Lesson 22: Saving Rebellious Youth—Alma the Younger (For Our Day)

• If this is your first week here, welcome! Please review our “Welcome & How to Join the Quest” for some helpful information on how to use this resource. You may also want to check out the Embark on the Journey section of Lesson 1 for some activities that will be helpful in getting you started on this quest. In particular, you’ll want a journal, and perhaps the “I Am a Latter-day Nephite” resolution and a fun Book of Mormon reading chart. Just start where you are in the year—don’t feel like you have to backtrack and do every lesson, but grab these helpful tools and you’ll be good to go from here!
• If you choose to download or purchase a designed cardstock version of the “I’m a Latter-day Nephite” resolution, you may want to post it where you will see it every day—on the fridge or your mirror, for example. Ponder on this month’s statement “I will bear testimony of and defend the pure foundation of the Restoration, covenanting not to forsake the Lord my God.”
• Read or watch “Born of God” by President Ezra Taft Benson.
  • Have you had a conversion experience – a mighty change of heart? If you have, be sure you have recorded this experience in your journal. If you have not had a conversion experience, diligently seek for it and record your experiences as you do.
• In “A Mighty Change of Heart” by President Ezra Taft Benson, he says:

“For every Paul, for every Enos, and for every King Lamoni, there are hundreds and thousands of people who find the process of repentance much more subtle, much more imperceptible. Day by day they move closer to the Lord, little realizing they are building a godlike life. They live quiet lives of goodness, service, and commitment. They are like the Lamanites, who the Lord said “were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.” (3 Ne. 9:20; italics added.)”

Think of a visual representation of your change that you can track, for example: marbles or pennies in a jar. Pray to have eyes to see how you have grown and changed over your lifetime and fill your tracker to your present self. Continue adding to your tracker as you feel small moments of growth and change. From time to time, you could pause to reflect and offer gratitude for the Lord’s guidance in your conversion process. This activity could also be done as a family!

• At the beginning of every airplane flight, the flight attendants give a safety brief. One part of this safety brief explains that if the cabin depressurizes, oxygen masks will drop. They emphasize that you must secure your own oxygen mask before helping your children don theirs. How does this parallel what needs to happen in your home to save your youth? 
• Read “A Christ-Centered Home” by Hannah, Leah, and Isaiah Stoddard. 
  • Consider what your family mission should be and counsel together as a family to find and bring this mission to life.
  • What principles in the book can help you lead your family to Christ? Pray to know which changes you can implement in your home to fortify and lay a strong foundation for your children.
• In “A Mighty Change of Heart” by President Ezra Taft Benson, he says:

“One of Satan’s most frequently used deceptions is the notion that the commandments of God are meant to restrict freedom and limit happiness. Young people especially sometimes feel that the standards of the Lord are like fences and chains, blocking them from those activities that seem most enjoyable in life. But exactly the opposite is true. The gospel plan is the plan by which men are brought to a fulness of joy. This is the first concept I wish to stress: The gospel principles are the steps and guidelines that will help us find true happiness and joy.”

Gather your family, pop some popcorn, and listen to “Are Your Standards Fences or Guardrails?” by John Bytheway (CD or YouTube).