To accompany your Come Follow Me study for June 17-23
In addition to reading Alma 8-12 this week, you will enjoy watching the following related videos:
You will also enjoy reading the following related material in the Institute Book of Mormon Student Manual:
If you would like a Kahoot game related to this material which you could use for personal study or use with your family or your class, click here: https://create.kahoot.it/share/alma-8-12/af354a17-8b9c-4b3c-8f2e-298548127db8 . To use it with a group, after clicking on this link, you will need to log into Kahoot, creating a free account if you have not done so previously, then click on the blue “Start” button. Some of the Kahoot questions may presuppose that the player has read through the suggested answers to the following Points to Ponder and at least has browsed the Institute student manual as well.
Just like last week, see if you can find passages in Alma 8-12 which teach or imply each of the following points. They are in chronological order. Some passages may be referenced more than once. You’ll enjoy it more if you search the scriptures themselves rather than go directly to my suggested answers at the end of this post.
1. Alma, like Enos and Jacob (Israel), participated in a “spiritual athletic event.”
2. Support for the idea that we may have personal guardian angels.
3. A Primary song says, “When my father calls me, quickly I’ll obey.” Which passage shows that Alma had that attitude with regard to his Heavenly Father?
4. There may have been others besides Nephites and Lamanites who lived among or near the Nephites.
5. Latter-day Saints will be punished more severely than non-members for the same offenses.
6. The Lord doesn’t let much time pass before responding to our prayers.
7. The Lord’s plan is to make us free. The devil’s is to enslave us.
8. Indirect evidence that the Book of Mormon is an abridgement of a larger work.
9. Modern day Lamanites are often not told in their patriarchal blessings that they are of the tribe of Ephraim.
10. Amulek saw an angel on more than one occasion.
11. As long as a country has a sufficient number of good people in it, it is eligible for divine protection.
12. There will be no bald-headed people in heaven.
13. All will be resurrected.
14. Satan is so clever than he can make sin appear attractive.
15. One should not tell a non-member friend all he knows about the gospel.
16. God has a program of individualized instruction.
17. The deepest things of the gospel will not be learned either in a Sunday School class or in general conference.
18. One can lose his testimony if he doesn’t act according to the testimony he has.
19. A reason not to speak of the details of the temple endowment outside of the temple itself.
20. We can get in trouble even for what we say and think.
21. Hell consists of mental, not physical, anguish.
22. It is more difficult to stop sinning than to avoid sin in the first place.
23. A good passage to include in a talk on the purpose of life.
24. We need to teach people the plan of salvation before teaching them the commandments, so they will have a reason to keep those commandments.
25. The Nephite monetary system provides one more evidence of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Possible answers to Points to Ponder in Alma 8-12
1. Alma, like Enos and Jacob (Israel), participated in a “spiritual athletic event.” [Alma 8:10]
2. Support for the idea that we may have personal guardian angels. [Alma 8:14-15—At least in Alma’s case, the same angel showed up more than once on his behalf.]
3. A Primary song says, “When my father calls me, quickly I’ll obey.” Which passage shows that Alma had that attitude with regard to his Heavenly Father? [Alma 8:18]
4. There may have been others besides Nephites and Lamanites who lived among or near the Nephites. [Alma 8:20. If it were not so, what would be the purpose of Amulek’s identifying himself as “a Nephite”?]
5. Latter-day Saints will be punished more severely than non-members for the same offenses. [Alma 9:14-15, 23]
6. The Lord doesn’t let much time pass before responding to our prayers. [Alma 9:26]
7. The Lord’s plan is to make us free. The devil’s is to enslave us. [Alma 9:28]
8. Indirect evidence that the Book of Mormon is an abridgement of a larger work. [Alma 10:2—Though Mormon obviously knew the story of Aminadi who interpreted the writing on the wall of the temple, our current Book of Mormon provides absolutely no details of the same.]
9. Modern day Lamanites are often not told in their patriarchal blessings that they are of the tribe of Ephraim. [Alma 10:3. Though Lehi was of Manasseh, Ishmael was of Ephraim, so today’s Lamanites may be identified by patriarchs as being of either lineage.]
10. Amulek saw an angel on more than one occasion. [Alma 10:7, 10]
11. As long as a country has a sufficient number of good people in it, it is eligible for divine protection. [Alma 10:22-23]
12. There will be no bald-headed people in heaven. [Alma 11:44]
13. All will be resurrected. [Alma 11:44]
14. Satan is so clever than he can make sin appear attractive. [Alma 12:4-6]
15. One should not tell a non-member friend all he knows about the gospel. [Alma 12:9-11]
16. God has a program of individualized instruction. [Alma 12:9-11]
17. The deepest things of the gospel will not be learned either in a Sunday School class or in general conference. [Alma 12:9-11]
18. One can lose his testimony if he doesn’t act according to the testimony he has. [Alma 12:9-11]
19. A reason not to speak of the details of the temple endowment outside of the temple itself. [Alma 12:9-11]
20. We can get in trouble even for what we say and think. [Alma 12:14]
21. Hell consists of mental, not physical, anguish. [Alma 12:17]
22. It is more difficult to stop sinning than to avoid sin in the first place. [Alma 12:17]
23. A good passage to include in a talk on the purpose of life. [Alma 12:24]
24. We need to teach people the plan of salvation before teaching them the commandments, so they will have a reason to keep those commandments. [Alma 12:32. Elder Boyd K. Packer considered this the most important passage in all of scripture.]
25. The Nephite monetary system provides one more evidence of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Alma 11:5-19. It has been noted that the 1, 2, 4, and 7 system was very efficient, allowing one to make exact change in as few pieces of money as possible. It is also of interest that such a system of weights is still used in remote villages of Guatemala, where tourists can purchase a set.