Alma 43-52

Stand Fast in the Faith of Christ

August 3-9

Scripture: Alma 48:17-19

17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto ^aMoroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the ^bdevil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

18 Behold, he was a man like unto ^aAmmon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God.

19 Now behold, Helaman and his brethren were no less ^aserviceable unto the people than was Moroni; for they did preach the word of God, and they did baptize unto repentance all men whosoever would hearken unto their words.

Growing up I always wanted to marry a Moroni. He was strong, mighty, a man of perfect understanding, his soul found joy in liberty, he was thankful to God and had always been a leader from a very young age. Who doesn’t want that?

What I overlooked for years was the next verse. We get so caught up in Moroni and how perfect he seems that we don’t see who is mentioned in the next verse who were all men of God, and “no less serviceable.”

Who are these men?

Spoiler… they were once sinners. Not perfect!

The sons of Mosiah went around trying to destroy the church of God. They were the ‘bad boys’ growing up. But guess what?!?!? God doesn’t care. They repented. They turned their lives around and became powerful forces for good in the world.

We don’t need to look for “perfect” men or women. We need to look for men and women of God who have used the atonement of Jesus Christ in their lives and have a personal relationship with Him as they serve others.

It also teaches me that not everyone came to earth to fulfill the same roles. The leader of the army is just as important as a missionary. Less comparison with others leads to more joy.

Activity Idea: Make Your Own Title of Liberty

Alma 46:12-15, 21: Moroni took off his coat and he wrote on it: “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children” and he put it on a pole.

All that were true believers of Christ took upon them “gladly” the name of Christ.

Then they took their coats and made a covenant to take upon themselves the name of Christ (v.21)

We can do likewise with our families. We can make and hoist up our own titles of liberties, voicing that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Christ.

You can use an old t-shirt and a sharpie, or a piece of paper.

You can copy the words that Moroni put on his title of liberty or you can come up with your own as a family.

This way you can talk about how we can take upon ourselves the name of Christ and what that means to us.

Activity Idea #2: Build up a fortification to protect your city with Lego. Try and tear it down by throwing marshmallows.

Alma 49: 13-14: Moroni fortified every city. As you are building talk about how we can build ourselves to be strong and fortify ourselves against the attacks of Satan. What are our weak areas that can “become strong” (v.14.)

Activity Idea from the Church: Fly Your Flag

• Sing “Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth” (Hymns, no. 298).
• Captain Moroni made a flag out of his coat to remind his army that they were fighting for their families, their faith, and their freedom (see Alma 46:12). This flag was called the title of liberty.
• Make your own flag! On a piece of paper, draw pictures of what’s important to you and your family. Hang it up as a reminder.