The tidings of this defection having reached Alma, he selected several of the leading members of the priesthood, and, as soon as possible, proceeded to the land of Antionum. Those who accompanied him were his two younger sons, three of the sons of king Mosiah, Amulek and Zeezrom. To his anxiety to bring these dissenters back from the error of their ways and to avert heaven's righteous wrath from falling upon them, was added the fear that if they remained in their wickedness they would join the Lamanites and bring trouble upon the more faithful Nephites by urging the renewal of war. On the arrival of Alma and his fellow-laborers at the seat of this apostasy, they at once commenced their ministrations. They taught in the synagogues and preached in the streets. They visited the people from house to house, using every possible effort to bring these misguided dissenters to an understanding of their perilous condition. To these labors we are indebted for some of the plainest and most powerful gospel teachings contained in the Book of Mormon, all of which will well repay our perusal. Suffice it to say, that many of the poor and humble, those who were oppressed, abused and trodden down by their false priests and unrighteous rulers, as well as by the wealthier portion of the community, received the words of salvation, while the majority rejected them with contemptuous scorn. Some of the missionaries were maltreated. Shiblon, the son of Alma, was imprisoned and stoned for the truth's sake, while others fared but little better. Unfortunately the work of God was retarded by the misconduct of Corianton, the brother of Shiblon, who, for a time, deserted his ministerial duties for the company of a harlot. This folly caused Alma great sorrow, as it gave the ungodly a pretext for rejecting the gospel, of which they were not slow to avail themselves. When Alma and his associates had done all the good they deemed possible, they withdrew to the neighboring land of Jershon. No sooner had they left than the more crafty of the Zoramites devised a plan to discover the feelings of the community. They gathered the people together throughout the land and consulted with them concerning that which they had heard. In this way they discovered who favored the truth and who rejected it. Finding that the poor and uninfluential were those who had received it, they resorted to persecution and plunder. They drove the believers from their homes and out of the land. Most of these fled to the land of Jershon, whither the priesthood had preceded them. The land of Jershon was inhabited by the people of Ammon. They also had left home and country for the truth's sake, and now that others were suffering from the same cause, they received them with open arms. They fed and clothed those who needed such help, and gave them lands whereon they might build up new homes.