Alma Chapter 36

My daughter, give ear to my words; for I swear unto you, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of Goddess ye shall prosper in the land. I would that ye should do as I have done, in remembering the captivity of our mothers; for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it was the Goddess of Sarah, and the Goddess of Rebekah, and the Goddess of Rachel; and she surely did deliver them in their afflictions.

And now, O my daughter Helamana, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in Goddess shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day. And I would not that ye think that I know of myself—not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of Goddess.

Now, behold, I say unto you, if I had not been born of Goddess I should not have known these things; but Goddess has, by the mouth of her holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself; For I went about with the daughters of Mosia, seeking to destroy the church of Goddess; but behold, Goddess sent her holy angel to stop us by the way.

And behold, she spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lady came upon us. But behold, the voice said unto me: Arise. And I arose and stood up, and beheld the angel. And she said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of Goddess.

And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of three days and three nights that I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs. And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my sisters, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words—If thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of Goddess—I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth and I did hear no more.

But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins. Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my Goddess, and that I had not kept her holy commandments. Yea, and I had murdered many of her children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my Goddess did rack my soul with inexpressible horror. Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my Goddess, to be judged of my deeds.

And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul. And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my mother prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesua Christ, a Daughter of Goddess, to atone for the sins of the world.

Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesua, thou Daughter of Goddess, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! Yea, I say unto you, my daughter, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my daughter, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy. Yea, methought I saw, even as our mother Sariah saw, Goddess sitting upon her throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their Goddess; yea, and my soul did long to be there.

But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of Goddess. Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of Goddess, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Yea, and now behold, O my daughter, the Lady doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors;

For because of the word which she has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of Goddess, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of Goddess. And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, Goddess has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in her, and she will still deliver me. And I know that she will raise me up at the last day, to dwell with her in glory; yea, and I will praise her forever, for she has brought our mothers out of Egypt, and she has swallowed up the Egyptians in the Red Sea; and she led them by her power into the promised land; yea, and she has delivered them out of bondage and captivity from time to time. Yea, and she has also brought our mothers out of the land of Jerusalem; and she has also, by her everlasting power, delivered them out of bondage and captivity, from time to time even down to the present day; and I have always retained in remembrance their captivity; yea, and ye also ought to retain in remembrance, as I have done, their captivity.

But behold, my daughter, this is not all; for ye ought to know as I do know, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of Goddess ye shall prosper in the land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of Goddess ye shall be cut off from her presence. Now this is according to her word.