Alma 15

God told Alma and Amulek to leave the city, which he really didn’t need to. They walked to Sidom and found the convert-exiles of Ammonihah, who’d been kicked out for believing Alma. They had stories to tell, of course, but the star of their camp was Zeezrom, feverish and half-crazy with guilt. (They said the fever came from the guilt, but the medical evidence is skimpy. Still, possibly psychosomatic.)

Zeezrom heard Alama and Amulek were not only alive but in the camp. He begged them to see him, which they did, despite his earlier nastiness toward them. He begged them to heal him. Alma grabbed Zeezrom’s hand and asked if he now believed in Christ.

“Yes. I believe it all.”

“Are you sure? Because if you’re hedging this isn’t going to work.”

“Trust me. I’m all in.”

So Alma prayed very loudly, asking for mercy on his foe-turned-friend.

Zeezrom jumped up and started pacing around, like a baby who’d just learned to walk. He shocked everyone with his newfound energy and balance. It made the news throughout the region.

Alma baptized Zeezrom, who started preaching, noncompetitively, of course.

Alma started a church, ordained priests and teachers to baptize any new proselytes. Thus a new trend of being dipped for Jesus began. Between the Zeezrom story and the chance for a free pipeline to God’s favor, people flooded into the area for baptism.

The continuing residents of Ammonihah, though, mostly Nehorites, wouldn’t budge. They even rationalized that Alma and Amulek got their charisma and wall-crashing power from the devil, which made zero sense.

Amulek took it pretty hard: most of the mockers were his old friends, business partners, and even kin, including his dad.

Meanwhile, Alma made a checklist of things church members should be doing:

—Snuffing out pride. Check.

—Worshipping at the altar. Check.

—Staying alert re: changes in behavior by insiders and outsiders alike. Check.

—Praying they wouldn’t sin, die, or go to hell. Check.

Alma knew he could leave and not risk much. So Alma took Amulek back to his house in Zarahemla, fixed him a makeshift bed, and fed him meals at the ring of a bell. Amulek slowly pulled out of his depressive funk. And that was how the tenth year of the judges’ reign ended—not with a bang, but with lots of whimpers.