The key for dealing with unbelievers is to follow the Spirit. All those who embark in the service of God will from time to time encounter contrary spirits who tend to vilify divine truth and disparage the good news of the gospel of Christ. The Lord has made clear that the most powerful strategy in such cases is to teach by the Spirit (see Alma 11:21–22). The lawyers of Ammonihah are skilled in cunning rhetoric and opportunism. Among these is Zeezrom, he “being one of the most expert among them, having much business to do among the people” (Alma 10:31). In the case of Alma and Amulek, he sees the opportunity to stir up a great deal of business for himself and his colleagues. But he has no idea what kind of power he is taking on. These men of God, whom he mentally dismisses as unworthy foes, can discern his thoughts through the Spirit of God (see Alma 12:3), and thus lay open to view his pernicious plans. What Zeezrom intends as an attack on Alma and Amulek actually is a turning point in his own spiritual life. He soon comes to realize that his opponents, these trouble-makers with a proclaimed divine agenda, in fact, speak the truth. Far from shaming them with his legal manipulations, he takes up their cause, so powerful and persuasive is their witness of the Savior and His plan of redemption.
Pen Pal Convert
The following story teaches the need for careful preparation in order to teach doctrine to unbelievers:
Helen Patten was in the fifth grade when she began writing to a pen pal by the name of Charlotte Alvoet in Dundee, Scotland. Helen told her what she did in Primary, later Mutual, and sent pictures of the Church’s temples and other buildings, and places of interest in Utah.
Last year an elder from Helen’s ward, Bruce Draper, was called on a mission to Scotland. Since Helen secretly wished that he might teach the gospel to Charlotte, she wrote a letter to Elder Draper, telling him about Charlotte and giving her address in case he should be assigned to work in Dundee.
About a week later Charlotte wrote to Helen telling her of the visit of two “Yanks.” It so happened that Charlotte had gone to a concert, so she was not home when they first called. The elders waited about two hours for her return but finally they had to leave. They left word with her grandmother that they wanted to call again the following Saturday. Charlotte returned home about fifteen minutes after they left. When she heard of the visit, she was so anxious to see these young men that she wrote to Helen that she could hardly wait for the next Saturday to come.
The next letter Helen received began, “Guess who was baptized yesterday! Guess who will be confirmed tomorrow! Guess who is the happiest girl in the world! ME ME ME!” She went on to write that both she and her mother had been converted in only two weeks.
Subsequent letters told of her interest in church activities, her new friends, and her part in the branch’s roadshow.
On August 21, she wrote the following:
“I just had to write this to you. I absolutely had to. I guess if I did not I would burst. Oh, the marvelous happening all because of being a Mormon. I must tell you from the beginning or I’ll get too mixed up.
“You see, in Scotland we have no LDS schools, so when I was baptized I stayed at the school I had been attending previously, the Harris Academy. This is a Presbyterian school, where pupils of all Protestant faiths attend (Methodists, Episcopalian, and all that). In school we have one period each week for instruction in religion, and this is in the Presbyterian faith. Well, when I was baptized, there was little change since all we did was read the Bible. But this year our teacher decided that our religion period should be informal and should be a period for debate, so he said he would ask us to write one question that he would try to answer and that the class would discuss.
“I didn’t ask one question—I asked six! I knew all the answers, but I wanted to explain our teachings and doctrine to him.
“I asked: (1) the interpretation of Rev. 14:6; (2) the meaning of 1 Cor. 15:29 (baptism for the dead); (3) which is the true church of Jesus Christ; (4) the nature of the Godhead (if they were three in one or three separate beings); (5) the correct method of baptism; (6) the reason for baptism.
“None of my friends had questions, so mine were all copied. Well, a fortnight later (yesterday) the teacher decided that we would discuss the question concerning the personality of our Father in heaven. He blithered on for a wee while about heathens and atheists. Then we got down to business. I brought up the belief of some that our Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three in one. Since we don’t believe that, I told him so. He asked me for proof, and was he surprised when I rattled off a list of scriptures! You see, I had sat up the night before reading the books I was given when the elders were teaching me. I read scriptures concerning our Father being separate from Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. After I had proved my point that they were not three in one, my master went on to another subject, saying, ‘Of course, we all know God is a spirit,’ and I read more scriptures about our Father in heaven having a body, hair, eyes, and back parts. It was marvelous. One thing led to another, and soon I was deep in telling the class the Joseph Smith story. I was inspired, and I know I had the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of the Lord within me as I talked. At the end I took over the class and was answering questions. Now twenty-one people know about Joseph Smith and heard my testimony as I bore it to them. They also saw the Book of Mormon.
“May God bless you always,
Love,
Charlotte”
(Improvement Era, April 1962; Leon R. Hartshorn, comp., Inspiring Stories for Young Latter-day Saints [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1975], 202–204)