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Alma, the elder. of Mormon shortly before the martyrdom of the prophet Abinadi, as a young man associated with the apostate and iniquitous priesthood of king Noah, the son of Zeniff. Unlike his soul-seared associates, his heart was pricked by the warnings and teachings of Abinadi, for he knew that his denunciations of the prevailing wickedness were true. Inspired with this knowledge, he very courageously went to the tyrant Noah, and pleaded for the prophet's life. His appeal in behalf of the devoted servant of the Lord was ineffectual; the infuriated and besotted king would not hearken to Alma's appeal for justice and mercy, but to the contrary, he ordered the young priest to be cast out from the midst of the people, and when Alma fled from his anger, he sent his servants to slay him. Alma, however, successfully hid from his pursuers, and, during his concealment, wrote the words he had heard Abinadi speak, which teachings now form one of the most important of the doctrinal portions of the Book of Mormon.

The power, the importance, the efficiency of Abinadi's teachings had sunk deep in the heart of Alma; he not only realized their truth, but he comprehended their saving value. The first lesson they impressed upon his mind was the necessity of his immediate and thorough repentance, combined with unfaltering faith in the Savior, who was to come to redeem mankind. In much tribulation he sought the Lord with all his powers and the Great Father vouchsafed to him an abundant, soul-satisfying answer. From this time Alma began to preach privately to the people the words of Gospel truth. To do this he received power from on high. We have no account of the time of his ordination, whether when a lad he had received the holy priesthood under the hands of some one of God's servants, before the days that Noah led his people into iniquity and corrupted the priesthood, or, whether at this time he was ministered to by