Nephi son of Helaman Parallels Alma the Younger

What would you think if you realized that your great-grandfather went to the same college as you, with the same major, pursued the same profession in similar cities, and had the same life goal as you?

I imagine those are the present day equivalents of the parallels between Nephi son of Helaman and his great-grandfather Alma the Younger. Oh, plus the fact that they (didn't) die the same way.  In this post I will talk about a mysterious set of patterns in Nephi son of Helaman's life. As I studied his life, I saw several direct parallels in Nephi's life and ministry to the life and ministry of Alma the Younger, another Book of Mormon hero of mine. Any one of the parallels is not impressive by itself, but together the parallels are a strong trend.

 This leaves me pondering on the questions,

"Why does the record show such close similarities between these two men?"
"What can I learn by noticing these parallels?"

I would love to hear your insights on these parallels and what we can learn from them.

11 Parallels between Nephi son of Helaman and Alma the Younger

1. Nephi son of Helaman was a powerful political figure just like Alma the Younger

These men had fairly distinct experiences as youth. Nephi was totally faithful to his father and the church, where Alma rebelled significantly before an angry angel stopped him. However, both men were chief judges relatively early in our record of their life.  Also, both served in the judgment seat about 8 years.  Both men became chief judge as their fathers died (Alma just before his father's death, Nephi just after).

2. Nephi gave up the judgement seat to serve a mission just like Alma the Younger

Nephi gave up the judgment seat to Cezoram after serving as chief judge for about 9 years.

"And it came to pass that Nephi had become weary because of their [the Nephites'] iniquity; and he yielded up the judgment-seat, and took it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days, and his brother Lehi also, all the remainder of his days;" (Helaman 5:4)

Alma the Younger gave up the judgment seat to Nephihah after serving as chief judge for about 8 years.

"And it came to pass in the commencement of the ninth year, Alma saw the wickedness of the church ... [and] Alma delivered up the judgment-seat to Nephihah, and confined himself wholly to the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to the testimony of the word, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy." (Alma 4:11,20)

By the way, both men cited their fathers as motivation for their missions in the verses just after the quotes above (Nephi here; Alma here).

3. Nephi son of Helaman took a similar mission route to Alma's

Nephi son of Helaman's tour:
Bountiful (5:14)
Gid (5:15)
Mulek (5:15)
Land of Zarahemla (Lamanite land 5:16)
Cast into prison en route to land of Nephi

Alma the Younger's mission tour:
land of Zarahemla, city of Zarahemla (Alma 5:2)
Gideon (Alma 6)
Melek (Alma 8)
Ammonihah (Alma 8)
Cast into prison in Ammonihah

Builds up church in nearby Sidom (Alma 15)
To his own house in Zarahemla (Alma 15)

Notice that Nephi taught in MULEK and GID; Alma taught in MELEK and GIDEON.  Now, these two men did have somewhat different routes, but both preached in Zarahemla successfully during their ministry. Also, Alma took a break after teaching in Gideon (Alma 8:1) before teaching in Ammonihah while Nephi went to all of the Nephite cities before going to the Lamanites in Zarahemla.

4. Both men served their missions with faithful mission companions.

Nephi and Lehi are almost always mentioned together in their ministry, as are Alma and Amulek after Amulek's conversion.

5. Both Nephi and Alma were incarcerated and deprived of food because of their missionary efforts.

Nephi and Lehi were imprisoned by an army of the Lamanites. This was the same prison in which Ammon was kept by King Limhi (Hel 5:21). 

"And after they [Nephi and Lehi] had been cast into prison many days without food, behold, they [the Lamanite army] went forth into the prison to take them that they might slay them." (Helaman 5:22)

Alma and Amulek were imprisoned by the chief judge of the land after being forced to witness the martyrdom of many women and children (Alma 14:14-17).

"And thus they [the judge and "many"] did mock them for many days. And they did withhold food from them that they might hunger, and water that they might thirst; and they also did take from them their clothes that they were naked; and thus they were bound with strong cords, and confined in prison. ... it came to pass ... they had thus suffered for many days..." (Alma 14:22-23) 

6. Both Nephi and Alma (and their companions) were miraculously freed from prison.

Nephi and Lehi were freed and sent forth missionaries and the righteous flocked to them (conversion of the more part of the Lamanites). Alma and Amulek were freed and the wicked fled from them "as a goat who fleeth with her young from two lions."

7. Both men struggled against corrupt judges and lawyers.

Nephi spoke against the corruptness of their law when he spoke. Alma didn't speak against the corruptness of their law, but against the lawyers and judges who interpreted the law

8. Alma prophesied of the destructiveness of secret combinations; Nephi saw this fulfilled and prophesied that destruction was the inevitable result of their sins.

Alma commanded his son Helaman to prevent the patterns of the secret combinations from becoming public knowledge.

"And now, my son, I command you that ye retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations; yea, and all their signs and their wonders ye shall keep from this people, that they know them not, lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed." (Alma 37:27)

After explaining that Nephi was chief judge, Mormon references Alma's prophecies saying, 

"Now behold, it is these secret oaths and covenants which Alma commanded his son should not go forth unto the world, lest they should be a means of bringing down the people unto destruction." (Helaman 6:25)

9. Both men received heavenly ministration when they felt depressed because of rejection.

After Nephi had preached to the people and prophesied to resolve the chief judge's murder, he was left alone pondering.

"And it came to pass as he was thus pondering—being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities—and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him" (Hel 10:3)

After Alma had done his best in preaching to those in Ammonihah, he was depressed because they rejected the truth.

"While he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him." (Alma 8:14)

10. Nephi son of Helaman passed his responsibilities to his son Nephi, just like Alma the Younger did to his son Helaman.

11. No details of the death or burial of Nephi son of Helaman are recorded, just like Alma the Younger.

Both of these men conferred the records and sacred obligations on their sons, then left and were never seen again. Both men were last seen in Zarahemla.

So what?

Even thought this list of parallels is not exhaustive, aren't these men uncannily similar? There aren't many other people in the Book of Mormon with any one of these 11 traits, let alone all of them. I think the parallels teach us that our potential does not depend on our past, and that we can find great power in connecting with our progenitors.

First, these parallels show two men who had very different experiences in their youth, who both became incredible forces for good in their societies. Youth is a loose term here for Alma, who took the judgment seat and led the Nephite armies less than 10 years later. As far as we know, Nephi listened carefully to his father Helaman's words and "grew up unto the Lord" (Hel 3:21). The Lord is certainly no respecter of persons. Our potential and our destiny is determined by our decisions, as President Monson loves to remind us.

Second, the parallels show the righteous power we can find by connecting with our past. Some of us have to go quite a ways back in our geneology to find the "original conversion," while others are first generation members of the church. In both cases, remembering the courage and determination of that moment of conversion can be quite inspiring. We can also connect with our past by our names, both given and family names. I highly recommend familysearch.org for creating an in-depth family tree. Both of these men found meaning in remembering their fathers (see Parallel 2 above).

I hope you make time to ponder the stories of Nephi son of Helaman and study recurring themes and patterns in the Book of Mormon. Please comment with anything I have missed or could clarify!