While he was counseling his son Helaman, Alma said: “And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done” (Alma 37:40). If, on the other hand, “they were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey; therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions” (Alma 37:41–42; see also Alma 37:38–47).