Alma 20
20:1-15 - Now that there has been a church established within Lamoni’s kingdom, Lamoni is anxious to spread his good news and he “desired that Ammon should go with him to the land of Nephi, that he might show him unto his father.” But the Lord warned Ammon not to go to the land of Nephi “for behold, the king will seek thy life; but thou shalt go to the land of Middoni; for behold, they brother Aaron, and also Muloki and Ammah are in prison.” It’s interesting to me that the Lord told Ammon not to go to the land of Nephi because “the king will seek they life,” but we know that as they are traveling they run into the king, so when they got there, he wouldn’t have even been there. I guess that might be a little bit presumptuous of me to say, seeing that I know nothing of Lamanite geography, so I guess it’s possible that the travel time between the cities would have been different, and also the speed and urgency with which they traveled might have been different, so let’s just assume then that the Lord was right and that they needed to avoid the land of Nephi at the time. But that also begs the question, if God is all powerful then why would they have to avoid the land of Nephi when the Lord could simply miraculously rescue Ammon should he fall into the king’s hands. Big shows of power and miracles are not the Lord’s preferred method of gospel sharing all the time, he no doubt had planned for the old king to meet with Lamoni and Ammon and to have their introduction that way, and his preferred method at this time was not by shock and awe, but heart by heart. When Ammon tells Lamoni that he can’t go to Nephi with him but will be going to Middoni instead, Lamoni’s response is a remarkable show of faith. He tells Ammon “I know, in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things. But behold, I will go with thee to the land of Middoni; for the kind of the land of Middoni… is a friend unto me.” Lamoni knew that the Lord could perform his tasks without Lamoni’s assistance, he knows that he could stay home or even go to his father’s house alone, but he goes to offer his meager assistance to the Lord’s errand, and sure enough his presence is vital to the successful release of the other Nephite missionaries. Could the Lord have performed a miracle like he had before, shaking the prison until all died except his righteous? Absolutely, but he chose to use Lamoni to accomplish his work instead. This is very similar to our own lives and the work in which the Lord has employed us. Could the Lord turn the rocks outside my house into nuggets of gold and use that money to build his temples? Yup. Could the Lord make his own mint and print as much money as he needed to do his work? For sure. But he allows us to pay tithing and offerings so that we can grow spiritually and obtain blessings. Could the Lord send his angels down dressed in suits and ties with name tags on it and have them preach the gospel to all the people? Of course. But he allows us to do it, with all the growth and blessings that come with that. Lamoni’s quick recognition of the Lord’s power to do his work without him, but still humbly offering his services is a very good example to all of us. So Ammon and Lamoni start going to Middoni to deliver Ammon’s brethren out of prison, and “they met the father of Lamoni, who was king over all the land.” So the Lord told Ammon to avoid the king in his own lands, but arranged for them to meet on the road where the old king wouldn’t have the tactical advantage. And naturally the old king asks Lamoni, his son “why did ye not come to the feast on that great day when I made a feast unto my sons, and unto my people? And he also said: Whither art thou going with this Nephite, who is one of the children of a liar?” Lamoni answers him by telling his father “whither he was going, for he feared to offend him. And he also told him all the cause of his tarrying in his own kingdom, that he did not go unto his father to the feast which he had prepared.” So Lamoni seems so excited with his amazing new found knowledge and can’t wait to share it with his dad, and so naturally, but “behold, to his astonishment, his father was angry with him,” spouted off the false traditions of their fathers, and then “commanded him that he should slay Ammon with the sword.” We can see that Lamoni regards his father highly because of the way that he watched his answers as to not offend his father, and also with the excitement that he had to share his good news with his father, but none of that is as important as Lamoni’s loyalty to God because he tells his father, firmly yet respectfully saying “I will not slay Ammon, neither will I return to the land of Ishmael, but I go to the land of Middoni that I may release the brethren of Ammon, for I know that they are just and holy prophets of the true God.” Well done Lamoni, stood your ground, but was not aggressive or defensive.
20:16-27 - Lamoni’s father didn’t take to kindly to that response for “he was angry with him, and he drew his sword that he might smite him to the earth.” Loyalty doesn’t run too deep around here does it? That’s pretty cold to try and kill your own son, after only a few minute conversation with him, “but Ammon stood forth and said unto him: Behold, thou shalt not slay they son; nevertheless, it were better than he should fall than thee, for behold, he has repented of his sins; but if thou shouldst fall at this time, in thine anger, they soul could not be saved.” The old king tries to kill Ammon but “Ammon withstood his blows, and also smote his arm that he could not use it.” Ammon is young, the king is old, and with the power of God Ammon could have easily killed the king, but he didn’t, he simply incapacitated him, and scared him with the knowledge of his own mortality, “now when the king saw that Ammon could slay him, he began to plead with Ammon that he would spare his life.” Ammon’s demands are reasonable, “if thou wilt grant that my brethren may be cast out of prison, and also that Lamoni may retain his kingdom, and that ye be not displeased with him, but grant that he may do according to his own desires in whatsoever thing he thinketh, then will I spare thee; otherwise I will smite thee to the earth.” The old king was so happy “because of his life. And when he saw that Ammon had no desire to destroy him, and when he also saw the great love he had for his son Lamoni, he was astonished exceedingly, and said: because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would release they brethren, and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom, behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever; and I will govern him no more- And I will also grant unto thee that thy brethren may be cast out of prison, and thou and thy brethren may come unto me, in my kingdom; for I shall greatly desire to see thee.” Now that is quite the turn of events, two minutes ago, he was raging and trying to kill both Lamoni and Ammon, and now he’s going to free the imprisoned Nephites and give Lamoni back his kingdom, and even wants to basically take the missionary discussions. That’s pretty miraculous, and it was all because he saw the love that Ammon had for Lamoni. In an October 2000 general conference address entitled “We Are Instruments in the Hands of God,” Mary Ellen Smoot taught “Love must undergrid everything we do. As sisters of the Relief Society, we love the Lord, we love our families, we love life and learning, and we love one another. Lamoni’s father, who was king of the Lamanites, softened his heart when he saw how sincerely Ammon loved his son. Eventually Ammon’s love led to the conversion of Lamoni’s family. Our greatest and first concern with regard to conversion, retention, and activation must be to our own family.” We can teach people until we are blue in the face, we can get greed and make demands, we can take advantage of the vulnerabilities of others, Ammon sure had that opportunity. In fact if he had wanted to, he could have abandoned the mission right then and there and took the old king up on his offer and taken half the Lamanite kingdom from him and lived as a rich, powerful man for the rest of his life, but he didn’t, he was not interested in that, he valued his own salvation and the Lord’s errand that he was on, he valued Lamoni’s conversion and the potential conversion of all others. It was love of God and love of others that governed his actions, not love of self, and that’s what made all the difference for them.
20:28-30 - When Ammon and Lamoni get to Middoni and “Lamoni found favor in the eyes of the king of the land; therefore the brethren of Ammon were brought forth out of prison,” but their experience in Middoni had been much different than Ammon’s experience with Lamoni. Instead of becoming a servant working miracles and establishing a church, “they were naked, and their skins were worn exceedingly because of being bound with strong cords. And they also suffered hunger, thirst, and all kinds of afflictions; nevertheless they were patient in all their sufferings.” They had less success and suffered more because “it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people; therefore they would not hearken unto their words, and they had cast them out, and had smitten them, and had driven them from house to house, and from place to place, even until they had arrived in the land of Middoni; and there they were taken and cast into prison, and bound with strong cords, and kept in prison for many days, and were delivered by Lamoni and Ammon.” This section is the only addressed by the IM saying “the record states that Aaron and his companions served among those who were ‘a more hardened and a more stiff-necked people.’ Their experience parallels the experience of many who try to teach those who either have no interest in, or who are antagonistic toward the gospel. President Henry B. Eyring explained why we must still try to reach every soul: ‘Why should I speak to anyone about the gospel who seems content? What danger is there to them or to me if I do or say nothing? Well, the danger may be hard to see, but it is real, both for them and for us. For instance, at some moment in the world to come, everyone you will ever meet will know what you know now. They will know that the only way to live forever in association with our families and in the presence of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, was to choose to enter into the gate by baptism at the hands of those with authority from God. They will know that the only way families can be together forever is to accept and keep sacred covenants offered in the temples of God on this earth. And they will know that you knew. And they will remember whether you offered them what someone had offered you.” That is pretty powerful, and kind of in your face. I guess we never know who will be receptive and who will not. The sons of Mosiah went into the Lamanite lands and all the other Nephites didn’t think that the Lamanites would be interested in the gospel, but many thousands were. Sometimes I think that some of the people that I want to talk to about the gospel won’t be interested because they are already so happy, and why would I risk our friendship due to something that I’m pretty sure they don’t want anyway. There are a lot of things that I can learn from this chapter to open my eyes to the truth of missionary work. I can live a life of righteous example, I can serve in love and according to the Spirit, I can teach when asked without being over bearing about it, I can be a friend first, then value the gospel and the other person enough to share when it’s appropriate and if I need, when prompted by the Holy Ghost.
20:16-27 - Lamoni’s father didn’t take to kindly to that response for “he was angry with him, and he drew his sword that he might smite him to the earth.” Loyalty doesn’t run too deep around here does it? That’s pretty cold to try and kill your own son, after only a few minute conversation with him, “but Ammon stood forth and said unto him: Behold, thou shalt not slay they son; nevertheless, it were better than he should fall than thee, for behold, he has repented of his sins; but if thou shouldst fall at this time, in thine anger, they soul could not be saved.” The old king tries to kill Ammon but “Ammon withstood his blows, and also smote his arm that he could not use it.” Ammon is young, the king is old, and with the power of God Ammon could have easily killed the king, but he didn’t, he simply incapacitated him, and scared him with the knowledge of his own mortality, “now when the king saw that Ammon could slay him, he began to plead with Ammon that he would spare his life.” Ammon’s demands are reasonable, “if thou wilt grant that my brethren may be cast out of prison, and also that Lamoni may retain his kingdom, and that ye be not displeased with him, but grant that he may do according to his own desires in whatsoever thing he thinketh, then will I spare thee; otherwise I will smite thee to the earth.” The old king was so happy “because of his life. And when he saw that Ammon had no desire to destroy him, and when he also saw the great love he had for his son Lamoni, he was astonished exceedingly, and said: because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would release they brethren, and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom, behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever; and I will govern him no more- And I will also grant unto thee that thy brethren may be cast out of prison, and thou and thy brethren may come unto me, in my kingdom; for I shall greatly desire to see thee.” Now that is quite the turn of events, two minutes ago, he was raging and trying to kill both Lamoni and Ammon, and now he’s going to free the imprisoned Nephites and give Lamoni back his kingdom, and even wants to basically take the missionary discussions. That’s pretty miraculous, and it was all because he saw the love that Ammon had for Lamoni. In an October 2000 general conference address entitled “We Are Instruments in the Hands of God,” Mary Ellen Smoot taught “Love must undergrid everything we do. As sisters of the Relief Society, we love the Lord, we love our families, we love life and learning, and we love one another. Lamoni’s father, who was king of the Lamanites, softened his heart when he saw how sincerely Ammon loved his son. Eventually Ammon’s love led to the conversion of Lamoni’s family. Our greatest and first concern with regard to conversion, retention, and activation must be to our own family.” We can teach people until we are blue in the face, we can get greed and make demands, we can take advantage of the vulnerabilities of others, Ammon sure had that opportunity. In fact if he had wanted to, he could have abandoned the mission right then and there and took the old king up on his offer and taken half the Lamanite kingdom from him and lived as a rich, powerful man for the rest of his life, but he didn’t, he was not interested in that, he valued his own salvation and the Lord’s errand that he was on, he valued Lamoni’s conversion and the potential conversion of all others. It was love of God and love of others that governed his actions, not love of self, and that’s what made all the difference for them.
20:28-30 - When Ammon and Lamoni get to Middoni and “Lamoni found favor in the eyes of the king of the land; therefore the brethren of Ammon were brought forth out of prison,” but their experience in Middoni had been much different than Ammon’s experience with Lamoni. Instead of becoming a servant working miracles and establishing a church, “they were naked, and their skins were worn exceedingly because of being bound with strong cords. And they also suffered hunger, thirst, and all kinds of afflictions; nevertheless they were patient in all their sufferings.” They had less success and suffered more because “it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people; therefore they would not hearken unto their words, and they had cast them out, and had smitten them, and had driven them from house to house, and from place to place, even until they had arrived in the land of Middoni; and there they were taken and cast into prison, and bound with strong cords, and kept in prison for many days, and were delivered by Lamoni and Ammon.” This section is the only addressed by the IM saying “the record states that Aaron and his companions served among those who were ‘a more hardened and a more stiff-necked people.’ Their experience parallels the experience of many who try to teach those who either have no interest in, or who are antagonistic toward the gospel. President Henry B. Eyring explained why we must still try to reach every soul: ‘Why should I speak to anyone about the gospel who seems content? What danger is there to them or to me if I do or say nothing? Well, the danger may be hard to see, but it is real, both for them and for us. For instance, at some moment in the world to come, everyone you will ever meet will know what you know now. They will know that the only way to live forever in association with our families and in the presence of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, was to choose to enter into the gate by baptism at the hands of those with authority from God. They will know that the only way families can be together forever is to accept and keep sacred covenants offered in the temples of God on this earth. And they will know that you knew. And they will remember whether you offered them what someone had offered you.” That is pretty powerful, and kind of in your face. I guess we never know who will be receptive and who will not. The sons of Mosiah went into the Lamanite lands and all the other Nephites didn’t think that the Lamanites would be interested in the gospel, but many thousands were. Sometimes I think that some of the people that I want to talk to about the gospel won’t be interested because they are already so happy, and why would I risk our friendship due to something that I’m pretty sure they don’t want anyway. There are a lot of things that I can learn from this chapter to open my eyes to the truth of missionary work. I can live a life of righteous example, I can serve in love and according to the Spirit, I can teach when asked without being over bearing about it, I can be a friend first, then value the gospel and the other person enough to share when it’s appropriate and if I need, when prompted by the Holy Ghost.
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