I wrote this text to the girls in the ward this past week, and I wanted to keep it somewhere, so I'm saving it here.
This is a little long, sorry! 😊
Hey everyone! I hope you all are doing well.
I wanted to share one of my all time favorite scriptures form the Book of Mormon. It’s in this weeks Come, Follow Me. And in my opinion, it’s an under-mentioned, and under-appreciated scripture!
To understand why it’s one of my favorites, you have to understand the story before it.
We’ve been reading about Amulek, right? Well, did any of notice all the things he had to go through?
He was just an ordinary guy, living his life. He was well liked in the community and a successful business man. And in the midst of living his normal life, an angel came to him and told him to welcome Alma.
He did.
And everything changed.
And you may be thinking that since an an angel told him to welcome Alma that things in his life changed for the better.
They didn’t!
He watched as his neighbors and acquaintances who believed what he was teaching were burned alive!
He was beat up and thrown into prison.
He was stripped of his clothes and left naked only to be made fun of and spit upon.
When he made it out of prison his friends and his very own dad rejected him.
Ultimately, he left his possessions and money behind.
I mean .... WHAT?!
There is no other word to describe what Amulek endured other than trauma!
And as I read through this, maybe two years ago or so, I was angry.
Why?
Why weren’t they going to tell us how Amulek was going to heal from all this trauma? He had to be hurting! I know what it’s like to experience trauma and I KNOW Amulek was hurting. I felt like the emphasis here was on how Alma and Amulek escaped from prison with the Lords help, but here I was, reading it through Amulek's eyes, and I wondered for the first time why nobody was mentioning the hurt and trauma Amulek had just endured. I thought this book was written for people in our time! Well, what kind of example was this for us?Not even a word mentioned on how he dealt with all of this.
But then, Alma chapter 15, verse 18 ...
“... Alma having seen all these things, therefore he took Amulek and came over to the land of Zarahemla, and took him to his own house, and did administer unto him in his tribulations, and strengthened him in the Lord.”
Oh my goodness! This verse is so personal!
I can picture it! Can you?
Alma, seeing just how badly his good friend is hurting inside, stops all that he is doing and brings his friend to his very own home and strengthens him IN THE LORD!
I love that Alma not only took him to his own home, but that he knew HOW to help his friend!
Girls, I want each and every one of you to know that when you experience any hardship, any at all, that Christ is the best way to recieve strength!
That Moroni could write, in just one small verse, and in only a few words, how Amulek was healed, I originally thought would have been impossible.
But not when Christ is involved! Because He is the master Healer! He is the one who will give us our full strength!
Alma knew it, and I know it! And I pray that anytime you stumble across hardships or trials or trauma in your own life, that you remember to find a quiet place and turn to your Savior!
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