The tidings of this defection having reached Alma, he selected several leading members among those holding the Holy Priesthood, and as soon as possible, proceeded to the Land of Antionum. Those who accompanied him were his two younger sons, three of the sons of King Mosiah, Amulek and Zeezrom. To his anxiety to bring these dissenters back from the error of their ways, and to avert Heaven’s righteous wrath from falling upon them, was added the fear that if they remained in their wickedness they would join the Lamanites and bring trouble upon the more faithful Nephites by urging the renewal of war.
On the arrival of Alma and his fellow-laborers at the seat of the apostasy, they at once commenced their ministrations. They taught in the synagogues and preached in the streets. They visited the people from house to house, using every possible effort to bring these misguided dissenters to an understanding of their perilous condition. To these labors we are indebted for some of the plainest and most powerful Gospel teachings contained in the Book of Mormon, all of which will repay our perusal. Suffice it here to say that many of the poor and humble, those who were oppressed, abused and trodden down by their false priests and unrighteous rulers as well as by the wealthier portion of the community, received the words of Salvation, while a majority rejected them with contemptuous scorn. Some of the missionaries were maltreated. Shiblon, the son of Alma, was imprisoned and stoned for the truth’s sake, while others fared but little better. Unfortunately the work of God was retarded by the misconduct of Corianton, the brother of Shiblon, who, for a time, deserted his ministerial duties for the company of a harlot. This folly caused Alma great sorrow, as it gave the ungodly a pretext for rejecting the Gospel, of which they were not slow to avail themselves.
Although his astonishment at the Zoramites’ wickedness was almost more than Alma could bear, he was not overwhelmed by the prospect that faced him. To lead back into the right path those who had gone astray was the objective for which he labored, and the aim sought by all the missionaries who had accompanied him to Antionum. God was his helper, and on His help Alma relied. In the depths of affliction—for by their wickedness Alma was afflicted—he called upon the Lord in mighty prayer, saying: “Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto Thee.” (v. 35)
In his prayer, Alma also reminded the Lord of the folly in which the Zoramites took pleasure, of their wicked ways, and the hypocrisy of their approach to His gracious throne. In none of these was Alma bitter in his denouncement; he only asked for strength, that grace might be given to himself and his fellow missionaries that they might fulfill with zeal, tempered with wisdom, the mission in which they had embarked.
When Alma had finished his unselfish supplication to the Almighty Father, Who is the loving Father of all men, and which Alma recognized, he placed his hands “upon all them who were with him,” and behold, as he laid his hands upon their heads, blessing each one of them and setting them apart for the mission they were to perform, “they were filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Taking no thought of what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what they should put on, the missionaries separated themselves from one another, and went forth in the power of the Priesthood to cry repentance unto their brethren, who, in the hardness of their hearts, had gone astray. This order of embarking on such a calling as theirs was Heaven-inspired, for this also was according to the instructions the Risen Redeemer gave unto the Nephites when He visited them about a hundred years later:
And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words He looked upon the twelve whom He had chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold, the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;
And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will He clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithall shall we be clothed?
For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
3 Ne. 13:25-34)
Alma’s prayer, because he prayed in faith, was answered in blessings upon the heads of all the missionaries. Mormon notes that the Lord provided for their wants. They hungered not, neither did they thirst. Strength was given them that they overcame all afflictions, save at times for God’s glory they suffered pain and anguish but even through their tears they saw His divine blessings and discerned His providential care.