Chapter 14--Conversion

Despite the wonderful prospect of staying up to speak with Ammon that night, exhaustion got the better of Abish and she too fell quickly asleep. The rest didn’t last long. Little Sariah was awake just a few hours later. Abish gently roused the queen, who practically nursed the baby in her sleep. Then Abish took the infant and rocked her near a moonlit window. She hummed softly to the wrinkly bundle in her arms who soon dozed. Before she could stand to lay the baby down, however, Ammon joined her.

“Sorry to wake you.” Abish said in a whisper.

Ammon shrugged. “If my faith was better I would be sleeping like a baby, but the truth is my stomach is all tied in knots.”

“He will arise in the morning.”

Ammon smiled at her. “Yes, indeed, there is something special about the faith I have already seen among the Lamanite women.”

“Perhaps the conversions are just beginning.”

“I hope so. It is the reason I came to this land.”

“I have wanted to ask you about that.”

“It is an interesting story really.”

The baby breathed a sigh and slumped further down into Abish’s arms. Abish smiled. “I have plenty of time. I think Sariah has settled in for the night.”

“Sariah is an interesting choice.”

“It was the name of the queen’s grandmother; she is an Amalekite you know, although her mother was a Lamanite. Now, for your story.”

“My father was the King of the Nephites. How is that for a start?”

“Pretty good. Now I’m really curious.”

“I am the oldest, so I grew up knowing that I would one day be king. In Zarahemla, however, it works differently than here. While I had many opportunities as a young man, I was also expected to work to support myself, as my father and my grandfather did before me. I hated being a farmer. I couldn’t understand why, when we were the royalty of a nation, the people shouldn’t work to support us. It burned me up inside. My father was very good friends with the head of the church, Alma. Alma’s oldest son was also named Alma and we ran around a lot together, though he is some years older than me. We began to see the Church as the source of all our woes.”

“How so?”

“With the Lord’s strong teachings on self-reliance and caring for the poor and so forth, it became very easy to see that because of the Church my father cared more for others than he did himself. I thought this was a very bad thing. Alma and I would stay up late at night throwing rocks in the lake behind my house and complaining to one another about the state of things. We decided that if we could lead people out of the Church, it would have less and less power over the way the kingdom was governed. My father would have to exert greater control and actually become a king instead of just a farmer.”

“That seems a little twisted.”

“Oh, it was. Then, as we began going around and speaking openly against religion and God and our fathers, there was no logic to it at all. I was doing it for the power.” His voice had risen slightly, and the baby stirred. He was silent for a moment while the baby re-settled herself and then he continued, in a softer voice. “It was during those years that realized I had a great gift for speech. I had a way of finding just the right words to lift an angry crowd off the ground. Alma and I did much damage to the Church. And I dragged my brothers into it.”

“They just followed your poor example?”

“Not exactly. My brother Aaron is younger than me, by just a year. While I was busy persecuting the believers, he had fallen in love and married young. When he had been married less than a year, his wife and baby died during childbirth. He was devastated and bitter. He had never fought against God before, but he was suddenly angry. I was there to fuel the fire with my damning words. He joined with us and then the younger ones came.”

Abish could hardly believe her ears. She cleared her throat and said in a whisper, “What finally happened to make you change?”

There was a long pause. Abish had almost begun to wonder if he’d heard her question or even dozed off when he answered with some emotion, “One day, while the five of us traveled to a city where a large group of our followers were, an angel appeared to us. There was a cloud and a voice. I didn’t understand the voice, but in our astonishment we fell to the earth. There were more words; we strained to hear what the message said but to no avail. Still, there was power in the words and we fell again. Alma was hit the heaviest; he was completely unable to speak and so weak we had to carry him to his father. His father rejoiced in his state and then invited everyone who knew of the event to fast and pray for Alma’s recovery. In spite of myself, I joined in. I was hoping that somehow Alma would awake and help us understand our experience. Maybe he had gotten something more from the angel and that is why he had reacted so much more strongly than we did.”

“Did he arise?”

Ammon nodded, “And the angel’s message and had been specifically for him. He taught us of repentance and redemption. He described the torments of Hell in a way I will never forget. We were converted from that time on and set about to make reparations for the damage we’d caused. We spent some years at home, but it was hard. Many of our followers stayed out of the Church and many believers continued to mistrust us, especially me, although Alma regained much of his credibility. My brothers and I decided that journeying to this land was the only way that we could attempt to redeem ourselves for our myriad mistakes.”

“Wow.”

There was another long pause filled only with the irregular, but normal, newborn breathing. Again, Abish wondered if her companion had gone to sleep when he said, “And what of you, Abish? How is it that you are so well-spoken and yet a slave? How is it that you are so young, but you have the wisdom to bring life into the earth? How is it that you are a believer with enough faith to pray a missionary to come to your King from hundreds of miles away?”

Abish told him the barest details, and though she still felt the familiar sorrow well up inside when she thought of her father, she realized for the first time that her sadness was completely void of bitterness. Recent events had done more healing for this wound than in all the years leading up to Ammon’s coming. She felt a glimmer of hope that she would feel whole again.

Just as she stood to go to bed, Ammon said, “My heart tells me that your powerful faith will yet play a role in all that is to come to pass. The miracle we have seen in this family is only the smallest portion of the work God intends in this land.”


Abish arose early the next morning. She hadn’t been able to sleep very well either for the anxiety that filled the pit of her stomach. She understood now what Ammon meant when he said that if his faith had been perfect, sleep would have been easy. The queen was unusually anxious too, but Abish forced her to eat, trying not to worry about the strain of the last days all over her face.

Finally, about mid-morning, they heard low groans from where Lamoni lay. The three exchanged pleased and anxious glances and went to his bedside. The queen reached out her hand to touch him when he suddenly sat up. He reached out his hand as well and caught hers midway. They exchanged a tender glance and Lamoni whispered fiercely as he kissed her hand, “Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou.”

He then went on to testify of the redeeming power of the Savior to all mankind. Abish again felt the now familiar swelling of joy in her heart and she glanced at Ammon who gazed intently on the tender family scene taking place. As the king’s voice raised in intensity, the door to the chamber was opened and Lamoni’s shepherds spilled into the room just in time to hear the very thing Ammon had prophesied. The exhausted king fell back against his bed; surprisingly, the queen slumped over him as well.

Abish rushed to her side and saw that she, like Lamoni from the day before was well, but caught up in some kind of a trance. Ammon picked up his testimony where the king left off and then prostrated himself on the ground praising God for the faith of the people he had come among. His words were filled with gratitude. While Abish was startled by all these happenings in a space of a few minutes, she could see that the other servants were frightened, or was it something else?

Within moments of seeing Ammon cry unto the Lord they began to do the same. They too knelt in an attitude of deep humility, asking forgiveness for their many sins and misdeeds. As she saw these men kneel in such humility, something deep inside of her snapped. For years she had contained her testimony, carefully hidden from the world. But today was the day to tell! Today was the day to testify of the song in her heart for the true God of heaven.

The door was blocked by servants, but there was another way out. The back of the queen’s rooms opened up wide into the courtyard, and just through the courtyard was the busy city square. In less than five minutes she would be to a place where she could tell hundreds of people of these events and lead them back to the palace to show them the amazing events of this day. Without another thought, she flung wide the doors and curtains that separated the queen’s chamber from the courtyard and ran as fast as she could to the heavy garden doors on the opposite side. There were guards there, but she merely said in her most commanding voice, “The queen orders this door open today so that all might come in and see a great miracle that has come to pass.”

The guards did as she asked and it surged her confidence for her message; she ran into the busy market square and stood atop a low wall. She shouted above the many hawkers there that day. “There has been a miracle in the land of the Lamanites today! A man has come to declare a message of salvation and peace to the king of this city. I have seen first hand the salvation of the Lord in Lamoni’s house. He desires all to come, see and hear this man whom God has sent to preach to us. The back gate of the palace courtyard is open even now that all might know the greatness of God.”

She had the attention of many and she continued in this vein until a large crowd had gathered. “I am but a servant to the King and Queen of Ishmael, but if you go now then you will hear the servant of the God of Heaven proclaim a message! Go! Find a way into the palace that you may learn for yourselves.”

Perhaps they were moved by her words, or perhaps they were just grateful for the diversion, but they began heading to the palace and sharing the news with their neighbors along the way. Abish left the square and called out to people in the street; explaining the need to go to the house of Lamoni. Some listened, others did not, but by the time she was ready to head back to the palace, word had spread and she was joined by many others. The crowd jostled along.

Reactions in the crowd were mixed; she was dismayed to hear some murmuring in the crowd about some great evil that had been visited on their people because they had heard the messenger spoken of was a Nephite. Others argued that the evil was brought about because of all of the men that the king had killed over the sheep incidents at the waters of Sebus. But the report that frightened her most came from a clump of large men she passed by unnoticed.

“I think the messenger people are speaking of is the Nephite.”

“You do?”

“Yes! The same Nephite who slew my brother just three days ago.”

“If he is the same man then we are wise to stay away; he is very powerful.”

The man scoffed at the comment, “He was prepared, and that is all. He is just a man. An open invitation to the palace is just the chance I need to find this Nephite and kill him. Until three days ago we had a lucrative scam going and this man has ruined it all, besides killing our friends. I will have my revenge today!” He drew his sword and he and his companions began pushing frightened people out of the way.

The heady euphoria Abish had felt since Lamoni’s awakening ebbed immediately at their words. Her only thought was to warn Ammon and perhaps Lamoni about what was coming, about what she had started. She felt sick and began making her own way through the crowd, hoping there would still be a private, back entrance into the house so that she could prevent this great evil.

She hurried as fast as she could, elbowing her way through the throng flooding Lamoni’s home and grounds. Her fear mounted as she heard the conversations around her. Rumors flooded from the palace that Lamoni and his queen were dead and that the Nephite monster had cast some sort of spell over them and the servants; that anyone who came near them was in danger of falling under the same spell. Abish entered the smaller door by the corridor, pushing through clusters of people, winning her several looks of disgust from those she’d gathered. She entered the chamber just in time to see the men with the swords rush through the room from the other side. The evil look on the face of their leader was unmistakable as he charged at Ammon; before Abish had time to scream warning the man with the sword fell dead to the ground. The murmurs immediately spread through the crowd again. A woman behind her hollered, “It is the Great Spirit; we must worship him too or suffer the same fate the others have.”

Some followed this directive while others resumed their arguments. The contention grew and grew around Abish until she ran to the midst of those who had fallen in an attempt to clear her head from the false accusations around her. Her heart felt as though it would break. How could such a beautiful day ended with such ugliness? How was it possible that she could have caused this to happen when she only wanted to praise the name of the Lord and have others do the same?

Years of unshed tears built up behind her eyes and she no longer tried to keep them back. They flowed unabashedly down her face and she felt desperate and scared. Her heart cried out to God and in that moment, the stillness she had felt on occasion swept through her heart and she knew exactly what to do. Blinded by years of tears flowing down her face, she moved clumsily to where the queen knelt, praying in her heart that her next action would somehow help to undo this great wrong she had unwittingly caused. She turned and faced the queen and knelt before her. She sensed a quieting in the room; evidently some had seen her kneel and were waiting to see what would happen. She slowly stretched her hand forth to take her hand. As she did so, she whispered, “Arise my lady.”

As soon as she touched the queen’s hand, Zaria stood straight up to her feet. She saw Abish’s dazed face and embraced her, laughing for joy. She cried with a loud voice, “Oh blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell!” She smiled brightly and looked around at the gathered multitude; it was now her turn to be dazed. She turned her eyes Heavenward and held her arms wide, “O blessed God, have mercy on this people!”

She stepped away from Abish and began speaking to the people of the vision she’d had. Many of her words were difficult for Abish to even understand as she taught doctrines Abish had never before heard and spoke rapidly, explaining everything at once. Then, she reached over as Abish had done and touched Lamoni’s hand. He also arose, looking around with eyes full of bright joy.

He was silent for a moment and the gathered multitude began murmuring once again among themselves. He strode to the center of the room and raised his hands up, “My people! It is not God’s will that you should contend with one another! It is his command that you hear his word and learn of the things I have been taught these last few days. If you will listen, you may stay as long as you like so I may teach you.”

The crowd thinned almost immediately, but those that remained were silent as they squeezed in for greater advantage. Lamoni began to preach with power and authority. Ammon picked up in this vein just a few minutes later.

Seeing the queen’s exhaustion, Abish took her by the arm and removed her down the hall to Lamoni’s quarters where she might get some rest. As she saw the joy so evident on Zaria’s face, Abish knew that every struggle and difficulty had been worth it.