Mormon describes Alma turning to face the newly arrived spokesperson. While it is possible that such detail might have existed in the original record, it is equally probable that we have Mormon heightening the symbolic turning of Alma’s attention. Alma had been preaching to a set of people with whom we must assume he was making little headway. Alma turns physically and symbolically away from the unprofitable audience, and addresses directly those who “were in a preparation to hear the word.”