Post 45x: In this Blog Post I Emphasize the Importance Parents Should Place on Being Responsible in Consistently Teaching Their Children in the Ways of the Lord. I Particularly Emphasize the Importance of Our Making Repentance an Important Part of Our Lives and in Urging Our Dear Children to do Likewise!

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TODAY'S THEME

The Conversion of Alma (and the Four Sons of King Mosiah) -by Gary Kapp

In my just previous blog post I told you about the amazing turn-about in the lives of the four sons of King Mosiah, (shown above), when an Angel of the Lord spoke directly to their friend and fellow rebel, Alma, the son of the High Priest of the Church of Jesus Christ in their land in Ancient America. The angel's message was taken strongly to heart by Alma and also by each of the four brothers. 

That amazing and very positive turn-about (repentance) in their own lives allowed these four brothers, as we learned in last week's post, to bring to a state of conversion, with the Lord's direct guidance, a huge number of Lamanites, who had been, for the most part, bitter enemies of their people, the Nephites, which, of course, then included these four sons of King Mosiah, (who later become their dear friends and teachers!)

Those Lamanite converts, afterwards, thanks to the inspired teachings of those four sons of King Mosiah of the Nephites, became amazingly devoted to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and became convinced that their knowledge of His eventual birth, ministry in Palestine, and his death and resurrection, was of great worth to them; much more so than the worldly possessions and power they had previously devoted themselves, as a people, to attaining. The Lord truly led those four sons of the king, in a marvelous way!

Repentance, both by young Alma and his four close friends and also by the huge number of Lamanites the four brothers were instrumental in the hands of the Lord in leading to become His dedicated servants; is something that each of us present day mortals need to make a vital part of our own lives!

Here is a Mormon Message Video which will help each of us learn some key things about repentance and will possibly motivate us to more fully repent of our wrong doings and sins and to teach our children to do so likewise.

A Modern Day Apostle, D. Todd Christofferson, Teaches About Repentance

I will now address the challenge each of us parents face in helping our own children to make true repentance a vital part of their lives. We should have to wonder how those four sons of King Mosiah who were also the grandsons of the King's own highly devout father, King Benjamin,

(who preceded him (Mosiah) as king in the Kingdom of Zarahemla whose final address to his people was filled with faith strengthening teachings and ended with his assisting all in his kingdom, who were old enough to do so; to pledge themselves to become faithful servants of our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ whom they knew was coming to earth and eventually would appear to their descendants in their promised land;) 

. . .could have ever become rebellious regarding the Faith of their Fathers!

We too may have similar concerns regarding our children whom we are attempting to raise as righteous Latter-day Saints, or righteous members of whatever church some of you may belong to.

Mormon Abridging The Plates -by Tom Lovell

Here are the words of the Prophet Mormon, which are found in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, regarding those challenges King Mosiah's people should have each been facing regarding their children who were too young at the time his father, King Benjamin, in his final address as king; to make the solemn covenants of obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ that their parents and older siblings had made!

King Benjamin's Final Address .  -by Gary Kapp

Mosiah 26: 1  NOW it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers. 

2  They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ. 

3  And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened. 

4  And they would not be baptized; neither would they join the church.  And they were a separate people as to their faith, and remained so ever after, even in their carnal and sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God. 

5  And now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; but because of the dissensions among the brethren they became more numerous. 

6  For it came to pass that they did deceive many with their flattering words, who were in the church, and did cause them to commit many sins; therefore it became expedient that those who committed sin, that were in the church, should be admonished by the church.

We must assume that the four sons of King Mosiah were very young or even not yet born, at the time their paternal grandfather, King Benjamin gave his farewell address and then directed his representatives to go among all of his people who had gathered together from all over his land; to witness the covenants that they each freely and willingly were making.

Thus, we have a plausible explanation as to why the four sons of King Mosiah were rebellious; they were either too young to have made the solemn covenants to wholeheartedly serve God that their parents and older siblings had made, or perhaps they had not yet been born. Then additionally, perhaps, as they grew up, their parents, the king and his wife, their mother, were too busy to pay sufficient attention to their sons' spiritual insufficiency.

Do we as parents sometimes get to be too busy and neglect our children's special needs?

I brought this subject into this blog post to help us to realize that each of us modern day Latter-day Saints (including many of you who may later become such) are faced with the serious challenge of making sure our children are taught by us and by our church leaders and teachers in the ways of the Lord. 

Perhaps King Mosiah was too wrapped up in the great challenges kings must constantly face; to find time to discover early enough that his four sons did not share his faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, who would be born to a woman named Mary, with our Father in Heaven as his actual father, and about whom it had been prophesied that after His atonement, crucifixion and resurrection He would appear to and teach His Gospel to a good number of their and other Nephites' - Lamanites' descendants in their sacred land located in the Americas. 

Jesus Christ Visits The Americas, -by John Scott

My final question for each of us is:  Are we paying sufficient attention to what our dear children believe in and whether or not they are sincerely living as Latter-day Saints (or whatever religion some of you are members of) should live, which will eventually lead them to Eternal Blessings?

P.S. Alma the Younger did not grow up around the sons of Mosiah, at least not in his early years. He was born in the Southern part of their land, at a considerable distance from the Kingdom of Zarahemla. His father, Alma, as their church leader, was perhaps too busy with the many serious problems he and his people were dealing with, to notice what was happening to his  namesake son.

Thank you, each of you who may have involved yourselves in perusing this, hopefully helpful to you, blog post!

J. Neil Birch

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This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.


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TO OPEN NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other BlogPost You Desire To Access): After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up and Click on The Following:  Repentance, as Demonstrated by Alma, the Son of Alma the High Priest; and the Four Sons of King Mosiah; Allows Each Fully Repentant Soul to Receive the Blessings Promised by the Lord Jesus Christ: (a video about Repentance is included.) -Post 45x

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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

J. Neil Birch