Alma 20

King Lamoni wants Ammon to go with him to meet with Lamoni's father, but Ammon has had a revelation that he is to go to Middoni because three of his brethren are in prison there. Here is a little consistency in the Book of Mormon that I don't think Joseph Smith would have thought of on his own. The Lord commands Ammon to go but gives him no instructions as to how he is to get his brethren out of prison. A similar command was given to Nephi and his brothers to get the brass plates from Laban and they were sent without any directions as to how they were to get them. The Lord expects us to think and act for ourselves. As we move forward in the commandments, he will help us and guide us, but usually that help and guidance only comes as we move forward in faith. Ammon undoubtedly had the same thoughts as Nephi when Nephi said, "I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do."

I think it was the power of the love that had developed between Lamoni and Ammon that caused Lamoni's father to have the change of heart he did. Obviously he was afraid for his life. But once that fear passed, he saw something and maybe felt something he hadn't expected and this completely changed his perception of Ammon and eventually of the Nephites. Mormon says "when he also saw the great love he (Ammon) had for his son Lamoni, he was astonished exceedingly." One of the things this means to me is that Lamoni's father realized that Ammon wasn't what he thought he was. Before he said that Ammon was one of the Nephites "who are sons of a liar. Behold he robbed our fathers and now his children are also come amongst us that they may, by their cunning and their lyings, deceive us, that they again may rob us of our property." The liar he is referring to is Nephi and the tradition has continued down for hundreds of years that Nephi robbed Laman and Lemuel of their land and rights to rule. Prejudice is always based on a false conception and/or a lie. What this also shows is that Nephite's perception of the Lamanites is wrong. Many of them are very good people, but they just haven't learned what the Nephites know concerning the truth about the gospel and about their history.