pgs. 260 and 261...And when he (the king) saw that Ammon had no desire to destroy him...he was astonished exceedingly.

9 And behold, the father of Lamoni said unto him: Why did ye ^anot come to the ^bfeast on that great day when I made a feast unto my sons, and unto my people?

10 And he also said: Whither art thou going with this Nephite, who is one of the children of a ^aliar?

11 And it came to pass that Lamoni rehearsed unto him whither he was going, for he feared to offend him.

12 And he also told him all the cause of his tarrying in his own kingdom, that he did not go unto his father to the feast which he had prepared.

13 And now when Lamoni had rehearsed unto him all these things, behold, to his astonishment, his father was angry with him, and said: Lamoni, thou art going to deliver these 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.

14 Now the father of Lamoni commanded him that he should slay Ammon with the sword. And he also commanded him that he should not go to the land of Middoni, but that he should return with him to the land of ^aIshmael.

15 But Lamoni said unto him: I will not slay Ammon, neither will I return to the land of Ishmael, but I go to the land of Middoni that I may release the brethren of Ammon, for I know that they are just men and holy prophets of the true God.

16 Now when his father had heard these words, he was angry with him, and he drew his sword that he might smite him to the earth.

17 But Ammon stood forth and said unto him: Behold, thou shalt not slay thy son; nevertheless, it were ^abetter that he should fall than thee, for behold, he has ^brepented of his sins; but if thou shouldst fall at this time, in thine anger, thy soul could not be saved.

18 And again, it is expedient that thou shouldst forbear; for if thou shouldst ^aslay thy son, he being an innocent man, his blood would cry from the ground to the Lord his God, for vengeance to come upon thee; and perhaps thou wouldst lose thy ^bsoul.

19 Now when Ammon had said these words unto him, he answered him, saying: I know that if I should slay my son, that I should shed innocent blood; for it is thou that hast sought to destroy him.

20 And he stretched forth his hand to slay Ammon. But Ammon withstood his blows, and also smote his arm that he could not use it.

21 Now when the king saw that Ammon could slay him, he began to plead with Ammon that he would spare his life.

22 But Ammon raised his sword, and said unto him: Behold, I will smite thee except thou wilt grant unto me that my brethren may be ^acast out of prison.

23 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.

24 Now when Ammon saw that he had wrought upon the old king according to his desire, he said unto him: If thou wilt grant that my brethren may be cast out of prison, and also that Lamoni may retain his kingdom, and that ye be not displeased with him, but grant that he may do according to his own desires in ^awhatsoever thing he thinketh, then will I spare thee; otherwise I will smite thee to the earth.

25 Now when Ammon had said these words, the king began to rejoice because of his life.

26 And when he saw that Ammon had no desire to destroy him, and when he also saw the great ^alove he had for his son Lamoni, he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would ^brelease thy brethren, and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom, behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever; and I will govern him no more—

27 And I will also grant unto thee that thy brethren may be cast out of prison, and thou and thy brethren may come unto me, in my kingdom; for I shall greatly desire to see thee. For the king was greatly astonished at the words which he had spoken, and also at the words which had been spoken by his son Lamoni, therefore he was ^adesirous to learn them.

28 And it came to pass that Ammon and Lamoni proceeded on their journey towards the land of Middoni. And Lamoni found favor in the eyes of the king of the land; therefore the brethren of Ammon were brought forth out of prison.

29 And when Ammon did meet them he was exceedingly sorrowful, for behold they were naked, and their skins were worn exceedingly because of being bound with strong cords. And they also had ^asuffered hunger, thirst, and all kinds of afflictions; nevertheless they were ^bpatient in all their sufferings.

30 And, as it happened, it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more ^astiffnecked people; therefore they would not hearken unto their words, and they had cast them out, and had smitten them, and had driven them from house to house, and from place to place, even until they had arrived in the land of Middoni; and there they were taken and cast into prison, and bound with ^bstrong cords, and kept in prison for many days, and were delivered by Lamoni and Ammon.

THE BOOK OF ALMA

THE SON OF ALMA

An account of the preaching of Aaron, and Muloki, and their brethren, to the Lamanites. Comprising chapters 21 to 26 inclusive.

CHAPTER 21

Aaron teaches the Amalekites about Christ and his atonement—Aaron and his brethren are imprisoned in Middoni—After their deliverance they teach in the synagogues and make many converts—Lamoni grants religious freedom to the people in the land of Ishmael. Between 90 and 77 B.C.

1 Now when Ammon and his brethren ^aseparated themselves in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, behold Aaron took his journey towards the land which was called by the Lamanites, ^bJerusalem, calling it after the land of their fathers’ nativity; and it was away joining the borders of Mormon.

2 Now the Lamanites and the Amalekites and the people of ^aAmulon had built a great city, which was called Jerusalem.

3 Now the Lamanites of themselves were sufficiently hardened, but the Amalekites and the Amulonites were still harder; therefore they did cause the Lamanites that they should harden their hearts, that they should wax strong in wickedness and their abominations.

4 And it came to pass that Aaron came to the city of Jerusalem, and first began to preach to the Amalekites. And he began to preach to them in their ^asynagogues, for they had built synagogues after the ^border of the Nehors; for many of the Amalekites and the Amulonites were after the order of the Nehors.

Wow. This is the type of drama that the 24 hour news machine would have a heyday with today. Let's review it play by play...

First King Lamoni passed out for three days during a conversion. As he awoke Abish sent the crowds to witness his change of heart. The crowds murmur and accuse Lamoni of turning evil for believing Ammon and in an attempt to kill Ammon a man falls dead. Next Ammon hears the voice of the Lord telling him to save his brothers in prison in Middoni. King Lamoni decides to come along with him and on the way he runs into his father who is still uberKing over the entire land. His father is MAD because he stood him up at a royal dinner and because he is with a Nephite (remember the Lamanites believe that the Nephites stole from them when they escaped in the night with the gold plates, etc back in 2nd Nephi.) He tells his son that he will NOT release the Nephite prisoners and he better slay Ammon. When Lamoni won't kill Ammon his father decides to do it himself but in defending himself Ammon traps Lamoni's father under the sword. Lamoni's father decides to offer Ammon half the kingdom if he spares his life but Ammon says "All I want is my brothers out of prison and Lamoni to keep his kingdom." The fact that Ammon didn't use his position to take more advantage of the uberKing starts him to thinking that maybe Ammon isn't so evil after all. The brothers are released from prison after suffering hunger, thirst, and being found naked.

That's quite a story, don't you think?