King Lamoni's father, who was king over all the land, had an interesting story. I mentioned a little bit ago about when we first meet him. Ammon and Lamoni are travelling to Middoni to free Ammon's brothers who were in prison. They come across Lamoni's father, and he is angry to see Lamoni with a Nephite. At this point, Lamoni (and many of his people) had gone through a pretty amazing conversion.
Anyway, Lamoni's father told Lamoni to kill Ammon, which Lamoni refused to do. So the king attempted to slay Ammon himself, but Ammon got the best of him. When he was at Ammon's mercy, he started pleading with him to spare his life.
"Now the king, fearing he should lose his life, said: If thou wilt spare me I will grant unto thee whatsoever thou wilt ask, even to half of the kingdom." (Alma 20:23)
This is pretty amazing. Lamoni's father was king over a large area, so large that there were other, lesser kings over other places (like Lamoni was). I'm sure he didn't want to die, but he was willing to give up half of his entire kingdom if Ammon would spare his life.
Fast forward a little, and it turns out that Ammon's brothers, once they were freed from prison, had the opportunity to preach to Lamoni's father. He asked them questions, and they taught him about eternal life and the atonement. This was his reaction to what they taught him:
"And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy." (Alma 22:15)
So to trade for his life, he was willing to give up half of his kingdom to Ammon. Feeling the Spirit, and recognizing the value of the Gospel and the blessings that come from it, he was willing to give up everything he had for these things.
Aaron taught him more about the atonement, and how we take advantage of it. You bow down before God and repent. The conversion was strong, and Lamoni's father immediately bowed down and began to pray:
"O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day." (Alma 22:18)
He was now beginning to understand how the Atonement works, and he was happy to begin that process. At this point, he was willing to give up all his sins to know God. This, while being one of the most difficult things to do, is really what our goal in life is: to give up our sins and know God.
What a great example of conversion and willingness to do what it takes to get what you need out of life. I'm grateful for the example of Lamoni's father (and so many other scriptural examples of conversion) and I hope I can continue with the same zeal in my own conversion as well, since conversion is a lifelong endeavor.
