June 24-30: Alma 13-16
Enter into the Rest of the Lord
Caddie Lyle Stewart (American, 1887-1974)
Harvesting Rice Fields, Japan (1957), oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches
Collection of Michael and Linda Jones Gibbs
Used with permission
In Alma chapter 14, Alma and Amulek are imprisoned and reviled by the people of the land, notwithstanding the penitent Zeezrom’s pleas for their pardon. The account of their misery includes this heart-rending passage, “And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be cast into the fire; and they also brought forth their records which contained the holy scriptures, and cast them into the fire also, that they might be burned and destroyed by the fire. And it came to pass that they took Alma and Amulek, and carried them forth to the place of martyrdom, that they might witness the destruction of those who were consumed by fire….and [Amulek] said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene?” (Alma 14:8-9, 10).
How can any of us witness the misery or hardship of those around us? Sometimes, the experience echoes over generations. Linda Jones Gibbs relates the story of her grandmother, the artist Caddie Lyle Stewart:
"My grandmother was one of ten children born and raised on a farm in Pleasant Grove. As an adult she had a hard life. One of the greatest hardships she endured was the death of her son, at the age of eight. He was sledding down 4th South in Salt Lake City and ran head first into a parked car. Her husband, who had previously deserted the family of three small children, sent her a check for $25 and didn’t attend the funeral. She worked for years as a file clerk with the Union Pacific Railroad in Salt Lake City and later in Omaha, Nebraska.
After retirement, Caddie divided her time between my family (her son was my father) and that of her daughter. When my father, a dental surgeon in the Air Force, was transferred to Japan, Caddie came with us. While we were living in Japan, my grandmother, along with my mother, took oil painting lessons from a Japanese teacher by the name of Nakamura. He had studied art in France but had returned to Japan at the outbreak of WWII. Both my grandmother and mother displayed talent but my grandmother, in particular, was very adept at painting, especially considering she was 71 years of age when she first picked up a paint brush. Because Mr. Nakamura was trained in the Western painting tradition in Paris, his art and that of my grandmother and mother was rooted in that aesthetic, rather than in any Asian influence.
I have wondered how my grandmother might have evolved as an artist if she could have had the luxury of indulging in the practice of art as a younger woman. In her elder age, she collected art books, writing in the margins the points about composition and color which she wished to remember. Caddie passed away when I was an undergraduate art major at BYU. I have often imagined how pleased she would be that her granddaughter became an art historian and would, in fact, spend numerous years of her career researching and exhibiting Utah/LDS art. I am a descendant of a Mormon artist, albeit an unknown one, and an artist who serendipitously found her path from a Paris-trained teacher in the unlikely environs of post-War Japan."
Discussion Questions:
Alma expresses his concern for his people "from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great anxiety even unto pain" (Alma 13:27). Have you ever felt this sort of concern and compassion for another? How did you let the person know of your overwhelming love?
As Alma and Amulek established the Church, "there was no inequality among them" and this unity allowed them to be receptive when "the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming" (Alma 16:16). How does a lack of inequality prepare our hearts and minds to receive the message of Jesus?
After suffering "great afflictions" in one city (Alma 14:26), Alma and Amulek thereafter found great success with the saints in another city, Sidom (Alma 15:13-14). Art project: Begin with a dark piece of paper as a background. Cut out shapes from brightly colored paper and paste the shapes onto the dark background, but allow the darkness to peek through. How does this visualization help you to understand the impact of hard times in framing the goodness in your life?
Questions for Youth & Children:
We have the Aaronic Priesthood (named after Aaron; see D&C 84:18) and the Melchizedek Priesthood (named after Melchizedek; see D&C 107:3-4). From the reading this week, what did you learn about the man named Melchizedek? (See also the Guide to the Scriptures, "Melchizedek.") Who do you know who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood?
Alma talks about people who reject the Spirit of God as people who have hard hearts and blind minds (Alma 13:4). What do you think it means to have a hard heart? What do you think it means to have a blind mind? What is the opposite of a hard heart and a blind mind and how might this kind of a heart and mind respond to the Spirit of God?
When Alma and Amulek were in prison, the chief judge slapped them across their cheeks and asked them questions, but Alma and Amulek didn't say anything (Alma 14: 14-17). Then others came into the prison and made fun of Alma and Amulek and asked them more questions, but Alma and Amulek didn't say anything (Alma 14:18-22). When is it the best idea to just say nothing when others ask you about what you believe or make fun of you?
