(74) Alma 41:2 “I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself.” The Church, in a way, can be seen as being resurrected. For a time, it was no longer on the earth (dead), but it has now been “restored to [its] proper order,” or “resurrected.”

(75) Alma 43:50 “And they began to stand against the Lamanites with power; and in that selfsame hour that they cried unto the Lord for their freedom, the Lamanites began to flee before them…”  When we pray to the Lord for strength against or freedom from temptation and the devil, He will help us as long as we have been living our lives in accordance with His will.

(76) Alma 46:18 “And he said: Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions.” Isn’t this comforting to know? The only way we can be destroyed is if we bring it upon ourselves.

(77) Alma 47:3-6, 18 “And now it came to pass that the king was wroth because of their disobedience; therefore he gave Amalickiah the command of that part of his army which was obedient unto his commands, and commanded him that he should go forth and compel them to arms. Now behold, this was the desire of Amalickiah; for he being a very subtle man to do evil therefore he laid the plan in his heart to dethrone the king of the Lamanites. And now he had got the command of those parts of the Lamanites who were in favor of the king; and he sought to gain favor of those who were not obedient; therefore he went forward tot eh place which was called Onidah, for thither had all the Lamites fled; for they discovered the army coming, and, supposing that they were coming to destroy them, therefore they fled to Onidah, to the place of arms. And they had appointed a man to be a king and a leader of them, being fixed in their minds with a determined resolution that they would not be subjected to go against the Nephites… And it came to pass that Amalickiah caused that one of his servants should administer poison by degrees to Lehonti, that he died.”  Notice that there is no neutral ground between good and evil. In verse 6, these Lamanites did not want to fight the Nephites, but they would not join them, either. I suspect that if they had joined the Nephites, they would have been offered some protection. Instead, their newly appointed king was “poison[ed] by degrees” and died.

(78) Alma 48:7 “Now it came to pass that while Amalickiah had thus been obtaining power by fraud and deceit, Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God.” The devil tries to tempt us into claiming a false power whereas when we rely on God, it is then that we are given true power, as long as we live righteously and only use that power to act in His name.

(79) Alma 56:8-9 “But I would not suffer them that they should break this covenant which they had made, supposing that God would strengthen us, insomuch that we should not suffer more because of the fulfilling the oath which they had taken. But behold, here is one thing in which we may have great joy…” God will not make us to suffer for keeping our covenants. IN stead, he will find ways to strengthen and protect us. It is in keeping our covenants and the oaths that we make to God that we find great joy.

(80) Alma 56:46 “For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall, then let us go forth;” I really like this reminder that God does not and will not set us up for failure. If he asks us to do something and we go forward in faith and righteousness, we will succeed.

(81) Alma 56:47 “Now they had never fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” My mother has tried to teach me this, too.

(82) Alma 57:21 “Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith was it done unto them; and I did remember the words which they had said unto me that their mothers had taught them.” It is good to remember that with faith and complete obedience we can be preserved.

(83) Alma 58:35 “Behold, we do not know but what ye are unsuccessful, and ye have drawn away the forces into that quarter of the land; if so, we do not desire to murmur.” I learned two things from this: sometimes you just really don’t know why things are happening, and, secondly, it is not murmuring to ask for help.

(84) Alma 59:9 “And now as Moroni had supposed that there should be men sent to the city of Nephihah, to the assistance of the people to maintain that city, and knowing that it was easier to keep the city from falling into the hands of the Lamanites than to retake it from them, he supposed that they would easily maintain that city.” It is easier to remain on the straight and narrow than to fight your way through to get back on it after you’ve strayed.