The following is not an official publication of the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints, rather, the ramblings of one if its members.
This is one of my favorite stories from The Book of Mormon. It has drama, heart, guts and a bittersweet - albeit bloody ending.
In the book of Alma, we read about Ammon and his brothers, a once rebellious and wicked group themselves, turned stalwart disciples and missionaries. They decide to go into enemy territory in hopes to teach some truly frightening people, the Lamanites. These people were known as "a hardened and ferocious people", so terrifying that Ammon's own people, the Nephites, "laughed them to scorn" for thinking they could change them.
In nothing short of the stuff legends are made of, they were; practically an entire kingdom. And to distinguish themselves from others and show their devotion to God they thought of a new name, the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.
This isn't even the best part of the story. The next part is where the tear ducts get a workout.
The few people in the kingdom not converted were perturbed with their countrymen's come to Jesus moment, and they joined forces with some other bad guys in the land. The glue holding them all together; their hatred for the Anti-Nephi-Lehites.
And they prepared for battle.
The leaders of the Anti-Nephit-Lehites gathered with Ammon and the other missionaries who had taught them. In a beautifully riveting speech the king humbly explains how deep their conversion runs.
So great were their sins, so great was their pain upon realizing those sins, and so great was their gratitude to God for His forgiveness and "taking away the guilt from [their] hearts", that "not one soul among them would take up arms against their brethren," or even "make any preparations for war." Not one.
Just think about that for a sec; they knew a large and ticked-off army was headed their way. They were no strangers to war and in fact were quite skilled. And THIS time, unlike battles past, they had God on their side. That's a winning combination.
Still, so committed were they to their God they refused to fight, burying their weapons of war "deep in the earth," so the temptation was far from reach.
And if that were not dramatic enough --- these people, these humble people did not wait in their homes or run scared. These faithful souls went out to meet the Lamanites. They knelt on the ground in prayer while their enemies rode in and killed them. 1005 of them to be exact.
Now to the Lamanites' credit, many stopped what they were doing and realized how terrible this was. So what do they do?
They repent! Their "hearts were swollen" and they joined the Anti-Nephi-Lehites, converted and committed. In fact "the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain."
God does work in mysterious ways. What an unconventional but beautiful missionary story!
Now there are plenty of takeaways, but I want to focus on two. The two most basic and powerful fruits of Christ's atonement; conversion and salvation, or to be changed, and saved.
Changed
These people were changed; completely devoted and converted to God. Let me remind you; they were not good people. It's like if a group of ISIS fighters became stalwart Christians --- think of the turnaround. But it's possible, with He who all things are possible.
Once they were taught the truth and realized "[they] were the most lost of all mankind," they recognized their mistakes and the pain they had caused.
Consequently, their hearts were pained and they grieved for their souls, pleading with God to take these sins and murders from their hearts.
And you know what....He did!
That is how much God loves us. That is how much He wants us to follow Him and find joy.
They repented. He forgave. And He filled their hearts with such peace and joy " that they would rather give up their own lives, then take away from a brother."
This is what the atonement does.
Saved
Even after their sordid past, the people who were killed in this battle...were saved. Moroni, the prophet telling us this story, makes sure to tell us not once but TWICE that these people "[had] gone to dwell with God."
These people, who had only recently converted to the Lord and lived righteously for a very short period of time --- were still saved!
This is how much God loves us. This is how merciful He is. This is why we have the atonement.
Like the laborers in the parable of the vineyard, whether we covenant in the first hour or the eleventh, it matters not to the Master.
Because to the Master, we are all His children. And He wants us back home with him more than we know.
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