Alma 17

As Alma traveled, he met his friends the sons of Mosiah. They were returning to Zarahemla. They were with Alma when the angel came to him. Alma was glad his friends still loved the Lord.

Mosiah’s sons had grown strong in truth. They had searched the scriptures carefully. This is not all. They had prayed and fasted much. They had the spirit of prophecy and revelation. They taught with God’s power and authority.

For fourteen years they taught the Lamanites and brought many to God. They had many hardships; they suffered great hunger, thirst and tiredness.

This is their story: When Mosiah was nearing death, his sons refused to be king. Instead, they went to the Lamanites to preach the gospel. The sons of Mosiah hunted for food on the way with spears, bows, arrows and slings.

The Lord visited them with His Spirit and said: Go to the Lamanites and teach my word. Be patient in suffering and hardships. Be good examples and I will make you tools in my hands to save many souls.

The sons of Mosiah and the people who were with them took courage. When they arrived in the borders of the Lamanites, they went in different ways. They trusted the Lord would someday bring them together again. They knew they were beginning a great work.

They preached God’s word to a wild and mean people who enjoyed murdering and robbing Nephites. The Lamanites loved riches, gold, silver and costly things. They tried to become rich by murdering and stealing so they did not have to work. They were lazy.

The sons of Mosiah taught one person at a time. Ammon went to the land of Ishmael. The Lamanites tied him and took him to the King Lamoni.

The king asked Ammon if he wanted to live with his people. Ammon said: Yes, I want to live here maybe for the rest of my life. I will be your servant.

King Lamoni was pleased. He sent Ammon with other servants to watch his flocks. One day as they were taking the king’s animals to water, another group of Lamanites came and chased the animals away.

The servants began to moan and cry, saying: Now the king will kill us. He killed our brothers when their flocks were scattered by these evil men.

When Ammon saw this his heart was lifted in joy. He thought he could win the hearts of these servants by saving the flocks. He said to them: My brothers, be of good cheer. Let us go search for the flocks. We will gather them together. The king will not kill us.

The evil men came back to scatter their flocks. Ammon threw stones at them with his sling. He killed some of the evil men. The others became angry and came to Ammon to kill him with clubs.

When they lifted their clubs to kill him, Ammon raised his sword with great power and cut off their arms. Even though there were many men, they became afraid of Ammon. They ran away from him.

After he chased them off, the king’s servants watered the flocks and returned to the king. They carried the many arms Ammon had cut off.