The Children of Amulon

After the people of Alma and the people of Limhi were all back in Zarahemla, King Mosiah caused all of his people to be gathered together. He read to them the record of Zeniff as well as the record of the people of Alma so they could understand and learn from what had happened to their brethren. Mormon then recorded an interesting detail, “And it came to pass that those who were the children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to wife the daughters of the Lamanites, were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers, therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi, that they might be called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those who were called Nephites” (Mosiah 25:12). These “children of Amulon and his brethren” undoubtedly came to Zarahemla with Limhi and it had been many years since they had seen their fathers. Those wicked priests of King Noah were among those who “left their wives and their children and fled” when the armies of the Lamanites first came upon the people of King Noah, but unlike most of their brethren they never returned to their people and families. The people of Limhi, as far as it is recorded, never saw them again but surmised that they must have kidnapped the Lamanite women at Shemlon. But perhaps the families of those wicked priests still held out hope that there was some acceptable reason for their abandonment of their families.

               It wasn’t until they heard the account of the people of Alma, then, that the children of Amulon and the other priests knew for sure what happened to their fathers. Instead of learning some way they could justify their fathers’ actions, instead they would have learned from Alma that Amulon and the others held prominent places among the Lamanites, that they had led the persecution against their own former people, and that they had new families. They had forsaken their God, their people, and their families, and it seems that their children were so incensed that they wanted to sever all ties with those wicked men. So they officially denounced them and changed their names so they wouldn’t be called by the names of their fathers. To paraphrase Jacob, they had learned “with sorrow” and “with contempt” concerning their fathers (Jacob 4:3).

               This story I think can be motivating for all of us who are parents as we consider how our own children will look back on us. When they learn the details of our lives and our choices, when they understand better our motivations and priorities, how will they respond? Certainly we hope to never do anything like those wicked priests, but as our children grow up and see more clearly the choices we did make, will they be proud to have our name upon them? When children are little they accept all that their parents do without question or judging. But, as I’m learning more and more, as children grow older they start to evaluate and judge their parents’ actions. Often those rash judgments are hasty and lack real understanding, but surely as they become adults they will have the knowledge and wisdom to see more clearly how we have lived our lives. The account of priests of King Noah and their children invites us to seek to live more uprightly and in a way that our children will one day “learn with joy” concerning our lives and not be "displeased with the conduct of their fathers [and mothers]."