Where is ammon in the book of mormon

Emboldened by this witness, they set out to accomplish their mission, going their separate ways into the various areas of the land inhabited by the Lamanites. Before doing so, Ammon administered to each of them, blessing them and giving them their instruction from the Lord. Among the Lamanites they encountered many obstacles and endured great hardships.

Why he chose this one out of what must have been a rich and varied record we can only surmise, but it is hard to imagine a more dramatic example of a person accomplishing great things by putting his complete trust in the Lord. Indeed, the conversion of King Lamoni and his people, which the Lord brought about through the efforts of His servant Ammon, ranks with the great stories of faith and courage in the scriptures. Ammon is like David going against Goliath, or Joseph in the court of Pharaoh; he is like Nephi going up to Jerusalem to get the brass plates: he is the man of God courageously facing seemingly insurmountable odds that he might accomplish a righteous task.

As he entered the land of Ishmael, Ammon was bound and taken before the king. What could have prompted King Lamoni to offer to draw Ammon so close to his own family? Ammon urged the other servants to find the scattered sheep and gather them together. Once the flock was contained he told them to guard it while he went to contend with the robbers.

Such a heroic display of courage and strength so impressed the other servants that they felt Ammon had supernatural powers and could not be slain. Behold, is this not the Great Spirit …? As Ammon had hoped, his faithfulness to the king resulted in an opportunity to teach him the gospel.

Starting with the Creation, Ammon recounted to Lamoni the scriptural history from Adam to Lehi and from Lehi down to their own time. His joy was so full that he was again overpowered by the Spirit, and his testimony was so powerful that his wife, and Ammon, and his servants also fell to the earth overcome.

She ran from house to house gathering the people. Thus from the powerful conversion of Lamoni the church was established among the Lamanites for the first time in more than four hundred years. These events bring up an interesting point. It seems from the scriptures and also from latter-day experience that we usually find the gospel carried by the poor and humble to the poor and humble—and then to the powerful and strong, if they are to accept it at all.

With the support of the Lamanite king, Ammon and his brothers and their companions were able to convert thousands of the Lamanites to the gospel. So grateful were they for the forgiveness of their sins that they chose to suffer death, if necessary, rather than risk sinning again.

Alma — It is fitting that Ammon became a high priest over the Ammonites. Near the end of their missionary journey Ammon and his brothers were reunited, and on one occasion Ammon summarized their experiences and rejoiced at their blessings, celebrating their great success among the Lamanites. After his death, his heir Anti-Nephi-Lehi loses hegemony over the unconverted Lamanites and their Amalekite cohorts.

Both Anti-Nephi-Lehi and Lamoni are compelled to leave with those of their subjects who converted. While the loss of dynastic royal power might seem like a large sacrifice, these two sons like their father understood that an eternal inheritance in an eternal kingdom is worth more than any earthly sacrifice. And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away.

Ammon establishes churches Alma ; rather than his own dynasty among the Lamanites, and Aaron establishes churches rather than his own throne Alma There is no indication that the sons of Mosiah have families of their own wives or children before or during their ministry among the Lamanites, although we might surmise that they did after. Ammon and his converts are all royal heirs and beloved , not just David. Our right to rule and reign will similarly depend upon our willingness to be and to remain faithful and to instill faith and faithfulness in our brothers and sisters—our missionary work.

This is dedicated to John and Valerie Hoybjerg, my faithful and beloved missionary mentors; special thanks go to Thomas Wayment, Paul Hoskisson, Devan Jensen, and Austin Ballard for their helpful suggestions and to Heather Soules and Anna Kaanga for logistical support. It is not my intention to enter into this debate here, and even an attempt at summarizing the arguments falls well outside the scope of this paper. The brass plates may have contained royal annals, among other things.

Lundquist and John W. John W. Sorenson , ed. Welch and Melvin J. For the implications of this going forward, see also Spencer, On Typology , — He singles out only a few of the kings of Judah as righteous e. The Jaredite record is replete with intrafamilial rivalry for the throne. However, he might as well have been speaking about Israel and Judah. Eerdmans, , — For David to do so would be for him to set a precedent for his own violent overthrow.

Nibley , ed. John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Johnson, personal communication, spring First Samuel indicates that David was still supposed to have married Merab, who is instead given to Adriel the Meholathite. The miracle was that a spiritual need was created in a man, that he might be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ.

His heart was broken. He felt guilt. And it came from the temporal things that Ammon had done. Never, never underestimate the spiritual value of doing temporal things well for those whom you serve. Daniel L.

Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, and Stanley A. Thereafter it is used specifically of the Lamanites in 1 Nephi —23, the mixture of Lamanite and Nephite dissenters that survive the destruction of the Nephite nation in 1 Nephi and ; , 17, 19; 2 Nephi King Benjamin uses it exclusively of the Lamanites in Mosiah Alma , 12 and speak of the Nephites dwindling in unbelief like the Lamanites.

Samuel the Lamanite infuriates the Nephites of Zarahemla by prophesying that the Lord would bless the Lamanites in spite of their dwindling in unbelief and stating that they never would dwindle in unbelief if they had been shown as many miracles and had been given as much light and knowledge as the Nephites Helaman , Ammon told the servants that if they gathered the scattered animals, the king would not kill them. Ammon and the other servants quickly found the animals and drove them back to the watering place.

The Lamanite robbers came back. Ammon told the other servants to guard the flocks while he fought the robbers. The Lamanite robbers were not afraid of Ammon. They thought they could easily kill him. The power of God was with Ammon. He hit and killed some of the robbers with stones, which made the rest of the robbers very angry. Frightened, the robbers ran away. The servants took the cut-off arms to King Lamoni and told him what Ammon had done.

Alma ; He wanted to see Ammon but was afraid to because he thought Ammon was the Great Spirit. Alma —4, When Ammon did go in to see him, King Lamoni did not know what to say. He did not speak for an hour. The Holy Ghost helped Ammon know what the king was thinking. Ammon explained that he was not the Great Spirit.