Click to Listen: Episode 44: Alma 31-33
Feeling cocky after their success among the Lamanites, Alma and the gang head off to try and convert all the Zoramites. And if you thought that Alma was a bad public speaker before, you just wait!
“Drink” Count – 40
Almost 7 Beers!!
![1f37b[1]](https://mybookofmormonpodcast.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/1f37b1-e1405272752631.png)
![1f37a[1]](https://mybookofmormonpodcast.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/1f37a11-e1405273035787.png)
My Book of Mormon 
October 13, 2014 at 11:25 pm
I have to say I really liked Sephiroth’s music from the last podcast. And, yes, I’m a huge video game nerd.
October 14, 2014 at 5:57 am
Thanks for your appreciation of my corrections! It’s what I do best, so I’ll keep it up. Here’s a few minor ones:
Alma didn’t forget to call out Himni in his prayer. When we got the list of Alma’s missionary companions, it says he took Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner; but Himni was left behind to watch after the church in Zarahemla. (Bad use of contractions, Book of Mormon! How are we supposed to understand anything?) Not important to the story, but it seemed important to you.
Helaman – He’s going to be fairly important later, so the pronunciation needs a small correction. The “e” sound is long, so “hela-” sounds just like the “gila” in “gila monster”, or like “Helo” with an “a” at the end, not “hella” as in “this chapter was hella bad.” The “-man” you are already correctly pronouncing as “-man” at the end of “policeman” or “fisherman”, and not as the “-man” in “Superman” or “He-Man”.
Side note: Alma has a son named Shiblon, which is also the name of one of the smaller Nephite silver coins. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be a coincidence or not. It’s odd, though. But I guess our culture has girls named Penny.
October 15, 2014 at 4:04 pm
Ok, I think I got it. So, Helaman is He (like the He in “He-man”), la (like the vowel sound in “said”), and man (as you said, like the end of “fisherman”). Does that sound right?
October 15, 2014 at 9:16 pm
That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.
October 14, 2014 at 1:47 pm
I just read about your podcast in Freethought Today. I’m doing my own study of LDS scriptures and history for a while because … honestly, I have no idea why other than that I find it interesting, which is kind of a circular explanation. Anyway, looking forward to listening to your episodes!
October 14, 2014 at 9:55 pm
I tried/ I really, really tried. I simply can not keep awake during Alma’s sermons. Sheesh, what an awful bore.
October 15, 2014 at 2:24 pm
Isn’t it funny that when Nephi first came to the land, he made a special point to say that they made their temples out of the abundance of precious metals and gems found in the land, after the manner of Solomon’s temples. But when THESE guys make a Rameumptum the same way, wellllll… that’s just evil!!!
October 15, 2014 at 3:45 pm
Wow, I hadn’t thought of that, but that’s so true! This is why I love the Mymo Family, always pointing out awesome stuff that I didn’t notice! Thank you Bishop Scott!
October 16, 2014 at 6:02 am
Alma 32 used to be the scripture I would always go to as a TBM, it was my “spiritual strength” chapter. If felt good to have you logically rip it into pieces. Now that I can step back and analyze it with a more skeptical eye it is difficult to see what I found so empowering about that chapter. I guess if you try hard enough you can derive meaning out of almost any scripture in a holy book. Thank you for your pod cast, I can’t wait to hear more.
October 28, 2014 at 9:43 pm
Oh God, I got halfway through the seed/tree metaphor when I remembered that the second Ender’s Game book (Speaker for the Dead, I think?) has a major plot thread about aliens who when they die, their chests split open and a tree grows out of it, and they live on as sapient trees. I would never have guessed that that was an utterly naked allusion to the Book of Mormon if I hadn’t heard the verse for myself. Yow.
December 23, 2014 at 8:23 pm
In Alma 32:38-39, you read the verses as follows “But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root … Now, this **is because** the seed was not good.” You thought this was a mind-boggling contradiction. Yes, it was a mind-boggling contradiction because you missed a double negative. It actually says “But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root … Now, this **is not because** the seed was not good.”
December 23, 2014 at 8:33 pm
This is a clarification, not a criticism. I think you’re doing a great job identifying things that don’t make sense.
December 23, 2014 at 8:54 pm
I think the idea behind Alma’s seed/fruit analogy is that some beliefs may die at an early stage because the person fails to embrace an otherwise viable belief. The idea continues with the concept that, even with a viable belief, one needs to hold onto the viable belief to achieve positive results in the future. At any stage, an otherwise viable belief can fail because of the person.
This is a powerful message to believers. First, it encourages Church members to hold on to their faith because the fruit must be right around the corner and they don’t want the seed to fail because of their own actions. Second, this is a tool for believers to blame people who refuse to join the Church and to blame apostates who leave the Church. If a person rejects Mormonism, the person must be blamed. Why? Because believers all know the Church is true, right? So blame the non-believer for neglecting the seed/tree (the Church’s message).