Editor's note: “Resources to follow Him” curates study resources, teachings, and thoughts to deepen your study of this week's Come, Follow Me.
As you explore Alma 13–16, here are some conversations you can have with your families and study groups. We hope these prompts, in addition to the Come, Follow Me manual, will enhance your understanding of these chapters.
Topics
- Alma 13: The priesthood is the power of God.
- Alma 14: Sometimes deliverance is painful.
- Alma 15: People’s hearts can change.
- Alma 16: The words of the prophets will be fulfilled.
Alma 13: The priesthood is the power of God.
In Alma 13, we learn how priesthood ordinances help us receive redemption through Jesus Christ. In this week’s episode of the Sunday on Monday study group, and in a free bonus episode of Sunday on Monday, host Tammy Uzelac Hall and Barbara Morgan Gardner, author of The Priesthood Power of Women, discuss the priesthood and its power, for both men and women.
“Every person in the Church who has made covenants with the Lord has been given, in a sense, the responsibility to use their priesthood to fulfill God's purpose, to help each other have exaltation,” Gardner says in the episode.
They also share a powerful quote from President Jean B. Bingham's 2019 BYU Women’s Conference address, “Endowed with Priesthood Power”:
“To all of us who have daughters and sons, nieces and nephews, young women and young men—will you teach them this? Teach them that in Church callings, temple ordinances, family relationships, and quiet, individual ministry, Latter‐day Saint women and men go forward with priesthood power and authority. Teach them that the interdependence of men and women in accomplishing God’s work through His priesthood power is central to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and will help prepare the world for the Savior’s Second Coming.”
The bonus episode and the first segment of the Sunday on Monday podcast are embedded below, or you can access the full study group discussion through the Deseret Bookshelf app.
► You may also like: 4 insights about women and the priesthood to supplement your reading of Alma 13
Alma 14: Sometimes deliverance is painful.
In Alma 14:11, Alma tells Amulek he can’t stretch forth his hand to save the women and children who were being consumed in the fire, but testified that the Lord “receiveth them up unto himself, in glory.”
In this week’s episode of “Don’t Miss This,” Emily Belle Freeman and David Butler explain that deliverance comes in many forms.
“Sometimes deliverance is painful and if you’ve ever delivered a baby, then you know that is true,” Freeman said. “We want deliverance to be the answer—the thing that just solves the problem. And we forget that sometimes deliverance really is painful.”
Butler added that sometimes painful deliverance is part of a bigger picture.
“God might be thinking . . . I have something bigger to save you from. I have something bigger for you to become in all this,” Butler said. “If we remember that lesson—it’s one of the most powerful lessons to remember—that God’s work and glory and purpose is to exalt his children, not to prevent pain and hard things but to use those sometimes in the exalting, redemption story of that person.”
Watch the “Don’t Miss This” lesson below and be sure to pick up a Don’t Miss This 2020 Journalso you can follow along.
Alma 15: People’s hearts can change.
In Alma 15, we see Zeezrom, who originally opposed Alma and Amulek, have a change of heart and be baptized. These events are depicted in a Book of Mormon video. LDS Living author Jannalee Sandau wrote the following after watching the episode:
“Zeezrom is another example of the joy of the gospel that is found in this video. As I watched Alma and Amulek contend against Zeezrom, who was laughing at and mocking the companionship’s testimonies, I was reminded of the fact that our experiences can give us greater empathy and a greater ability to love others. Zeezrom, in many ways, was a reflection of a younger Alma—wearing costly apparel, rejecting the gospel, and stirring other people up against the church. And yet, as Alma bore his testimony, I couldn’t help but think of the great love and desire he had for Zeezrom to have the same life-changing, and ultimately joyful, experience he had as he came unto Christ. As Zeezrom’s heart changed, it brought to mind modern-day relationships of love and gratitude between those who are baptized and the missionaries who taught them. The gospel brings us true and lasting joy, and it is just as relevant today as it was in Nephite times.”
Watch the Book of Mormon video for Alma 8–15 below.
Alma 16: The words of the prophets will be fulfilled.
The Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School manual explains: “Alma 16 gives examples of someone who trusted a prophet and people who did not. To help class members learn from these examples, you could write on the board two headings: Zoram and People of Ammonihah. Class members could read Alma 16:1–10 and write under each heading words and phrases that describe the attitude these people had toward the words of the prophet Alma. What are we doing to show Heavenly Father that we have faith in the words of the living prophets?”
When he was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, President Russell M. Nelson gave an address in general conference titled “Sustaining the Prophets.”
“Our sustaining of prophets is a personal commitment that we will do our utmost to uphold their prophetic priorities,” President Nelson said. “Our sustaining is an oath-like indication that we recognize their calling as a prophet to be legitimate and binding upon us.”
Watch President Nelson’s address below.
