Nay, but I Will be Thy Servant ~ Ammon

It has been almost a week since my last posting.  I left Ammon and his brothers at the crossroads in Los Encuantros.  Moving forward, Ammon went to the land called Ishmael, named after Lehi's cousin and one of the families of people who dissented from Nephi and followed Laman.  In Ishmael, Ammon was taken captive to the king or chief of that tribe.  The king's name was Lamoni and he was a descendant of Ishmael. 

The king or chief amongst the Lamanite tribes had absolute power.  He could have slain Ammon on the spot, thrust him into prison, run him out of the land, or allowed him to stay.  King Lamoni, whatever else his faults might have been, seemed to have been a fair-minded man.  He asked Ammon why he had come and what his desire might have been.  Ammon replied that he had come to live amongst them, perhaps until the day he died.

This answer pleased Lamoni.  He offered his daughter in marriage to this courageous yet humble Nephite.  I had often wondered why the king would make such an offer.  Then, about 3 years ago when I was on my mission, it dawned on me: Ammon was the crown prince of the Nephite nation!  Perhaps Lamoni thought to make a marriage of political alliance?  Suddenly, something that had always been a mystery to me made sense.

Ammon replied that, though he was honored by such an offer, he prepared to be a servant to the king, to serve him all of his days.  Lamoni accepted his offer and he became numbered among the servants who took care of the king's flocks.

Ammon, as we will find out, was one of the greatest emissaries for Messiah/Christ in the history of the Americas.  He never forgot his purpose; never lost his focus.  He had not come among the Lamanites for political reasons.  He had not come as a conqueror.  He had not come to judge and condemn them.  He had come to love and to serve.  Out of his love, came one of the most beautiful stories of absolute conversion ever written.

 

Text copyright September 2013, Gebara Education

 

Pictures from www.lds.org