I Obeyed the Voice of the Angel – Alma 10:7-9

7 As I was journeying to see a very near kindred, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto me and said: Amulek, return to thine own house, for thou shalt feed a prophet of the Lord; yea, a holy man, who is a chosen man of God; for he has fasted many days because of the sins of this people, and he is an hungered, and thou shalt receive him into thy house and feed him, and he shall bless thee and thy house; and the blessing of the Lord shall rest upon thee and thy house.
8 And it came to pass that I obeyed the voice of the angel, and returned towards my house. And as I was going thither I found the man whom the angel said unto me: Thou shalt receive into thy house—and behold it was this same man who has been speaking unto you concerning the things of God.
9 And the angel said unto me he is a holy man; wherefore I know he is a holy man because it was said by an angel of God.
(Alma 10:7-9)

By his own admission, Amulek was a good person who simply wasn’t that interested in religion. In his remarks to the people of Ammonihah, where he lived, he introduced himself as a person with a strong family and social network who had been very successful in business. “Nevertheless, after all this,” he admits, “I never have known much of the ways of the Lord.” Then, he adds, “I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know” (Alma 10:5-6).

All that changed when he was visited by an angel of God. The angel told him that he needed to return home and feed a prophet of God whom he would meet. Immediately, Amulek believed and obeyed. He met Alma and he invited him into his house as he was commanded by the angel. As he testifies in the passage above, “I know he is a holy man because it was said by an angel of God.”

This same Amulek later pleaded with the Zoramites to respond to the invitation to repent. Together with that challenge, he made a promise:

I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you (Alma 34:31).

This promise has tremendous credibility with me, knowing that Amulek had experienced it himself. When he was called to repentance, he chose to accept the invitation, humble himself, and obey the words of the angel. Immediately, he became a missionary. The gospel became active in his life.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke about what we can learn from the example of Amulek:

Perhaps, like Amulek, you know in your heart that the Lord has “called [you] many times,” but you “would not hear.”
Nevertheless, the Lord sees in you what He saw in Amulek—the potential of a valiant servant with an important work to do and with a testimony to share. There is service that no one else can give in quite the same way….
Our beloved Savior knows where you are. He knows your heart. He wants to rescue you. He will reach out to you. Just open your heart to Him (“Learn from Alma and Amulek,” General Conference, October 2016).

Today, I will follow Amulek’s example of responsiveness to the calls that come from God. I will remember that the gospel becomes active in our lives immediately when we humble ourselves and respond to calls to serve, whether those calls come through a church leader, through a heavenly messenger, or through the quiet promptings of the Holy Ghost speaking directly to our mind and our heart.