Amulek teaches about the resurrection in Alma 11:
42 Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the ^abands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.

43 The spirit and the body shall be ^areunited again in its ^bperfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, ^cknowing even as we know now, and have a bright ^drecollection of all our ^eguilt.

44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be ^arestored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body . . .

This is one of the beautiful scriptures in the Book of Mormon which give me great comfort and hope. One of the inevitable parts of life is death. Although it's universal, that doesn't diminish the pain and anguish for those left behind. But, oh, the peace and comfort of the resurrection! The thought that our loved one will be restored to their proper and perfect form, not mouldering forever in a grave, is like a healing balm to a grieving soul. All this is possible only through the great sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How grateful I am for Him!

The Prayers of the Righteous

In Alma 10:22-23 Amulek tells the people, "if it were not for the ^aprayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction; yet it would not be by ^bflood, as were the people in the days of ^cNoah, but it would be by famine, and by pestilence, and the ^dsword.

23 But it is by the ^aprayers of the righteous that ye are spared; now therefore, if ye will ^bcast out the righteous from among you then will not the Lord stay his hand; but in his fierce anger he will come out against you; then ye shall be smitten by famine, and by pestilence, and by the sword; and the ^ctime is soon at hand except ye repent.

The prayers of the righteous have a great effect in the land. In Alma 14:7 we see that prophecy fulfilled as the Ammonihahites cast out and burn the righteous. Soon after that, the city is destroyed by an army of Lamanites.

We sometimes feel helpless as we try to make a difference in our lands, by our actions and our prayers. Bit we need to remember that our prayers do have a great effect and sometimes can contribute to saving the land.

I Knew, Yet I Would Not Know

Amulek now introduces himself to the people of Ammonihah. He is well known among them, but says that he never knew much of the ways of the Lord. He says, "I knew . . . but I would not know." He had seen God's mysteries and His marvelous power, but he hardened his heart. He was called many times, but he would not hear.

I think many of us are in the same condition. God is always calling and beckoning to all of us, but we always have a choice. If we harden our hearts, we can pretend that something was just a coincidence, or that we were just lucky. Sometimes it takes a great tragedy to get us to soften our hearts enough that we can hear and know. How much easier if we humble ourselves and listen for His voice, have faith, and "go and do"!

God Shall Come in His Glory

Alma 9:26 Alma says that Christ shall come in His glory. That confused me, because He came as a helpless baby, not in His full glory that will accompany Him at the Second coming. We are told that He proceeded from grace to grace. As He grew in knowledge and grace, I assume His glory grew as well. Even though not everyone could behold His glory, it was part of who He was. We know He had power to heal the sick and raise the dead, but He could also manifest His glory to whoever He wanted to.

Attributes of Christ

Alma and Amulek are preaching to the people of Ammonihah without much success. In Alma 9:26 Alma gives a list of the attributes of Christ. I decided to look up each word in the list of attributes in either the Bible Dictionary or Topical Guide to make sure I know the meanings of the words or phrases.

He shall be full of:
1) Grace--What He does for us. See p. 697 of BD
2) Equity--He gives each person what they NEED, distributing fairly. That means that not everyone gets the SAME, because our needs are different.
3) Truth--John 5:6 The Spirit is truth; D&C 84:45 Truth is light; my favorite is D&C 93:24 Truth is knowledge of things as they are.
4) Patience--All of the references in the TG seem to refer to patience as a quality WE need to develop, but when you look up Long-suffering, it says "see also Patience".
5) Mercy--Luke 1:50 His mercy is on them that fear Him; Isaiah 49:15 He will not forget us; Isaiah 54:8 with everlasting kindness will He have mercy on us; 1 Nephi 1:20 tender mercies id Lord are over all those whom He has chosen.
6) Long suffering--2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is long suffering to us-ward; 2 Peter 3:15 The long-suffering of the Lord is salvation.
7) Quick to hear the cries of his people--He loves us and is sensitive to the cries of his children.
8) Quick to answer their prayers--BD He wants what's best for us and will answer our requests when our wishes are the wishes of Christ.

They That Be With Us Be More Than They That be With Them.

2 Kings 6:16, 17 Here Elisha and his young servant find themselves surrounded by an army bent on destroying them. The servant asks Elisha what they should do, and Elisha assures him that the Lord is protecting them. He then prays that the servants eyes will be opened, and the servant sees that the mountain is full of horses and chariots of fire.

Often we feel so alone and overwhelmed and desperate. We can see that we don't have what it takes. We measure our abilities and talents and resources and compare them to the needs and requirements of our lives. We see that we come up short most of the time. If we could only see that the Lord with all His angels and armies are on our side. He will sustain and help us. He will guide us. We just need to open our eyes and have faith.

Thou Hast Great Cause to Rejoice

"Rejoice" is used many times in the scriptures, and this is one of my favorite references. Alma is burdened down with sorrow because he has been rejected for the first time in Ammonihah. But an angel stops him as he's leaving the city and tells him to "lift up [his] head and rejoice". The angel continues, saying, "for thou hast great cause to rejoice . . .", and praising Alma for his faithfulness since the same angel appeared to him and the sons of Mosiah.

It would seem to me that Alma had cause to be depressed. After all, his teachings had been rejected. But apparently, the Lord sees things differently. Alma had been faithful and had kept his covenants, and had been preaching the Gospel.

It feels to me like the Lord is saying that we are blessed with joy for obedience and for preaching the Gospel, and that we shouldn't lose that joy if people choose not to accept the truth. Choosing not to rejoice, regardless of circumstances, is like rejecting a gift the Lord has given us.

Being happy and rejoicing is a choice. It doesn't depend on what's happening in our lives so much as how we look at things. Counting our blessings is a large part of that. Surrounding ourselves with beauty, or finding the beauty in whatever our surroundings, listening to and really hearing the chirping of birds as well as beautiful music, appreciating and treasuring our loved ones, joying in the truths of the Gospel - all these things and more can give us cause to rejoice.