The Joy of Repentance

"Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." When Alma and the sons of Mosiah began their decades long missions, this was their motivation. They were all among the vilest of sinners and in their deep remorse had all tasted of the endless torment that awaited the unrepentant soul, so you can imagine if they possessed any kind of empathy, that they would have a strong urge to try and help as many people as possible to avoid that endless torment. They began their missions with the determination to help as many people as possible to avoid the misery of Hell. But look what Alma told his son Helaman several decades later about why he preached the gospel: "Yea, and 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." (Alma 36:24). The motivation changed from trying to get people to avoid Hell and instead trying to get them to embrace heaven. Preaching the gospel became less about helping people avoid suffering and more about finding joy. It seems clear that as young men who had just gotten a pretty harsh wake up call and were tormented by their mistakes, they couldn't imagine a better use for the gospel than to help avoid further suffering. But after years of watching hundreds or thousands of people receiving the light of the gospel and improving themselves and their families and their communities and flourishing and prospering with the Love of God infusing every aspect of their lives, it makes sense that Alma and the sons of Mosiah were motivated even more by love than they had been by fear. When viewed from behind the smoky haze of the fires of Hell, repentance can seem like a scary topic. But when viewed from inside the radiant light of God's love, repentance can't be anything but joyful.