The mission of the Church was and is to prepare the members to receive the ordinances necessary for exaltation, and here it was beginning to come about. Through the prayers of his father, Alma, son of Alma, was now ready to be baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost. He had certainly been baptized by water as a youth, being the son of the head of the church, but had not been baptized by the Spirit. Two days and two nights of purging (v. 23) is not the usual way of being baptized by fire, but Alma, son of Alma, was not the usual person. He needed a cleansing of intense fire to purge out the old creature. The assembling of the priests to fast and pray (v. 22) had involved the church in his cleansing, both as participants and as observers of God’s power.