Hey, my friends. Derek from BomSocks with more BOMBites, where we feast upon the words of Christ one bite at a time. So today we’re getting into the amazing chapter of Alma 26. I could spend days on this chapter. I’m not going to, but we could.
In fact, I think there’s something in every single verse that we could bring up. But I want to just bring you just a few little things today that I think you’ll appreciate right out the gate. This is Ammon’s missionary homecoming report. In fact, you click on the links in the scriptures, and it shows you pictures of elders and sisters. So this is a very missionary focused section.
Missionaries love this. I know a lot of young missionaries who have got verses from this chapter on their missionary plaque. Like, it’s awesome. In fact, we’re going to start verses five and six. It says, behold, the field was ripe.
In fact, there are some references here to doctrine of Covenant, section four, about missionary work. Blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle and did reap with your might. Yea, all the day long did ye labor. And behold the number of your sheaves. Now, a sheave is literally a bundle of grain that is brought together after the harvest.
And what do you do with these sheaves? And they shall be gathered into the garners that they are not wasted. There’s a cool talk from Elder David A. Bednar where he referred to the garners as the Holy Temple. In fact, he said this, the garners are the holy temples.
Elder Neil A. Maxwell explained clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should be gathered is the holy temple. Now, with that context, you look at verse number six about the promises that the garners will provide. Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day.
Yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds. But when the storm cometh, you click on storm takes you right there to heal them. In chapter five, verse twelve, about what happens when the devil sends forth his mighty winds, his shafts in the whirlwind, his mighty storm. When it cometh, they shall be gathered together in their place into this great garner, the temple that the storm cannot penetrate to them. Yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.
We’re talking about gathering sheaves into the garners, but really, it’s gathering people into the temple. Here’s where you can go back to our most recent general conference. In this setting, it’s April 2024. General conference. All you got to do is look up temple, look up covenants, and look up the blessings of keeping those covenants and attending the temple.
And you will be busy for days seeing wonderful examples of being gathered to the temple. Great little principle right here. Now, here’s where you get back into the words of ammon. Blessed be the name of our God. Let us sing to his praise.
Yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever. For if we had not come up out of the land of zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren who have so dearly beloved us would still be racked with hatred against us. Yea, and they would have also been strangers to God. So here’s ammon going off on how awesome his mission is. And his brother Aaron kind of chimes in.
He’s like, ammonite, careful, pal. It almost sounds like you are boasting of your own strength. And I love verses eleven and twelve. These are amazing rockstar verses, especially when we feel like, like Aaron said, when our joy is carrying us away into boasting. Verse eleven.
Ammon said unto him, I do not boast in my own strength nor in my own wisdom. But behold, my joy is full. We’ll talk more about that tomorrow. Yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing.
As to my strength, I am weak. Therefore I will note, boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things. Yea, behold many mighty miracles. I love that phrase we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. So because of the work of these wonderful sons of Mosiah, these Lamanites have now been brought to a knowledge of the truth.
They are converted unto the Lord. And Ammon is just so happy that the Lord allowed him to be a part of that. Anybody who has done missionary work understands that concept. How awesome it is that the Lord has allowed you a little peek into what his work and glory is, and you get a chance to be a part of it. And this is Ammon’s soul brimming with joy, which I think is so cool.
Now, verse number 15. He’s like, he has allowed us to bring them into his everlasting light. Yay. Into everlasting salvation. And they are encircled about in the matchless bounty of his love.
And we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work. And I love how he gets into verses 16 and 17 where he’s like, look, the same thing that the Lord allowed us to do with them, he did with us. Therefore, let us glory, and we will glory in the Lord. I love that phrase. And we will rejoice, for our joy is full.
Yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Who can say too much of his great power and of his mercy and of his long suffering towards the children of men. Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part of which I feel. Can you just picture a missionary up there, here at the pulpit.
He is giving his homecoming report, and he’s talking about, I cannot tell you enough about the joy and how glorious, how wonderful God is. Why? Because he has been merciful to us. In verse 17, he snatched us from our awful, sinful and polluted state. We were going out trying to destroy the church, and the Lord stopped us.
And he has allowed us now to be a part of his work. This is a great day for Ammon, which leads to verse 22. Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith and bringeth forth good works and prayeth continually without ceasing. It’s almost like he’s giving a little pattern here. Unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God.
Yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which have never been revealed. Yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance. Every missionary needs to read this, even as has been given unto us, to bring these, our brethren to repentance. These verses are so amazing to show what the Lord can do with a repentant heart. Never underestimate his miraculous abilities to perform many mighty miracles to someone who is willing to repent.
Now, one last thought I want to share with you. Missions are hard. I think one of the greatest, best kept secrets out there is. Missions are very difficult. They can be filled with discouragement.
They can be filled with frustration. There’s a lot of growth in there. We talked about how there’s no growth in the comfort zone and there’s no comfort in the growth zone. So when you’re out there serving a mission, it is very difficult. Your emotions are affected.
Your physical body can be affected by it, and it gets discouraging at times. And anyone who has served a mission understands. It gets very discouraging. It’s an emotional roller coaster all over the place. 14 years for these guys.
Had to be hard. Again, we don’t know the timeline, at what point these guys were actually able to share the gospel with these people. But it could have been years, and there had to be a lot of groundwork and a lot of dedication and a lot of thankless days as they’re going through, building a relationship of trust with these lamanites. Anyone who has felt this way with missionary service, verse 27 is so relevant now. When our hearts were depressed and we were about to turn back, and that happens.
I think every missionary feels that at times. Behold, the Lord comforted us and said, go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success. And as you see the Lord providing for you success, you go to the end of this chapter, which is filled with so many wonderful truths. Verse 35. Now, have we not reason to rejoice again?
At the time it might have been very frustrating, but you hang in there with that long suffering and that patience. Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we since the world began. And my joy is carried away even at the boasting in my God. For he has all power, all wisdom, all understanding, and he comprehendeth all things.
He is a merciful being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name. Now, if this is boasting, even so will I boast, for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, my redemption from everlasting woe. Yea, blessed is the name of my God who has been mindful of this people, meaning God’s mind is full of them who are a branch of the tree of Israel who has been lost from its body to a strange land. Yea, and I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanders in a strange land. Now, my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in.
Yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy again. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow and my great thanksgiving. Yea, I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.
I what a great way to finish up an amazing missionary homecoming report. God is mindful of all of his people. He gets them to the temple. He performs many mighty miracles with repentant hearts. When you are struggling and when you are depressed, you are reminded about how God is mindful of you.
I am grateful for this chapter. It is so good. Like I said, we could talk about it for days, take some time to really study it and I think you’ll see some powerful principles here. Thanks so much for watching. Thanks for subscribing and thanks for sharing these messages.
We are so grateful that you do that. As always, if you like what you see, click the like like button and you got to go check out our amazingly comfortable gospel themed socks@bombsox.com. godspeed. See you tomorrow. Take care.
Bye.
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dyejo
