Ammon’s Joy
Ammon gathered his brothers together and said: “Brothers, think about this—how much reason do we have to celebrate? When we left Zarahemla, could we have imagined God would bless us like this?”
“Let me ask you—what are these great blessings he’s given us? Can you even put it into words?”
“I’ll tell you. The Lamanites—our own brothers—were living in darkness, the deepest darkness you can imagine. But look how many of them have now seen God’s amazing light! And this is the blessing: God used us to make it happen. We got to be part of this incredible work.”
“Thousands of them are celebrating now. They’ve been brought home to God.”
“The harvest was ready, and you jumped in with everything you had. You worked from dawn to dusk, cutting and gathering. Look at all these sheaves—they’ll be stored safely in the barn where nothing can ruin them. When the final storm comes, they won’t be knocked down. They won’t be swept away by tornadoes. When the storm hits, they’ll be gathered in a place where it can’t touch them. No fierce wind will blow them wherever the enemy wants to drag them. They’re in the hands of the Lord of the harvest. They belong to him, and he’ll raise them up on the last day.”
“Blessed be the name of our God! Let’s sing his praise. Let’s thank his holy name, because he does what’s right forever.”
“If we hadn’t left Zarahemla, these brothers we love so much—who love us so much now—would still be burning with hatred toward us. They’d still be strangers to God.”
Aaron’s Concern
After Ammon said all this, his brother Aaron stopped him. “Ammon, I’m worried your joy is making you boastful.”
But Ammon said, “I’m not boasting about my own strength or my own wisdom. My joy is overflowing—my heart is brimming with it. I’m celebrating my God. I know I’m nothing. I’m weak. I won’t brag about myself—I’ll brag about my God. In his strength, I can do anything. Look at all the incredible miracles we’ve seen here. We’ll praise his name forever for that.”
“Think about how many thousands of our brothers he’s freed from the pains of hell. Now they’re singing about the love that saved them. And this happened because of the power of his word working through us. Don’t we have every reason to celebrate? We have reason to praise him forever. He is the Most High God, and he’s broken our brothers free from the chains of hell. They were trapped in everlasting darkness, headed for destruction. But he brought them into his everlasting light—into everlasting salvation. Now they’re surrounded by the unmatched generosity of his love. And we got to be the tools in his hands to make this amazing work happen.”
“So let’s celebrate—we’ll celebrate in the Lord! Our joy is complete. We’ll praise our God forever. Who can celebrate too much in the Lord? Who can say too much about his great power, his mercy, his patience with people? I’m telling you, I can’t express even the smallest part of what I’m feeling.”
Remembering God’s Mercy
“Who could have imagined that our God would be merciful enough to rescue us from our awful, sinful, filthy condition?”
“We marched out in anger, making violent threats to destroy his church. So why didn’t he destroy us? Why didn’t he let the sword of his justice fall on us and condemn us to eternal despair? My soul almost can’t bear to think about it. He didn’t exercise his justice on us. Instead, in his great mercy, he carried us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, all the way to salvation.”
“Now tell me, brothers—what ordinary person knows these things? I’m telling you, no one knows them except those who’ve turned away from their sins. The person who repents, lives by faith, does good works, and prays constantly without giving up—that’s who gets to understand the mysteries of God. That’s who gets to reveal things that have never been revealed before. That’s who gets to bring thousands of people to repentance, just like we’ve been given the chance to bring these brothers to repentance.”
They Laughed at Us
“Remember when we told our brothers back in Zarahemla, ‘We’re going up to the land of Nephi to teach the Lamanites’? They laughed at us. They said, ‘Do you really think you can bring the Lamanites to the truth? Do you think you can convince them their ancestors were wrong—a people as stubborn as they are? They love violence. They’ve spent their whole lives in terrible sin. They’ve been rebels from the start.’ That’s what they said, remember? And they added, ‘Let’s take up weapons and wipe them out—get rid of them and their evil before they overrun us and destroy us.’”
“But we came into the wilderness not to destroy our brothers, but hoping we might save even a few of them.”
“When we got discouraged and were about to turn back, the Lord comforted us. He said, ‘Go among your brothers, the Lamanites, and be patient through your troubles. I’ll give you success.’”
The Cost of Ministry
“And here we are. We’ve been among them. We’ve been patient through our suffering. We’ve gone without everything. We’ve traveled from house to house, depending on the mercy of the world—but not just on human mercy. On God’s mercy. We’ve gone into their houses and taught them. We’ve taught them in their streets, on their hills. We’ve even gone into their temples and synagogues to teach them. And we’ve been thrown out, mocked, spit on, and slapped. We’ve been stoned. We’ve been captured, tied up with strong ropes, and thrown into prison. But through God’s power and wisdom, we’ve been set free again.”
“We’ve suffered everything, all in the hope that we might save even one person. We thought our joy would be complete if we could just save a few.”
The Fruit of Their Labor
“Now look ahead and see the results of our work. Are they few? No! They’re many! And we can see their sincerity in how they love their brothers and how they love us.”
“They’d rather die than kill an enemy. They’ve buried their weapons deep in the ground because of their love for their brothers. Has there ever been such great love anywhere in this land? I’m telling you, no. Not even among the Nephites. The Nephites would take up weapons against their brothers. They wouldn’t let themselves be killed. But look how many of these people have given up their lives. We know they’ve gone to God because of their love and their hatred of sin.”
“Don’t we have reason to celebrate? No one in the history of the world has had as much reason to celebrate as we do right now. My joy carries me away until I’m bragging about my God—because he has all power, all wisdom, all understanding. He grasps everything. He’s merciful, offering salvation to everyone who will repent and believe in his name. If this is boasting, then I’ll keep on boasting. He is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, my rescue from everlasting suffering. Blessed is the name of my God, who has remembered this people—a branch of Israel’s family tree that’s been lost in a foreign land. Blessed be the name of my God, who has remembered us wanderers in a strange land.”
“Brothers, we see that God remembers every people, no matter where they live. He counts his people, and his tender mercy covers the whole earth. This is my joy and my great thanksgiving. I will give thanks to my God forever. Amen.”