October 16, 2010

I read Alma 36 where Alma shares his personal conversion experience with his son. According to Alma's experience, here is the pattern of being "born of God":

1. to recognize and feel the hopelessness of our situation as being separated from God because of our sins
2. to remember Jesus Christ's atonement performed on our behalf
3. to bear testimony of the power of Jesus Christ's atonement
4. to labor diligently in building the Lord's kingdom

Another thing that I noticed in this chapter was a phrase that Alma begins with in verse 1 and that he ends with in verse 30, and that is: "inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land... and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence." This suggests to me the importance of realizing and remembering that it doesn't matter what spiritual experiences we've had or haven't had, our prosperity and our connection to God depends solely on our decision to be obedient to the commandments. I have chosen to be obedient and keep the commandments, no matter what, and I'm striving my best to do so.