Until the Day I Die--Ammon's Devotion

When Ammon first met King Lamoni at the start of his mission to the Lamanites, “the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.” I have often thought on Ammon’s reply: “Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die” (Alma 17:22-23). Here he was among total strangers—did he really intend to possibly stay with them until he died? Certainly one of the things that made him so successful as a missionary was his devotion to them and the way that he was able to leave his own life behind and spend fourteen years among them. On my own mission this attitude was an inspiration to me that as I tried to cultivate an Ammon-like mindset wherever I served (even though I knew for sure that my time was limited to the designated two years). We see that for Ammon he really did mean those initial words to Lamoni, and I get the sense that he spent most of his time during those fourteen years among Lamoni’s people specifically. We read, “And Ammon did preach unto the people of king Lamoni; and it came to pass that he did teach them all things concerning things pertaining to righteousness. And he did exhort them daily, with all diligence” (Alma 21:23). Daily he was among the teaching. When Aaron was before Lamoni’s father, he explained why Ammon wasn’t there: “Behold, the Spirit of the Lord has called him another way; he has gone to the land of Ishmael, to teach the people of Lamoni” (Alma 22:4). During his long mission Ammon was with the people of Lamoni for as much of the story as we have—his initial statement of desiring to dwell with them for a time had been no idle statement.

               What’s more, I realized today that Ammon likely did dwell among the people of Lamoni “until the day [he did] die.” After he led the converted Lamanites down to Zarahemla and got them settled in Jershon, Korihor came among them: “They took him, and bound him, and carried him before Ammon, who was a high priest over that people” (Alma 30:20). I don’t know that I have ever paid much attention to that detail, but this tells us that Ammon likely continued to live among them even after they were among the Lamanites. He was their high priest, and from this fact I think we can assume that he dwelt among them. What he had said to Lamoni originally was still true many years later—it was still his desire to live among this people. We do know that he went on missions to other places (among the Zoramites and likely elsewhere per Alma 49:30), but I believe his home was among those converted Lamanites which included Lamoni’s people. To me this is significant because it shows the great devotion that Ammon had towards those he taught. He gave his whole soul to the work of the Lord among these people who were in his words “our dearly beloved brethren” (Alma 26:9). After that first encounter with Lamoni he literally devoted his whole life to them, and who knows, maybe he ended up marrying one of Lamoni’s daughter after all! His example of commitment to his converts is an inspiration to all who serve God’s children today. No matter what our area of service in God’s kingdom is, we should approach it like Ammon as if it will be our responsibility for a long time, as if we need to look after the welfare of those we serve for the rest of our lives.