Come Follow Me Alma 17-22 (June 22-28)

okay hi everybody I am David Butler I'm Emily Freeman welcome to don't miss this we're so happy you're here happy summertime unless you're in Australia then it's winter there they're still happy yeah they're happy in winter but somebody texted me the other day and they're like you keep saying happy summer at the beginning of all the lessons and we're in the middle of winter so happy winter Australia New Zealand and South Africa yes let's show everyone the board right now so you can see it take a screenshot because there's so many things going on and we're gonna actually try and tell you the words on the board too because they might be written so small and for those listed on podcast we will try to be really good about saying the verses and everything as you go through but the verses are on the study guide sheet and then we'll try and same as we go through also all right this is Alma 17 through 22 you're gonna love this one for this fact sometimes there are such good lists in Scripture and lists can be really powerful and we're gonna do three separate lists today of things that are just gonna help us be better people so that's what you're gonna be watching happening is these powerful lists that just become patterns that help us become better yeah for sure so if you notice at the beginning of Alma 17 it says this is the section little chunk is Alma 17 through 27 so warm and kind of like tells this big story in ten chapters remember he just got done with this other story of Alma and the knee fight Reformation and happening at the same time was a man and his story people are gonna be so worried that you said it goes through 27 and it only goes through 26 really but just know it's 27 that is wrong they updated it in the electronic and it's actually 27 oh good okay so the good lesson 27 don't worry right 27 and then the new scriptures go through 20 yeah so this is they happen at the same time Alma is like teachings and ammon's teachings all happen at the same time it's so cute because Alma 17 starts with the reunion so it starts like Alma's ending and then he meets up with Amman and all that crew and then it's gonna flashback to what was happening in Amin's people but like the reunion is so darling because they come back together and they're so happy in verse 2 and it's like we were so happy to see each other again I remember feeling this like coming home from as a missionary and getting back together with my group of friends again and how neat it was everybody was all over the world and then all coming back together like I think all returned missionaries like love this verse too because they're just the Oh have you ever sat with all a group of friends and just listen to them do two years of catch up yeah yeah yeah it's fun to go around and do that one thing I love about that verse too before we get into these lists though I just remember it is I love that they are just happy to see each other first and then second they're double happy because they're all still in the Lord yeah and it's so cute it says still his brethren in the Lord yeah it's just I like I like that for two reasons one I like that he's happy to see them no matter where they're at in their relationship with God like number one I'm just so happy to see you that is so awesome and then second he finds out that they are strong in the Lord and I love that phrase that they're strong I mean his brethren yeah and the Lord and I kind of just like the emphasis that is not like they're active in the church but he's just like I love that they're like active with their relationship with the Lord you know that's such an emphasis okay here's the three list so we're gonna talk about so we're gonna flashback to Amman you remember Amman and his brothers are all gonna go into laminate territory and it's so funny because it's funny that the dad and all the people don't want them to go and how different today today like all dads and all your neighbors want you to go on missions and back here it's funny because like we all don't want you to go we want you to stay and be the kings instead but you remember they choose they want to go into this place and they're going to go in the Lamanites and everyone's nervous because the Lamanites have a reputation for being hateful toward the Nephites and killing me fights and and it's just like but they are just so pumped to go and this this story is so I mean it's like what it's like one of our like big what do you see it like as a church like it's one of our like big stories that we love so much but you love about it that it's it really is gonna teach you about reconciliation it's gonna teach you about loving big that's every one of these stories is a story about loving outside the lines it's a story about crossing cultural divides in so many different ways and there's just lessons that are so applicable right now even to where we are and to what's going on right right and you love the Ammon and his brothers or ones that are like I'm we're gonna walk outside the lines and they are gonna be the ones that are gonna allow God to do his reconciliation with write words like on one side I mean when you meet King Lamoni father he's just like this is a son of a liar we don't have anything to do with these people and then you remember Amin's dad was like don't go among those people they'll never listen they're not our people and you love that these boys are like we somebody's gotta cross the lines yeah somebody's gotta like break this and we're gonna watch it happen as a missionary as a teacher and as a witness of Jesus Christ and we're all those things so it's so awesome because we're gonna be able to see those patterns and we're gonna start with the mark of a missionary and before we even jump in I just I wanted to talk about this because I had the most interesting experience when grace came home from her mission and she was released and any of you who have served a mission or any of you who are parents and have watched a child to come home and be released you know there is something about taking out this name tag and it it makes tears come every single time cute grace just soft when she took off her nametag and our state present was so cute because he had us we did it on a zoom meeting because of the way the world is right now and so we were sitting on either side of Grace and she took her nametag off and then she just buried her head in my shoulder and just sobbed and then he said the neatest thing he said you think this is the mark of a missionary but it isn't and then he said this that oh it's time to don't miss this time the mark of a missionary is how you live your life after your mission that's the mark of a missionary and I thought that is so interesting to think about did did your mission leave its mark on you and is it gonna affect how you live your life every single day even when this isn't on when you're not wearing this every day it was such a powerful idea just to think about even though we're talking about missionary boys right here and the mark of a missionary it should be the mark of all of us what we're talking about right yeah I've always thought it's interesting that you know we wear the name of Christ over our hearts but what's important is did that name get into our hearts and as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints or as Christians we bear the name of Christ you know like in our title but is it on our insights right is the powerful question so that's what we think about this so this first section the marks of a mighty missionary did you have to say this again I know you've said it before but Clayton Christensen in his book the power of everyday missionaries that definition at the beginning of what a missionary is is it somebody who takes someone else by the hand and introduces them to Jesus like that is my favorite definition of what a missionary means by far so here they are here's what we found and you'll find other ones starting in Alma chapter 17 in verse 2 when they all jump back together again and they're so happy it says in there that they waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth so that's number one is they waxed strong in the knowledge of truth and I love thinking about like when you go to Nauvoo or like like Williamsburg or something and you make your own candles you know I love that idea of waxing strong in truth is an idea of being dipped in truth again and again and again and again and that is what helps somebody to wax strong in truth and it might be great to even ask the question like man what's that mean to wax like what particular truth are you being dipped in and spoiler alert I think we're gonna find that the greatest truth you can be dipped in again and again is the story of redemption and the story of the goodness and the mercy of God and so that's number one wax strong and truth the next one's in verse three and it says they gave themselves too much prayer and fasting which is so powerful and we could go on forever and ever about that but maybe the thing we love most about that is how important a relationship with God was to these boys like that's what me Adam is like how did that name get on the inside well they spent time talking with him and they spent time fasting to like draw closer and learn his will and know his ways and you love that they repeat that thought of prayer and fasting over and over again not just in one verse as an aside but it actually was a part of how they lived yeah and not just I mean and I was thinking about how Jesus says that the disciples remember when he's just like this only comes by much prayer and yeah fasting it's his pattern it's one that he lived we seen hints of it in the New Testament where he was I had to go away and spend that time in communion and not as like a habit of Christians but as a form of worship yeah okay number three which is actually in verse six is we chose the phrase refuse the kingdom remember the dad and all the people wanted them to be kings this is what you want you to do in your life but something that makes somebody a mighty missionary is they refuse things there are things in their life that they say no to and there are things in their life that they sacrifice and yeah and I love this thought that every time we say no it is a yes to something else and that is the power of saying no to something is what does it leave room to actually say yes to that's so awesome so that's verse six refused the kingdom okay the next one is in verse nine this is all in Alma 17 verse nine there it is again you're pointing out the big fasting and prayer fast and much prayed much and it says that the Lord would grant to them a portion of his spirit to go with them I love that phrase like I can I just have a portion yes of your spirit as as one of our companions to go with us but we love connecting that with the idea of be that they might be an instrument in the hands of God that those two ideas are tied to each other that I want to be an instrument in his hands and the way that's going to happen is by having a portion of his spirit we've kind of talked about this a little bit before but we want to mention it again here because it's such a good object lesson to think about lots of times we pray that we could be an instrument in the hands of God we are that's what we pray for I just want to be an instrument and use me as an instrument and it's so interesting because in order for them to be an instrument it tells us they had to pray for a portion of the Spirit to go with them and I just want to think about the correlation between those two things for a minute you might remember this violin from before this is Greg's mom's violin from when she was little and I love getting this out sometimes when I'm teaching youth because I will ask if there is a violin player in the room and then I'll have them come up and I'll pull the violin out of its box and I have the bow and then the violin is not in good repair if you look closely what do you say that about the violin I'm gonna say that next time someone looks all ratchet and ugly and the truth about this is you can't turn it I've even had some girls tries to tune it and so they could try and attempt to play it and it's just it can't be tuned and as you think about it it isn't in internment it is this is an instrument but it can't be used right now and I think to myself it doesn't matter how hard you had practiced to use this or prepared or how many people were there to watch the performance if you pulled this out and try to use it it's not gonna work because it's not in tune and it can't be tuned and the thought of if we want to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord then maybe what we need to start praying for is a portion of his spirit and then to be in tune with that spirit and it's those two things that are gonna allow us to be an instrument in his hands and so lately well for years since I got this violin and rice it couldn't be played its I've changed my prayers and instead of praying to be an instrument I I do pray regularly help me to be in tune so that I can be used so that I can be on his errand and the happy news that you're gonna see in all of this story is that unlike violence people can always be made into you know like they're we're not like the touch of the master's hand yes and that could easily be repaired if taken to the right master yeah right it could be it could be made in tune which is the other thing I love about that is its potential is a hundred percent there it's actually its potential is greater because of how old it is and the worth of it and in the right hands what it could be made to become what you see with everybody who's in this right in this story like Amman Aaron like all the mone lemonis father were all at the beginning of their stories they looked like that and then they all become mighty witnesses that teachers and instrument essentially they become instruments but it is that process of praying for a portion of the spirit and then learning to live in tune that is going to allow that miraculous work to take place in us yeah okay the next one is in verse 11 and before we get into that I love in verse 10 that the first thing the Spirit says to them is be comforted and I learned this this summer while working on a project I was writing that the word comforter comes from Latin and it comes from come home Fortis which means like with strength and so I love the first thing to the missionaries is have strength and then in 11 he says now go forth among the Lamanites but I love what God calls the Lamanites in 11 verse 11 and it says he says thy brethren it's so beautiful to me that he said that everybody else said they are they're not your people they're not they're not like you they will hate you but what God calls them is your brothers so in verse 11 we wrote the principle to be a brother to see people as part of like they're your people yeah I like Cain asked that question at the beginning of Genesis its mankind's first question to God am I my brother's keeper and the rest of the scripture seems to answer it that the and it's yes with an explanation you love even when you read that story of Paul and Ananias remember when he walks into the room and the first thing he says that he calls him of everything he could have called him is brother and there's just something about that connection if we could remember that connection that might help smooth out a lot of things right and he tells them in verse 11 go and be good examples of me to them go be God says that to Adam and Eve right be image bearers of me live and look at people and love them the way I would and you love and 11 is where he tells them and then I will make an instrument of you in my hands and it's exactly what we were talking about that he can take that and he can make he can make us the instrument if we'll just be in tune and pray and do some of these things he'll be able to use us okay burst 12 is the next one and we have the phrase take courage and be kind just because Cinderella wants you to okay but it doesn't say be kind but you should okay so in 12 he says they took courage and they went forth among the Lamanites and I love it it says to declare unto them the Word of God and like I think it would have taken courage to actually go in to a people who did not we're not the same as you and had different thoughts and and maybe bad beats towards you and that would have required courage for sure but then I also think it's neat that it would have required courage for them to believe that God could change a people like that you know just like I have you know I have courage that that God can do a miraculous work which is so fun because in verse 13 it goes right into that and this is the next one and we love this one you love that they know they're doing something that hasn't been done before they know they're doing something unconventional they've heard everybody tell them what is not possible and they they know what they're getting into and I love when it says at the end of 13 they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken and then I loved the first line of 14 and assuredly it was great for they had undertaken to preach the Word of God to a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people people who delighted in murdering the Nephites and I love that they suppose their work was great and that's the the next one we want you to write down is we should enter into the work of the Lord supposing that it is great and that great things are gonna come of it yeah particularly and this comes up again and again and again the great things that happen on the insides of all of these people like the changes of hearts like I love that it mentions that they had wild and ferocious they were wild and ferocious people hardened like those are hard words and it's like Oh watch what God is going to do here yesterday I was talking with some missionaries over a zoom call thing and they asked what advice you give to missionaries and I'd actually had just read this verse 13 they had supposed that their their work was great and that was the advice that I wanted them to know I was like you have to know that your work actually matters like the work of hearts and the work of souls it matters and it has an impact and it is it's the greatest work it's God's work people are his greatest work and yeah oh yeah it's so important the very last one is verse 16 on our list and it is to teach the plan of redemption that their focus is on the redemption and mercy of Jesus Christ like yes there are these other things you can teach different doctrines do you know all the circles you can draw all the things but their intent and their focus was to teach that Redemption was possible for them and I actually love a little sneak peek if you go over to chapter 18 two verses I want to tie on to this chapter 18 verse 11 once a man does all of his like like fancy sword work by the riverside like cutting up it performs armed robbery in verse 11 King Lamoni thinks that Ammon is the Great Spirit he thinks he's God and he says I surely know that he is the Great Spirit now I know he's got and then he says I would desire that he would come in to me and he says but I Durst not I dare not and it and and I think oh how sad that King Lamoni thinks God is not a person who would want to come in unto him that he wouldn't be welcome in his presence and I love that a man gets the job to change that for King Lamoni and say oh once you know who he was you would dare go in unto him like boldly would go in unto him and I love that this the plan of redemption becomes the great unifier there because you have to groups of people who have come from the traditions of their fathers they could easily sit down and say this is how we were wronged this is how we were wrong this is the history this is the story this is what has happened this is what we're holding on to and yet the plan of redemption Jesus he's the great unifier he's he can erase all of the things and he's the one who makes that story work in all of these we're gonna watch it here with Ammon and King Lamoni but we're gonna also watch it with a bee-sh we're we're gonna see that keep happening that when Jesus is invited into the conversation then that's where the unifying and the healing can take place yeah and it's interesting where is it it's after he like wakes up from the oh okay okay okay how much chapter 18 verse 41 um it says Lamoni says he began to cry and to the Lord seeing oh lord have mercy according to thy abundant mercy which thou has had upon the people of Nephi have upon me and my people it's interesting that like that is what he gets out of whatever Amin's message was is God's been so merciful to your people and to you and I want him to be merciful that that's like that's how they related is like a man could have gone in and said hey I'm actually a prince I'm I'm royalty also and you're royalty that's how we could relate to each other but instead they both related with we are both people who've been redeemed you're both people that God has had mercy on yeah so awesome yeah I love that part of the lesson so there's all of the things the marks of a great missionary wax strong and truths much prayer and fasting refused the kingdom take a portion of his spirit so you can become an instrument be a brother take courage suppose your work is great and teach Redemption then we're gonna get into this moment where Ammon is going to go in so it tells us in I love when it says in verse 17 of chapter 17 therefore they separate themselves one for another and went forth among them every man alone according to the word empower of God which was given unto him which makes you so nervous because they're going into a place where people might not like them can you imagine sending your missionary aged child by himself without a companion or a mission president or anything into a place where people could hate and reject and all of the things that could happen and say I'd love that these boys are just like okay this is gonna be a great work and we're done we're done yeah and Ammon went to the land of Ishmael it tells us that's where he's gonna start and he is gonna add this moment of just great teaching and there are such good lessons in here this is what we want you to watch for we want you to watch how many things happen before a man actually opens his mouth and begins to teach that's what we want you to watch for because you think a great teacher is gonna stand up and deliver a great message and that's what makes a great teacher and Emin is gonna teach us that's not necessarily true because there are so many things that are gonna happen before Ammon actually ever opens his mouth which is so interesting because we just got done with several stories of member that was Alma's gift to be like a great like speaker and it just didn't go over super well you know everybody yeah all the said and then you have this story right next to it's a comparative psych sometimes this might be the best way to teach and so if you're in a situation where you feel like you've said everything you could say and nothing has come of it that you feel like you're trying to teach but you're up against not being able to make any headway this is a great place to go to also if you ever teach you the Sunday School this is one of my favorite places to be like okay show me again how is the best way to teach because when you walk it when animal walks into their kingdom he gets arrested day one that's what happens inside every classroom of youth you are arrest and you are a criminal the second you walk in like if you you just have to know you don't come in as a hero you come in as a criminal you are under their in their jail from day one so we're gonna just walk through and you're gonna see this list right here and we'll say the verses because I didn't write the verses here but so first we're gonna be in Chapter 17 still verse 25 remember when he comes and he's gonna talk to King Lamoni the first time and he tells him I have come to be your servant that's number one be a servant that's how he enters into this situation and it it remember as he becomes that servant he goes out he takes care of the sheep there's gonna be a lot of things that happen here and it's cool that he says in 23 and perhaps until the day I die yeah like what if that was like his intention was to be a servant and maybe never get a chance to teach right because remember God said to them at the beginning go be great examples of me and maybe a man thought well the best thing I could do to be the image bearer of God is serve until I die then you remember in verse 29 this is number two this is gonna be number two that we're gonna talk about and he says that he wants to restore the flocks to the king and the reason why he wants to do it is that I may win the hearts of these my fellow servants that I may lead them to believe in my words and we love that phrase win the hearts what is gonna be required of you as the teacher to win the hearts of the people and for every person it's gonna be different for King Lamoni his biggest need was someone was killing the Sheep we're killing his flocks that's where a man went show me the greatest need that's where I'm gonna do my work why because I'm trying to win the hearts and so as you're thinking in your situation what's the greatest need in that situation and how do you win the heart and what a great way to enter into like or any kind of relationship right where you want to have any sort of impact that you're like what do I need to teach them they're doing wrong yeah that's not how you start like how do I show them a better way no what if your first intention was how do I win their hearts you know it's funny that the Sheep gets scattered and all the servants cry and Ammon is so happy yeah like it's the same event that has very different emotional responses and what's gonna happen because of that whole experience happening he tells us there's gonna be a lot of verses in between that you can read but we get to verse 18 and it tells us that they said in chapter 18 chapter 18 verse 3 whether he's the Great Spirit or a man we do not know that he cannot be slain by the enemies of the King neither can they scatter the Kings flocks when he is with us because of his expert nests and great strength and then we love this flame therefore we know he is a friend to the king so that's the third thing that comes first he says I want to be a servant second he says I'm gonna win the hearts and the third thing that happens is he becomes a friend to the king all of this is taking all of these verses right you you expect Aven to go in on his mission day one and be like I have a message for you and so far were all these verses in and what has he done he's become a servant he's tried to win the hearts he wants to be a friend and in fact before you go on to the fourth one which is going to keep going on that thing I love connecting to that eighteen three verse twenty two three now you'll remember after Lamoni and all that Ammon is gonna go out with Lamoni and they meet Lamoni his dad on the road that's gonna happen this is a little spoiler alert of what's gonna happen and the thing that Lamone eyes dad is so astonished by when Aaron eventually comes to see him as he says Aaron can teach right away to King Lamoni his dad because he says I've been some troubled in my mind because of the generosity and the greatness of the words of your brother Ammon like the thing he remembers most about and and let's remember that at one point Ammon had a sword over King Lamoni his dad yeah right and the thing that he was troubled by and remembered is how generous Ammon was right friend who is right right astonished that he could have had half my kingdom he could have had all these things and all he wanted was just to be a loyal friend to my son I love that that's how a man enters in servant win the hearts be a loyal friend and then you love that the Kings the servants are telling the King all this stuff is happening and then he's like well where where is he like where is this guy and do you want to know where he is in verse nine he's feeding the horses now right he has no agenda there's he didn't write his talk he's not entered into this situation he's like what can I do next and now he's feeding the horses and a couple lines down from that he's gonna prepare the chariots that's what he's gonna do so you're watching this whole thing happened be a servant when the hearts be a friend feed the horses prepare the cherry we actually made those as two separate things on the list because of that nature of Ammon that he's just like what's he doing he's feeding the horses what what else and he's preparing the chariots like he's moving on and I've never thought about this before but one of the things now I love about this is he says why is he doing that and then the Kings like oh yeah because I told him to like at the very beginning you know easily someone could have forgotten to go feed the horses after you just like got attacked by an army of people and like you know you could have easily forgotten that that's like what was important to the king to go see his dad you know and I couldn't run in with all the servants they've been like boom well these are I could even pull out the bag and be like hey hey he's just meeting the horses that's his job and I this is what was gonna say about that that it's like like I've got I had a one of my great friends passed away a couple of years ago and this last year on his the anniversary of his death another one I friends like texted me in the morning and just said like hey this will probably be a you know a rough day for you so I'm just I'm thinking about you and there was such a meaningful message to get and it was meaningful because someone remembered something that was important to me and I think part of the lesson of those two is is that it's like he remembered what was important to the king hmm you know and it wasn't to go in and teach it was like oh I know this is something you care a lot about and I care about it because and then you loved when he finally comes in and he's gonna sit down and the king is right there and in our minds were like okay this is your chance right this is the moment in verse 14 what he asks is what wilt thou that I should do for you o King and in verse 15 what do you desire of me he's still asking this question what can I do how can I help in this situation that's that's the nut that's the hizzle lead in is what do I need to do for you it's just such an expression of love which is what we saw from the missionaries and now we're seeing it again it's it's how to care for someone but just watch over someone raisi because there's a bag of arms on the ground and everyone is like this when they walk in and a man knows I've got a captive audience but his question still is what can I do and the King doesn't answer for an hour like it he just sits there that's got to be like have they done a Bible video I mean a book of Mormon video about this please can be so long could you imagine the camera keeps spamming person it's like for an hour that's seriously legit like I get awkward after 12 second they waited an hour awesome and then he's gonna he's gonna ask questions of Ammon who are you and how did this happen and how do you know what's happening in my heart and all of these things he's gonna ask him and it's finally in verse 24 so two chapters into the story verse 24 and you loved the first line and Ammon began to speak that is when he starts teaching isn't that crazy all these things happen before he begins to speak and as you think about the places where you are called as the teacher in your own home for all of us right now but as things start to go back to the way they used to be who do you teach within the church or in other aspects of your life that might be your profession all of us have different areas where we are the teacher how could you use these seven things in your teaching before you even begin to speak and then there are lessons that we do learn as he begins to Tim I was just thinking we kind of had some fun with that one about sitting there for an hour but it is interesting that sometimes you really do just need to listen mm-hmm and you really do just need to wait before you begin to speak and I love that he's gonna begin with the questions no that's how he starts he doesn't start in and be like okay let me tell you everything I know his that his first words out of his mouth are do you believe there is a God that's how he starts with him and he he's gonna meet him in that place he's gonna meet him where he is and I love that he says I don't know what you're talking about and ammon's rephrases this question do you believe there is a Great Spirit and he said yes and Ammon said this is God and there's the there's the connection point right again just like we saw the plan of redemption it's going to be the connection point Ammon goes directly to the connection point where is God in this and and who is God for you and who is God for me and and how can we connect on that piece and and what if we did that more often yeah it is so awesome that he doesn't like go in and say do you believe there's a Great Spirit and he's like yeah and he's like well he actually has a body of flesh and bones and he's separate from the Sun and you know what I mean I was just like oh that's God yeah like we believe in that scene yeah you know in that scene god I just loved that there is he finds that and we met on that principle of all principle yes you know and then I love when he says to him in verse 35 a portion of that spirit that that Great Spirit that he has actually dwells in me and it gives me knowledge and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God and you love that he's he's gonna teach with the spirit he's gonna start by asking questions he's gonna find that connection point by asking questions and then he's gonna start teaching with the spirit that actually is in him and that's what's gonna give him knowledge and power to teach King Lamoni what King Lamoni needs to know and then just follow a man's story like throughout and keep watching for how he lives with a portion of that spirit in him because there's gonna be several other times when he's like where should we go next yes and ammon's like hmm I kind of feel drawn this place what should we do about this and ammon's like let me ask the Lord you just see that is sort of like the way he lives his life and then he's a servant yeah that's so awesome to God and to others yeah right he's like why does he keep asking God he's like well look at what kind of person Ammon is he has a servant heart yep and then we get to the last thing which is number nine when he had said these words so just think about it again when he begins to speak he asks a question so he can meet him where he is then he invites the spirit to be part of that discussion which is in verse 35 which is a big speaking 24 he teaches with the spirit in verse 35 and then in 36 he's gonna open the scriptures and he's gonna begin at the creation and he's gonna teach Scripture the whole way through so how often when you prepare a lesson is that what your lesson looks like do you start with a question do you find a connection point do you invite the spirit to be in charge of your knowledge and your power what you're gonna say and then do you open the scriptures and how quickly do you open the scriptures I have taught each of my children when they teach if they have not opened the scriptures within the first 5 minutes of a lesson then they might have planned their lesson out wrong and so it's so funny because when we all go to church together they will do that particularly in Sunday school checking to see how long before we actually get into the scriptures because that's where the meat is that's where the power is it's not in the personal story you saw on Facebook it's not in all week sometimes we go to all the peripheral things and I love that a man is like okay are you ready all right let's begin and where are we gonna begin in the word because that's where the power is going to come from and kind of going back to this one in the marks of the missionary or last one I kind of I noticed this yesterday that in 36 he's like he rehearsed the creation in 37 he rehearsed their things 38 he rehearsed the rebellions and all of that and then I'd love in 39 it says but he expounded the plan of redemption and I don't know if Mormon meant to do that but I just thought it was interesting that he rehearsed this and rehearse this almost like I'm gonna set all this up so that I can really dig into what I wanted to tell you and that is the becoming of Christ which is the plan of redemption yeah so good so hopefully you go and the tenth one the best one oh oh yeah we forgot the best one the tenth one you want to go to Alma 2026 is where you want to go so we're just gonna skip there and this is what you're talking about before with King Lamoni stab okay in case you are new to the story we're gonna jump back into it in just a second but what happens is Lamoni has this great spiritual experience and so does his wife and so does their whole household we're gonna get to that in just a second and when it's all over Lamoni wants to go with Ammon to other places now now let's go spread redemption and mercy to other places and on this journey to go to do this they meet Lamoni his dad who's not happy about all of what has just taken you - the ceremony it's guarded and so then there's that whole thing where a man has a sword and everyone's mad at each other and then the king is gonna fear for his life and verse 23 and says if you'll spare me I'll grant whatever you ask even half the kingdom and Ammon says that he doesn't want any of those things he's gonna spare him and he's just worried about his son and then in verse 26 this is the first is so good and when he saw the Ammon had no desire to destroy him and when he also saw the great love he had for his son Lamoni he was astonished exceedingly and said because this is all that thou has desired that I would release your brethren and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom behold I will grant unto you that my son may routine his retain his kingdom from this time and forever and I will govern him no more and he and he's gonna allow him to live his belief but I love that he saw the great love Ammon had and that's number 10 is just love greatly if you want to be a powerful teacher then you've you've got to have great love that's what's gonna make the difference I'm that's so awesome that the King kind of realizes Lamoni does not need to be governed by me anymore because he's now learned to be governed by love ya know and so I don't need to do that yeah okay this third section so we had marks of a missionary being a powerful teacher and then this third section section is living as a witness the person we're focusing on this one is actually our hero for this week in the summer of heroes so we have her on our poster are you guys do you have your posters and all the things hopefully everything is going awesome yeah yeah and you're having a great time we hope you are loving all of these battle-ready challenges we are having so much fun with them in our homes yeah in this one you are really going to love it's awesome yeah okay so the we will so we meet this girl her name is Abby or Ava SHhhh but you don't even know what did he decide to call her guide says Ava SH but it's sometimes you just want to call her a because Alma and all the other soft a sounds so you'll just call her whatever you're used to calling her and we'll call her both and that everyone he's so happy about her story so her story starts in Alma chapter 19 so what happens is that Alma I mean as a man is teaching King Lamoni he has this overwhelming spiritual experience he kind of has an elm of the younger type of thing and passes out and he's gone for like three days you know like he is now one time a kid passed out in my seminary class and everyone was panicking and that was a everybody don't panic what just happened is we just had an a man Lamoni experience so it is I was just happy that I was kind of like Ammon but he was out like three seconds so he was passed out and and then he wakes back up and and when he wakes back up like his wife is there and there's this like then she passes out and all the servants pass like anyways so this great like never happened before type of spiritual experience goes on and in that story that we meet this servant girl the Abbess and so in verse 16 let's just start right there because I love it our lists have living's as a witness verse 16 and it tells us they did all call on the name of the Lord and there might even until they had all fallen to the earth save it were one remember how we are in love with the lines in Scripture that talk about one person is gonna have their shining moment and this is gonna be the one for a dish yeah and she might have thought like wait why did I get to fall into the conversion dream you know like everyone else is like having this awesome experience and it's just neat that the Lord's probably like oh it's because I have another job for you yeah and her name was a bish she having been converted under the Lord for many years on account of a remarkable vision of her father who just wants to meet her father and don't you want to hear that story yeah it's like we what happened yeah clear back then that there is this one girl in the palace who is already a believer and has been this whole time someday we need her whole story I know but do you know what one time I read this verse though 16 and I read it like this that she was converted on account of a remarkable vision of her father like she had a vision of the Father Oh like maybe it wasn't her dad's vision but she had a vision of you want it to be a capital F father right even though it's a lower father but it's so cute it may be even if I experienced right where son yeah who knows and she was already converted to the Lord but she had never made it known before so she knew what was happening she would have known who Ammon was she would have known what was happening everywhere I love that part and she knew that it was the power of God and then I love this because it's just remember when the four voice supposed their work was great and assuredly it was great it tells us in verse 17 and supposing this opportunity would bring people to the Lord then it tells us she ran forth from house to house making it known unto all the people and this is gonna be our challenge for you is to run sometimes when we are filled with the goodness and the spirit and all the great things of God it is our job just to run there's so much good news to be shared with so many people and I think I've said this before on here but every morning when I wake up and I open my eyes the first thing I hear the spirits say to me is that run there's so much good that needs to be done and particularly now in these days there's just good that needs to be done so you love she's just gonna run from a house to house and she's so excited because she thinks now everybody is gonna know what she knows and she's gonna have friends in the faith and her just her expectation is so big of what is about to happen some doors yes come on everybody come she doesn't even tell him what's happening she doesn't even take the time to like tell him just tells everyone come to the palace so we took like that line of her going from door to door and have so here's kind of the challenge and we love that it precedes an opportunity so she sees an opportunity and then she runs to do it which is sort of like what makes her a hero test but because she goes door to door we kind of thought it would be fun if you took it opportunity to leave something on someone's doorstep and then knock and you run as fast as you can and everybody wear your gloves and sanitize the thing and make sure it hasn't been opened by anybody or touched within six feet of the human and then leave it there and run she takes that opportunity seize it and then run yes and everybody comes and then in verse 28 when when she comes back the contention begins to be exceedingly sharp among them and while they were just contending the woman's servant who had caused a multitude to be gathered together came and when she saw the contention which was among the multitude she was exceedingly sorrowful even unto tears and this is an important part this is one of the things that we want you to think about don't let discouragement hinder you because how discouraged must have been when she came back she had this big plan she knew how it was gonna go and then when she gets back it nothing went the way in her mind she thought it was going to be and she could have just walked out of there and been like well that didn't work but um and even though she it brings her to tears she's like okay what else should I do and and even though it didn't work out the way that she thought it doesn't mean it was a waste what she did like the good that she did was not a waste because the result didn't pan out the good that she did was good because it was good and you love that God can fix situations like that like here she is in the midst of this place where she's just been trying to do her best and instead she's created a big disaster right that Ammon could be murdered because everyone is so worked up and in her mind she's like what have I done and yet God can turn that for her good mmm he can take what she sees as a mess and he can bring his glory into that situation and and he will and you love that she's exceedingly sorrowful even unto tears and then there is this really neat moment and it's a moment that I connect to I think a little bit more just because I am a woman and I love that we had to highlight the story of a woman who is doing God's work in this moment but I love that what is gonna fix that terrible situation is one simple act of kindness because what she is gonna do is she's just gonna reach out her hand to the hand of the Queen and she's gonna lift her that's it that's all a Bish's responsibility is is just to reach out and lift one person in that moment and it's interesting and we need to think through because everything about that situation says she shouldn't do that right she is the servant in that household there's there's so many barriers she is crossing in that moment of her religion is different status in the household is different everything about what is going on says that shouldn't have happened and yet she's gonna reach over that divide and she's gonna take the Queen by her hand that perhaps she might raise her from the ground and as soon as she touched her hand she arose and stood on her feet and cried with a loud voice and then she's gonna bear her testimony that it's gonna end up bringing the resolution sometimes when I read this I think of the power of ministering hmm and that power of one woman reaching out to one woman even if it's out of your comfort zone or out of what fills socially-acceptable is just stretching forth your hand in an effort to lift and to touch someone but there's so much power in that one first and just because and also because of the simplicity of it that it was just like as soon as she made as soon as she touched her hand right yeah like it was like it was that so simple yeah God can do his right it wasn't even hard there's so much beauty in that verse and the result of it at the end of 29 and then in 30 our next one is that she said when she had said this she clapped her hands being filled with joy and speaking many words and then she goes and and it's awesome because then she reaches and touches the hand of her husband and it's neat how that gets passed on you know but until you get to in 35 there there's gonna be that lifting that touched that connection point and then everybody it came to pass that there were many that did believe in their words so now it's not just a wysz it's not just a man it's not just the king it's the power of everyone who has been influenced by that that it's gonna bring about this mighty change for the whole people um so it's interesting that uh how the simple things that will now Domino to next time our lesson from next time is like the huge impact and it's crazy to think how did all of that start somebody's saying I want to be your servant how did all that start by somebody saying she just reached out and touched her hand but our last two just that kind of be clear is verse 30 it's to be filled with joy you know that's how you live as a witness to express the joy of of your own Redemption and I added and sometimes you have to clap verse 30 it says she clasped her hands but royal Skousen who did that analysis of the manuscript said I think the original one said she clapped her hands that's why we don't clap in church because that one letter change yeah because what do we do or dime like I had that one letter been different we'd be clappers okay so express your joy and then the last one number seven is kind of what you were saying we're in 33 Ammon keeps ministering to the servants and Lamoni keeps ministering until 35 they all believe in it continue witness is just continuing all as as we go through okay let's maybe stop there and start next time on that little story of King the monet's father because this might be - okay okay take some time this week these lists are so powerful every one of them is a powerful list and I honestly believe there are lessons for our time right now for our day and our situation within these lists and so maybe these are conversations you can be having in your home of how do we become better missionaries how do we become better teachers how do we become better witnesses and how can we cross cultural divides and talk about the plan of redemption and bring Jesus into the story so that healing and mending can actually come and then let us leave like with his name written on our hearts yeah after all of it so good okay

Channel: Don't Miss This

Views: 147,064

Rating: 4.6870556 out of 5

Keywords: Don't Miss This, Come Follow Me, Book of Mormon, Summer of Heroes, Podcast, Church of Jesus Christ

Id: t_5XxLD9VGc

Length: 57min 26sec (3446 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 15 2020