Mosiah 26

At the beginning of the book of Mosiah when King Benjamin gathered all of the people around the temple and spoke to them, the very young children were the only ones who didn't understand what he was saying. Now they have grown up and not only don't believe what they have been taught by their parents, but rebel against it and separate themselves from everyone else so they can live a life style that is morally wrong. Alma takes many of them before King Mosiah to be judged but he basically says that he will only judge civil matters and leaves them in Alma's hands. So Alma turns to the Lord; it says he pours out his whole soul. This tells us how much Alma cares about the people, and we need to remember that Alma's and Mosiah's sons are among those who are willfully rebelling. He asks the Lord what he should do and the Lord tells him two great things.

The first is, because Alma has been so dedicated to helping the people and building the church, the Lord tells him he is assured of eternal life. As to the people, the Lord tells him that it is up to the people if they will hear the Lord's voice and follow him. There will come a day when every single person will know that he is the Redeemer. But for now, those who won't hear the Lord's voice simply won't be numbered in the church. If they repent, they can be. Then the Lord says something I think is very important, the best things always come on the top of cupcakes. And he says, as often as a person repents, the Lord will forgive him. The Lord knows that we are not perfect and he accepts that. We tend to forget that and continue to be hard on ourselves for our failures when the Lord isn't. The Lord then says, if he is willing to continually forgive us, we need to forgive those around us.