Mosiah 18:12 And now it came to pass that Alma took Helam, he being one of the first, and went and stood forth in the water, and cried, saying: O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart.
13 And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world.
14 And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit.

This painting was part of a grouping finished and displayed in August of 2020 at Writ & Vision in Provo. I was especially interested in this story at that time because of current political and church policy events. Many Latter-day Saints at that time drew parallels between King Noah and Donald Trump. Additionally, the creation of the first “Mormon” church in written story, at the Waters of Mormon, was an interesting thing to think about in light of the directive to drop the self-identifier “Mormon” within the church.

Copyright retained by J. Kirk Richards. Contact the artist to license this image for publication.