Come Follow Me Book of Mormon with Sam Alma 17-22

Welcome to Come Follow me with Sam! Its MISSIONARY TIME!

Technically it was already missionary time, since Alma 1. but this is where the great story of the missionary work among the Lamanites starts. I'm going to hit on a few highlights we don't think about much, instead of talking about the main points of the story. If you don't know this story yet, I highly encourage you to read it before continuing :)

Preparation for this work happened long before the sons of Mosiah came

Amulon, as bad a dude as he was, and as bad as his posterity persecuted the work, was actually a secret ingredient to this missionary secret ingredient soup. In Mosiah 24, it says that he appointed teachers to teach the Lamanites the Nephite language, writing, record-keeping, and trade. In essence, he began the re-melding of the culture so that the Nephites and the Lamanites could understand one another.

I'm pretty sure this was a major contributor to the success of the missionary work here.

The Sons of Mosiah were ready to give their lives for the work.

Alma 17 mentions the sons of Mosiah were at this for 14 years. 14 years! Ammon says 'I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea and perhaps until the day I die.'

They were all in. I mean that they were ready to make this work their existence. I feel like I understand a few things about the kingdom of God, but this is something that I know I am still trying to grasp.

I don't know if I can quite get into their minds on this one. I think the biggest hint is vs 3-4 from Mosiah 28

3 Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not ^abear that any human ^bsoul should ^cperish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure ^dendless torment did cause them to quake and ^etremble.

4 And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very ^avilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite ^bmercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever.

I think that they really saw themselves in every lamanite and every unbeliever. And, like Alma the younger, they knew how much help they themselves had received not of their own merits but by grace. I think they felt that if they could help even one person, they were in some way honoring their own journey. 

Bad things can become good things

This is something that my brother pointed out to me. When all the flocks of the king get taken and the servants panic, Ammon says 'Wow! this is great! This is the moment that I can begin the ministry.' I know that I was weighed down on my own 2 year mission sometimes with the challenges that the friends of the church shared with me. How could anyone get them out of some of the awful things they had experienced, or were experiencing. What if I said 'this is awesome! here I am in the middle of the plan of salvation with these people and this is the moment to start the work of beauty for ashes!'

I need to acknowledge that there is the danger of ignoring the pain, or missing the suffering of people if we all go around saying 'nothing is wrong here, its just a great new opportunity.' This isn't what Alma was doing either. Remember that before he jumped in with his potentially insufferable 'can-do' attitude, he literally toiled and worked among these same people. He was a fellow servant in the same bind. And when he came forward, he risked himself before anyone else. He literally put himself in their situation with the only difference being his dedication to the gospel of Christ. I am careful first to try to take someones struggle from them, either by trying to be a hero, or by telling them to ignore it because everything is going to be okay. At the same time, I truly believe that God can create beauty for ashes.

Beginning teachings don't have to be perfect

Does anybody cringe when Ammon or Aaron teach the beginning of the gospel? There is a lot of stuff there that you would NOT teach to your normal sacrament meeting audience. For example:

God is a body of flesh and bone, not a spirit

heaven is not 'above' the earth per se.

While God does see the intent of our hearts, it is not as though he is just 'looking down'.

So why do Ammon and Aaron do this? I think this is a great lesson we can learn. The Taoists have a saying that 'the Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao'. Do you think our language can perfectly contain the gospel? My guess is probably not. Now imagine you are teaching someone learning for the first time. Do you think the ideas they use to understand these things will be perfectly ready to understand all these foreign concepts? Once again probably not.

This is a fine line to walk because we don't want to teach false doctrine, obviously. But Ammon and Aaron are moved upon by the spirit to teach according to the concepts that Lamoni and his father understand.

Is God the Great Spirit? Well, we don't use those terms. But when Lamoni refers to the Great Spirit, he is referring to the Being we call God. So yes.

Is heaven above the earth? Well, technically there is no above, there is just cosmos. Ammon first taught that it is where God and his angels dwell. When asked if it is above, it is true that heaven is in (surprise) the heavens, and so in that sense yes. It is also above the earth in glory and majesty. The ascension to the heavens is an symbol we still use today. So not how I would phrase it to my bishop, but if I said this to Lamoni, he would understand it better.

Is God 'looking down'? Well, once again, in the sense of greater and lesser, yes, he is. Most importantly, Ammon uses this to help Lamoni to understand how God cares and watches over His creation.

There are some beautiful lessons to learn from the ministry here. Feel free to share your own uplifting insights in the comments.