Sixteen Men Search for Their Brethren

After three years of peace, King Mosiah wanted to know about his people who had gone to live in the city of Lehi-Nephi, for none of his people had heard from them since they had left the land of Zarahemla. Mosiah’s people constantly bothered him, asking permission to send out a search party.

So King Mosiah finally allowed sixteen of their strong men to go up to the land of Lehi-Nephi to find out about their brethren.

The next day the search began. The group was led by Ammon, a strong and mighty man, and a descendant of Zarahemla. He and his men did not know the course they should take to get to the land of Lehi-Nephi, so they wandered for forty days in the wilderness.

Finally they camped on a hill, and to the south they saw the land of Shilom. From their camp, Ammon took three of his brethren—Amaleki, Helem, and Hem—and went down into the land of Nephi. Outside the city walls, they approached the king of the people in the land of Nephi and the city of Shilom. The king’s guard quickly surrounded and captured them, and they were thrown into prison.

After spending two days in prison, they were brought before the king and untied. They stood before him and were commanded to answer his questions. The king said, “I am Limhi, son of Noah. My grandfather, Zeniff, led people up out of the land of Zarahemla to inherit this land, which was once the land of our forefathers. After arriving here, the people he had led voted him to be their king. Now why were you bold enough to come near the city walls when I was outside the gate with my guards? I could have had my guards kill you, but I wanted to ask why you were so bold. You are permitted to speak.”

Ammon bowed himself before the king, and upon rising said, “Oh king, I am very thankful before God that I am yet alive and am permitted to speak. I will speak with boldness, for I’m sure that if you had known me, you would not have had me bound. I am Ammon, a descendant of Zarahemla. I have come from the city of Zarahemla to find out what happened to our brethren, whom your grandfather, Zeniff, brought out of our land.”

When Limhi heard this he was very happy and said, “Now I know for sure that my brethren in the land of Zarahemla are yet alive! Now I will rejoice, and tomorrow I will cause my people to also rejoice! For we are in bondage to the Lamanites, paying a high tax which is hard to pay. And now our fellow Nephites will deliver us out of our bondage, out of the hands of the Lamanites, and we will be their slaves if they wish. For it is better to be slaves to Nephites than to pay tribute to the Lamanite king.” After saying this, King Limhi commanded his guards to free Ammon and his brethren and allowed them to go to the hill north of Shilom and bring the rest of their men into the city, to eat, drink, and rest from their long, hard journey.

The next day, King Limhi sent a proclamation among all his people to assemble at the temple to hear him speak. After they had gathered, Limhi said to them, “Oh my people, lift up your heads and be comforted, for soon we will no longer be controlled by our enemies, in spite of all our futile resistance. I believe we may yet be effective in our struggle.

“So lift up your heads, rejoice, and put your trust in that God who was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the same God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground—He who fed them with manna in the wilderness, and did many more things for them. Trust that same God who brought our fathers out of Jerusalem, and who has kept and preserved His people even until now. We know it is because of our sinfulness that He has brought us into bondage.

“You are all witnesses today that my grandfather, Zeniff (who was made king over this people), being over-zealous to inherit the land of his forefathers, was deceived by the cunning and craftiness of King Laman. He entered into a treaty with Zeniff, giving him possession of part of the land—the city of LehiNephi, the city of Shilom, and the surrounding area. King Laman did this in order to bring Zeniff and his people into bondage. Even now we must pay a fifty percent annual tribute to King Laman of all our grain, increase of flocks and herds, and of everything we own, or else he will kill us. Isn’t this a terrible tax? Isn’t our affliction great? What great reason we have to mourn! Yes, we do have great reason to mourn, for many of our brethren have died in vain, all because of sinfulness. For if this people had not been so sinful, the Lord would not have allowed this great evil to come upon them. But they would not listen to Him. Instead, they fought among themselves and killed one another.

“Before that war, they killed Abinadi, a prophet of the Lord. He was a chosen man of God, who told them of their great wickedness. He prophesied of many things, and of the coming of Christ. He told them that Christ was God, the Father of all things, and that He would come down among His people to take upon Himself a body of flesh and blood in the image of man, who was created in God’s image. Because Abinadi said these things, they killed him. They also did many other things to bring God’s wrath down upon them. This is why we are so sorely afflicted and in bondage. For the Lord has said, ‘I will not protect my people when they transgress. I will keep them from prospering, and everything they do will become a stumbling block before them. If my people plant filthiness, then they will harvest its chaff in the whirlwind— the east wind, which will affect them like poison, bringing immediate destruction.’ Now this promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and you are stricken and afflicted. But if you will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, trusting and serving Him with all diligence of mind, then He will deliver you out of bondage according to His own will and pleasure.”