Alma spells out his message very directly. His listeners will not be able to know these things perfectly, or believe them completely, at first. At first, naturally, they do not believe and that is logical. This state of ignorance is the first stage in the process, or continuum, of faith. Faith can increase in quality and depth with our experiences.
This point is important, for we can easily forget that “faith” applies to a full continuum of experiences. For example, we can use the term “play tennis” after our first couple of lessons, and we can also apply it to the Wimbledon championship matches. The term may cover everything from the beginner to the top-ranked professional. So it is with faith. Faith may describe a young child, a questioning teenager, and even the prophet. All may have faith, though its quality certainly differs in accordance with their experience.