Alma 54-58

Alma 54-58

War, war and more war...

Alma 54

Ammoron and Moroni become penpals

Alma 54:1-11

• Ammoron (Lamanite king, brother of Amalickiah) sent a letter to Moroni asking to exchange prisoners

• Lamanites had taken MANY women and children prisoner, but the Nephites had not taken ANY women or children as prisoners

• Moroni wrote back and said: first, get out of all of our lands, or we will come and force you out. Second, you’re going to hell (v 7), and you’re a child of hell (v11). Third, I will only trade prisoners if you exchange a family of ours for a soldier of yours.

Alma 54:12-19

• Dear Ammoron, We will even arm our women and our children and come after our people and “it shall be blood for blood” sincerely, Moroni

• Dear Moroni, “I am going to avenge my brother Amalickaih, and if you surrender, I will allow you to be governed by us.” sincerely, Ammoron

Alma 54:20

• Ammoron AGREES to the prisoner exchange “that I may preserve my food for my men of war”

• He intends to wage war until one of TWO outcomes happens:

• 1. The Nephites are subject to Lamanite authority (slavery) OR

• 1. The Nephites are completely eliminated (genocide)

Alma 54:21-24

• Ammoron bears his anti-testimony:

• He declares that he does not believe in God, the devil or hell

• Ammoron states that he is a descendant of Zoram, who he claims Nephi kidnapped from Jerusalem

• QUIZ TIME.....

Multiple Choice

True or False, both the Nephites and the Lamanites had taken men, women and children as prisoners of war

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

What were the conditions of Moroni's letter for a prisoner exchange?

• The Lamanites had to rebuild Zarahemla and then exchange prisoners one for one

• The Lamanites had to give back any items they had stolen and then exchange soldiers

• The Lamanites had to leave all Nephite lands and trade whole Nephite families for single Lamanite prisoners

• Moroni didn't offer a deal, he just said they would come take the prisoners

Multiple Choice

Moroni tells Ammoron that he is willing to do what in order to defeat him?

• Arm women and children

• Kill the Lamanite prisoners

• Give up the cities they have taken

• Wage eternal war

Fill in the Blank

The two acceptable outcomes to Ammoron are basically....S____________ or G__________________.

Multiple Choice

Why did Ammoron ultimately decide he would agree to trade prisoners?

• To get more soldiers to fight against Moroni

• He was in it for the food

• To be able to attack Moroni at a fake prisoner exchange

Chapter 55

More war stuff...

Alma 55:1-3

• Moroni REJECTS Ammoron's offer to trade prisoners because he did not surrender the lands they had taken AND...

• Because Moroni says "I know the place where the Lamanites do guard my people"

Alma 55:4-12 THE PLAN...Part 1

• Moroni searches for a true descendant of Laman

• This guy (Laman) and a few others go visit the guards set over the Nephite prisoners

• The guards see them coming and call out, and Laman says “Fear not, I am a Lamanite” and he tells them they escaped from the Nephites and stole their wine

• The guards think that's awesome, Laman says “let’s save the wine for when we go to battle,” but that makes them want to drink it more. So they do...

Alma 55:13-22 THE PLAN...Part 2

• The guards pass OUT drunk

• Moroni doesn't kill them (look at v. 19) because he doesn't think that's very fair

• Moroni SNEAKS WEAPONS INTO THE PRISONERS and GETS OUT OF THERE and surrounds the city

• "When the Lamanites awoke in the morning they beheld that they were surrounded by the Nephites without and that their prisoners were armed within.”

Alma 55:23-30 Results:

• Prisoners are freed

• City is reclaimed by Moroni

• Lamanites are now their prisoners

• Lamanites are put to work fortifying the weak places in the city and then taken to Bountiful

Alma 55:30-32

READ THESE VERSES. There will be questions about them in just a moment. You will need to know WHY the Nephites were saved, and WHAT specific (and kind of weird) thing they were saved from.

Quiz time...

Multiple Choice

Why did Moroni reject the offer of Ammoron to trade prisoners?

• Because he didn't agree to return the lands they had taken

• Because he didn't agree to not come against them again in war

• Because he didn't agree to lay down his weapons of war

Multiple Choice

The key to Moroni's plan to rescue the prisoners is to find somebody who is a descendant of

• Zoram

• Nephi

• Moroni

• Laman

Multiple Choice

Once the Nephite spies got the Lamanite guards drunk, they...

• Sneaked the prisoners out into the wilderness

• Brought weapons in to the prisoners

• Killed the guards

• Hid soldiers in with the prisoners

Multiple Choice

When the Lamanites wake up in the morning, they discover that...

• They are surrounded from without AND within

• The Nephite prisoners have escaped and the guards are asleep

• They are really hungover

• The guards have been killed and the Nephite prisoners are gone

Multiple Choice

In the final verses of chapter 55 we learn that the Nephites were saved because they...

• Obeyed the commandments of the Lord

• Followed the directions of Moroni

• Listened to the Prophet

• Were not slow to remember the Lord their God

Multiple Choice

In the last few verses of chapter 55, what oddly specific type of death does it mention that the Nephites repeatedly avoided because of their diligence?

• stabbing

• poisoning

• starvation

• strangulation

Alma 56

Helaman writes a letter to Moroni...

Alma 56:1-29

Dear Moroni,

Remember the people of Ammon, how they took an oath never to shed blood again? Well, they were so worried about us that they were about to break that oath, but I talked them down.

But 2,000 of their sons who had not taken that oath took up weapons and asked me to lead them to defend the liberty of their fathers. We marched to help Antipus at Judea which brought him great hope.

Once we had been sent some provisions and additional soldiers, Antipus and I came up with a plan...

Alma 56:30-40

• Helaman takes his "sons" and pretends to be delivering provisions to the other armies

• The Lamanites decide to come out and attack them to steal all of the provisions and kill the soldiers

• Helaman and his "sons" RUN into the wilderness as FAST as they can...until dark

• Then they camp for the night, get up in the morning and DO IT AGAIN the next day

• On the THIRD DAY they realize NOBODY IS CHASING THEM...

Alma 56:41-48

• Helaman asks them if they want to turn around and go see what happened to the Lamanites and they say YES

• Helaman says “Never had I seen so great courage amongst all the Nephites”

• THEY NEVER HAD FOUGHT but THEY DID NOT FEAR DEATH; they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives

• THEY HAD BEEN TAUGHT BY THEIR MOTHERS

Alma 56:49-57

Helaman and his 2000 CHARGE into battle, surround the Lamanites, compel them to surrender, and take them as prisoner.

Not a single "son" was lost

Quiz time...

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the commander that Helaman met up with?

• Antipus

• Ammoron

• Moroni

Fill in the Blank

The 2000 sons of Helaman did not fear death because they had been taught to be faithful by their

Multiple Choice

How many of Helaman's sons died in the battle with Antipus?

• 2

• 0

• 60

• 5

Alma 57

Helaman’s army helps take Antiparah

Alma 57:1-27

• 60 new sons of the people of Ammon join Helaman's army

• They must sleep on their swords because their Lamanite prisoners are constantly trying to escape

• Helaman is reminded how stalwart his now 2060 men are, because their mothers had taught them

• At the battle for Cumeni, 200 of Helaman’s sons “fainted because of the loss of blood,” but none were killed

• Helaman tells us why YOUTH are so POWERFUL: ” they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually”

Alma 57:28-36

• Gid tells Helaman how they were able to come to his rescue

• They were sent to escort Lamanite prisoners to Zarahemla, but on the way they saw a massive Lamanite army headed to Cumeni

• When the Lamanite prisoners saw this, they rebelled and most of them got themselves killed

• Gid decided to hurry back to Cumeni to help the Nephite armies, and saved the day. They were the reason Helaman’s sons were only injured and not killed

• Quiz time...

Multiple Choice

How many new sons of the people of Ammon joined Helaman's army?

• 50

• 40

• 100

• 60

Multiple Choice

How many of Helaman's sons fainted for loss of blood at the battle of Cumeni?

• 200

• 250

• 300

• 150

Fill in the Blank

Helaman tells us that youth are powerful because they are _____, and their minds are ____, and they do put their _____ in God continually

Alma 58

Helaman, Gid and Teomner team up to take the city of Manti

Ama 58:1-13

• You guys, verse 6 uses the phrase "Sallying forth"--the Lamanites were coming out and attacking the Nephites a little at a time

• The Nephite armies are beginning to falter without food and support

• The Nephites camp in the borders of Manti, and the Lamanites come out to get them...

Alma 58:16-25

• Gid and Teomner are hiding with their men in the wilderness, Helaman leads the Lamanite armies right past them

• Once they are all past them, Gid and Teomner close ranks on the Lamanites and they are boxed in

• Some run back and kill those left behind to guard the city, and THEY TAKE THE CITY BACK

Alma 58:26-41

• Helaman makes his armies march ALL NIGHT LONG so that they could get ahead of the Lamanites and beat them to Manti "without the shedding of blood"

• The Nephite armies are spread too thin: "our armies are small to maintain so great a number of cities and so great possessions”

• Helaman isn't sure why the government hasn't sent help, but is worried that it could be because there are factions in the government

• Many of the sons of Helaman have been wounded in battle, but NONE have died; "their faith is strong in the prophecies concerning that which is to come"

• Quiz time...

Multiple Select

What are the names of the commanders that Helaman teams up with in chapter 58?

• Moroni

• Gid

• Antipus

• Teomner

Multiple Choice

How many of the 2060 sons of Helaman have died?

• 60

• 200

• 0

Open Ended

What do you think the phrase "Their faith is strong in the prophecies concerning that which is to come" is talking about? What is the thing that is to come that they have faith in that helps the sons of Ammon not to fear death?

THE END

You did it!