is the invitation to come unto Christ. …
“The Savior extends His generous invitation simply because He loves us and He knows we need Him. He can help us and heal us. He understands us because of His own experiences. The scriptures report: ‘And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind … that he may know … how to succor his people according to their infirmities’ (Alma 7:11–12). We want to come unto Christ because it is only in Him and through Him that we can return to the Father.”
— Sister Margaret D. Nadauld, then the Young Women general president, April 1998 general conference, “Come unto Christ”
