pgs. 230 and 231...at some period of time they will be brought to believe in his word.

16 For there are many promises which are ^aextended to the Lamanites; for it is because of the ^btraditions of their fathers that caused them to remain in their state of ^cignorance; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them and ^dprolong their existence in the land.

17 And at some period of time they will be ^abrought to believe in his word, and to know of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers; and many of them will be saved, for the Lord will be merciful unto all who ^bcall on his name.

18 But behold, I say unto you that if ye persist in your wickedness that your days shall not be ^aprolonged in the land, for the ^bLamanites shall be sent upon you; and if ye repent not they shall come in a time when you know not, and ye shall be visited with ^cutter destruction; and it shall be according to the fierce ^danger of the Lord.

19 For he will not suffer you that ye shall live in your iniquities, to ^adestroy his people. I say unto you, Nay; he would rather suffer that the Lamanites might destroy all his people who are called the people of Nephi, if it were possible that they could ^bfall into sins and transgressions, after having had so much light and so much knowledge given unto them of the Lord their God;

20 Yea, after having been such a highly favored people of the Lord; yea, after having been favored above every other ^anation, kindred, tongue, or people; after having had all things ^bmade known unto them, according to their desires, and their faith, and prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and which is to come;

21 Having been ^avisited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord; and having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of ^btranslation;

22 Yea, and after having been ^adelivered of God out of the land of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord; having been ^bsaved from famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every kind; and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed; having been brought out of ^cbondage time after time, and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been prospered until they are rich in all manner of things—

23 And now behold I say unto you, that if this people, who have received so many blessings from the hand of the Lord, should transgress ^acontrary to the light and knowledge which they do have, I say unto you that if this be the case, that if they should fall into transgression, it would be far more ^btolerable for the Lamanites than for them.

24 For behold, the ^apromises of the Lord are extended to the Lamanites, but they are not unto you if ye transgress; for has not the Lord expressly promised and firmly decreed, that if ye will rebel against him that ye shall ^butterly be destroyed from off the face of the earth?

25 And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord has sent his angel to visit many of his people, declaring unto them that they must go forth and cry mightily unto this people, saying: ^aRepent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand;

26 And ^anot many days hence the Son of God shall come in his ^bglory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of ^cgrace, equity, and truth, full of patience, ^dmercy, and long-suffering, quick to ^ehear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers.

27 And behold, he cometh to ^aredeem those who will be ^bbaptized unto repentance, through faith on his name.

28 Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at hand that all men shall reap a ^areward of their ^bworks, according to that which they have been—if they have been righteous they shall ^creap the salvation of their souls, according to the power and deliverance of Jesus Christ; and if they have been evil they shall reap the ^ddamnation of their souls, according to the power and captivation of the devil.

29 Now behold, this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the people.

30 And now, my ^abeloved brethren, for ye are my brethren, and ye ought to be beloved, and ye ought to bring forth works which are meet for repentance, seeing that your hearts have been grossly hardened against the word of God, and seeing that ye are a ^blost and a fallen people.

31 Now it came to pass that when I, Alma, had spoken these words, behold, the people were wroth with me because I said unto them that they were a hard-hearted and a ^astiffnecked people.

32 And also because I said unto them that they were a lost and a fallen people they were angry with me, and sought to lay their hands upon me, that they might cast me into prison.

33 But it came to pass that the Lord did not suffer them that they should take me ^aat that time and cast me into prison.

34 And it came to pass that Amulek went and stood forth, and began to preach unto them also. And now the ^awords of Amulek are not all written, nevertheless a part of his words are written in this book.

This section discusses the difference between having gospel knowledge in this life and sinning against it versus never having it so not being capable of sin against it. I remember having long conversations with one of my missionary companions about this over several weeks time. We both wondered if it was more of a burden to know and be responsible for the knowledge now. After a while we realized that living according to gospel truths is a blessing, not a burden, and every gospel law you are aware of and obey will protect you from the negative consequences of disobeying that law. I hope we can all realize that while is is a great responsibility to live the gospel it is also an amazing blessing.


p.s. I am going out of town for a few days and I don't think I will be able to post for Thursday and maybe not on Friday. I am going to try to but I really don't know what kind of computer access I will find. I will catch up on all the posts when I get back so we don't fall behind schedule!