We have Alma journeying in the last of chapter 16 without specific information on where he visited. At this point we have him leaving Gideon and traveling south to Manti. Gideon was the location of Alma's pleasant visit recorded in chapters 6 and 7 of Alma. With the triumphant theme of Alma's preaching as recorded in chapter 16, and the praise Alma gave Gideon in chapters 6 and 7, we may expect that there was no need to call Gideon to repentance. Alma either stopped at Gideon for the pleasure of a friendly and righteous location, or it was simply on the way to Manti. Of course, it may also be that it was on his way to Manti from wherever else he had been, and he stopped not only for refreshment in travel, but for the pleasure of the righteous company.
In any case, as he leaves Gideon and travels toward Manti, he meets his friends, the sons of former king Mosiah. It is logical that he might meet them here, as Manti apparently stands guard at the main connection between the land of Nephi (the principle land of the Lamanites) and the land of Zarahemla. Thus Alma fortuitously meets his friends just as they are returning from a long journey into the heartland of the Lamanites.