pgs. 182 and 183...having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.

15 And again, Alma took another, and went forth a second time into the water, and baptized him according to the first, only he did not bury ^ahimself again in the water.

16 And after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon; and they were in number about two hundred and four souls; yea, and they were ^abaptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the ^bgrace of God.

17 And they were called the church of God, or the ^achurch of Christ, from that time forward. And it came to pass that whosoever was baptized by the power and authority of God was added to his church.

18 And it came to pass that Alma, having ^aauthority from God, ^bordained priests; even one priest to every fifty of their number did he ordain to preach unto them, and to ^cteach them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

19 And he commanded them that ^athey should ^bteach nothing save it were the things which he had taught, and which had been spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets.

20 Yea, even he commanded them that they should ^apreach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people.

21 And he commanded them that there should be no ^acontention one with another, but that they should look forward with ^bone eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts ^cknit together in unity and in love one towards another.

22 And thus he commanded them to preach. And thus they became the ^achildren of God.

23 And he commanded them that they should observe the ^asabbath day, and keep it holy, and also every day they should give thanks to the Lord their God.

24 And he also commanded them that the priests whom he had ordained ^ashould ^blabor with their own hands for their support.

25 And there was ^aone day in every week that was set apart that they should ^bgather themselves together to teach the people, and to worship the Lord their God, and also, as often as it was in their power, to ^cassemble themselves together.

26 And the priests were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to receive the ^agrace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the ^bknowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God.

27 And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, ^aevery one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart more abundantly; and of him that had but little, but little should be required; and to him that had not should be given.

28 And thus they should impart of their ^asubstance of their own free will and good desires towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every needy, naked soul.

29 And this he said unto them, having been commanded of God; and they did ^awalk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants.

30 And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the ^awaters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall ^bsing to his praise forever.

31 And these things were done in the ^aborders of the land, that they might not come to the knowledge of the king.

32 But behold, it came to pass that the king, having discovered a movement among the people, sent his servants to watch them. Therefore on the day that they were assembling themselves together to hear the word of the Lord they were discovered unto the king.

33 And now the king said that Alma was stirring up the people to rebellion against him; therefore he sent his ^aarmy to destroy them.

34 And it came to pass that Alma and the people of the Lord were ^aapprised of the coming of the king’s army; therefore they took their tents and their families and ^bdeparted into the wilderness.

35 And they were in number about ^afour hundred and fifty souls.

THE BOOK OF MOSIAH

CHAPTER 19

Gideon seeks to slay King Noah—The Lamanites invade the land—King Noah suffers death by fire—Limhi rules as a tributary monarch. Between 145 and 122 B.C.

1 And it came to pass that the ^aarmy of the king returned, having searched in vain for the people of the Lord.

2 And now behold, the forces of the king were small, having been reduced, and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people.

3 And the lesser part began to ^abreathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them.

4 And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.

5 And it came to pass that he fought with the king; and when the king saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the ^atower which was near the temple.

6 And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of ^aShemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land.

7 And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, ^aspare me, for the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us; yea, they will destroy my people.

8 And now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his ^aown life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.



The feeling of love and unity that existed at the Waters of Mormon is so beautiful. Isn't it nice to imagine the way our world would be if we could all interact in such a way? Even back then, however, king Noah's wickedness was raging around them while they hid in a haven so they could feel the Spirit. I love the concept of their hearts being "knit together in love." It suggests strength and warmth.
Listening to conference yesterday and today has been so uplifting. All of the speakers have shared their love of our Savior, Jesus Christ and taught us ways to follow Him in the same way the group of 450 who were at the Waters of Mormon were taught. Even if there is a wicked world raging around us it is so amazing that we have our own latter-day haven in General Conference where we can be taught and uplifted and feel united in our faith.