There is an old proverb that states, "oil and water don't mix." This is based on the observation that the two stay separate when attempts are made to mix them together. The saying is typically used to describe people or characteristics that don't seem to go together — they don't mix well.

In Alma 39, Alma reprimands his son Corianton for trying to mix ministry and sin. Called to be a young minister, Corianton goes on a missionary trip among the Zoramites during which he travels to a different city and spends time with a prostitute named Isabel. Clearly, this is not what was expected when Corianton was brought on the trip, and he, in fact, jeopardizes the entire mission by his actions.

In Alma 38, Alma shares some words with his middle son, Shiblon. He commends Shiblon who appears to be not flashy but quietly steady, faithful, and diligent in the work of the Lord. You probably know people like this today or perhaps you would even consider this a description of yourself. People like this are rarely recognized for their efforts, so it's good that Alma takes time to recognize his son's efforts here.

Shiblon has begun teaching the word of God to the people, and Alma encourages him to continue in the same way with this work:

"And now, as ye have begun to teach the word even so I would that ye should continue to teach; and I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things." (Alma 38:10)

In Alma 37, Alma turns over the sacred records to his son Helaman and instructs him on the importance of maintaining them and keeping them up to date going forward such that they can continue to be passed on, eventually coming forth to benefit future generations.

He then adds a piece of advice in verse 37 that we often quote today (it's easy to remember — chapter 37, verse 37):

"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God." (Alma 37:37)

For the next several chapters, Alma takes some time to share advice, counsel, and teaching with each of his three sons — Helaman (chapters 36-37), Shiblon (chapter 38) and Corianton (chapters 39-42).

In Alma 36, Alma remembers what type of man he was before he gave his life to the Lord. He recalls that he had rebelled against God, not keeping His commandments, and that he "went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God" (verse 6). He would have continued along this destructive path, but his eyes were finally opened by the appearance of an angel who spoke to him with a voice of thunder. Alma describes what happened after the angel spoke to him:

Divisive: Tending to cause disagreement between people and causing them to separate into different groups

In Alma 35, the Zoramites react to the message of Christ preached to them by Alma and Amulek in the previous chapters in which they were exhorted to repent of their sins and change their lives to be more Christlike. Although the exact discussion is not recorded, you can easily imagine it going something like this:

• Why do we need to repent? We're not doing anything wrong.
• Why can't we just love and accept everyone the way they are instead of trying to change people?
• This is a divisive message — we need to be more inclusive of everyone.

A few weeks ago at GMBA Camp, my husband, Brother Michael, and I recruited our 12-year-old nephew, Robby, to perform a short skit at kids' chapel.

In the skit, Michael and I pretended to be the proverbial "good angel" and "bad angel" whispering in Robby's ears, trying to persuade him to do either right or wrong. For example, I tried to get Robby to thank his mother for preparing breakfast and recruit an outcast schoolmate for a game of ultimate Frisbee at recess. Michael tried to get Robby to fib to his teacher and clandestinely pocket a candy bar at the grocery store.

By the end of the skit, Robby withstood temptation in each instance and showed a lot of inner strength in doing so. After we were done performing for the kids, I asked them a series of questions that I want to ask you, too!

Up until this point in the narrative, the Nephites — as all God-fearing Israelites were expected to be doing at the time — were performing sacrifices as directed by the Law of Moses. A couple of examples were when Lehi's family was traveling in the wilderness (1 Nephi 5:9) and when the people of King Benjamin gathered at the temple to hear his final address (Mosiah 2:3).

The Law of Moses provided for different types of sacrifices for a variety of purposes, but a primary reason for the people to sacrifice was to atone for their sins. In these instances, killing an animal (typically, one that they owned) and burning its body as an offering to God was the prescribed way of obtaining forgiveness from God for sins committed.

In Alma 34, Amulek describes what he refers to as a "great and last sacrifice" that would provide atonement for all mankind:

TYPOLOGY: The study of things in Christian belief that are prefigured or symbolized by things in the Old Testament

In Alma 33, Alma continues with his teachings to the people who were cast out of the synagogue in the previous chapter. Among the things he teaches them is an episode from the Old Testament in which Moses did something that is considered a "type" of Jesus Christ:

"A type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live … But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished." (Alma 33:19-20)

In Alma 32, the people who are poor find themselves without a place to worship. The wealthy people — and especially the priests — decide they don't want these poor people in Church with them anymore, so they forbid them from entering their synagogues. One of the leaders of this displaced group meets with Alma and bemoans their situation:

"They have cast us out of our synagogues…because of our exceeding poverty; and we have no place to worship our God…what shall we do?" (Alma 32:5)

In one way, Alma is actually happy for these people — this experience has made them more humble, putting them in a position to be closer to God — but he does address their concern over the lack of a Church building by asking them, "Do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God save it be in your synagogues only?" (verse 10).

Alma 31 describes a very unusual church meeting involving a group of people called the Zoramites. The church building described in this chapter contains a very high platform called the Rameumpton, and anybody who wishes to worship has to climb up on this platform and shout the words to a specific "prayer" — the same exact words are uttered by each person in turn.

The essence of this prayer is that they are thanking God that they are better than everybody else. They even go as far as to say, "thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell" (verse 17). Wow, heaven would be a small place if that was accurate.

Today is the final day of GMBA Camp! This morning, three busses filled with young people left campus for Lake Perris to witness the scheduled baptisms. The Lord was not done calling souls because more requested baptism at the water's edge. What a blessing to witness lives changed, and what a blessed assurance to know that it's because of Christ's righteousness that we are saved!

Here are the names of all those who requested baptism this week at camp.

• Tyler Armitage
• Jacob Bojorquez
• Kim Hemmings
• Colleen Joe
• Brooke Lambert
• Alayna Landrey
• Wyatt Landrey
• Derrick Marquez
• Riley O'Sullivan
• Logan Rowell
• Shay Smith
• Shane Thomas
• Charles Walmsley
• David Williams
• Julia Zarate

This week, we're interrupting our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a series of articles from GMBA Campout!

This week, the camp is being held in Redlands, California, and the theme is "Peace, Joy, and Strength in Righteousness," and the anchoring scriptures are found in Philippians 4:4-8.

Before we flesh out the theme for you, let's talk about friendship. GMBA Camp is a place where new friendships bloom, casual acquaintances take root and go to a deeper level, and time-tested bonds grow even stronger. Friendship and fellowship are a big part of what makes camp camp.

Here's a story I sometimes relate when Election Day is approaching:

Once upon a time, a man died and appeared before God at the gates of heaven. God told the man that he was going to spend one day in heaven and then one day in hell and, after that, he would be permitted to choose which place he wanted to spend eternity in.

For his day in heaven, the man was shown the mansion he would live in, he met many of the people mentioned in the scriptures and attended a joyful gathering of the saints, all singing praises to the Lord who was in their midst. It was a very blessed day.

In Alma 29, Alma imagines for a moment what it would be like to be an angel. How exciting it would be to go forth with the trumpet of God and speak with a voice of thunder, declaring the plan of redemption to all people! The more he thinks about it, the more exciting of a concept it sounds like, and he sort of wishes it could be so. Finally, he returns to reality and actually scolds himself a little for getting carried away with the idea:

"But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me." (Alma 29:3)

When I was in 9th grade, one of my classes was Algebra. Whereas some students (and perhaps you can identify) had a hard time understanding this subject, I actually enjoyed it. It was kind of like trying to solve a mystery — what is the value of the mysterious X?

For those who don't remember — and forgive me if this brings back bad memories — it went something like this:

If X + Y = 10 and Y = 3, then what is the value of X? In this set of equations, X would be 7 since X and Y together add up to 10 and we already know that Y is 3. 10 – 3 = 7. (I promise that this is as mathematical as this article is going to get.)