miriam beth

(this sunday school letter was originally sent to my sunday school class may 17th before being published here)

this is late. i apologize but it was finals week and i literally didn't do anything i was supposed to do all week...and that includes wash my hair or the laundry. but the good news: finals are over! and i am a free woman! when do you finish up? are you almost done, too? what are you doing for the summer?

lately we've learned about several groups of people in the book of mormon who are in bondage. these people are nephites and the people keeping them in bondage are the lamanites. last time we talked about one of these groups of people, and their king, limhi, who had faith in their deliverance. this time we'll talk about the people of alma.

alma, as you might recall, was a priest for the wicked king noah. he heard the words of abinadi and his heart was changed. he escaped the lamanites, began to teach the people quietly, baptizing them in the waters of mormon. then they went to their own little piece of land and began to work and practice their religion together. the lamanites discovered them and immediately enslaved them. mosiah 24:9 says that the king "...exercised authority over them, and put tasks upon them, and put taskmasters over them." in verse 10 we read, "...so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God."

the king did NOT like this and so he put guards over the people of alma to make sure they absolutely did NOT pray. the joke's on him, of course, because prayer is something you can do once loudly and in front of people with your hands held high, or folded, or whatever, but it's also something you can do all day long, quietly and privately, in your heart.

verse 12 says, "and alma and his people did not raise their voices to the lord their god, but did pour out their hearts to him: and he know the thoughts of their hearts."

when alma and his people were told they couldn't pray anymore it was almost like they'd been given permission not to pray because it wasn't allowed. but was it right? just because we are given opportunities--maybe even really good opportunities to excuse ourselves from doing the right things doesn't mean we should take them. yeah, church isn't happening in our church buildings, but it can happen in our homes--in our hearts. alma and his people weren't allowed to kneel down and fold their arms and say out loud the words, "dear heavenly father..." but they could pray to god in their hearts.
when they prayed in their hearts the lord spoke to them. in verse 12 it says, "...lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for i know of the covenant which you have made unto me; and i will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage."

and then do you know what he promised? he promised that he would ease the burdens "that you cannot even feel them upon your backs" (verse 14).

why?

"...that ye stand as witnesses for me...that ye may know of a surety that i, the lord god, do visit my people in their afflictions." (also verse 14).

MY FRIENDS. let's do the right thing, even when we have to think outside the box to do it. let's tell the lord what's going on, share our burdens with him, share our bondage, share our joys, our triumphs. let's allow the lord to WORK in our lives, to help us out. he can make our burdens light. we can know that he is with us. we can stand as witnesses of god.

i hope you are all doing well. I MISS YOU. i can't wait to see your faces in person and hug you all. you're on my mind, in my prayers. be strong. be good.

see you soon,

sister h