Cara: My favorite part of these chapters has got
to be in chapter 36:17-20. I love the focus that it puts on Christ and shows the
healing and enabling power of the atonement. The Bible Dictionary describes
repentance as a “turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin
to which we are naturally inclined.” By letting his sons know of his mistakes
and see that he is human, Alma sets a beautiful example for his children. Yes,
Alma is a prophet now. But he has not always been that way. He came a long way.
And we can as well. It reminds me of Elder Holland’s talk The Laborers in the
Vineyard. He says that “It is not possible for you to sink lower than the
infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines…His concern is for the faith at
which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there.” What
a hopeful statement. And Alma is a living example of that
