Helam was among the first people baptized by Alma the Elder, who around 147 BC had fled the court of King Noah and was teaching the words of Abinadi privately at the Waters of Mormon. Alma took Helam, “he being one of the first,” stood with him in the water, and baptized him by the authority Alma said he held from God, as a testimony that Helam had covenanted to serve God until death. Both Alma and Helam were buried in the water and came out filled with the Spirit (Mosiah 18:12-14).
When Alma and his followers later fled King Noah’s forces and settled a land of pure water eight days’ journey into the wilderness, they called the land Helam and built a city they called the city of Helam (Mosiah 23:19-20). The record gives no further detail about the man Helam.