This statement is very similar to Ammon’s declaration about the missionary success he and his brothers had experienced (Alma 26:11). Both passages use “joy”; and for both men, the work of the Lord leads to joy. (For “joy” in the Book of Mormon, see discussion accompanying 2 Nephi 2:25.)
S. Kent Brown sees this verse as intimately connected with Alma’s conversion experience, not only because of the theme of “joy” but also in the effect of that original experience on missionary work:
Similarly, in his personal recounting Alma told his son Helaman that from the time of his three-day ordeal until that moment, “I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste” (Alma 36:24). He continued by speaking metaphorically of his success in his missionary endeavors as if it were fruit of agricultural labors: “The Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors; For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen” (vv. 25–26; compare Alma 29:13–15).