u/kayejazz

I have been working my way through the Book of Mormon again as part of my personal study and just reached the chapters in Mosiah where it's talking about Limhi and Alma. I noticed something interesting as I compared the two groups of people.

In Mosiah 21-22, we see that Limhi's people have been stuck under the heavy burdens of the Lamanites. The people get really upset about the state they are in and start complaining to the king. Nobody can come up with a solution to this situation. Limhi's people go up against the Lamanites in battle, but they lose pretty badly. That makes their situation even worse. They keep trying the same thing, over and over again, with the same results, until they are so beat down, that they just give up.

Of note in this account, the people of Limhi had no church structure and no prophet. They were not quite "King Noah" levels of wickedness, but they weren't "follow Alma into the wilderness" righteous, either. Mosiah 21:15 says, "And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities..." He still heard them, but they were stuck in that situation with no idea how to get out of it until Ammon and his friends show up outside the city one day. They make a plan to escape by night, making the Lamanites drunk. And it works.

Now, contrast that to Mosiah 23-24. We have Alma and his little group of church members in the wilderness. Things are going great for them, until the old priests of Noah show up with some Lamanites. They continue to carry out the vendetta that they had against Alma from the old days. Alma and his people are so persecuted that they can't even pray out loud, because Amulon and the Lamanites will make them pay for it. They've still got prayers in their hearts, though, and trust that God will provide for them.

God hears their prayers and talks to Alma. "Hey, Alma, I know things have been kind of depressing lately. Let's get you out of here. In the meantime, I'll make it easier for you to go through this rough patch." The people of Alma respond with patience and faith, waiting for the Lord to lead them.

God tells Alma, "Here's what you're going to do. Pack up all your stuff during the night and just leave. I'll take care of the rest." And that's what they do. They grab their herds, their food, their tents, and they hit the road. Alma follows the Spirit's direction on where to go, and God makes the Lamanites sleep longer than usual.

In both groups, the same basic plan gets the people out of the Lamanites' hands. They pack up and leave in the night. The Lamanites sleep more than they normally would. The people of Limhi/Alma escape with very little trouble. The big difference is how they get to that point.

To me, this illustrates the difference between having a prophet and not having one. Limhi's people suffered miserably for a long time. They relied on themselves and the king. They were compelled to be humble and depressed. They needed someone else to come and have the bright idea for them.

On the other hand, Alma's people were also suffering miserably, maybe even more so, because Amulon and his people had beef with Alma. Rather than complaining to Alma, they pray. While their burdens don't go away, the story tells us that they were happy! They "cheerfully submitted" and waited for the Lord to do His work. And Alma, as the prophet receives revelation for his people that outlined the exact same plan Limhi used.

Alma's people were happy. They avoided loss of life and limb. They get out of bondage with very minimal effort. But Limhi's people weren't so lucky.

May we all be more like Alma's people, and less like Limhi's.