What would the effect have been on Helaman, a first-born son, when his father left? When a father left this world under biblical law, the eldest son became responsible for his mother, for his unmarried sisters, and for his single aunts. He would take responsibility for the family estate, and, as in this case, he inherited certain priestly duties. How did Helaman respond when he realized that his father was gone?
As far as we know, there was no psalm-type mourning, as there had been from Nephi when Lehi died. For Helaman, the situation may not have been much different than when his father Alma had left on previous occasions. Helaman had been left behind when Alma had gone on other missions, and there was no technology to send frequent messages and updates back and forth as we have today. It may have been some time before they realized that Alma was not coming back. Helaman just carried on doing many things as he was already doing when his father had departed before.