1 AND now, it came to pass that Alma, who had fled from the servants of king Noah, repented of his sins and iniquities, [ ] and went about privately among the people, and began to teach the words of Abinadi— [ Remember he had written them down while he was hiding (Mosiah 17:4) . Why is it important for us to write down when we receive personal revelation? ]

2 Yea, concerning that which was to come, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the redemption of the people, [ Note how he links the resurrection and redemption of us with the resurrection and ascension of the Savior. ] which was to be brought to pass through the power, and sufferings, and death of Christ, and his resurrection and ascension into heaven.

3 And as many as would hear his word he did teach. [ So there were at least some who did not fall victim to the false teachings of King Noah and his wicked priests. ] And he taught them privately, that it might not come to the knowledge of the king. [ For his protections well as theirs. ] And many did believe his words.

4 And it came to pass that as many as did believe him did go forth to a place which was called Mormon, [ The namesake of the author - Mormon. (See also vs 30). ] having received its name from the king, being in the borders of the land having been infested, by times or at seasons, by wild beasts.

5 Now, there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water, and Alma resorted thither, there being near the water a thicket of small trees, where he did hide himself in the daytime from the searches of the king.

6 And it came to pass that as many as believed him went thither to hear his words.

7 And it came to pass *after many days there were a goodly number gathered together at the place of Mormon, to hear the words of Alma. Yea, all were gathered together that believed on his word, to hear him. And he did teach them, and did preach unto them repentance, and redemption, and faith on the Lord.

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous [ 1) ] to come into the fold of God, [ We commit to this in the waters of baptism. ] , [ 2) ] and to be called his people, [ To legally be called by his name.(Christians) ] and [ 3) ] are willing to bear one another’s burdens, [ We will help each other. We will either go home as a family or reside in another kingdom. ] that they may be light;

9 Yea, and [ 4) ] are willing to mourn with those that mourn; [ The covenants we make are is both in horizontal direction(we covenant to take care of others), and vertical as they are a bond that God establishes with us. ] yea, and [ 5) ] comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and [ 6) ] to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, [ So in essence baptism is a covenant of obedience - we are baptized to show obedience, and to covenant to be obedient going forward. This one may really be the hardest of all in the last days. This almost always catches you at a time when you are least expecting it, you have to make a quick decision what you really do believe, instantly. This is also for your entire life until death. ] that [ Now he is going to outline the promises available to you if you will act as he has told you too. 1) ] ye may be redeemed of God, [ Or that you will have full benefit of the atonement. ] and [ 2) ] be numbered with those of the first resurrection, [ Or the Celestial resurrection coming forth with a Celestial body. ] [ 3) ] that ye may have eternal life— [ Or the kind of life that God has. ]

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, [ Where does Alma get his authority? We know that he was a priest under King Noah; so he could have been given the priesthood during the time that Zeniff was king; or ordained by others who had the priesthood whether they were worthy or not. "We may conclude that Alma held the priesthood before he, with others, became disturbed with King Noah. Whether this is so or not makes no difference because in the Book of Mosiah it is stated definitely that he had authority [see Mosiah 18:13].“If he had authority to baptize that is evidence that he had been baptized. Therefore, when Alma baptized himself with Helam that was not a case of Alma baptizing himself, but merely as a token to the Lord of his humility and full repentance” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957–66], 3:203)." 7)] as a witness [ In Baptism we witness, to the Lord that we are willing to enter into a covenant to keep his commandment. Baptism formalizes the life that you commit to live as a result of giving yourself to the Lord. ] before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, [ What is the significance of using a covenant here with the people? ] [ 8) ] that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, [ D&C 42:29 - If ye love me serve me and keep my commandments which extends the commandment of John 14:15. Promise number 4) ] that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you? [ What is the blessing of this particular covenant? see vs 13. ]

11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, [ The concept of clapping one's hands in contemporary Western Culture is different from that of ancient Semitic culture. The Hebrew term "nakaw" in the OT appears most often in the context of putting your hands on someone violently. It is also used as an emphatic descriptor of rejoicing, as is the case in the present text. See Gen 8:21 for an example of "smite", see Exod 2:11 for an example of "smiting", see 2 Kings 11:12 for an example of "clap" in the context of rejoicing, and see Ezek. 25:6 in a negative context of reveling. See also Alma 31:36 where is says: Now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words, that he clapped his hands upon all them who were with him. And behold, as he clapped his hands upon them, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The "clapp[ing]" in Alma 31:36 obviously has nothing to do with applause. When it says "they clapped their hands for joy" in the present verse it probably had more to do with the people patting each other on the back and other emphatic displays of affection than applause. ] and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts. [ (Mosiah 21:35) ]

12 And now it came to pass that Alma took Helam, he being one of the first, and went and stood forth in the water, and cried, saying: O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart.

13 And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, [ Baptism was found in Moses 6:64 Where Adam was immersed with water; and the Jews have a similar practice even today called "tevillah" which is a ritual immersion. ] having authority [Where does Alma get this authority then? The most likely explanation is that Alma was ordained a priest during Zeniff's reign as king and then consecrated to Noah's inner circle of priests because he was self-promoting, Alma 11:5. While he would have been apostate with his involvement with Noah's priests, his ordination would have still be valid. And, given his repentance, he was once again worth to exercise his Priesthood. Compare v. 18 where it explicitly states Alma had authority to ordain other priests. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained that Alma had authority to baptize: “We may conclude that Alma held the priesthood before he, with others, became disturbed with King Noah. Whether this is so or not makes no difference because in the Book of Mosiah it is stated definitely that he had authority [see Mosiah 18:13]. “If he had authority to baptize that is evidence that he had been baptized. Therefore, when Alma baptized himself with Helam that was not a case of Alma baptizing himself, but merely as a token to the Lord of his humility and full repentance” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957–66], 3:203).] from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; [ Baptism is an ordinance and a covenant of obedience. Commitment to endure to the end 3 Ne, 15:9; Mormon 9:29 ] and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; [ If this were in ancient Hebrew it could have read "may the spirit of God be anointed(Nasak - or poured out) upon you". Here is the blessing that is associated with the willingness to covenant with God to keep his commandments, which we witness we will do when we are baptized. "Now, to me, that’s exactly parallel to our saying “receive ye the Holy Ghost” when we confirm someone. It’s a command, a prayer form to that individual who has been baptized, and who now has had hands laid upon his head, to so live that he will be worthy to receive the baptism of the Spirit:" Born Of The Spirit Harold B. Lee - Stand Ye in Holy Places: Selected Sermons and Writings of President Harold B. Lee. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1975), p. p.47-65 ] and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ,

14 And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit.

15 And again, Alma took another, and went forth a second time into the water, and baptized him according to the first, only he did not bury himself again in the water.

16 And after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon; and they were in number about two hundred and four souls; yea, and they were baptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the grace of God.

17 And they were called the church [ "church" is usually limited to reference in the New Testament. Our english version of Church comes from the Greek translation. "ekklesia" which literally translates to "the out-called", or those who have been called out, the chosen, the elect. In this case, Alma's group has been called out from Noah's decadent society. ] of God, or the church of Christ, from that time forward. And it came to pass that whosoever was baptized by the power and authority of God was added to his church.

18 And it came to pass that Alma, having authority from God, ordained priests; even one priest to every fifty of their number did he ordain to preach unto them, and to teach them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. [ This needs to be done as what they have been taught are the things that the wicked Priests of King Noah decided to teach them. ]

19 And he commanded them [ Gave them the assignment. ] that they should teach nothing save it were the things which he had taught, [ In other words don't just teach what you want; don't bring any of the old doctrine from the teachings of the priests of Noah unless I (Alma) have taught it or you can find it in the scriptures. ] and which had been spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets.

20 Yea, even he commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people.

21 And he commanded them [ Gave them the assignment. ] that there should be no contention one with another, [ What does contention do to a groups of people? It causes them to divide themselves. There can be any number of ways to divide or separate, and it does really not matter how they do that because once they become divided they will apply logic and pressure against each other as to who is right and who is wrong, then comes pride such that they will no longer care about each other in the same tender way that they had before the contention. ] , but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another. [ Zion - living the Law of consecration. “Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine” (D&C 38:27) ]

22 And thus he commanded them [ Gave them the assignment. ] to preach. And thus they became the children of God.

23 And he commanded them that they should observe the sabbath day, and keep it holy, and also every day they should give thanks to the Lord their God.

24 And he also commanded them [ Gave them the assignment. ] that the priests whom he had ordained should labor with their own hands for their support. [ Why is this principle of importance? When men become supported on the backs of others then they will not say things against those who pay their way that might cause the payment of support to be less. They do not or will not say what God may want them to say for the fear that man my not pay their support and will go find another that will tell them what they want to hear. Not very many men ever like to hear that they need to repent. ]

25 And there was one day in every week that was set apart that they should gather themselves together to teach the people, and to worship the Lord their God, and also, as often as it was in their power, to assemble themselves together.

26 And the priests were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to receive the grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the knowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God.

27 And again Alma commanded [ Gave them the assignment ] that the people of the church should impart of their substance, every one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart more abundantly; [ Alma institutes the Law of Consecration. ] and of him that had but little, but little should be required; and to him that had not should be given.

28 And thus they should impart of their substance of their own free will and good desires towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every needy, naked soul.

29 And this he said unto them, having been commanded [ Given the assignment from God. ] of God; and they did walk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants. [ Notice how both sides are balanced, they made sure that they had access to the powers of God through the Priesthood as well as there physical needs. How do you think they did that? How are we supposed to accomplish today? Home teaching - visiting teaching. ]

30 And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever. [ Mormon is trying in his words to express how good it feels to have the spirit in your life and the blessings that come from it. ]

31 And these things were done in the borders of the land, that they might not come to the knowledge of the king.

32 But behold, it came to pass that the king, having discovered a movement among the people, sent his servants to watch them. Therefore on the day that they were assembling themselves together to hear the word of the Lord they were discovered unto the king.

33 And now the king said that Alma was stirring up the people to rebellion against him; therefore he sent his army to destroy them.

34 And it came to pass that Alma and the people of the Lord were apprised [ By whom? told by God see Mosiah 23:1 So there must have been some kind of revelation. ] of the coming of the king’s army; therefore they took their tents and their families and departed into the wilderness.

35 And they were in number about four hundred and fifty souls.