Three Witnesses

Three of the most heartfelt testimonies given in the Book of Mormon all appear in close proximity in the middle of the book of Alma.  As I drove to work today and listened to these I was impressed by the power of these witnesses of God’s goodness, grace, and power.  These were no rote “I know the Church is true” testimonies; they expressed the deepest feelings of gratitude in their souls for the Lord’s miracles seen in their lives and the lives of others.  

The first of these testimonies was from a converted Lamanite.  Alma 24 contains the words of Anti-Nephi-Lehi as he praised his “great God” for softening the hearts of his people and convincing them of the “traditions of [their] wicked fathers.”  He exclaimed, “Oh, how merciful is our God!” and bore witness of how “God hath taken away our stains.”  His testimony was from his soul and born of the power of forgiveness that he and his people felt from the Savior’s atonement. 

The second chapter that contains a heartfelt witness of the Savior is Alma 26 from Ammon.  After spending 14 years as a missionary suffering all sorts of trials amidst the Lamanites, his heart was full at the incredible miracles of conversion that they had seen among those they taught.  He exclaimed, “Behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God!” and he praised God this way: “Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name.”  Ammon understood his own limitations but gloried in the power of God to work miracles: “In his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.”  His heart was so full that he struggled to really express the depth of his feeling: “Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, 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 which I feel.”  Ammon loved the Lord with all his soul and we are lucky to have this incredible testimony. 

The last of these chapters containing a powerful personal testimony is Alma 29.  Alma’s heart ached because he wanted so badly to be an angel, “That I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!”  Like Ammon he gloried in God’s goodness and not in his own power: “I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance.”  He was so full of joy for the miracles the Lord brought to the Lamanites that he said, “When I think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my joy.”  His heart was completely pure and he wanted nothing more than to see the power of God work in the lives of others. 

To me these three testimonies are witnesses of the power of the Lord’s grace and His ability to change our hearts.  All three of these men were at one time steeped in great sin, and yet through the atonement of Christ were forgiven and had their natures changed.  Perhaps to develop that same kind of feeling and depth of testimony we must seek the same sincere forgiveness for our own transgressions and come to experience firsthand the Savior’s grace.