Alma 19

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20yellowblue 2/14 Green 4/21 orange 7/22 Brown 8/23.)

Chapter 19

Lamoni receives the light of everlasting life and sees the Redeemer—His household falls into a trance, and many see angels—Ammon is preserved miraculously—He baptizes many and establishes a church among them. About 90 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that after two days and two nights they were about to take his ^abody and lay it in a sepulchre, which they had made for the purpose of burying their dead.
  2 Now the queen having heard of the fame of Ammon, therefore she sent and desired that he should come in unto her. I guess Ammon had been allowed to leave. I wonder why it took 2 days for the Queen to call for him? Just now thinking about how Lamoni offered his daughter to Ammon to wife without consulting with the Queen...just how things were then, I guess. She also hadn’t met Ammon yet. Her life seemed to be pretty separate from the King’s daily affairs.
  3 And it came to pass that Ammon did as he was commanded, and went in unto the queen, and desired to know what she would that he should do. Did he already know?
  4 And she said unto him: The ^aservants of my husband have made it known unto me that thou art a ^bprophet of a holy God, and that thou hast ^cpower to do many mighty works in his name;
  5 Therefore, if this is the case, I would that ye should go in and see my husband, for he has been laid upon his bed for the space of two days and two nights; and some say that he is not dead, but others say that he is dead and that he ^astinketh, and that he ought to be placed in the sepulchre; were only kings placed in sepulcher and the rest buried in the ground? but as for myself, to me he doth not stink.
  6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark ^aveil of ^bunbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the ^clight which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had ^dovercome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God—Did he know this because this is what had happened to Alma? If this conversion experience would have the same effect on others of God’s children, how is it fair that Lamoni got it? Especially since he was responsible for the death of others. There must be forgiveness in this life if God deems your murdering a product of not knowing any better? Clearly, God has a purpose in converting Lamoni and he knows Lamoni will respond. I hope God has some miraculous experiences coming to help wake others up unto Christ, who would respond to such experiences. I think now this is a Born Again experience we can all have, for God is no respecter of persons. How exactly is God "no respecter" of persons? Does it really mean we can all have the "same" experiences, or just that we can all have the same "salvation". For a person cannot go back and change the circumstances of the their birth. Maybe it applies to spiritual knowledge, but how we get that knowledge may differ?
  7 Therefore, what the queen desired of him was his only desire. Therefore, he went in to see the king according as the queen had desired him; and he saw the king, and he knew that he was not dead.
  8 And he 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. Why did he have to wait til the morning? Is there something necessary about “3 days” with God? Did Ammon know this or did God reveal it to him in that moment? Was it a test of the queen’s faith?
  9 And Ammon said unto her: ^aBelievest thou this? And she said unto him: I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I ^bbelieve that it shall be according as thou hast said.
 10 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 ^aNephites. Jesus said, “Blessed art thou because thou hast seen. But more blessed are those who believe and have not seen.” This woman had seen nothing that the Nephites had or anything that would make her “know” anything. But she had a believing heart and was willing to trust.
 11 And it came to pass that she watched over the bed of her husband, from that time even until that time on the morrow which Ammon had appointed that he should rise. Sounds like she really loved him. Remember Jacob told the Nephite men that the Lamanites loved their families and were faithful to them.
 12 And it came to pass that he arose, according to the words of Ammon; and as he arose, he stretched forth his hand unto the woman, and said: Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou.
 13 For as sure as thou livest, behold, I have ^aseen my Redeemer; In person or in vision? Is this recorded in the Book of Alma?  and he shall come forth, and be ^bborn of a ^cwoman, and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name. Now, when he had said these words, his heart was swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit. What is this like? Why does it happen?  
 14 Now Ammon seeing the Spirit of the Lord poured out according to his ^aprayers upon the Lamanites, his brethren, who had been the cause of so much mourning among the Nephites, or among all the people of God because of their iniquities and their ^btraditions, he fell upon his knees, and began to pour out his soul in prayer and thanksgiving to God for what he had done for his brethren; and he was also overpowered with ^cjoy; and thus they all three had ^dsunk to the earth.
 15 Now, when the servants of the king had seen that they had fallen, they also began to cry unto God, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them also, for it was ^athey who had stood before the king and testified unto him concerning the great power of Ammon.
 16 And it came to pass that they did call on the name of the Lord, in their might, even until they had all fallen to the earth, save it were one of the Lamanitish ^awomen, whose name was Abish, she having been converted unto the Lord for many years, on account of a remarkable vision of her father—There is a great story here. You have a Lamanite woman who lived secretly converted by a vision her father had many years before. Was he converted too? How did she go on with this knowledge and not share it? Fear? Patience? What was the vision?
 17 Thus, having been converted to the Lord, and never having made it ^aknown, therefore, when she saw that all the servants of Lamoni had ^bfallen to the earth, and also her mistress, the queen, and the king, and Ammon lay ^cprostrate upon the earth, she knew that it was the power of God; and supposing that this opportunity, by making known unto the people what had happened among them, that by beholding this scene it would ^dcause them to believe in the power of God, therefore she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people.
 18 And they began to assemble themselves together unto 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.
 19 And now the people began to murmur among themselves; some saying that it was a great evil that had come upon them, or upon the king and his house, because he had suffered that the Nephite should ^aremain in the land. And offered his daughter in marriage to him???
 20 But others rebuked them, saying: The king hath brought this evil upon his house, because he slew his servants who had had their flocks scattered at the ^awaters of Sebus.
 21 And they were also rebuked by those men who had stood at the waters of Sebus and ^ascattered the flocks which belonged to the king, for they were angry with Ammon because of the number which he had slain of their brethren at the waters of Sebus, while defending the flocks of the king. Had they done their scattering without anyone knowing it was them?
 22 Now, one of them, whose brother had been ^aslain 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. This will happen again to anyone who tries to slay the 2 prophets who will bring in Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years. (until the end when they will be slain and lay dead - or so people think...  for 3 days and then arise again)
 23 Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for the ^aLord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare him, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith—therefore, Mosiah ^btrusted him unto the Lord. God never goes back on His word...and Mosiah must have never waivered in his faith.
 24 And it came to pass that when the multitude beheld that the man had fallen dead, who lifted the sword to slay Ammon, ^afear came upon them all, and they durst not put forth their hands to touch him or any of those who had fallen; and they began to marvel again among themselves what could be the cause of this great power, or what all these things could mean.
 25 And it came to pass that there were many among them who said that Ammon was the ^aGreat Spirit, and others said he was sent by the Great Spirit;
 26 But others rebuked them all, saying that he was a ^amonster, who had been sent from the Nephites to torment them. This is a funny "story"
 27 And there were some who said that Ammon was sent by the Great Spirit to afflict them because of their iniquities; and that it was the Great Spirit that had always attended the Nephites, who had ever delivered them out of their hands; and they said that it was this Great Spirit who had destroyed so many of their brethren, the Lamanites. They say it like God is just "a" Great Spirit but not THE God...but part of their tradition handed down is that the Nephites are always delivered in their wars.
 28 And thus the contention began to be exceedingly sharp among them. And while they were thus contending, the ^awoman servant who had caused the multitude to be gathered together came, and when she saw the contention which was among the multitude she was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto tears. I would feel this way too...
 29 And it came to pass that she went and took the queen by the ^ahand, she wasn't afraid to touch them 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 ^bawful hell! O blessed God, have ^cmercy on this people! Is this the blessing that comes to those who would accept the truth if they just knew where to find it? Does God grant this kind of miracle to those souls who would believe? I hope so. I hope these kinds of miracles are coming. We all need this kind of saving! We all need to know and feel the reality of the awful hell that Jesus saves us from.
 30 And when she had said this, she clasped her hands, being filled with joy, speaking many words which were not understood; speaking in tongues but no interpreter? and when she had done this, she took the king, Lamoni, by the hand, and behold he arose and stood upon his feet.
 31 And he, immediately, seeing the contention among his people, went forth and began to rebuke them, and to teach them the ^awords which he had heard from the mouth of Ammon; and as many as heard his words believed, and were converted unto the Lord.
 32 But there were ^amany among them who would not hear his words; therefore they went their way. I'm assuming those who scattered the flocks would not stay to listen. Or, it's just saying those who opened themselves up to believe (heard) did believe. And others who heard, but were not open did not believe. 
 33 And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been ^achanged; that they had no more desire to do ^bevil. Truly "born again"

From the powerful talk,  The Merciful Obtain Mercy by Pres. Uchtdorf, comes these guiding words:

"This “mighty change”⁸ of heart is exactly what the gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to bring into our lives.

How is it done?

Through the love of God.

When our hearts are filled with the love of God, something good and pure happens to us. We “keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.”⁹

The more we allow the love of God to govern our minds and emotions—the more we allow our love for our Heavenly Father to swell within our hearts—the easier it is to love others with the pure love of Christ. As we open our hearts to the glowing dawn of the love of God, the darkness and cold of animosity and envy will eventually fade."

Again, how is it done?

Alma 31:5 “the virtue of the word of God,” which has a “more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than … anything else.”^{1
So the question for each of us is: Will you hear?}

34 And behold, many did declare unto the people that they had seen ^aangels and had conversed with them; and thus they had told them things of God, and of his righteousness. I love that others had these visitation when they probably had not anticipated it or prayed for it.
 35 And it came to pass that there were many that did ^abelieve in their words; and as many as did believe were baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a church among them.
 36 And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his ^aSpirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to ^ball people who will repent and believe on his name. This is truly a miracle. They got angels? Visions? Wow!