Alma the Elder Was Converted: A Great Line of Descendants

The conversion of Alma the Elder was the prize jewel of the family history of his descendants for the next 450 years:

• Alma the Elder, while still a young man, was converted by the testimony and teachings of the prophet Abinadi.
• Alma the Elder’s son was Alma the Younger.
• Alma the Younger’s son was Helaman the First, who was the head of the stripling warriors.
• His son was Helaman the Second, the one after whom the book of Helaman was named.
• Helaman the Second’s sons were Nephi the Second, and Lehi, who went to the Land of Nephi. Helaman sent them off saying, "Remember, remember my sons, the words that Benjamin spoke." They were to carry the words of Benjamin’s speech with them, and they converted many Lamanites.
• Nephi’s son was Nephi the Third. Which Nephi was that? He became the lead disciple of the Twelve.
• His son was another Nephi. This was the one after whom the book of 4 Nephi was named. When that Nephi died.
• His son Amos kept the record in his stead (4 Nephi 1:19). When Amos died, it was an hundred and ninety and four years from the coming of Christ.
• His son Amos the Second kept the record in his stead (4 Nephi 1:21). Then the second Amos died.
• His brother, Ammaron, kept the record in his stead (4 Nephi 1:47). Ammaron was the one who eventually gave the plates into the charge of Mormon.

Mormon was not a son of Ammaron, so that was the end of Alma’s line, which began with Alma’s conversion by Abinadi. As far as we know, Alma was Abinadi’s only direct convert. He may have thought he was a failure. He had no idea how far and wide his influence would extend.

Likewise, Noah had no idea the effect Abinadi’s testimony would have on the Nephite people. Abinadi’s testimony was the great warning to all the rest of the Nephites and to the whole world as well. If we are not meticulous in keeping the law, if we are not faithful, looking forward to the coming of Christ, we will not have claim to blessings any more than Noah and his people.

The Book of Mormon is what Professor John Sorenson and the archaeologists have called a lineage history. What we are really being told from this point on is the history of the lineage of this man, Alma the Elder. The creation account of that lineage begins with Abinadi. It has a second phase, and that is with the conversion of Alma the younger, and those two stories will combine to be the main characteristics of this lineage. That is a great lesson on planting the seeds when you have no idea how the crop will eventually be harvested.

This is Alma the Elder’s equivalent of Paul’s road to Damascus. For the Nephite people, this beginning was what Latter-day Saints might understand as a Sacred Grove experience—a foundational spiritual event that moved forward God’s purposes among the people.

Further Reading

John W. Welch and Greg Welch, "Life Spans of Alma’s Lineage," in Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study and Teaching (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999), chart 28.