Alma was a young man who didn’t just drift away from the church.  He and his friends actively tried to destroy the church.  In an encounter with Jesus much like Paul’s encounter en route to Damascus, Alma was confronted by Jesus and his life dramatically turned around.  Like Paul, he went from being an active persecutor of the church to actively building up the church.  His friends, the sons of Mosiah, likewise changed direction and became ministers of the gospel rather than destroyers of the faith.

Alma’s experience filled him with a great sense of thanksgiving.  He had what we might term a mountain top experience—a dramatic, personal encounter with Jesus.  It was an experience that he retold throughout his life.  In the passage quoted above, he was talking to his son, Helaman, testifying once again to this event that changed the course of his life.

What is notable here is that Alma didn’t spend the rest of his life just recounting this amazing experience.  As he told his son, “From that time, even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”  His sense of gratitude and joy prompted a life-long commitment to help others change the direction of their lives and experience the joy that he had received as Jesus came into his life.

Most of us have never experienced anything as dramatic as Alma’s encounter with Jesus, but many of us have had experiences in which we have encountered Jesus in very special and life-changing ways.  In our testimonies and prayers, we express deep thanksgiving for these experiences.  Like Alma, we retell our experiences from time to time.  Sometimes, like Alma, those experiences have almost compelled us to work so that others would know Jesus and experience his life in them.  But sometimes we have hoarded the blessing, rejoicing in God’s goodness to us, but not reaching out to others so that they could also experience God’s great blessings in their lives.

In this season of the year, we are particularly mindful of the great blessings that are ours.  We gather family and friends to feast together.  We hold special worship services focused on thanksgiving.  We may even do something special for the needy in our neighborhoods and larger communities.  All of these are good and appropriate expressions of our gratitude for the blessings in our lives.  But there is more we should consider.

As we give thanks and celebrate our blessings, in particular the blessing of having come to know Jesus, are we in turn a people of blessing?  Do our blessings overflow in blessing to others around us?  Do we want others to share the joy we have experienced as Jesus has come into our lives?  Are we willing to commit our lives to helping others know and follow Jesus?