As Alma travels to Aaron, his soul continues to be troubled for the people of Ammonihah. While on the journey, he receives a visitation from an angel. This is the same angel who appeared to him and turned his life around. When this same angel announces the fact that he is the same who delivered that earth shaking first message (literally as well as figuratively earth shaking) he notes that this is apparently the second appearance and that Alma has been faithful since the “first message” from God. Does this indicate that Alma has had no inspiration nor revelation in between?
The nature of that first message was dramatically present in the person of the messenger, and it is the same messenger that appears now. There is no indication that Alma has not had any communication from God in between, but rather that the rather special circumstance of a heavenly messenger had not been repeated. No doubt the faithfulness of Alma to the first visitation and the subsequent righteousness of his life led directly to the ability of the messenger to come to deliver this particular message.