Having Taken Leave of Their Father

After the sons of Mosiah were converted and “they traveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and among all the people who were under the reign of king Mosiah, zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church,” they desired to go up to the land of Nephi to preach the gospel to the Lamanites (Mosiah 27:35). We read that they “desired of [Mosiah] that he would grant unto them that they might, with these whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites.” Mosiah did not immediately agree to this—perhaps even said no initially—and as they waited for a positive response, “They did plead with their father many days that they might go up to the land of Nephi.” What an incredible desire they had to plead to be able to serve as missionaries to their enemies! Ultimately Mosiah prayed and learned from the Lord that their mission would be a success, and he “granted that they might go and do according to their request” (Mosiah 28:1,5,8). They left before Mosiah reorganized the government, for when the people requested Aaron to be the next king Mormon recorded, “Aaron had gone up to the land of Nephi, therefore the king could not confer the kingdom upon him” (Mosiah 29:3). Nothing, not even the opportunity to be king, could keep them from preaching the gospel to the Lamanites.  

The beginning of the account of the missionary labors of the sons of Mosiah says this: “Now these were their journeyings: Having taken leave of their father, Mosiah, in the first year of the judges; having refused the kingdom which their father was desirous to confer upon them, and also this was the minds of the people; Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla” (Alma 17:6-7). What struck me as I thought about their departure was that they were saying goodbye to father for good, at least for mortality. Not long after they left, “Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old” (Mosiah 29:46). This may have been part of Mosiah’s initial hesitation; given how he worked to reorganize the government even though he was only 63 (Alma died at 82), he may have had premonitions that his time on earth was limited. He very well may have understood that granting his sons to go preach the gospel to the Lamanites meant that he wouldn’t see them again in mortality. This adds to the sense of sacrifice of these incredible missionaries who gave up nearly everything—from a kingdom to the comforts of normal life to time with their father— to take the gospel to those who needed it. It is even possible that they didn’t find out about their father’s death until much later given the isolation that would have existed between them in their mission and the Nephites. Luke recounted this encounter between Jesus and a would-be disciple: “And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:59-60). Surely the sons of Mosiah showed that they were willing to live that difficult principle to put the preaching of the word of God above even their own father. Their story is a powerful example of sacrifice and devotion in the service of the Lord.