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OBJECT/ICEBREAKER
I always like to begin this lesson by doing some type of simple scientific experiment, especially if you’re teaching youth. Now you want it to be brief, but exciting, and safe, so I would advise against anything with toxic chemicals or open flames. Now what you could do, is look up “easy science experiments to do at home” on YouTube and there will literally be 100 ideas you could choose from. One of the easiest and simplest you can do is an experiment called the film canister rocket. And all you need is an Alka-Seltzer tablet, some water, and a film canister and these items can easily be purchased at your local Walmart or grocery store or ordered online. I’ll even put some links in the video description to these if you want to go that route. But what you do is you place the Alka-Seltzer tablet in a clear glass and ask your students what they think will happen when you pour water on it. Then pour the water on and of course, it’s going to start to fizz. You can explain that a chemical reaction is taking place between the water and the chemicals in the tablet. Then ask them what they think will happen if you isolate the reaction in the canister, and then let them guess. Then take a tablet and place it in the canister, pour a little water in (filling the canister about a ¼ full), put the lid back on quickly a place the whole thing upside down. And you may want to place it on a pan or a cookie sheet because it does make a little bit of a mess and then be sure to step back and watch what happens. Now I like this one because the reaction is very, very minor, but it does pop the film canister up into the air and is kind of fun.
Film Canisters: https://amzn.to/4eVyJcC
Alka-Seltzer Tablets: https://amzn.to/3VZBa5d
Now you’d think that the Book of Mormon, as an ancient text, would have very little to do with science. Why on earth would I begin a gospel lesson by doing a science experiment? But interestingly enough, in Alma chapter 32, Alma is going to teach us about one the most important principles of the gospel , and he going to frame it in terms of an experiment. An experiment that God is going to invite all of his children to perform while in this life. So two questions. One, can you actually find the word experiment in Alma 32, and, while you’re at it, can you find what the experiment is? And if you scan through that chapter, you’re going to find the word experiment in verse 27. Alma invites us to “awake and arouse our faculties, even to an experiment upon his words”. And what is the experiment? It's quite possibly one of the first experiments you ever tried in preschool, and it’s found in vs 28. It’s planting a seed. Did you ever do that as a child? Place your little bean sprout in a Dixie cup and place it in the sun, water it? And then, almost like magic, one day you would walk over to your little cup, and inside, a small, green leaf and stem had started to poke through the dark soil. It was so exciting. Here, though, Alma is going to invite us to plant a different kind of seed and perform a far more critical kind of experiment. And I think this is just brilliant, because not only is that symbolism going to relate and make sense to the largely agricultural audience of Alma’s day, but by using the word experiment, it’s also going to relate beautifully to the post-scientific revolution world of today. And what is the symbol? What does the seed represent? Back to verse 28. The seed is God’s word, his truth, his gospel. And we’re going to plant the truth into our lives, and by our faith, we’re going to see if it grows. Just like, you’ve got to believe or have faith in the process of planting or gardening enough to plant it and take the steps necessary for it to grow. So as the seed grows, so does our faith. So it can represent both. Remember that last week we talked about building our pyramid of faith and that our “I know” is built on evidence, another scientific word. So this week we’re going to answer the question “How do we build a foundation for our pyramid of faith? Or in this analogy, “How do we grow the seed of truth or faith in our lives.”
BACKGROUND
Before we go any further, let me give you just a little bit of background on what’s happening in this chapter. This is a continuation of the story we started discussing last week where Alma enters the city of the Zoramites and sees them offering their prideful prayers on the Rameumptom. And then we heard him pray for these people and for strength from God to approach them and try to reclaim them. So here in chapter 32 we see Alma go forth amongst the people with his companions to try and teach them. And as they’re striving to get through to these people, another large group of people come forward wanting to hear more from Alma. And it says that Alma turned himself about to face this new group and he sees that they are the poor of the city. And they’ve been cast out of the synagogues by the richer Zoramites. Which makes sense because, you remember their prayer right. It was so self-centered and conceited that, of course they wouldn’t want these “lowly,” coarsely dressed members sullying the image of their self-important worship services. “How can we consider ourselves to be better than everyone else when we have these impoverished people among us. No, we are the elect, and our prosperity and fine clothing are evidence of God’s approval and preference for us. We can’t have THEM here.” So these impoverished members are confused about what they should do. They wonder how they can worship, when they have no official holy space in which to worship. And in verse 6 we read that Alma’s heart begins to swell with great joy and hope within him because he realizes that these are people that are ready for his gospel message. These are individuals that are perfect subjects to try the experiment. And in Alma’s masterful teaching of these particular people, he’s going to teach all of us how to gain a testimony, how to grow faith, as well.
SEARCH (Handout)
So, as Alma suggests, let’s approach this chapter as an experiment. And if you’ve ever taken a science class, you know that there is a specific method for performing an experiment. Can you think of some of the steps of the scientific method? Here are some of the things your students might share when you ask that question. Before you begin an experiment you make a HYPOTHESIS. A statement of what it is you are going to test. Then you devise and follow a set of PROCEDURES or steps to test your hypothesis. And as you test it, you make OBSERVATIONS, or you collect DATA as you make those observations. Then with the data you have gathered, you come to CONCLUSION from what you’ve observed. Was my hypothesis correct or not? And it’s possible that your students may mention some other parts of the scientific method, but for simplicity’s sake, these are the steps that we’re going to use in our lesson today as a framework for studying this chapter. And there is one additional step that we’re going to add, and we’re going to call this step: FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS. Often, in science, when you do an experiment, you begin with the guidance of certain undeniable laws or foundational truths that have already been established. And you operate within those laws or truths.
For a search activity then, I like to invite my students to fill out the following scripture study guide handout. Now there are two ways that you could approach this. You could either invite your students to try and fill out the entire study guide themselves first as they read. And if you go this route, you could give them a good 15-20 minutes to work through it and then as you review it, have a discussion about the truths and principles that they’ve learned. Or, you could just go section by section together as a class and use the study guide as a way of walking your students through the experiment, discussing things as you go. Either way, on the handout, you’ll see that the experiment is broken down into those five areas I already mentioned: Fundamental Truths, Hypothesis, Procedures, Observations/Data, and Conclusions. So here we go.
THE FUNDAMENTALS
First, the fundamental truths. I see at least 4 that Alma wants us to understand before we ever even begin our experiment here. These are essential underlying realities that we need to recognize first if we wish the experiment to be fair and reliable.
See if you can discover these fundamentals by answering the following four questions.
What’s the best kind of “soil" to grow your faith in? What divine quality? (32:12-16)
What ISN’T faith? (32:21, 26)
How does God feel about you conducting this experiment? (32:22)
Who is authorized to conduct this experiment? (32:23)
1st question, What’s the best kind of soil to grow your faith in? What divine quality? According to verses 12-16
Answer. They key word here is humility. The seed of faith grows best in the soil of humility. You’re going to see that word pop up all over those particular verses. That’s a prerequisite for growing faith. I like what C.S. Lewis said about this:
“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
So if we want to experiment with religious truth, we’ve got to be humble. Seeds of faith simply cannot grow in the stony soil of pride. That’s why it’s the poor Zoramites that were willing to listen to Alma’s preaching. They’ve been compelled to be humble by their poverty. And Alma does make the point that it’s better to humble ourselves than it is to be compelled to be humble, but even that doesn’t matter as much, as long as you’re humble, you can begin the experiment. That’s what matters most. Faith can only grow in the fertile fields of humility. So people who are going to approach the idea of faith with a skeptical, prideful attitude, are probably not going to get anything to grow. Those that say, “I am not going to accept anything that can’t be proven by empirical, concrete, material proof. There’s no way that I’m going to be persuaded to believe in miracles, and angels, and things that cannot be seen. I’m above such things. That seed won’t grow. But that’s not because the seed isn’t good. It’s because they refuse to plant it in good soil. Humility is key.
Question #2. What isn’t faith?
I think it’s interesting that Alma is going to begin here by telling us what faith isn’t. I think he’s concerned that we may have a misunderstanding of what it is we’re trying to grow here. A misunderstanding of what faith actually is. So he’s going to tell us what it isn’t here. It’s not a perfect knowledge according to verse 21 and then verse 26 tells us that you cannot know of their surety at first unto perfection. That’s vital for us to comprehend right from the get-go. If I believe that faith is a perfect knowledge, then I’m probably going to get discouraged fairly quickly in my experiment. We don’t begin the experiment of faith with a giant oak tree type of testimony, you begin with a seed. I’ve known a number of people, especially youth, who feel like they don’t have a testimony because they’re afraid that they can't honestly get up and say, I know. I know the church is true, I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. They feel intimidated to bear their testimony because they don’t feel like they can say that. They hear other people get up and say, "I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that such and such is true". That seems to plant in their minds that if they can’t say that with conviction, then they don’t have a testimony. I wish I could help them to understand these verses. Faith, or a testimony, is not a perfect knowledge. I’m not sure I know exactly what a shadow of a doubt looks like, but I’m pretty sure I’ve had them in my life. I’ve faced doubts. They come but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a testimony. I feel I have a firm testimony. But faith, to be faith, must have an element of uncertainty for it to be faith. That idea is suggested in vs. 17-18
17 Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.
18 Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it.
Alma is highlighting a common misunderstanding many have about belief. They say, if you’d just show me a sign, then I’d know that all this gospel stuff you’re teaching is really true or not. Then I’ll believe, I’ll have a testimony, because it’s been proven to me. Now do you see the problem with that? If we’re using Alma’s seed symbolism here, that would be like someone asking God to just give them a full-grown tree to start with. “Lord, could you just plop a giant Redwood down into the soil of my soul and we’ll be good!” I’ll know! You know, some people nowadays just want ALL of their gospel questions and doubts answered right now. It’s all or nothing. I want proof right now. If there is any degree of uncertainty or a “we don’t know for sure,” then all of it must not be true. I’m going to doubt the whole thing. And the Lord says, “You don’t understand. That’s not really the purpose for why I sent you to earth. That’s not the goal of mortality. If it were, how easy would it be for me to just come down and give you all truth and prove to you my existence, the truthfulness of my plan, the reality of spiritual things, the answers to all the questions you have about life, Church History, the Book of Mormon. But that’s not what I’m after. My plan is for you to grow. There is great eternal value in this process of planting, and nourishing, and growing your tree, and believing without seeing. I want you to learn how to take care of the seed of truth. I want you to value the tree that comes from that seed. If I just give it to you, without any effort or trust on your part, then I’m afraid you are going to miss out on all I want you to get out of your mortal experience. It’s the process that’s more important here than the final result. There is value, and soul growth, and becoming, and understanding that comes from the process of you growing the tree of your faith.” If you sidestep that, shortcut, I don’t believe you will become what I hope you will become. There’s plenty of evidence of this throughout the scriptures. Think of Laman and Lemuel who saw an angel, for heaven’s sake, and miracle after miracle as they journeyed towards the promised land. Did it make them into believing, Christlike, righteous individuals. No. The Children of Israel saw the Red Sea Part. Undeniable proof of God’s power. Did that change their character? No. They were building a golden calf a short time later. So fundamental 2 is to understand that faith is not a perfect knowledge, it’s a hope for things which are not seen, which are true. (vs. 21) Now knowledge is important, and that is the final destination. One day we will know all truth. One day God will reveal all things. But until then, the just shall live by faith.
#3 How does God feel about you conducting this experiment? (32:22)
As we do this experiment, keep in mind that’s he’s a merciful, loving God and He desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word. That’s kind of a nice thing to know from the get-go isn’t it? God wants you to know. He’s not trying to hide it; he’s not going to make it any harder than it needs to be to produce the desired result. He’s on our side, and will be our advocate in this process.
And then #4 Who is authorized to conduct the experiment?
Men, women, even little children. Nobody is excluded. Anybody can grow faith, even little children. There are no favorites here. There’s no exclusive club of faith. Testimony isn’t reserved for some elite group of pre-determined individuals. All can have this experience. And isn’t that true. This experiment has been conducted successfully by millions and millions and repeated over and over again throughout eons of time. This works across cultures, across times, across ages, across genders. Nobody is excluded from the laboratory here.
And now that we have those four fundamentals in mind, we’re ready to begin the experiment.
HYPOTHESIS
Now every experiment begins with a hypothesis. A statement of assertion. And you get to choose this one. Alma told us that the seed was God’s word. Well, what portion of God’s word are you experiment on? It’s going to work with any number of statements of faith. You choose which one you need most in your life right now. Your statement could be God is real, The Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a true prophet? Russell M. Nelson is a living prophet guided by God? Tithing is a divine principle. It’s your choice here. But whatever you choose, just be sure to phrase it in the positive. We’re trying to establish something here, not refute it.
Now for the EXPERIMENT ITSELF, THE PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCTING IT
Your students may write down a number of things from these verses, but I like to boil it down into a few basic steps in verses :27-28.
First, awake and arouse your faculties, and exercise a particle of faith. Awake, arouse, exercise. Those are active words. It’s important that we not go into this process casually, or halfheartedly. If we do, the experiment may fail, not because the seed isn’t good, but because we never really actively performed the experiment to its full conclusion. That being said, you don’t need much to work with. Particle is the word he uses. What’s the particle? A desire to believe. That’s all you need to begin this experiment. Just be willing to exercise that desire to believe it. We say, "I don’t know, but I want to know." If you don’t want to know, if there’s no desire, then you might as well step away from the laboratory now, because you can’t grow a tree without a seed. So, do you really want to know? This experiment requires a willingness to follow through on it, exercise it, and put forth some effort to perform it.
The next step in our procedure actually comes up twice. Once at the end of vs. 27 and again at the beginning of :28. What do I need to do with my seed? I need to give it a place to grow. I’ve got to plant the seed. An unplanted seed will never grow. So how do I do that? How do I give my seed a place? I guess that depends on your hypothesis. If my hypothesis is, “God is real” then perhaps I pray to God to find out if He’s really there. If my hypothesis is “The Book of Mormon is true” then I study the Book of Mormon to find out if it’s true. If my hypothesis is “Russel M. Nelson is a prophet of God” then I listen to him and I apply his words to see their effect on my life. If my hypothesis is “Tithing is a true principle” then I pay my tithing to see the results it brings. For whatever commandment I consider out there, I live the commandment to find out if it’s the right course of action to take. These kinds of actions will give a place for the seed to grow. Like Christ said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine”. I’ve got to be willing to do something in order to know if it’s good. Makes sense, doesn’t it.
Then also in verse :28 I find out where that seed must be planted. I plant it in my heart. What might that suggest? I think that suggests that our search must come from a place of sincerity and earnestness. We can’t approach it with skepticism or incredulity. It’s got to come from the heart. And Alma warns us that we mustn’t “cast it out because of [our] unbelief” or “resist the spirit of the Lord”. I saw that kind of thing on my mission or sometimes in my seminary classes even. People or students who, for whatever reason, resist spiritual things, block them out, not willing to allow the seed to even be planted to begin with.
Now for the OBSERVATIONS
Alma tells us that there will be some things that will begin to happen that will help me to know that the seed is good. The results will be observable. I see four things in verse :28. Let’s list them.
It will begin to swell within your breast. Swelling motions. I think that's saying that we'll have an emotional or even physical reaction to the truth. This is the feeling part of our testimony. Alma says that we will feel something. And there are different phrases used in the scriptures to describe this emotional response. One of the most well-known descriptions of those feelings is found in Doctrine and Covenants 9:8 where it’s described as a “burning in the bosom” that causes you to feel that it is right. But that’s not the only way it’s described in the scriptures. Maybe you can’t relate to that one. The feelings of the Spirit are difficult to describe, so we can’t get too hung up on just one particular description of it. President Oaks once said that he had never felt a burning in his bosom. Joseph Smith said that the spirit caused his bones to quake. Maybe we can’t relate to that one either. But Paul describes the fruits of the Spirit with the words love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance . . . “Maybe we can relate more to those words. But the point is, if we feel these emotions, they’re an indicator from God that the seed is good.
The second observation is that it will begin to enlarge our soul. I think this means that we will have a behavioral response to the truth. Knowing the truth should make us a better person. I know of a young lady who once described the way that she received her testimony of the Book of Mormon. She had prayed a number of times beforehand to know if the Book of Mormon were true and had expected a dramatic experience, or overwhelming emotion. Instead, her mind was called up to reflect on how her life had changed that past year as she truly and deeply studied the Book of Mormon. She had changed. She was more patient, more righteous, more happy, more helpful to her family. She reflected on how much better her life was since she had begun a serious study of the book. She didn’t have some great revelation or overwhelming feeling, but she got up from her knees with a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon, because it had enlarged her soul. That’s another way the Lord will help us to know if the seed is good.
It beginneth to enlighten my understanding. This suggests a mental response to the truth. The Spirit speaks to both the heart and the mind. The heart is not a greater judge of truth than the mind, and vice versa. The spirit speaks to both. Joseph Smith spoke of “pure intelligence” flowing into him. Thoughts, impressions, ideas. And maybe you’ve had that kind of experience before. Have you ever been listening to a talk or lesson in church, or during scripture study, or watching general conference, and something in your mind just clicks. What is being taught or said just makes sense and rings true in your head. :34 says that the truth begins to expand our mind. In our last video we talked about faith being built on reason. The principles of the gospel make logical sense. It’s reasonable to me that there is intelligence behind creation. It’s reasonable to me that the only plausible explanation for the Book of Mormon’s existence is a divine one. It’s reasonable to me that God would require order in his priesthood. So another indicator that the seed is good, is that it will make sense to us. It will edify us. It will make us wiser.
The final observation. It will become delicious unto us. I love that description. When something is delicious, we want more of it and it goes down easy. The truths of the gospel are delicious. Eternal families, God’s love for each individual, the fact that there is a purpose to life, that there is a continuation of life after death, a reward of happiness in the life to come. God is merciful and forgives sin. These truths are delicious. They are easy to digest and delicious to contemplate. It makes us happy to receive them and causes us to desire more of it. Have you ever not wanted a talk to end? Have you ever wanted a certain feeling to remain forever? Have you ever wanted to go deeper and deeper on a new truth or understanding. The gospel has become delicious to you. That is yet another way to know the seed is a good seed.
Now if you look at the four observations, you might notice something kind of fascinating. It spells SEED. Cool, huh? That’s probably just a coincidence but what a fun and easy way to remember the four things to look for as we experiment upon God’s word. And these observations may come in any combination of these indicators. For some the Spirit may communicate more strongly through their minds than their emotions, while for others, the behavioral change may be enough to confirm their hypothesis.
Well, now that we’ve made these observations, we can start to arrive at some CONCLUSIONS. What are they?
:29 it increases your faith. Your experiences have made your faith stronger. It's been planted and has begun to grow. It’s changed and evolved into somethings stronger and bigger.
:30 Now you know something. You know the seed is good. It’s compelling to note that Alma never uses the word true after this point, but the word good. We know that the seed is good. And that insight may hopefully comfort some of you out there who may feel that you can’t be intellectually honest in saying that you know that it’s true. But do you know that it’s good? Perhaps we can get up and say “I know that the Book of Mormon is a good book, that it makes me feel good when I read it, that it makes me a better person when I live it. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ is a good church, a good organization, full of good principles and good people. I know that Russell M. Nelson and the quorum of the 12 apostles are good men with sincere hearts. That is a testimony, and you still get to say the words “I know” because you do know something. You know it’s good. That’s the beginning of faith. You have a testimony. The seedling has begun to sprout and grow.
Verse :30 also mentions that your faith is strengthened
And then I love the words in verse 35 that we can add to the word good. Now we know that what we have experienced is real, that it’s light, that it’s discernible, as well as good. We have had a real, enlightening, discernible experience. That’s part of the substance and evidence we spoke of last time. And I’d like to share something a little personal with you here. Verse :35 had a profound impact on me as a young man. The word “real” just touched my heart in a special way when I was studying this chapter one night. The things that we speak about in the gospel are REAL. God is real, the First Vision really happened, the power of the Spirit is a real force in the universe, the events and people that we read about in the Book of Mormon are real. It’s not made up. It’s not myth. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s real. That struck me so profoundly that when I was asked what verse of scripture I wanted displayed on my missionary plaque, I chose Alma 32:35.
So now, the seed has been planted, it's sprouted, and it has begun to grow. But are we done? Is the great experiment over? Let’s see.
Now I’d invite my students to read Alma 32:35-43 with the following 7 questions in mind.
After we’ve planted the seed, are we done? (35-36)
What kind of tree are we trying to grow? A shade tree? A decorative tree? (37)
What must we not do with our tree of faith? (36, 38)
What must we do with our tree of faith after it begins to grow? (37)
What is the name of the tree we are growing? (40)
What three repeated things are necessary for nourishing our tree? (41, 42, 43)
What blessings come to those who grow their trees? (41-42)
After we’ve planted the seed, are we done? (35-36) No, we’re not done. Alma asks if after we have tasted of this light if your knowledge is perfect. His answer: Nay. At this point, we’ve only just begun. We’ve only exercised enough faith to plant the seed long enough to know that it is good. Look how many times the word begin, or beginneth appears in this chapter. Remember our fundamentals. You don’t start with perfect knowledge at the beginning. You don’t go from seedling to a full grown, climbable, giant redwood type testimony tree, from one day to the next. You don’t build your pyramid of faith overnight. You can’t expect to go from hypothesis to law immediately. This is a process.
What kind of tree are we trying to grow? A shade tree? A decorative tree? (37)No. It’s a fruit tree! If you’ve ever planted a fruit tree from a seed, how long does it take before you’re plucking fruit off of it? Years. Again, It takes time. And, it’s a tree that is going to provide you with fruit! With nourishment, sustenance, enjoyment. There are great blessings in store for those that are willing to conduct the experiment and continue to nourish their tree.
What must we not do with our tree of faith? (36, 38) We must not lay aside our faith. We must not neglect the tree or take no thought for its nourishment. Because if we neglect it, the roots won’t sink deep, and when the sun comes out, it will scorch it, and it will wither away. We want out tree of faith to be strong, we want our pyramid of faith to endure the ages. Why do some people abandon their faith or seem to forget their past spiritual experiences? It’s because they’ve stopped nourishing the tree. They aren’t watering it, and pruning it, and digging about it, and fertilizing it. There’s no root.
What must we do with our tree of faith after it begins to grow? (37)So what must we do? We must nourish it with "great care" and “much care”. Once we’ve performed the initial experiment, we can’t stop searching. We continue to experiment, to gather data, to observe our experiences, to explore other truths and other hypothesis. Year after year, as we study more, worship more, learn more, feel more, experience more, eventually that tree is going to bring forth fruit.
What is the name of the tree we are growing? (40)What is this fruit tree? It’s a particular kind of fruit tree. Verse 40 tells us that it’s the tree of life. Wow! What a profound insight we’ve now gained about Lehi’s vision all the way back in 1 Nephi. The tree of life actually grows right within our own hearts. That’s where it’s planted and that’s where we nourish it. We all get our own personal tree of life. It’s like, before Heavenly Father sent us down to earth, he took us aside, and said, “I have a special gift for you before you go. And we eagerly held our hands open, and into them he dropped a seed. A tiny seed. And we say, ‘What’s this for’. And he says, ‘That is a tree of life seed. Take it with you. Plant it in heart, nourish it, take good care it. One day it will bring forth wonderful fruit to you.”
What three repeated things are necessary for nourishing our tree? (41, 42, 43) What is absolutely necessary to make that growth possible? The three repeated words, Faith, diligence, and patience. And verse :43 adds one more. Long-suffering. Again, Growing our faith is a process that will require work and time. So we must not get discouraged in the process. We’ve got to be patient with the growth of our faith. And diligent, and continue to have faith that it will bring forth fruit.
What blessings come to those who grow their trees? (41-42) As we’ve said. You get fruit. But not just any fruit. The most precious, most sweet, most white, and most pure above all other fruits. These fruits will spring up unto everlasting life and we’ll feast on them until we are filled. We reap the rewards of all of our nourishing. What do we eat in the Celestial Kingdom? The fruit of the tree of life that we’ve been growing all our lives. Maybe we'll arrive at the pearly gates, and we’ll look at St. Peter and ask? Did I make it? Do I get to come in? And he’ll say, “Well, let’s go look at your tree.” And maybe we walk over and there is our tree of faith. And hopefully it’s a giant, beautiful tree of faith, laden with fruit. And he says, “Ahhh, you have plenty to eat here. Enjoy the fruits of your faith. This tree will feed you for eternity.” But if we walk over and all there is a scraggly, dying, or non-existent tree. Then maybe he would say, “You know, we’d love to let you stay, but I’m afraid you’d starve.” Hopefully that’s not the case for us when we arrive there.
TRUTH
Well there are so many truths that Alma has just taught us in this chapter but if I had to narrow it down into one fundamental statement, I might word it like this:
As I plant God’s truths into my life, my faith will grow, and I will see evidence of their goodness, reality, and truthfulness. If I diligently nourish that faith throughout my life, then it will continue to grow and grow and bring great blessings to me.
TAKING IT TO HEART
A few questions to consider.
If you could visualize the state of your faith as a tree, what would it look like? Which picture here would best represent your tree?
What do you feel is the next step in growing your tree?
Have you ever experienced one of the four observations of faith? What happened?
What “fruits” of faith have you already experienced? What fruits do you most look forward to?
I WILL GO AND DO
What are you doing to nourish your tree of faith? Do you feel prompted to do something more? Will you?
THE TAKEAWAY
I’ve been experimenting for over 40 years now, and I’m happy to report my observations and conclusions to you. In all my studies, in all my experiences, in all my searching, I have never found anything that suggests that all I was taught as a child by my faithful parents isn’t true. I have found no data to the contrary. Rather, I have felt the swelling within my breast, my soul has been enlarged as the gospel has made me a better person from year to year, my mind has been enlightened and expanded as I grow in knowledge and understanding, and the gospel continues to be delicious to me. I still find it fascinating. There is still so much I have to learn, and I enjoy searching deeper and increasing my faith more and more from week to week and year to year. So, if you don’t feel that your faith is strong, if you feel like all you have is a little seed of desire to begin with, don’t lose hope, just keep experimenting, keep nourishing that seed, keep giving place for it to grow, keep making observations and acting on the light you receive, and Alma promises us that one day you will not only be able to say that “I know that it’s good”, but that “I know that it’s true”. I have yet to arrive at a “perfect knowledge”, but I can tell you that my tree has grown steadily from year to year and is firm and strong.
And I would like you to know that I believe that God is real, that the church is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Russell M. Nelson is a living prophet called of God to lead the church in our day. May your tree of life continue to grow and grow until you can enjoy all of its fruits not only here but in the eternities as well.
LESSON #2 ALMA 33-34
Is a continuation of Alma and Amulek’s teachings to the poor Zoramites.
OBJECT
An object you could bring to display for this lesson would be a potted plant of some sort. Or even a fake plant if you’re in a pinch.
ICEBREAKER
Then for an icebreaker, I might play a quick round of Tree Trivia and ask the following questions. You could even have them write their answers somewhere and reward the person who gets the most correct. Here are the questions.
In what U.S. state can you find both the tallest and the oldest trees in the world?
A. Georgia,
B. Minnesota,
C. Washington,
D. California.
What kind of tree is the tallest tree in the world?
A. Limber Pine,
B. Coastal Redwood,
C. Himalayan Cypress,
D. Noble Fir
What kind of tree is the oldest tree in the world?
A. Olive Tree,
B. Norway Spruce,
C. Bristlecone Pine,
D. African Baobab
What country is the most densely forested in the world?
A. Russia,
B. Canada,
C. Brazil,
D. United States
What is the fastest growing tree in the world?
A. Moluccan Albizia,
B. Empress Tree,
C. Bamboo,
D. Mountain Ash
What is the largest living organism in the world?
A. The Blue Whale,
B. African Bush Elephant,
C. The General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park,
D. A grove of quaking aspen trees in Utah.
Well, now that I have you thinking about trees. Lets’ go to Alma chapters 33-34 to learn about the most important tree in the world. We’ve talked about the oldest, and the tallest, and the fastest growing, but what’s the most important tree that can be grown? I would answer that by saying the most important tree you can grow is your testimony tree. The tree of each individual’s faith in God’s word. That tree is more important than any other tree that has ever existed on this planet. The most important thing that we can accomplish in this life is to grow that tree. Alma chapters 33 and 34 represent a continuation of Alma and Amulek’s teachings to the Zoramites. Because after Alma’s masterful sermon comparing the development of faith to planting a seed, the humble Zoramites have a question for him. They want him to go deeper on a certain topic. What is their question in Alma 33:1?
1 Now after Alma had spoken these words, they sent forth unto him desiring to know whether they should believe in one God, that they might obtain this fruit of which he had spoken, or how they should plant the seed, or the word of which he had spoken, which he said must be planted in their hearts; or in what manner they should begin to exercise their faith.
And it seems that there are a couple of questions there. But they all seem to point to the same end. And it’s “Where do we start? We want this fruit that you speak of Alma, but how do we plant the seed? OR How do we begin to exercise our faith? How do we begin this process?”
And now both Alma and Amulek are going to share with them, in chapters 33-34, their thoughts on how one grows and nourishes the tree of life and faith within their hearts.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
And to liken the scriptures, I would ask my students right then if they have ever had those same questions. Have you ever wondered how you could increase your faith? Have you ever asked: How do I gain a testimony? OR How do I strengthen my testimony? Alma and Amulek are going to help us out with that here.
SEARCH-HANDOUT
For a search activity, you could invite your students to do the following matching exercise. This can act as a good overview or summary of Alma and Amulek’s answer to the Zoramites question. They’re going to give us some tree growing advice. What things will help us most?
Alma 33:3-4 The match would be the picture of the person praying. Prayer will nourish our tree.
Alma 33:14 The match is the scriptures. Studying the scriptures will nourish our tree.
Alma 33:22 The match would be the picture of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Centering and building our faith in Jesus Christ and relying on his atonement will nourish our tree.
Alma 34:28-29 The helping hand picture would be the best match as that verse speaks of being charitable and serving others. Serving others will nourish our tree.
Alma 34:30 The match would be the picture of the U-Turn arrow because the verse talks about repentance, which is a difficult idea to express with a picture, so I chose the U-Turn sign since when we repent we are turning ourselves back to God and away from our sins. Repentance will nourish our tree.
Alma 34:38 would be the thanksgiving dinner picture since that verse speaks of living in thanksgiving daily. Gratitude will nourish our tree.
So there we have it! Six different ways to plant or nourish our seed of faith. We pray, we study our scriptures, we seek to love our fellowman, repent when we err, show gratitude to God, and above all, believe in and rely on Jesus Christ’s mercy through the power of his atonement. If we consistently do these things, then I believe the tree of our faith will never wither or die. It’s when we stop doing these fundamental things that our faith becomes weaker and more vulnerable.
PERSONAL STUDY
Now that’s just an overview. Alma and Amulek have a lot to say about those particular tree nourishing acts. But you wouldn’t have time in one class period to do them all justice. So I like to invite my students to pick at least one of those practices to study a little more deeply, one that they feel they might need a little more help with, and search for what these prophets teach us about them.
So allow them to choose from the following list of scripture references and give them about 5-10 minutes to study and ponder their section or sections with the following three questions in mind.
What is one specific principle or truth that you learned about the subject you chose?
What was your favorite verse, phrase, or word and what did it teach you?
How could a person apply what you learned in their life this week?
33:3-11, 34:17-27 Pray
33:2, 12-13 Study the scriptures
33:22, 34:5-16 Believe in Christ’s mercy and atonement
34:28-29 Be charitable to others
34:30-34 Repent
34:38 Be grateful
You’ll notice that some of the sections are shorter than the others, even just one verse long. Instruct your students to choose more than one if they find that they still have time after they’ve studied their initial choice.
Then once they’ve completed their study, I like to have some kind of random way of selecting students to share. I’ve given you a number of ways to do this over the years on this channel, but I’ll reiterate some of them here. You could create a wheel of names by using the following website: https://wheelofnames.com/
You could put each student’s name on a popsicle stick and select one at a time. And then my favorite. I buy a deck of blank playing cards every year for each of my classes and write the names of each of my students on them, and then either I or one of my students, picks a card, any card, and that person shares. And honestly, I’ve found that when my students know that they have an equal chance of being called on to share, they tend to study a little more diligently, with more purpose, since they know they might be chosen. When I just call for volunteers, I notice that some students tend not to engage as deeply.
Now there are some incredible gospel and doctrinal insights in these chapters, and to help you as a teacher to be more prepared to discuss these sections with your students, allow me to share just a few thoughts from these chapters.
THE TAPROOT
To me there is a message that stands out in these chapters as being most critical. There are many branches to the tree of faith that Alma wants us to grow, many hypotheses that we can and should test. Living prophets, the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, but what’s the trunk, or the taproot. Of all the things we can test and grow, this one is absolutely critical and perhaps the best place to begin. The message I see is, believe that you are worthy of God’s love, attention, and mercy. Throughout these chapters, Alma and Amulek give us reason after reason to believe this.
So in vs 2, Alma tells them that just because they’ve been kicked out of their synagogues, doesn’t mean that they can’t worship or that God is not aware of them.
In verses 3-11 he reminds them that God hears their prayers wherever they are offered in sincerity. And that God is merciful. A key phrase comes up in 11 and 13. Repetition means that it’s important. He says that God has turned away his judgments because of his son Jesus Christ.
He really wants to hammer this idea home. He pauses in vs 12 to highlight it and asks. Do you believe this? That God is merciful. That he forgives sins. That he turns his judgments away.
In verse 14. Again, if you read the scriptures, how can you disbelieve this.
In verse 16 he quotes another prophet, Zenock which said, “Thou art angry, O Lord with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou has bestowed upon them because of thy Son.”
Now I struggle just a little bit with the word that Zenock chose, that God is angry that we don’t understand his mercy. I might say that God is saddened or pained by it, but angry, I don’t know. Maybe we just don’t know something about the audience Zenock is speaking to. But the bigger point here, is that God really wants us to believe and accept this key truth. That’s he’s merciful.
Perhaps you can relate to this struggle. I know that I feel this way sometimes. I consider all my faults, my weaknesses, my sins, my shortcomings, and I wonder, like the Zoramites, am I worthy of God’s forgiveness? And I hear those truths taught all the time. God is merciful, God forgives sins, God will turn away his judgments. So maybe I picture in my mind Christ coming to me and saying, Ben, do you believe that, that I can forgive you of those things. And I say, yes Lord. And I do believe it, doctrinally, intellectually, theologically, it makes sense. But in my heart, there’s doubt. Or we can believe that truth very easily for others, that God will forgive them. But for me. For some reason, that’s harder to accept. And Christ looks at me searchingly and asks. No, Ben, do you really believe it? That I can forgive your sins. And I hesitate, and say. Yes? And then he asks, then why are you so worried all the time? Why are you so fearful of failure? Why do you wonder if you are going to make it?
I think that’s the point Alma wants to drive home to the Zoramites. YOU are worthy of God’s mercy. God will turn away his judgments, he will hear your sincere prayers.
He uses another scriptural example. Moses and the brazen serpent. All you need to do is look and live! The Israelites could be healed of the poisonous serpent bites by that simple act. Just think of it. Just turning your head and looking. Just casting about your eyes. That’s all it took. Same with us and Christ’s mercy. Just look, he’ll forgive you. And this idea is magnified when we consider who's teaching it. Alma the younger. He knows firsthand the power of Christ’s mercy. What did he do, when he was suffering the pains of hell, racked with torment. His mind caught hold on the thought that Christ saves. And immediately, Christ snatched him out of it. Case in point for us. I think we make repentance and obtaining God’s mercy harder than it really is sometimes. I know I’ve said this before, and that’s because it’s such a major message of the Book of Mormon. The difficulty of repentance is not in obtaining God’s mercy, it’s in changing our own hearts. That’s the hard part. I don’t think repentance is as much of an act as it is a way of life. It’s a state of our hearts. A desire and commitment to try and do what’s right. It’s having a broken or tame heart, and a contrite spirit, not a rebellious heart and spirit. And when repentance becomes a way of life, so does forgiveness and mercy.
So now Alma’s going to conclude very powerfully here. Very straightforward, and he’s going to tie that idea in with his seed planting metaphor from 32.
22 If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to their works.
23 And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall plant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye will. Amen.
So what’s the taproot, the trunk of growing the tree of faith or the tree of life within your heart? God turns away his judgments because of his Son. God forgives. YOU, not just others, but YOU are worthy of his love, attention, and mercy. Believe this. Plant that idea deep in your heart, nourish that truth. And what will be the result of nourishing that doctrine? Verse 23. Your burdens will be eased. Why? Because you won’t be carrying the full weight of that guilt. You will have joy. Why? Because you will know that you are not lost. That is a very delicious fruit that hangs from our tree. Remember the interpretation of the tree of life that was given to us back in 1 Nephi. It was the love of God. When we nourish our faith in that principle, we can feast on that knowledge. God knows me. God will be merciful to me. God loves me. Mmmm. Delicious. And I hope that YOU believe this. For you. In your heart. Not just for others, and not just doctrinally or intellectually, but personally.
I’d like to shift to two verses from chapter 34 with an important point for us to consider.
Remember the scenario I had you picture earlier where Christ comes to you before you’re born and gives you the seed. Well, Amulek has something to say about what happens next. He says:
32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.
Such great phrases in those verses. So, I’ll allow me to frame it with a number of questions we could ask the Savior as he hands us that seed. We ask, “How can I prepare to meet you?” He answers “Grow the tree”
Then I ask, “What’s the most important labor I can perform in this life?” He answers “Grow the tree”
I ask, “How do I prepare for eternity?” He answers, “Grow the tree”.
I ask, “How can I improve my time while in this life?” He answers “Grow the tree.
And then he adds “And don’t procrastinate the growing of your tree. Trees take time to grow. And if you wait too long to get it planted, eventually, it will be too late to plant and grow and reap the fruit. So do it now. And the message of this verse reminds me of a question I’ve sometimes gotten from my students over the years when we discuss the nature of the Spirit World. And it goes something like this. Brother Wilcox, if people can repent in the Spirit World, won’t everybody do it? Because they’ll see that it’s all real, and then they’ll want to change, right? It will be easier to do it there. Usually, in response to that, I’ll take them to these verses. Now I don’t believe this verse is saying that you can only repent in this life, in mortality. I’m not sure, but I imagine when Amulek says, “this day of life,” he’s including our time in the Spirit world since that is also a part of preparing for eternity. I would classify “eternity” as post-judgment. But when the final judgment arrives, that truly is the time when “there can be no labor performed”. You can’t grow a tree instantaneously at that moment. Death-bed repentance, or judgment-bed repentance is not going to be a viable strategy. But what makes us think that it will be any easier in the Spirit World to change than it is here. The same spirit that possesses our bodies in this life is going to be the same spirit there. Our spirit is eternal, and the attitudes and mindsets we developed and carried with us in this life will still be with us. What makes us think that if we don’t like the things of the gospel here, that all of sudden we’re going to like them there? That if we recoil at the thought of worship, obedience, humility, and sacrifice, that all of sudden we’re going to want to do those things. I think we’ve already established the fact that knowledge doesn’t automatically transfer into character change. Developing a Christlike, godlike character and faith takes time. Like growing a tree. Now I believe that people can and will change and repent even in the Spirit World, just like people can and do change in THIS life, in mortality. But that process, and the effort required, and the change of habits and mentality that will take, will be no easier or more likely there than it is here. The main point being, don’t procrastinate the day of your repentance. Don’t put it off. Don’t think that you’re going to do it at some point in the future. In fact, the future never comes, we only live in and experience the present moment. If you cultivate a procrastinating spirit, a spirit that feels comfortable outside gospel parameters, that continually caves to the desires of the natural man, that same spirit is going to go with you into the next life. The best time to plant the seed, the best time to nourish that seed, the best time to grow the tree is always NOW.
THE TAKEAWAY
So I’d like to conclude this lesson with that thought. Grow it. Do it now. Don’t procrastinate. Nourish it with great care. It’s THE way we prepare for eternity. My friends out there, I hope that the soil of our souls is fertile ground. I hope that no matter where you are in growing your tree, whether you have a tiny seedling of faith, or a giant redwood of faith, that you are in the process of nourishing your “tree of life” seed. I pray that we will all be diligent gardeners throughout our lives, and when that day “wherein no labor can be performed” finally arrives, we will be able to present a beautiful, fruitful, tree of life to our Father in Heaven. Maybe that’s what the Celestial Kingdom will look like. A massive forest of individual trees of life. Until that day, keep growing.
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