Among other characteristics the earlier generation (Mosiah 5):
- were believing;
- had changed hearts
- received manifestations of the spirit;
- enjoyed the gift of prophesy to the degree that they had "great views" of what was to come;
- had faith; and
- were willing to covenant with God.
The later generation (Mosiah 26)
- were unbelieving;
- had hardened hearts;
- refused to call upon the Lord their God; and
- would not enter into a covenential relationship with God.
The experiences and the conversion of Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah2 offer hope of the change which can take place. In the context of our own, line-upon-line conversion and speaking of his own change of heart in 1975, R. Quinn Gardner mentions four vital signs to monitor our conversion:"I would name, as the first sign of a changing heart, an increased capacity for meaningful prayer. “Watch and pray always,” the Lord instructed. And why? President Clark supplies the answer: “Because the royal road to heaven is traveled through prayer.” Now, sisters, do you spend half as much time praying as you do combing your hair? I know you love your spirit more than half as much as you do your body. And brethren, do your lips form the words thee, thine, and thou with anything near the frequency that they form sports, girls, homework? Tough questions? Perhaps, but not half as tough as the questions posed to those people in Zarahemla when Alma said, “Can you look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands?” I say, “Can you look up, having the image of God engraved upon your consciences?” From Adam to Enoch, from Nephi to the Prophet Joseph, from Brigham Young to President Kimball—-each received what he sought because of mighty supplication, which bringeth forth a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
Second, I think a person can judge if he’s becoming mighty in the Lord and losing his propensity to sin by whether or not he is becoming increasingly sober—sober in the sense that Alma taught to his sons. I believe this means that our capacity for lightmindedness and frivolity simply decreases. Sacred things are more carefully handled, and taking the name of the Lord in vain is made nigh unto impossible. Respect increases for the Lord’s anointed and for all duly appointed priesthood leaders, and honor for parents is made most genuine. The sober-minded individual, I believe, characterizes his life by increasing calm and subdued feelings, and greater reverence is shown for every living thing. Further, one gives up excess, extravagance, and exaggeration, and from major and measured self-control he emerges a temperate person.
I think the third vital sign of our changing disposition to desire no sin at all is avoiding contention. Contention robs us of the Spirit. The less we fight back, the closer we come to the Lord. Most of you have roommates, and in dorms and apartments you develop what can be called “community property.” Sisters, the last time you reached for your can of hairspray and found that someone else had used the last drop, how did you react? The big date was at hand and your hair was going to be a mess. And when Dad’s letter came with no money in it but just counsel that those shoes would have to do for another month, did you think ill of your state of life? And brethren, how do you feel when someone else takes our your girl? Or better still, how do you feel when you are unfairly criticized or otherwise have your feelings hurt? Do you seek retribution? Do you fight back? Do you contend with the Lord or with your neighbor? When we can properly respond to these common occurences—so-called little things—then we will be responding to the Lord’s dictum when he said, “And behold it is written also, that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you” (3 Nephi 12:43–44).
Finally, I would name malleability. There are many words that could be used to express the sentiment—submissive, humble, meek—but so often we concentrate on the negative connotations of those words, and we conjure up in our minds the perfect milquetoast person. That’s not what the Lord meant. Paul, I believe, has given an apt word picture to describe what I consider malleability, in these most significant words: “O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay?” (Romans 9:20–21). The malleable soul listens to President Kimball with an active ear, seeking how to obey his counsel rather than determining in what ways that message does not apply to him. When the prophet states that every young man should go on a mission, the malleable soul says, “How can I get ready?” The unmalleable seeks excuses in education or finance or marriage. Seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. Eventually, as with Job, we must learn who is the master and who the servant. When we can do that—when we can understand that the Savior’s yoke is easy and his burden is light—then we can gracefully submit to being reforged in his image."
Further Resources
Ezra Taft Benson : A Mighty Change of Heart
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1989/10/a-mighty-change-of-heart?lang=eng
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