At the outset, what did Alma and his sons choose to do? They chose to “go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them” (Alma 43:1). Alma’s words to Corianton in Alma 42 had a negative, though kindly, tone to them. Corianton had a lot of doctrines wrong, and Alma was straightforward and blunt in talking to him. When we finish reading that powerful chapter, we as readers are almost gasping for air! And then we turn the corner into Alma 43, and what did Alma do after delivering all of those powerful instructions to his three sons? They all picked right up and got back to work! Alma himself took his sons—Corianton included—and they went to work together. Work will win when wishing won’t. Work is a big part of what we can and should do in facing our most challenging times.
We have not talked much about Mormon up to this point in the Book of Mormon. It is his book, and we need to realize that he was not far in the background deciding which points we would need most. While Mormon was a great general, that was only his day job. He was grounded in the gospel first and foremost (as we will learn firsthand from his words later on).
In Alma 43:2, Mormon declines to elaborate more about their preaching, even though that is something we would love to know more about. He assumes we can figure that out from all he has included in Alma 5, 7, 12–13, and 32–42. But here, Mormon did add, “except to say that they preached the word and the truth according to the spirit of prophecy and revelation, and they preached after the Holy Order of God by which they were called.” At this point, Mormon wanted us to know that, whatever they specifically said about the plan of eternal salvation, they delivered that message in a holy way. They were motivated by the spirit of prophecy, they spoke as revelators, and they stayed within the scope of their holy priesthood authority and calling. Thus, they were able to give the people exactly what they needed most in order to righteously fill their needs at that time.