40 Day Walk with Christ - Day 9

Read Mosiah 23-29
Mark & Ponder Mosiah 4:27
Scripture of the day: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-20, 22)
Thought for the day: "Search the scriptures, search the revelations which ye publish and ask your heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, ad if you do it with an eye single to His glory, nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourself and not for another. you will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation...For when men receive their instruction from Him that made them, they know how He will save them...Again we say: search the scriptures, search the prophets and learn what portion of them belongs to you." (Prophet Joseph Smith)

The story of Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah is one of my favorite in the scriptures for two reasons:

1) it shows that can go from being an enemy to God, committing all manner of sins, to being the prophet of God.  That's a pretty amazing example of the Atonement.  As it said in the reading, as many times as we repent the Lord will forgive us.  What an amazing gift the Atonement truly is.  I screw up every single day; maybe not with the big sins but sins nonetheless.  What a fantastic blessing it is to be able to repent and be forgiven as if we had never screwed up in the first place.  The Atonement truly is miraculous.

2) An angel appeared to Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah to answer the prayers of their fathers.  These five young men completely changed their lives around and became valuable servants of the Lord because of faith and prayers.  Pretty much everyone has family and friends that have chosen a different path.  Sometimes it feels like there is no hope that they will ever come back.  But if we continue to pray with them and exercise our faith in the Lord, it's not just possible but probable.  It's so easy to forget the power of prayer sometimes because we aren't immediately rewarded with whatever we're asking for.  The scriptures say "endure to the end" a billion times for a reason.  We have to keep asking and keep exercising faith, and someday those blessings will be ours.