Alma 19

I remember reading something about Christ being dead for 3 days being significant for the Jews because they believed the spirit lingered for two. In the first verse of this chapter it then seems significant that the king’s household waited the two days before they were going to bury him.

I love that the queen could tell her husband wasn’t dead. With the wickedness of the Lamenites I wonder if there was some intrigue with those that were trying to say he was stinking like a corpse when he obviously wasn’t. I know it’s not an important part of the spiritual story, but I wonder.

I bet Ammon was grateful for his experience with Alma the younger not long before this, so when the king lay there, he knew what was happening. I know the Lord could have told him anyway, but I am sure that tender mercy was reassuring to His soul. We learn so much in the furnace of experience.

The queen had the gift of a believing heart. When the servants told her about Ammon she  believed, and when Ammon prophesied her husband would revive the next day, she believed. What an amazingly humble thing it is to be able to just believe.

The queen had a quick and amazing testimony given to her, so quickly completely overcome by the Spirit. But I think she could have that experience because she had first exercised so much faith and it had prepared her for that moment. Faith preceding the miracle.  What can I have more faith about? Where do I struggle to move forward because I am not sure?

Abish must have been so excited and amazed watching all of this unfold. I love that she had been converted because of a miraculous vision of her father. I love it because it shows that God speaks to righteous people who seek for Him, even in the midst of a wicked land and wrong traditions. He is always reaching to all of us.

The main thing I get out of this chapter is to have faith in the Lord. He has all power, and His work will not be thwarted by men or devils. There is nothing to fear when we are doing His will and following His plan.

Alma 19

Alma 18

When the servants and the king are discussing whether or not Ammon is mortal, it makes me feel grateful for the power of the Lord in all of our lives. Through Him we can do things and handle things and see things and be things we could never be on our own. Our relationship with Him does make us more than just men and women, and does give us access to the Divine, as it did Ammon. What an amazing blessing!

It is interesting that in the Lamenite tradition there was a God, but they didn’t worry about doing wrong things, and yet King Lamoni was afraid because he had slain His servants. It is hard to understand the balance between what we are taught, and the conscience that God has given all of us to know right from wrong. I know that is why we cannot judge each other, we don’t what parameters anyone is choosing within. But I do think it’s important that no matter what he had been taught, in his hear, the king knew it was wrong as was afraid.

When Ammon went to feed the kings horses right away it reminds me of the conference talk by Elder Dube about working in the fields with his mother, and not looking back at what they had done, but forward to what still needed to be done. I feel like I do this a lot, where I look back and feel satisfied with what I have done, or even proud of it, and then I get lazy instead of moving forward. I loved this talk, and Ammon is such a perfect example of that here. The king was impressed with how faithful he was because he kept moving forward to serve him. I want to be faithful to my King in the same way.

It is interesting to me that Mormon tells us Ammon was wise but harmless and that he caught the king with guile – which is slyness or cunningness. The king offered Ammon anything he wanted and Ammon said all he wanted was that he would believe everything he said, which the King promised. Belief is a hard thing to promise, though. I don’t know if I could whole-heartedly promise such a thing. But perhaps it just softened his heart enough to allow him to believe. Do you suppose what Mormon was saying was that Ammon could have been a great con-man if he hadn’t been harmless?

I love that the way Ammon teaches the king was at his level, baby food before steak and potatoes. The concept of Heaven could have been so complicated, and he let it be so simple.

King Lamoni’s reaction to believing was wanting the same joy that the Nephites had in the plan of salvation and the word of God. Sometimes missionary work can be so scary, but this right here is really what it comes down to—wanting to share the awesomeness of the truth.

Alma 18