Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast - Alma 17-22 Part 2 • Dr. Brian Mead • July 1-7 • Come Follow Me

Episode Date: June 26, 2024

Dr. Brian Mead continues his discussion of God's plan of redemption and the power of service and faith in true conversion.SHOW NOTES/TRANSCRIPTSEnglish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM27ENFrench: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM27FRPortuguese: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM27PTSpanish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM27ES YOUTUBEALL EPISODES/SHOW NOTESfollowHIM website: https://www.followHIMpodcast.comFREE PDF DOWNLOADS OF followHIM QUOTE BOOKSNew Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastNTBookOld Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastOTBookWEEKLY NEWSLETTERhttps://tinyurl.com/followHIMnewsletterSOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followHIMpodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastTIMECODE00:00 Part II–Dr. Brian Mead00:08 Alma 18:32 - God in relation to His children01:27 Alma 18:34 - What does God teach in the creation story?05:32 Truth changes thoughts and behavior07:47 Creation, Fall, and the Atonement and Children of God09:20 A teaching moment at a wedding reception13:10  The faith of the Queen16:30 Listening to the Lord’s servants17:46 Alma 19:13-14 - Joy and falling to the ground18:47 Alma 19:16-21 - Heroic Abish21:02 Abish prepared to change a nation23:26 Alma 19:31 The Queen and conversion to jesus26:27 Alma 19:37 Relationships before teaching28:32 Alma 21 - The importance of good friends31:33 Dr. Mead shares a story about friendship33:24 Alma 21:4 - King Noah, Naaman, and the effect of their choices36:17 Alma 20 - Ammon and Aaron: Different missions and different results27:55 Alma 20:6-7 Ammon and King Lamoni38:55 Alma 20:17-26 - The goodness of Ammon41:39 Ammon’s love of Lamoni changed the King’s heart42:32 Dr. Mead shares a personal story about his grandparents45:28 A letter from a child to President Uchtdorf46:31 Alma 22 Aaron teaches the Lamanites48:07 Alma 22:10-14- Aaron teaches the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement of jesus50:10 Alma 22:15-18 Giving away sins and the joy of repentance53:19 The Jesus’s power  to change lives58:31 Dr. Mead shares his testimony of Jesus and the scriptures1:04:25  End of Part II– Dr. Brian MeadThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

Welcome to part 2 with Dr. Brian Mead, Alma chapter 17 through 22. Now verse 32, and Ammon said, Yea, and he looketh down upon all the children of men, and he knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart, for by his hand were they all created from the beginning. In this verse, Ammon begins to teach Lamoni some incredibly important truths about who God is in relation to us. I think it's really interesting that he doesn't say yea and he looked it down upon all of men, but he begins to teach Lamoni an incredibly important truth. Those men are his children. He continues on in verse 32, like you said, that not only are we children of God, but God knows all of the thoughts and intents of our heart.

He wants King Lamoni to understand the omniscience of God. That God is our Father and He knows all things, and we are created by the hand of God." He then goes on and he begins to teach these beautiful truths of the plan of redemption. He begins teaching of the creation and the fall and the atonement. After Ammon teaches them these truths in verse 32, King Lamoni said, I believe all these things was that was spoken and then asked this question, are they sent from God? He begins to realize that Ammon is not the great spirit. Ammon wants him to understand that he's a servant of God. And then in verse 34, Ammon said unto him, I am a man and man in the beginning was created after the image of God.

As you think about it, we're given some really in-depth beautiful accounts of creation. We learn about creation in the book of Genesis. We learn about the creation in the book of Moses. We learn about creation in the book of Abraham. And as Latter-day Saints, we have the beautiful account of creation as taught in the endowment. And as we look at those stories or as I help my students go into the teachings of what Ammon is trying to teach King Lamoni, I often ask this question, what do you think Ammon really wants us to learn about God in the story of creation? Or what do you think God wants us to learn about himself in these stories of

creation? We see them frequently and often. I don't think God wants us to learn how he created, or I don't think he wants us to learn about the timing of His creation. Instead, in these creation accounts in sacred texts, I think God wants us to learn and recognize the who of creation and the why of creation. That helps us to begin to understand who God truly is. The who of creation is God as the Creator. And why did He create? We remember that beautiful verse given in Moses 1.39, for behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Brian, I love that you said that. Frequently when I talk to young people, they'll say,

and you could speak more to this, Brian, they'll say, you know, I'm in my biology class and I'm learning about the creation of the earth and I'm really struggling with what I'm being told about evolution. And then I go read the scriptures. I'm seeing a problem there. And I point out what you just pointed out, that science might be able to tell us the what you said there, the how, the timing, things like that. But that's not the intent of the scriptures. The intent of the scriptures is the who and the why. You can almost combine those together. I'm sure you went through that in your neuroscience degree. I think that's the point of what God wants us to recognize and understand as we step

into these sacred texts, as we look at these incredible teachings, God isn't saying don't study the creation in geology. We need to recognize that these creation accounts and scriptures are more about who God is. I want my students to understand some of the most important things that we learn about God in these accounts is that God is all-knowing, that God is somebody who knows all things. A second thing that I want them to understand is the power of God, that God is all-powerful. And then finally that God is our loving Father. It's important that we learn and recognize all three of these things and the importance of them operating together. What if we knew that

God was all-knowing and that he was all-powerful? But what if we didn't know that he was a loving father? What type of God is that, that is all-knowing, he's all-powerful, but he's not a loving father? That's scary. Yeah, it's scary. Or what about if we know that God is our father, He's a loving Father, and we know that He's all-powerful, but He's not all-knowing. What type of God is that? Very limited, even more scary. It's limited and scary. It's not the type of God that we can place faith and trust in. You see, we see within this mortal experience that God, our loving Father,

is going to ask us to do difficult things. God is going to ask us to walk a covenant path. But if we know that God is our loving Father and that he wants us to return to him and to experience things throughout mortality in his plan that helps us to become like him, and if we know that he's all knowledgeable, that he knows all things from the beginning and the end, and if we know that he has all power to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life, this is the God that Ammon wants King Lamoni to place his faith and trust in. What I love about this is the King changed in Ammon's presence. You read verse 5 where King Lamoni thought whatever we do is right right but now someone with him who has the spirit of the Lord now he begins to fear that he had done wrong.

I hear these stories all the time I'm sure you have of oh my friends don't swear around me and they stop other people from swearing around me. It's interesting that being in Ammon's presence had that kind of impact on the king where suddenly now I fear I've done wrong in slaying the servants and you know what it reminded me of Acts chapter 17 where Paul is on Mars Hill and starts to tell them what God is really like that we are his offspring how important that is to start where what kind of being is God. I'm looking back and forth going, there's some interesting parallels here from Ammon teaching about God and Paul teaching on Mars Hill and trying to tell him what God is really

like and he's not like the Greek gods Capricious and Mean, but he's our Father. In Acts 17 26, here's Paul explaining God to the Athenians, Hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, hath determined the times before appointed the bounds of their habitation that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us." And that JST says, if they're willing to find him, for he is not far from every one of us. It's beautiful teaching that Paul's giving that sounds like what Ammon's doing. Hank, you mentioned those wonderful adjectives, wise yet harmless. My son Andrew was once, hey, look, dad, this is what it says in Matthew

10, behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves, and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake." And I was like, whoa, what a parallel. Same thing for Ammon, be wise and harmless and you'll stand before kings. Brian, as you read that, isn't it interesting that he has the chance to teach? And what does he teach? Creation fall atonement. The Lord has a chance to teach us in the temple.

What does he teach us? Creation fall atonement. Isn't the same thing in the Articles of Faith? We believe in God, the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, the fall. We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved. Here Joseph Smith has an opportunity to teach. What does he teach? Creation, fall, atonement. I know what's coming next, Article of Faith 4, repentance and baptism. I have a feeling that's coming up next. CB It is. Each of these things that you explained, Hink, creation, fall, and atonement,

go back to that idea of identity and who we are. As Latter-day Saints, the most important truth that we seek or try to help people to understand is that identity. I mean, go back to your primary experience. We learn a lot of songs when we go into primary. We learn about popcorn popping on the apricot tree, but what's one of the other songs that we first learn? Yeah. I am a child of God.

Every week the young women stand up and what do they begin saying? I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents. It's a statement of identity. But the young man should stand up and say, I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents. It's a statement of identity. But the young man should stand up and say, I am a beloved son of God. It is all about identity that as we understand creation, fall, and atonement of Jesus Christ, we understand our identity as a child of a loving heavenly father. A number of years ago, I was invited to a wedding reception of two of my students that I taught at Springville High with you, Hank. They'd grown up, they'd gone on missions, they'd come home from missions, and they decided to get married to each other. And they invited us to their wedding reception.

Annie couldn't make it that night, so I went to the wedding reception with my daughters. Their wedding reception was on one of their family farms. It was awesome. We went, we talked to the bride and groom. Of course, we ate treats. And then Andalyn turned to me and said, why don't you take your girls around and show them the farm? We're walking around the farm and we're looking at all of these animals together. Me recognizing the importance of creation, looking at these baby animals and everything else that was there on the farm, I looked at my three daughters and I said something

like, isn't it awesome that this baby cow is going to grow up to be a horse? And all three of them looked at me. They immediately knew that what I said was completely false. And my youngest at that time, one of the phrases that she always said was something like, dad, that's ridiculous. So this little three-year-old wheels on me and as a three-year-old, she gets it. She said, dad, that's ridiculous. We kept walking.

We kept looking at things. I said something like, isn't it awesome that this little duck is going to grow up to be a chicken? And again, she immediately knows as a three-year-old, little ducks don't grow up to be chickens, they grow up to be big ducks. Me being the religion teacher, I looked at this girl and I said, okay, if little cows grow up to be big cows and little ducks grow up to be big ducks, what do little children of God grow up to become?" And it was this great little moment of creation. She understood creation, even though she hadn't thought in these terms. And she looked at me and she said, they grow up to be big children of God? You see, that's the

beauty of knowing that we are literal creations of God. We are his children. We make choices of agency that come through our own falls as we exercise agency maybe in ways that take us contrary to God. And we have a Savior whose atonement allows us to return and to become better and to repent of those choices. You can see this pattern is the same pattern of teaching the idea that there is a God and then teaching of the creation, the fall and atonement is the exact same thing that Aaron's going to do in chapter 22 as he teaches King Limonius' father. We'll get into this chapter in a moment, but I want to share the chapter heading so that we can see this pattern. The chapter heading for Alma 22 states, Aaron teaches Limonius' father about the creation, the

fall of Adam and the plan of redemption through Christ. And as the King of all of the Lamanites begins to understand this pattern, there is a God, and we learn of him and his nature through the creation, the fall, and the atonement of Jesus Christ. His heart changes like the heart of his son. Verse 39, Develma 18, he expanded unto them the plan of redemption and so often in the Book of Mormon it's followed by this phrase which was prepared from the foundation of the world. This was the plan that a Redeemer would come from the beginning. I mention this because there are some schools of thought that well we're all supposed to be living in paradise But Adam and Eve messed up and no actually the plan of redemption the atonement was prepared in the pre-mortal existence

This was always the plan So it's fun If you look for it how often you will see right after something about the atonement It'll be followed by which was prepared from the foundation of the world. I Love what sister Harkness, how she described faith. She said, well, faith is not a perfect knowledge. And then she quotes other Nilly Maxwell, it brings a deep trust in God whose knowledge is perfect. And it's in this chapter that we begin to see men and women who don't fully understand what is

happening or they don't have a clarity of what's going on, and yet they have a great trust and faith in God who does. I want to share some of the incredible examples of faith that we see from a couple of women here in chapter 19. The first one is the queen, King Lamoni's wife. It says, and it came to pass that after two days and two nights, they were about to take Lamoni's body and lay it in a sepulcher, which they had made for the purpose of burying their dead. Now the Queen, having heard of the fame of Ammon, therefore, she sent and desired that he should come in unto her.

It's an interesting question to think, where has the Queen been in all of this? We may naturally assume that she's maybe there when Ammon shows up, but we have no record of her really up to this point. All she knows is that her husband is unresponsive. He's been that way for two days and two nights. Some are saying that it's time to bury the king. And she reaches out to the servant of the Lord. She reaches out to Ammon. And then in verse 3, it says, And it came to pass that Ammon did as he was commanded, and went went in under the Queen and desired to know what she would that he should do. And she said unto him, The servants of my husband have made it known unto me that thou art a prophet of a holy God, and that thou hast power to do many mighty works in his name.

We don't know where she's been in the storyline up to this point, but she has heard of Ammon and in this moment that she doesn't know what to do, she reaches out to one of the Lord's servants or who she places faith and trust is one of the Lord's servants and asks him to come and visit with her. And she tells him, therefore, if this is the case, I would that ye should go in and see my husband for he's been laid upon his bed for the space of two days and two nights. And we mentioned earlier that Ammon is really good in understanding the importance of timing. We don't know what's gone on over these past two days. We don't know exactly what Ammon's been doing, but he has wanted to visit with the Queen and he waits for her to act in faith and to reach out to him. And he knows, as we look in verse 6, everything

that's going on with the Lamoni, he knows that the dark veil of unbelief is being cast away from his mind. He knows that the light is descending upon his mind. Ammon said unto the queen, he is not dead, but he sleepeth in God, and on the morrow he shall rise again, therefore bury him not. And Ammon said unto her, believe us thou this. We don't know where she's been in this entire story. But in this moment as she stands with Ammon she chooses to exercise faith and she said unto him, I have no witness save thy word and the word of our servants. Nevertheless, I believe that it shall be according as thou hast said. And Ammon said unto her,

Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding faith. I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites." And the queen goes and she stands vigil by the bed of the king, fully expecting him to wake up in the morning. Brian, I love that you've pointed out the faith of the queen here. This might be something that people skip over as they teach these lessons. But if you stop, you really see her saying, look, here's what everyone else is saying. But I want to talk to you.

If we use Ammon as a prophetic figure, seeing that, I want to hear from you. What a great model for today. Right? Here's what everyone else is saying. Here's what they're saying over here on this social media platform. Here's what they're saying over here on this social media platform. I want to hear what you have to say for yourself." And then she trusts that prophetic figure no matter what others are saying. I think it's a powerful thing being willing to listen to the Lord's servants. I had an

experience a number of years ago when Elder Holland came and he spoke at BYU. And immediately after Elder Holland spoke, I was leaving the Marriott Center going back to my office. It was right when I first came to BYU. My phone rings with somebody and they said, what did Elder Holland just say at BYU? I said, well, what do you mean? He said, I heard Elder Holland said some pretty inflammatory things at BYU. I said, will you just go and listen to Elder Holland?

Don't listen to what everybody else is saying. Will you go and listen to what Elder Holland is saying and then call me back? It took a couple of days for that to become available so that he could listen to the words of Elder Holland After a couple of days, he called me back and he said it's not like what everybody else was saying His heart was softened as he actually listened to the words of the Lord's servant Brian you are written on the top of my page 257 now that I love that. Examples of people who don't know what's going on but have great faith in God. We have all been there. We might currently

be there. What is going on? But I'm not going to abandon my faith in God. That's a great way to frame this chapter. Thank you. Let me share one other example of somebody I love who exercises incredible faith in God. And she's introduced for the very first time in verse 16. As the Queen stands vigil at the bed of the King, the King wakes up in the morning just as Ammon predicted he would. And he stands and he begins to teach at the glory of God. He's come to know who God is, and he begins to rejoice, and he's filled with joy. It's in that moment of joy that the king once again drops to the earth. The queen in her moment of joy as she realizes, and as she begins to exercise faith in who God is, she drops to the earth. We get this beautiful moment where

Ammon, in verse 14, drops to his knees and begins to pour out his heart and thanks to God. But Ammon is on this mission for 14 years. We don't know how far into the experience or how far in those 14 years that he is, but his heart is filled with joy. He also drops to the earth. And then in verse 15, a number of servants, they begin to exercise faith and they drop to the earth. And then in verse 16, we're introduced to another hero that I have here in this chapter of the Book of Mormon. It's somebody who only gets a couple of verses and yet I love the way that she exercises faith. And let me begin reading in verse 16. It says, and it came to pass that they did call on the name of the Lord with their might, even until they had fallen to the earth, talking about the servants. Savit were one of the Lamanitish women whose name was Abish, she having been converted

unto the Lord for many years on account of a remarkable vision of her father. I really like something that Brandt Gardner said a number of years ago. He said this and I'll quote him. He says, the preservation of her name is even more remarkable, not only because she was a woman, but she was a servant. Both factors would virtually guarantee her anonymity. Now, as we look at her and as we look at her story, I wish that we knew more about her. We do know that she's converted unto the Lord for many years on account of a remarkable vision of her father. And for many years I'd read that and I thought, well, maybe it was like the experience of Lehi and Nephi, that Lehi had seen a vision and his son,

Nephi, believed the vision. And we can read it that way. But a couple of years ago, somebody shared, well, maybe it was Abish having a vision about her father. Maybe her father had passed away and she had seen her father, kind of like the experience that Joseph Smith had with Alvin. Do you remember Joseph Smith's older brother Alvin? He died before baptism. I don't know if you can recall the experience the Smith family had at Alvin's funeral, that the preacher of that funeral said that Alvin would be in hell because he wasn't baptized. And I love how God gives Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants Section 137 a vision of eternity, that Joseph Smith sees Alvin. He sees him in the celestial kingdom. Joseph Smith is surprised to see him there because he did die without baptism. It's a vision of hope. We don't know exactly what

Abish's vision was of her father, whether it was her father having a vision or whether it was her having a vision of her father. But she's an incredible woman of faith who's been required to keep her faith a secret for so many years. She's living among the Lamanite people. She's afraid to share what she believes. But in this moment where she sees the power of God being manifest among the Lamanite people, she acts in faith. As you look in verse 17, it says, thus having been converted to the Lord and never having made it known therefore, when she saw all the servants of Lamoni had fallen to the earth and also her mistress, the queen and the king and Ammonling prostrate upon the earth, she

knew that it was the power of God and supposing this opportunity by making known unto the people what had happened among them, that by beholding this scene it would cause them to believe in the power of God. Therefore she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people. For the very first time in her life, she's able to go house to house and imagine her running and rejoicing and calling to the people, calling them saying, come to the home of the king, see what's happening, come see the power of God as she's trying to help these people around her know who God is as Abish begins going house to house and calling these people to assemble we see in verse 18 and

they began to assemble themselves under the house of the king and There came a multitude and to their astonishment they beheld the king and the queen and their servants prostrate upon the earth and They all lay there as though they were dead and they also saw Ammon and behold he was a Nephite. And we see in verse 19 that the people begin to murmur, they don't know exactly what's going on. Abish wants them to see the power of God, but as they show up, they see the king on the ground, they see the queen on the ground, they see the servants on the ground and they

see a Nephite. So they begin talking about what is happening. Some of them say this is the consequence of the king killing those servants when his sheep had been scattered at the waters of Sebus. Others come and they see Ammon, verse 22. Now one of them, whose brother had been slain with the sword of Ammon, being exceedingly angry with Ammon, drew his sword and went forth that he might let it fall upon Ammon to slay him.

And as he lifted the sword to smite him, behold, he fell dead." It's another example of the promise that Messiah was given, that as his sons would go among the Lamanite people that God would save and protect them. This adds to the astonishment of everything that's going on. Not only is the king on the ground, the queen on the ground, Ammon on the ground, the servants upon the ground, but somebody who comes and tries to kill Ammon falls to the ground dead. And many of the people are filled with fear and don't know what's happening. It's in that moment that Abish comes and hoping that these people are converted unto God and seeing all the confusion, she begins to

be filled with fear and concern. It's in this moment that Abish reaches out to the queen and raises her from the ground. And let me start reading the beautiful words of the Queen as she exercises even greater faith in verse 29. It says, "...and it came to pass that she went and took the Queen by the hand, that perhaps she might raise her from the ground. And as soon as she touched her hand, she arose and stood upon her feet and cried with a loud voice, saying, O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell, O blessed God have mercy upon this people.

And when she had said this, she clasped her hands being filled with joy, speaking many words which were not understood. And when she had done this, she took the king Lamoni by his hand and behold he arose and he stood upon his feet. And in verse 31, we see this beautiful moment and he immediately seeing the contention among his people went forth and began to rebuke them, and to teach them the words which he had heard from the mouth of Ammon. And as many as heard, his words were converted unto the Lord. We have this beautiful moment where the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have this beautiful moment when faith in the true and living God begins to be taught and to be spread among the Lamanite people.

Back there in verse 16 it says, Abish, she having been converted unto the Lord for many years on account of a remarkable vision of her father, and we talked about what that might be. The very next phrase, thus having been converted to the Lord. And then what we finished reading in Alma 1931, and we're converted unto the Lord. And then what we finished reading in Alma 1931, and we're converted unto the Lord. One of the things I did a search once and noticed was that nobody's ever a convert to the church in the Book of Mormon. The object of conversion is to the Lord. That's what we're converted to and it's very

consistent. I found ten references of converted unto the Lord. And then I think it's in 3rd Nephi and Elder D. Todd Christofferson mentioned this once in a talk he gave called Why the Church. They were converted unto the Lord and united with the Church of Christ. Object of our conversion is to Christ and then we unite with the Church. Converted, changed, we're trying to use the power of Christ, the power of His atonement to become like Christ. We're're trying to use the power of Christ, the power of his atonement to become like Christ. We're not trying to become like the church, we're trying to be converted to the Lord. I thought it's fun to see three times we saw that mentioned in

what you just read. This is really significant. This is not the first time they've sent missionaries to the Lamanites. When I first read the Book of Mormon, I thought, oh, you know, they should have done this a long time ago. They've tried and given up. When I first read the Book of Mormon, I thought, oh, you know, they should have done this a long time ago. They've tried and given up. Yeah. Yeah.

I think Jacob said they had tried. Enos says they had tried. There's a couple of other people that said we had tried to go among the Lamanites to teach them and reclaim them. It has never worked, but now it has. This is a significant chapter that you might be tempted to skip as you're teaching Sunday school or teaching your family. But what you've shown us here is that the Lord had prepared this woman, Abish, and this was going to begin what you might

call the redemption of the Lamanites. I think that's significant. And I agree. I think sometimes it's easy to skip over this chapter. And yet as you look in it, it's incredible examples of faith, including with Abish. I like that Abish didn't go to the king to wake him up. She went to the queen of a woman to woman thing. It calls her a servant, the woman's servant in verse

28. So there was already a relationship there. It's significant that we remember the name of Abish. Shows the Lord can help with missionary work. I like to look at verse 16, even until they had all fallen to the earth, save it were one of the Lamanite-ish women. What's different about her? She was converted unto the Lord. So here's this member missionary now, and as you said, running forth from house to house. Every missionary wishes they had an abish in their stake, who's running from house to house making appointments. And I'm guilty of this too. It's supposed to be this way that the members do the finding and the missionaries do the teaching.

The Lord knew I'm not going to have her pass out because she is already converted, but she's going to become an instrument too. Beautiful. We see how the spreading of faith in God is now progressing among the Lamanite people. But I want to jump into chapter 20. We see in verse 1, and it came to pass that when they had established a church, and John, I think it's significant to what you taught of sequence of order. First, they developed faith in God, they developed faith in Jesus Christ, and then they begin to establish a church whose

purpose is to help lead us unto God and unto Christ. Verse 1, and it came to pass that when they had established a church in that land, that King Lemona desired that Ammon should go with him to the land of Nephi, that he might show him unto his father. And the voice of the Lord came into Ammon saying, thou shalt not go up to the land of Nephi. For behold, the king will seek thy life, but thou shalt go to the land of Medoni. For behold, thy brother Aaron and also Maloki and Ammon are in prison." And we get this incredible moment that as Ammon and King Lamoni begin traveling to release his brothers, they run into King Lamoni's father. They begin to have this incredible exchange. If you don't mind, I want to jump to chapter 21 to share a brief

thought of why Aaron is in prison and of the challenging experience that he had because his mission experience is very, very different than his brother's. As we jump in to see the reasons that Aaron's in prison, one of the most important phrases that I share with my kids all the time is it's important who you hang out with or who you hang out with really matters. And we really see this with Aaron's experience here among the people that he goes and he teaches. As you look in verse 1 of chapter 21, it says, Now when Ammon and his brethren separated themselves in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, behold, Aaron took his journey toward the land, which was called by the Lamanites Jerusalem, calling it after the land of their

father's nativity, and it was a way joining the borders of Mormon. And then we look to see the people that have settled there in this land of Jerusalem. It says, Now the Lamanites and the Amalekites and the people of Amulon had built a great city which was called Jerusalem. We see as Aaron shows up and as he begins teaching or trying to teach the people there, it's not just Lamanites, there are other people that are there. Amulon is one of the priests of King Noah. This is where his posterity of settled. The Amalekites, they're the followers of the Amalekite who seeks to overthrow the government of the Nephites.

That's Alma chapter 2 and 3, right Brian? It is. And so as Aaron shows up to these people, it's not just Lamanites that are waiting for him, but it's these people as well. We see in verse 3, and this is why I tell my children all the time, who you hang out with really matters. In verse 3 we see, now the Lamanites of themselves were sufficiently hardened. We've already had this conversation. The sons of Messiah are going to teach a people that are hardened. But then it goes on and says, but the Amalekites and the Amulanites were still harder. But then it goes on and says, but the Amalekites and the Amulanites were still harder. Therefore they did cause the Lamanites that they should harden their hearts, that they should whack strong in wickedness and their abominations. As Aaron shows up to these people, immediately he has

these experiences that they don't listen, that they immediately begin to reject him and ultimately they take him and others and they bind them up and they throw them into prison. There are many stories that I don't remember or many conference talks that I don't remember over the years, but I do remember a talk that President Monson gave clear back in 1998 that stuck with me. And I think it gives a great insight into what's going on with these people in the city of Jerusalem. President Monson taught, friends help to determine your future. You will tend to be like them and to be found where they choose to go. Remember the path we follow in this life leads to the path we will follow in the next.

Then President Monson shares a survey, the results of a survey that was done in the church. He says, quote, in a survey made in selected wards and stakes at the church, we learned a most significant fact. Those people whose friends married in the temple usually married in the temple. All those persons whose friends did not marry in the temple usually did not marry in the temple. This same fact pertained also to full-time missionary service. The influence of one's friends appeared to be a higher dominant factor, even equal into parental urging, classroom instruction, or proximity to a temple. The friends you choose will either help or hinder your success. That's why we repeat

continually to our kids who you hang out with really matters. We try to teach our kids that it doesn't matter if you have a large group of friends or a small group of friends, just have good friends. As I look back over the course of my life, I was blessed by incredible friends who helped me to make really good choices. I remember back when I was about 15 years old, I was a sophomore in high school, and that year was really significant for me and some of the people that I hung out with. And I'm grateful that I had good friends in my life at that time that helped me to make good choices. I remember one time it was time for seminary. The seminary building was one way and I was going the other way with a group of guys. And a girl that was

in my seminary class walked past me and she looked at me and she said, where are you going? And I kind of laughed and she grabbed me by the arm and literally walked me over to seminary. She started to do that every single day. I can remember another time, again, pivotal years for me, 15 years old, my friends and I thought that we were cool that we were invited to a party of some of the older kids in the high school.

And I remember walking into this house with one of my good friends. Person that opened the door said, hey, the party's downstairs. We walked down into the basement. We're standing on the bottom step. We're seeing everything that's going on. And my friend looks at me and says something like, huh, I'm tired. You ready to go? And we literally turned around and walked out of the basement. We see that here in this

portion of the Book of Mormon that Aaron, unfortunately, he goes to a people that are harder because of the people they've associated with. There's a guy named Jim Rohn, he's kind of like Stephen Covey, a business philosopher, and I've heard him say once that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. The fascinating thought, I'm still chewing on that. And he even quoted research, I can predict your bank account, all sorts of things just because of the associations that you have. I just wanted to note that you read verse 4, many of the Amalekites and the Amulites were after the order of the Nihors.

There he is again. Comes and goes in Alma chapter 1, but that influence, speaking of bad friends, right? That influence. Alma 16, the Ammon I have wiped out in one day but now there he is again Wow what a great lesson there out of Alma 21 that these Lamanites because they they're around or they hang around with these former Nephites they've had a significant effect on them you could cross-reference that couldn't you to Mosiah, where King Noah is about to let Abinadi go. He is like, I should not do this. That's a significant moment in Noah's life. You imagine if Noah says, you know what, I'm going to repent, turn it around, and Noah

and Abinadi go on missions, right? But no, it never happens because the priests, his friends lifted up their voices against him and began to accuse him saying he has reviled the king. Therefore, the king was stirred up in anger against him, Abinadi. It matters. It truly matters who you spend your time with, whether you're an adult or a youth. CB It is. Those that you associate with impact who you become. Let me just go back to how President Monson finished this beautiful quote, the friend you choose will either help or hinder your success. And I truly believe that.

RL Now, think of the story of Naaman. Naaman is about to go home. He's like, I came all this way to hear this prophet and he's told me to wash in the Jordan River. There's much cleaner rivers where I came from. I'm going to go home. And his friend stops him, says, maybe you ought to do it. That changes everything. I'm thinking of Elder Gary Stevenson's story about the study abroad in Japan and being up there on the roof and somebody gets out marijuana and, oh no, it's okay, we'll just pass it, and somebody else, I'm leaving, and grabs somebody and goes with, oh, to this day, people think John was the

guy's name, who I actually met, who grabbed the friend and took them off there, but that's such a cool story. Elder Robert D. Hales, best definition of a friend I have ever heard, a friend is someone who makes it easier to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh, it's beautiful. Thank you. Let's jump back into chapter 20. I have heard people say, contrast the mission approaches of Ammon and Aaron. Ammon says, I will be thy servant. I could live here till I die. Aaron goes in and first began to preach and they throw him in the slammer. But the verses that you start with, you've got to take that into account, that they were more hardened people. So I don't like that necessarily because I think,

yeah, but Aaron went to a different mission. He's among these, he's, oh, if Aaron, if you had more faith or if you use different words, it says, hey, look, these guys were so hardened. In fact, they were after the order of the knee horse. My mission president, he goes to one of those mission president trainings that they have for the mission leaders in an area and he comes back. I'm his assistant at that time and I say, hey, what happened? And he starts laughing. Elder Scott was the member of the Quorum of the 12 that came and ran this mission president's seminar, mini seminar. And he said, Elder Scott recommended that we don't let you missionaries in Europe write your friends in South America. It's that idea,

very different mission experiences. You're just among a different people. And Italians are incredible. They're some of the most charitable, loving and giving people. Not quite the same as my brother's experiences in Mexico. But it is interesting that once Ammon and Aaron seemed to have a talk, Aaron changes his approach. And says, oh, we'll be your servants. Let's see if it works here. Yeah, it's true. You're going to notice when I get to these teachings of Aaron, we're not going to hit him super deep because he literally takes the mission plan of Ammon and he teaches the king the exact same thing. I want to pick back up with Ammon and King Lemona as they're traveling to go and release Aaron and the others from prison. And you know, as they're

traveling along the way in verse seven, and he said, or King Lamoni said into Ammon, come, I will go with thee to the land of Medonai. And there I will plead with the king that he will cast thy brother out of prison. And in verse eight it says, and it came to pass that as Ammon and Lamoni were journeying thither, they met the father of Lamoni who was king over all the land. Lamoni and his father begin to have this interaction. The king of the Lamanites, he looks at Lamoni, he says, why did you miss the feast? Lamoni begins to try to explain to him some of the incredible things that have been happening

to him and in his kingdom. I was unconscious, I literally could not make it. As he begins to explain that, the king of the Lamanites, King Lamoni's father looks and he sees Ammon and we see in verse 10 and he said, whither art thou going with this Nephite who is one of the children of a liar? And it's in this moment Ammon steps into the story and he begins to converse with the king. I want to jump down to verse 17. It says, but Ammon stood forth and said unto him, behold thou shalt not slay thy son. Nevertheless it were better that he should fall than thee, for behold he has repented of his sins, but if thou shouldest fall at this time in thine anger thy soul should

not be saved. And again it is expeding that thou shouldest forbear, for if thou shouldest slay thy son, he being an innocent man, his blood would cry from the ground to the Lord his God, for vengeance to come upon me, and perhaps thou wouldst lose thy soul. And when Ammon had said these words unto him, he answered him, saying, I know that if I should slay my son, that I should shed innocent blood, for it is thou who has sought to destroy him. The king pulls out his sword. Ammon pulls out his sword in defense, and they begin to fight. pulls out his sword in defense and they begin to fight. We see in verse 20, and he stretched forth his hand to slay Ammon, but Ammon withstood his blows and also smote his arm that he could not use it. Again, Ammon goes back to those tactics, whether it's the sword or whether

it's the actual arm, but the king could no longer fight. And in this moment when the king realizes that Ammon has all of the power, Ammon can do anything in this moment when the king realizes that Ammon has all of the power, Ammon can do anything in this moment, the king begins to plead unto him. And I think it's interesting in verse 23, what the king of the Lamanites offers to Ammon in this moment. It says, Now the king fearing that he should lose his life said, if that will spare me, I will grant unto thee whatsoever that will ask, even to half of the kingdom." I've often thought about if I were Ammon, what would I choose in that moment? He could take half of the kingdom of the Lamanites, but again, it's in this moment that the goodness of Ammon shines forth. In verse 24, it says,

now when Ammon saw that he had wrought upon the old king according to his desire, he said unto him, if thou will grant that my brethren be cast out of prison, and also that Lamoni may retain his kingdom, and that ye be not displeased with him, but grant that he may do according to his own desires, and whatsoever thing he thinketh, then I will spare thee, otherwise I will smite thee to the earth." Now when Ammon had said these words, the king began to rejoice because of his life. And I love what it says here in verse 26 Again, it reflects the goodness of Ammon and the impact

that a good loving wonderful human being can have on another it says and when he saw that Ammon had no desire to destroy him and When he saw the great love which he had for his son, Lamoni He was astonished exceedingly and said, Because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would release thy brethren and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom. Behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom.

For this time and forever I will govern him no more." It's that wonderful idea of what really changes Lamoni's father is Ammon's love for Lamoni. I don't think that Ammon wants to be the focus of the story. I really don't. In every moment when Ammon is able to reflect on and talk about the greatness of their experience, he always turns to the goodness and wonderment of God. But it is the goodness of Ammon that often changes hearts. And in this moment, the king of the Lamanites allows Ammon to go and free his brothers from prison and then he asks him to come and teach him because of the goodness of Ammon.

All three of us are almost products of President Hinkley. And I remember him saying, our kindness may be the most persuasive argument for that which we believe. I remember that moment. I wrote it down. Our kindness may be the most persuasive argument for that which we believe. Yeah. I'm going to get the details wrong or there may be something that I forget. Personally, my family's been impacted by the kindness of a believer. My grandpa wasn't a member of the church when he married my grandma. Actually,

my grandpa was pretty resistive to the church. My grandma tells stories of how the missionaries or how the home teachers would come over to the house and my grandpa would chase them away because he didn't want to become a Latter-day Saint. But it was a bishop that was called that I can't even remember his name, but I could remember my grandma before she passed away talking about this incredible bishop who loved my grandfather, loved him unconditionally, who really began to make significant changes in the life of my grandpa. My grandma told me one day that this bishop came over to the house and looked at my grandpa and said, hey, we need to talk about… My dad wasn't baptized at this point. He and his older brother

weren't baptized. And the bishop said, hey, I want to talk to you about baptizing your boys. And my grandma can remember my grandpa and this bishop walking up and down the block for a significant amount of time. And finally, my grandpa came into the home and said, okay, the boys can be baptized. But it was this bishop that also came to my grandpa and he said, look, I know you don't love the church, but you love your boys. So are you willing to serve as a scout leader in the church? And all you need to do is you need to take your sons and their friends camping and fishing and hunting and those other things. And my grandpa was willing to do that.

It was over the course of time of this incredible bishop loving my grandfather that brought my grandpa into the church as well as the love of my grandma. Sometimes I look at it as Latter-day Saints as we talk about this idea of being great member missionaries. And sometimes we don't know exactly what we can do. And there have been moments that I've felt similarly. I didn't know exactly what I could do, but I've realized that I can love people. I can be a good neighbor. I can be a loving neighbor. I can serve my neighbors, not with the thought in mind that I'm going to help convert them to the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

but in those moments that they may not be receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I can treat them like Christ would. And over the years, our family's been able to see some beautiful experiences where people have come into the church. It all started with just a friendship relationship. You don't see Ammon saying, well, I better be nice because, you know, I'm trying to get them to be converted to the church. It's just who he is. It is. It just exudes from him. Like what King Benjamin said, you will not have mine to injure one another. He's not saying don't have a mind to injure one another.

He's saying when you're born again, you will not have mine to injure one another. When you're changed by the atonement, all these things will come naturally. It's not a formula. It's who you are. will come naturally. It's not a formula. It's who you are. Interesting, Brian. I've never seen that verse 19 where Lamoni's father said, it is you. You're trying to destroy him. Isn't that interesting that missionaries are often seen that way? You're trying to hurt my child. You're trying to steal them away. You're trying to make them a Mormon. You're the problem." And then he's like, wait, maybe not. Yeah. So when I worked out of the church office building, I had some pretty

incredible experiences. One day I went to the mailbox and there was a letter from the office of the first presidency. And I looked, but it was my four-year-old daughter, my youngest daughter's name. She was four years old at the time from President Uchtdorf. I want those types of letters to come to my family, not some of these others. Wow, she had just written to him? I was in his office. We were just talking in between things. He gave a general conference talk where he talked about three sisters. He said, sad, mad, and glad. And he shares the story of these three sisters. And I mentioned to President Uchtdorf at that time that my four-year-old had taught his talk for family home evening. It was a little four-year-old in color to picture. And he said, I want that picture. I said, okay. So I brought it in, it was still hanging on our

fridge. And I just gave Elder Uchtdorf's administrative assistant. I thought that was kind of the end of it. And then that's why the letter came in. How often were you chatting with apostles in between meetings? Often enough that I had some incredible experiences, but not often. Boy, I bet. That sounds kind of fun. When Ammon has this moment where he overpowers the king, what is the king willing to give up in order for Ammon to spare his life in that moment? Half of the kingdom. That's verse 23. Half of the kingdom CB I love now going to chapter 22. This is the moment that Ammon doesn't go and teach the

king of the Lamanites, but his brother Aaron does. And as he walks in, we begin to see a similar experience that played out within the life of King Lamoni. It's fascinating and beautiful for me to see what the king is now willing to give up, not in order for his life to be spared, but in order to come to know God. You see, as Aaron goes and he begins to teach the King of the Lamanite people, he really does take the lesson plan of Ammon. I want you to look in verse seven. As Aaron begins teaching the King of the Lamanites in chapter 22, and Aaron answered him and said unto him, believe Believe thou there is a God. Remember, Ammon asked the exact same question to King Lamoni. He begins with this idea of God. And the king of the Lamanites said, I know that the Amalekites say there is a God,

and I have granted unto them that they should build sanctuaries, that they may assemble themselves together to worship him. And if thou sayest there is a God, behold, I will believe." And then in verse 8, and now when Aaron heard this, his heart began to rejoice and he said, Behold assuredly, as thou livest, O King, there is a God. And the King said, is God that great spirit? Again, it's almost the exact same interchange or exchange that happens between King Lamoni and Ammon that Aaron now has with Lamoni's father. And in verse 10, and Aaron said, yeah, he is the great spirit. And he begins to then step into the important pillars of the plan of salvation because like

we previously discussed, they help us to know the nature of who God is. Verse 10, as Aaron begins to teach the king that God is the creator of all things, both in heaven and earth. In verse 11, and he said, Yea, I believe that the great spirit created all things, and I desire that thou should tell me concerning all things, and I will believe thy words. Aaron, as he begins to teach the king all things, he begins to build off that truth that there is a God and that he is our Creator, that he is our Father. Then notice in verse 12, what does he begin to teach? After he's taught the creation, he then begins to teach the fall. Then you go into verse 13, and Aaron

did expound unto him the Scriptures from the creation of Adam, laying the fall before him and their carnal state. And after he teaches the doctrine of the creation laying the fall before him and their carnal state and after he teaches the doctrine of the creation and the fall in verse 13 he then begins to teach of the the atonement the plan of redemption yep yep and in verse 14 and since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself but the sufferings and the death of Christ atone for their sins through faith and repentance and And then we get this beautiful moment as the King begins to understand who God is and more importantly who he is in relation to the King, that he is God's son. I love what the King is willing to offer up in verse 15. It says, and it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the King

said, what shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? As a reminder, he's willing to give up half of the kingdom in order to save his life in that moment when Ammon overpowers him. But as you look at the end of verse 15, look at what he's willing to give up in order to have eternal life. He says, Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom that I may receive this great joy." Then he continues, and he says, not only am I willing to give up my kingdom to come to

know God in order to receive the incredible blessings that my Heavenly Father has for me. In verse 18, he begins to exercise faith and to plead his heart out to God. And he says in his prayer, Oh God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God, and if there is a God, and if thou art God, will thou make myself known unto me? And then this beautiful line, And I will give away all my sins to know thee. As we go back to what we taught earlier in the podcast of what repentance truly is. Repentance is coming to see who God truly is and who we are as His children and that we're willing to bring our life back in

alignment with God in order to know Him and to follow Him. This is what this King is willing to do in this moment. This King in His desire to know God and to connect with God is willing to give away everything he has in his life that is stopping or inhibiting him from knowing God. I think in our own lives that often as we read that verse and as we think of sins, obviously we think of the Ten Commandments and we think of the thou shalt nots and it's vital that we do that. But the invitation that I would give us is to think about what are some of those things in our lives that are stopping us from having a relationship with our Heavenly Father? What are those things that are stopping us from giving time to Him? What are those things that

are maybe getting in the way of stopping us from spending time in His house or in spending time on our knees with Him? We should think of those big commandments that are given to us and rightfully so. My invitation that I have is, are there any other things in life that are stopping us from knowing God and following Him? And are we willing to act in faith like the King and to give away those things so that we can know God, our loving Heavenly Father? What a great cross-reference there. Alma 20, 23, I'll give you half my kingdom. I can't give you the whole thing, right? He has some serious love, it sounds like, for his material

things, his land, his power, the power of God. Once he's taught, I'll give up everything. I'll give up all that I possess. Doesn't that seem like a theme for Mormon who's writing this story? To say the sword is powerful, but the word, the word is even more powerful. Like you said, Brian, if we can put ourselves or those we're teaching in this position where they feel the spirit of who they are by being taught the plan of redemption, we come to the point where we're willing to say, I'll give up this or that or this so I can experience what you're talking about. Over the course of my career as a religious educator, I think even as a parent, the things that I've taught my kids, I mean, how many times have I taught lessons about chastity

or how many times have I taught lessons about appropriate entertainment or how many times have I taught lessons about honesty, the way that we treat other people, honesty or those other things? And I'm not saying those lessons aren't important, but when I think for myself in my own personal life, what causes me to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? What causes me to be true to covenant? It's because of my relationship with God.

This past semester in one of my classes, we were talking of some of these hard things. And one of my students raised their hand in a moment of courage and said, how can you stay faithful? How can you stay faithful when it's so hard at times? I took a moment and I thought about it and I said, I stay faithful because I love God and I know God loves me. And I'm willing to stay faithful in hard times. And when he asks hard things of me, not because I necessarily love those hard things, or not necessarily because I see why He's asking me to do those things, but I continue to walk the covenant path because of God and I love my Heavenly Father.

One of the beautiful lessons that we learn in all of these chapters, again, I love the story of Ammon chopping off the arms. I love that part of the story. I still do. But the power in these chapters come to me now as I see how people's lives change as they truly come to know God. That He's a very personal, loving Father. That He's our Creator. That He created this plan because of His love for us. That as we exercise agency that may lead us away from Him, that He still loves us and provides a way through the Atonement of Jesus Christ for us to return to Him, that His greatest work is to bring about our immortality and eternal life. That's the type of loving Heavenly Father that I can place faith and trust in throughout my life.

That is wonderful. Brian, don't you think one of the major takeaways from this lesson needs to be, teach the plan of salvation, teach those three pillars. Creation, Fall, Atonement. And tying back to the beginning of our lesson, in order to teach those, you have to know them. They search the scriptures diligently. For what? Three things, probably. Creation, Fall, Atonement. And out of those three, Latter-day Saints, I would say most don't understand the Fall. Frequently speak of the Atonement and we go to the temple and we learn about creation, but the Fall, that middle pillar, is crucial. It's a critical point for the other two. Both Lamoni and his

father, they're in Act 2. They now understand where they are in the plan. They automatically look for Act 3, where's my happy ending? Where can I get out of this? That's the atonement, creation, fall, atonement. I bet if I went to my children and asked them, creation, fall, atonement, I think the fall would be the one they don't understand. I don't know if I teach that as a parent in an understandable way. What was the President Benson's statement? Just as a man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ. And no one knows why he needs Christ until he understands the doctrine of the fall and

its effect upon all mankind and no book in the world explains the Fall as well as the Book of Mormon. Alma 22 18 is is it wrong to have a top ten lit? I mean this is one of my favorite verses. I think you've probably spoken at more standards nights than I have but I have always used this because first of all what Brian taught us so beautifully is our identity. I want to know God. This is life eternal that they may know Thee, the only true God. Here's King Lamoni's father praying, will thou make thyself known unto me, like that verse in John, this is life eternal that I might know Thee the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And then that phrase, and notice King Lamoni's father didn't say, and how bad can I be and

still know thee? That's a mindset that we get even with the new, for the strength of youth, a guide to making choices. It's not minimums of behavior. It's a doctrines of discipleship. It's not how good do I have to be to know thee? Oh, King Lamoni's father here is, what do I do? I will give away all my sins to know thee. And you guys think it's possible to be born again before you've even been baptized? Because he sounds like he's willing to give it all away. The only thing we can really give to God is something

he would never take. God doesn't need half the kingdom. But here King Lamone's father says I'll give away all my sins. I love what you've done, Brian. It will help me because I'll understand who I am, my identity. Beautiful. True doctrine. Understood. Changes attitudes and behavior. And that's exactly what happens here. Brian, let's say I'm a young parent and I'm listening to the podcast, or I'm a grandparent and I'm folding laundry, or I'm out mowing the lawn, or I'm on a bike ride. I need some practical takeaways. What do I do? I've loved what you taught me. Now what do I do? Therefore what? CB. That great question from President Packer, therefore what? Yeah. One of the most significant thoughts that comes to mind as a parent or as a

grandparent, there are so many things that we have to do for our children and grandchildren. There are so many things that we want them to know and there are so many things that we have to do for our children and grandchildren. There are so many things that we want them to know and there are so many things that we want them to understand. But I think one of the most important things that will help them to continually remember is their identity as a child of a very loving Heavenly Father. Every night as a parent, one of the things that I try to do is to go into my kids' bedrooms and to sit with them and to try to talk with them. But one of the questions that I always ask is, have you said your prayers to your Heavenly Father at night? Have you talked to God?

That's one of the most significant things that can happen is that we help to remind them of their identity of a very loving Heavenly Father. Another thought that's important is that we remember the importance of learning by both study and faith. These sons of Messiah are incredible missionaries and we look to them as an example. It's that idea of doing small and simple things consistently throughout my life that have had the greatest impact on my discipleship. It's remembering the small and simple things of these simple acts of daily prayer.

It's the simple acts of reading scriptures. I know sometimes in the busyness of the day, I get down on my knees at night and I feel like I haven't had time to do many of these things. But it's trying to do these small and simple things consistently that lead to this incredible power in teaching the Word of God. CB Yeah. RL One last thought that I would add to that is remember the length of this mission. These sons of Messiah are gone for 14 years. And I think as a parent or as a grandparent, we naturally worry. And I think it's part of our

role as parents to worry. But be patient in God's timing that God provides incredible things. As you look at the stories, you look at the conversion of these people. Over the course of time, God has prepared incredible people to step into the Lamanites' lives to bring this about. The sons of Messiah went through an incredible change. And what does God do? He not only inspires them or creates this desire to teach the Nephites, they have this desire to go to the Lamanites. And so, they begin this mission experience. So, we've talked about this incredible woman named Abish who the Lord has prepared years before that in this moment she's prepared to help testify of the power of God that's happening. Be patient, be willing to trust in God's timing, be willing to trust that God is preparing other people in order to help you in this parenting and

grandparenting role and then trust in the timing of God. That's wonderful. He's got the long view. Yeah, Joseph Smith said, the Lord has made ample provision for people's redemption. He's not worried. John. John, we both know there are parents and grandparents and sisters and brothers who are so concerned.

How is this child, friend, companion, even parent, how are they going to make it? It's never going to happen. Everyone said that about the Lamanites. Why are you even trying? It is never going to happen. Yet it does. So like Brian said, we trust, we're patient. It's a long game. Brian, thank you for spending your time with us today. Any time. Well, let's space it out a little bit, but yeah.

We know what I can do. We've been richly blessed. And this is Brian's first time on our podcast. We'd love to let him know where you're listening from. So if you have access to YouTube, come on to YouTube and tell Dr. Mead, Hey, I'm listening from this place. It doesn't have to be some far away grand place. It can be where's it Brian? Mountain Green, Utah. It'll be nice to know if there's somebody more than just my parents listening to this.

In Mountain Green. In Mountain Green. That's awesome. With that, we'd like to thank Dr. Brian Mead for being with us today. It has been a blessing for both John and I and I know for everyone listening. We want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sorensen, our sponsors, David and Verla Sorensen, and every episode we honor our founder, Steve Sorensen, our sponsors, David and Verla Sorensen, and every episode, we honor our founder, Steve Sorensen. We hope you'll join us next week. We have

more of the Book of Alma coming up on Follow Him. Before you skip to the next episode, I have some important information. This episode's transcript and show notes are available on our website, followhim.co. On our website, you'll also find our two free books, Finding Jesus Christ in the Old Testament and Finding Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Both books are full of short and powerful quotes and insights from all our episodes from the Old and New Testaments. The digital copies of these books are absolutely free. You can watch the podcast on YouTube. Also, our Facebook and Instagram accounts have videos and extras you won't find anywhere else. If you'd like to know how you can help us, if you could subscribe to, rate, review, and comment on

the podcast, that will make us easier to find. Of course, none of this could happen without our incredible production crew. David Perry, Lisa Spice, Jamie Nilsen, Will Stoughton, Crystal Roberts, Ariel Cuadra, and Annabel Sorensen. Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Turn to Him. Follow Him.