Alma Returns and Travels to Melek
Alma came back from Gideon. He had taught the people there many things. He had set up the church like he did in Zarahemla. Then he went home to rest from his work. This was the end of the ninth year of the judges ruling over Nephi’s people.
At the start of the tenth year, Alma left home. He traveled to the land of Melek. It was west of the Sidon River, by the edge of the wild lands. He began to teach the people in Melek. He taught them about God’s holy ways. He taught people all through the land of Melek. People came to him from all the areas near the wild lands. They were baptized all through the land. When he finished his work at Melek, he left. He traveled north for three days. He came to a city called Ammonihah. Nephi’s people had a custom. They named their lands, cities, and villages after the first person who lived there. That’s how the land of Ammonihah got its name.
The People of Ammonihah Reject Alma
When Alma got to Ammonihah, he began to teach God’s word to the people. But Satan had a strong hold on the hearts of the people in Ammonihah. They would not listen to Alma’s words. Alma worked hard in the Spirit. He prayed hard to God. He asked God to send his Spirit to the people in the city. He asked that he could baptize them so they could turn away from sin.
But they made their hearts hard. They said to him: “We know you are Alma. We know you are the high priest over the church you started in many parts of our land. But we don’t belong to your church. We don’t believe in your foolish ways. We know that since we are not part of your church, you have no power over us. You gave up the judgment seat to Nephihah. So you are not our chief judge.”
After the people said this, they kept arguing with him. They made fun of him and spit on him. They threw him out of their city. So he left and traveled toward the city of Aaron.
An Angel Appears to Alma
While he was traveling, he felt weighed down with sadness. He was going through much trouble and pain. This was because of the bad things the people in Ammonihah were doing. While Alma felt weighed down with sadness, an angel of the Lord appeared to him. The angel said: “God blesses you, Alma. Lift up your head and be happy. You have a good reason to be happy. You have been faithful in keeping God’s commandments. You have done this since you got your first message from him. I am the one who brought you that message. I am sent to tell you to go back to Ammonihah. Preach to the people again. Tell them this: Unless they turn away from their sins, the Lord God will destroy them. Right now they are making plans to destroy the freedom of your people. This is what the Lord says. Their plans go against the laws and rules and commands that he gave to his people.”
Alma Meets Amulek
After Alma heard the message from the angel of the Lord, he rushed back to Ammonihah. He went into the city a different way. He came from the south side of the city.
As he came into the city, he was hungry. He said to a man: “Will you give a humble servant of God something to eat?” The man said to him: “I am a Nephite. I know you are a holy prophet of God. You are the man that an angel told me about in a dream. The angel said: ‘You will receive him.’ So come with me to my house. I will give you some of my food. I know you will be a blessing to me and my family.”
The man took him into his house. The man’s name was Amulek. He brought out bread and meat and set it in front of Alma. Alma ate the bread until he was full. Then he blessed Amulek and his house. He gave thanks to God.
After he ate and was full, he said to Amulek: “I am Alma. I am the high priest over the church of God in all our land. I have been called to teach God’s word to all these people. The Spirit of God tells me what to say. I was in this land before. But the people would not listen to me. They threw me out. I was about to leave this land forever. But I have been told that I should come back. I should tell this people what God says about them. I should tell them about their sins. Amulek, God blesses you because you gave me food and took me in. I was hungry because I had not eaten for many days.”
Alma and Amulek Preach Together
Alma stayed many days with Amulek before he began to teach the people. The people kept doing worse and worse sins. The word came to Alma. It said: “Go. Also tell my servant Amulek to go and tell this people to turn away from their sins. This is what the Lord says: Unless you turn away from your sins, I will punish this people in my anger. I will not stop being angry with them.”
Alma and Amulek went out to teach God’s words to the people. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were given power. No one could lock them up. No one could kill them. But they did not use their power until they were tied up and thrown in prison. This happened so the Lord could show his power through them. They went out and began to teach and tell the people what God said. They used the spirit and power the Lord gave them.