Gospel Doctrine Commentary
Lesson No. Twenty-Five

A Latter Day Application of the Sons of Mosiah Among the Lamanites

Introduction – The sons of Mosiah’s missionary success among the Lamanites is well known to Book of Mormon students. (See Alma 17 – 27) What is not well known or appreciated is that during the early 1990’s that the same thing happened in the inner cities of the United States including Louisville Kentucky and Cincinnati Ohio.

The Lord prepared the way for the sons of Mosiah to go among the Lamanites. The Lord gave the revelation on the priesthood to President Spence W. Kimball in 1978. This prepared the way for millions of people on both sides of the veil to receive the blessings of the gospel.

Teaching in areas where missionaries had never been before – We arrived in Louisville, Kentucky on July 1, 1990 to preside over the Kentucky Louisville Mission (KLM). It was at that time that the Church started a media campaign in many large cities of the United States. People were invited to call and ask for a free Book of Mormon or a video about the Church. These were to be delivered by missionaries. Soon we began to receive what eventually amounted to hundreds of "media referrals" mostly from the economically humble and minority communities in the inner cities of Louisville and Cincinnati.

Previously there had been little if any proselyting in these communities. We quickly recognized similarities with the sons of Mosiah’s mission to the Lamanites because our missionaries, like the sons of Mosiah, were prepared, and therefore they began having sons of Mosiah like experiences.

Our Missionaries:

• "Taught with the power and authority of God" – They "searched the scriptures diligently" and "gave themselves to much prayer and fasting" (Alma 17:2-3).
• Initially encountered some hostility – However, this hostility was quickly overcome when it was clear they desired to live among and serve these people. They were kind to children. They were invited into homes and shared meals. They played basketball pickup games with the young men of the area, and rather than being a threat their new friends became their defenders. (Compare Ammon’s experiences as recorded in Alma 17:19-39)
• Taught and testified, they did not argue or debate – This brought many teaching opportunities, and I assigned more and more missionaries to the inner cities.
• Taught the plan of salvation – Similar to Ammon who taught Lamoni the doctrines of the creation, the fall, and the atonement from the scriptures (see Alma 18:36, 39) our missionaries taught the plan of salvation from the Book of Mormon.
• Testified of the restoration – They understood that the doctrine of the restoration is the sieve which separates those who will accept their message and be baptized from those who are willing to listen and discuss but in the end will not be baptized. (See 1 Nephi 14:7)
• Worked hard to get people to attend church – Many people were willing to attend church, but had no transportation to the nearest chapel several miles away. We brought our 15 passenger van on our mission, and it quickly became our Church Bus. Members gave investigators rides, but none of this could not be sustained. We needed to meet in the inner cities. The Shawnee branch in Louisville began in the YMCA. Now there is a lovely chapel. The Cincinnati River Front branch had a store front in the downtown area. To baptize and retain people it is essential that they are willing and able to attend church and meet with other members.
• Desired to win hearts so they would believe in their words (See Alma 17:29) – Our missionaries won the hearts of people "by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge…without hypocrisy, and without guile" (D&C 121:41-42)

Testimony – We experienced and know of the truth that Ammon so beautifully taught: "Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowls of mercy are over all the earth" (Alma 26:37).