Alma's joy in being in the service of the Lord was rendered even greater when he, almost in exultation, contemplated the marvelous work that was performed by the sons of King Mosiah and the other missionaries who went with them, and for fourteen years had labored among the Lamanites in the Land of Nephi preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Alma thought of the missionaries' faithfulness in every sphere of duty; of their patience under trial; of their compassion for their dark skinned brethren who then suffered in ignorance of the Plan of Salvation. He thought of the long years they had labored as husbandmen in the Lord's Vineyard, and we are constrained to say that their lives proved the strength of their belief in the things they proclaimed, and that the God Whom they served was indeed the loving Father of all men. (See Comments on previous verse.) Behold, Alma noted, they had labored exceeding, almost unceasingly, that when harvest time came round, and the field which was left in their care yielded its meat, the gathering thereof would be bounteous and its fruit good. "How great shall be their reward."
Alma now closed his humble prayer, which was a song of thanksgiving and praise to God for His mercy, with an added supplication to the Almighty Father that "these my brethren, that they may sit down in the Kingdom of God; yea, and also all those who are the fruit of their labors that they may go no more out, but that they may praise Him forever. And may God grant that it may be done according to my words, even as I have spoken. Amen."