Alma's People Are Mistreated But The Lord Lead Them To Zarahemla: Mosiah 24: 8,10,12,13,15-16,18-20



Alma and his people had many adventures together.

 8And now it came to pass that ^aAmulon  began to exercise ^bauthority over Alma and his brethren, and began to persecute him, and cause that his children should persecute their children.




Amulon  was the leader of a group of wicked priests.

   9For Amulon knew Alma, that he had been ^aone of the king’s priests, and that it was he that believed the words of Abinadi and was driven out before the king, and therefore he was wroth with him; for he was subject to king Laman, yet he exercised authority over them, and put ^btasks upon them, and put ^ctask-masters over them.

 10And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God.

 11And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries;  

Amulon yelled, "Stop crying! Whoever calls out to God will be put to death!"

and he ^aput guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death.

 12And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their ^ahearts to him; and he did know the ^bthoughts of their hearts.

 13And...the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

 14And I will also ease the ^aburdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage...

 15And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did ^astrengthen them... and they did submit cheerfully and with ^cpatience to all the will of the Lord.

 16And...so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

 17And he said unto Alma: Thou shalt go before this people, and I will go ^awith thee and deliver this people out of ^bbondage.

 18Now it came to pass that Alma and his people in the night-time gathered their flocks together, and also of their grain; yea, even all the night-time were they gathering their flocks together.

19 And in the morning the Lord caused a ^adeep sleep to come upon the Lamanites, yea, and all their task-masters were in a profound sleep.

20 And Alma and his people departed into the wilderness; and when they had traveled all day



they pitched their tents in a valley,  and they called the valley Alma, because he led their way in the wilderness.

Aaron and his brethren bring thousands of Lamanites to the gospel - Alma 23

 

The king's proclamation said that no one may hurt the missionaries



Behold, now it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites sent a ^aproclamation among all his people, that they should not lay their hands on  Ammon, or

 Aaron, or Omner, or  Himni, nor either of their brethren who should go forth preaching the word of God, in whatsoever place they should be, in any part of their land.





     

Ammon and Aaron







Omner



Himni

 2 Yea, he sent a decree among them, that they should not lay their hands on them to bind them, or to cast them into prison; neither should they spit upon them, nor smite them, nor cast them out of their ^asynagogues, nor scourge them; neither should they cast stones at them, but that they should have free access to their houses, and also their temples, and their ^bsanctuaries.

 ... for the king had been converted unto the Lord, and ^aall his ^bhousehold; 

The king and queen had been converted to the Lord

therefore he sent his proclamation throughout the land unto his people, that the word of God might have no obstruction, but that it might go forth throughout all the land, that his people might be convinced concerning the wicked ^ctraditions of their fathers, and that they might be convinced that they were all brethren, and that they ought not to murder, nor to plunder, nor to steal, nor to commit adultery, nor to commit any manner of wickedness.

 4 And now it came to pass that when the king had sent forth this proclamation, that Aaron and his brethren went forth from ^acity to city, and from one house of worship to another, establishing churches, and consecrating ^bpriests and teachers throughout the land among the Lamanites, to preach and to teach the word of God among them; and thus they began to have great success.

They were taught the records
and the prophecies of God

 5 And ^athousands were brought to the knowledge of the Lord, yea, thousands were brought to believe in the ^btraditions of the Nephites; and they were taught the ^crecords and prophecies which were handed down even to the present time. 

 6 And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working ^amiracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were ^bconverted unto the Lord, ^cnever did fall away.

The converted Lamanites never did fall away from the gospel



Many were converted in many cities



 7 For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren.

  16 ...The king and those who were converted were desirous that they might have a name, that thereby they might be distinguished from their brethren; therefore the king consulted with Aaron

The king consulted with Aaron and others to find a new name
to call themselves:  they chose "Anti-Nephi-Lehis"

and many of their priests, concerning the name that they should take upon them, that they might be distinguished.

 17 And it came to pass that they called their names ^aAnti-Nephi-Lehies; and they were called by this name and were no more called ^bLamanites.

 18 And they began to be a very ^aindustrious people...