Alma the Younger

In college I took a Book of Mormon class where I had to write a report about one person in the Book of Mormon. I decided to write my paper on Alma the Younger. This Sunday I was teaching about the atonement and repentance and I told the kids about Alma the Younger. He was the son of a prophet yet he was fighting against the church. He was leading people away from the gospel and were trying to destroy the church. Alma the elder prayed for his son to be brought back to the light. When Alma the younger was meeting and setting out to destroy the church he was visited by an angel who told him that he was wrong. Alma was so stunned that he went into a stupor and was not able to speak or move. While he was in a stupor this was the experience he had. (I can't get my blog to allow copy and paste of the actual scriptures, so you'll have to go to this link). Alma 36. I find that his explanation of his experience is so powerful. It just shows how the atonement and Christ's loving sacrifice truly has the ability to take us out of any terrible or hopeless place. He sums it up by saying, "Yea, I say unto you , my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you , my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy." Because of the atonement we can be brought from a stage of utter guilt and misery to a place of peace and joy. What an amazing miracle!! I am grateful for that power and experience I have felt in my own life.