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When faced with a contentious situation, the Lamanite queen was able to act in love by exercising faith and humility. Her example offers lessons to us today. Courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

During his mortal ministry, Jesus taught that the second of the two great commandments is to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Mark 12:28–31; compare Matthew 22:34–40; Luke 10:25–28). President Dallin H. Oaks has explained that because “Jesus’s parable of the good Samaritan teaches that everyone is our neighbor,” this commandment “means we are commanded to love everyone.”[1] In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that even our enemies are included: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:43–44).

The Lord extends this commandment to his disciples today just as he has in the past.[2] Recently, President Russell M. Nelson has taught, “Living that second great commandment is the key to becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ.”[3] Yet loving everyone, including our enemies, is especially challenging when anger and contention can affect relationships among families, communities, wards, and congregations.[4] How can we as disciples of Jesus Christ let God prevail in our lives by loving all our neighbors, even those who we believe have wronged us or with whom our relationships are strained, hostile, unpleasant, or contentious?

The story of Lamanite conversion recorded in Alma 17–19 offers insights through the characterization of Ammon and the Lamanite queen. These two figures choose to love those who were perceived as their enemies, even when they are in contentious and challenging situations. The story relates their ability to make such choices to certain character attributes. This essay examine show the story characterizes Ammon as dedicated to service and the Lamanite queen as humble and faithful, how those character traits influence them to make choices that allow them to overcome contention and love their neighbors, and how modern disciples of Jesus Christ can do the same.

Characterization in Stories

Among a story’s most recognizable features are its characters, who inhabit the world of the story, make choices, and commit actions, both causing events and experiencing them.[5] The term characterization refers to the process by which specific traits, attributes, and qualities are associated with a particular character in a story. These characteristics can be established through straightforward description, such as by a narrator or other character, or by the character’s actions, or by inference, such as when a characteristic is not explicitly described but can be discerned by the audience.[6] Part of my discussion that follows examines how the characterization of Ammon and the Lamanite queen is established by description, by their actions, and by inference.

Ammon: Dedication to Service amid Contention

Ammon’s dedication to service allows him to transform his relationships with the people in the land of Ishmael from his first interactions, which are contentious and physically hostile, into relationships defined by mutual love and trust. When Ammon arrives in the land of Ishmael, he is immediately bound and brought before the king (see Alma 17:20). The story does not specify whether Ammon was taken into custody peacefully (albeit bound) or after a physical altercation, but either way this unexpected detainment of an outsider may have generated negative emotions for both Ammon and his captors.

Ammon’s dedication to service, even in what prove to be challenging circumstances and when he knew little about how best to serve, is demonstrated throughout the story. In their first meeting, immediately after Ammon’s capture and captivity, King Lamoni offers for Ammon to marry one of his daughters. Ammon simply responds, “Nay, but I will be thy servant” (Alma 17:25).[7] This statement carries greater effect because of Ammon’s first statement in which he expressed his desire to “dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die” (v. 23). Together these statements suggest Ammon is willing to serve Lamoni and the people of Ishmael for as long as it takes to accomplish his mission, a willingness motivated by “his desire to be a blessing to Lamoni’s house and a blessing in the lives of as many Lamanites as possible.”[8]

Ammon’s character is also established by his actions. He follows through on his promise and begins to serve with those who care for Lamoni’s flocks. Just a few days after his arrival, the flocks are scattered by men who seek to plunder them. The situation seems bleak—the king’s other servants fear they will be killed (see Alma 17:28). Ammon’s determination to serve prevents him from being discouraged. He encourages the others to help him gather the flocks, and he protects the servants and the sheep, even when the plunderers initiate a violent encounter that places Ammon in danger (see vv. 26–39).

The change in the characterization of King Lamoni highlights how these events, made possible by Ammon’s dedication to service, transform the relationship between Ammon and the people of the land of Ishmael into one defined by love and mutual trust. The narrator’s description of the Lamanite custom in the land of Ishmael depicts King Lamoni as hostile to every Nephite even before he appears in the story. That custom was “to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast them into prison, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and pleasure” (Alma 17:20). And while the king is at first “much pleased” by Ammon’s desire to dwell among his people for an undetermined time, his choice to give Ammon the assignment to watch his flocks suggests the possibility that Lamoni remains suspicious of this Nephite stranger, particularly after he rejects his offer of what appears to be a diplomatic marriage (see vv. 24–25). The king and his servants know that watching the king’s flocks is a high-risk assignment because the king has killed servants who did not prevent his property from being stolen in what is described as an ongoing “practice of plunder” (18:5–7). The story leaves open the possibility that Lamoni gave Ammon a job that would have made it easier to kill him later if the king changed his mind.

Such hostility stands in stark contrast to Lamoni’s attitude toward Ammon after the latter’s service transforms their relationship. Lamoni says he will give Ammon whatever he desires and guard him with his armies (see Alma 18:21); he believes all Ammon’s words (see vv. 23, 40); he insists on helping Ammon deliver his brothers out of prison in Middoni (see 20:3–7); and he refuses the command of his father, the king of all the land, to slay Ammon (see vv. 14–15). Seeing Ammon’s dedication to serve him and his people even in the face of opposition and setbacks causes King Lamoni to set aside his prejudices and hostility. This conversion allows both Ammon and Lamoni to love one another as themselves. Lamoni’s own words contribute to the direct link between Ammon’s dedication to serve and the change in their relationship. When the king learns that after saving the flocks, Ammon went to feed his horses, he describes Ammon as his most faithful servant: “Surely there has not been any servant among all my servants that has been so faithful as this man” (18:10).

Like Ammon, disciples of Jesus Christ seeking to love their neighbors can respond to contentious situations by choosing to serve. The natural response to disagreement, unkind words, or selfish behavior is to respond in the same manner. But we have been taught to “[put] off the natural man and [become] a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord” (Mosiah 3:19). The next time we encounter contention in our neighborhoods, families, and wards, we can look for ways to serve those who appear to oppose or antagonize us. Such service is often a simple act. It might take the form of responding to an argument with a spouse or child by performing a task or chore they do not enjoy. It could be as simple as sitting next to someone in Sunday School who has been less than kind to us and expressing interest in that person and his or her life and family. Loving our neighbor does not mean we make ourselves vulnerable to those who have done harm or choose not to hold abusers accountable.[9] It means that we look for ways to help others, even when we feel they have not helped us as they should have. We can heed the counsel of Elder Moisés Villanueva: “In moments of difficulty and trial, there are few things that bring us greater peace and satisfaction than serving our fellow man.”[10]

Even those with a sincere desire to serve others may feel frustrated when their first efforts have poor results or because they are not sure how to help. In such cases we need not feel inadequate. Instead we can learn from the example of Ammon and countless others who choose to show they love their neighbor as best they can. Sister Rebecca L. Craven has shared the example of a disciple of Christ who, when prompted to visit a woman she barely knew, decided to take her a gift of ice cream. The visit lasted an hour, and Sister Craven’s friend was able to learn of several challenges the other woman was facing. Only at the end was it revealed that she was lactose intolerant and could not eat the ice cream. Sister Craven summarizes the lesson of this story by asking: “In the case of the melted ice cream, what mattered most? The ice cream? Or that my friend simply did something?”[11]

Like Ammon, and like Sister Craven’s friend, we do not love our neighbor because we are certain of a perfect outcome. We love our neighbor because the Lord has commanded it. Sometimes, the best way to love others can be discovered only after trying and appearing to fail. While we always respect the agency of those around us, we can be confident that when our first efforts to love our neighbors do not produce immediate success, the Lord will bless us with guidance and the needed abilities to move forward.[12]

The Lamanite Queen: Humility and Faith Overcome Contention

The Lamanite queen does not appear until midway through the story. In her abbreviated depiction she is characterized as humble and faithful both by her actions and by description. After Ammon teaches King Lamoni and his servants about God, Jesus Christ, their ancestors, and the plan of salvation, Lamoni believes and asks the Lord to have mercy on him and on his people before falling “unto the earth, as if he were dead” (Alma 18:42). Lamoni’s body lies motionless for two full days, remaining “as if he were dead” while his wife and children “mourned over him, . . . greatly lamenting his loss” (v. 43). Facing pressure to bury her husband, the Lamanite queen chooses to summon Ammon and ask him for help. She says that she has been told that he is a prophet with power to do mighty works and asks him, if “this is the case,” to “go in and see my husband” (19:5).

Such a choice demonstrates great humility and faith. At the time she makes her choice, there is no account of her meeting Ammon or getting to know him. This stranger had come into her home and asked to serve her husband, and a few days later her husband collapsed while in the stranger’s presence and now appears to be dead. She and her children were deeply and understandably affected by what was perceived to be the loss of Lamoni. In such a situation it would have been easy for the Lamanite queen to choose to blame Ammon or even to try to harm him. But instead of acting in anger or fear, she chooses to put her trust in “a holy God” and his servant (Alma 19:4). Putting aside fear to rely on the Lord—especially when we have little understanding of how our circumstances fit into his plan—requires great humility.[13]

She shows her faith again by believing Ammon when he tells her Lamoni will awake the next day, even though, in her own words, “I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I believe that it shall be according as thou hast said” (Alma 19:9). This characterization is reinforced by Ammon’s own description of her: “I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites” (v. 10). When she wakes from her own spiritual incapacitation, her immediate reaction is to praise Jesus and appeal for others: “O blessed God, have mercy on this people!” (v. 29). That she articulates outward-looking, unselfish sentiments after such a momentous experience solidifies humility as one of her character traits.

The faith and humility of the Lamanite queen allow her to respond to a contentious situation by acting in love and kindness. Her choices are a demonstration of Mormon’s teachings that meekness and lowliness of heart prompt the “visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love” (Moroni 8:26). The queen’s humility invites the Spirit, which helps her act with love instead of engaging in contention. Instead of reacting in fear, she is able to prioritize her love for her husband and seek to help him. Instead of reacting in anger, she is able to reach out to Ammon with kindness and ask for his help and the help of the Lord. Her decision to ask for help deescalates the inherently tense situation and makes it possible for both her and Ammon to be present when her husband wakes up, setting in motion the chain of events that leads to the conversion of herself, her household, and many in the kingdom and in other lands, culminating in thousands of Lamanites forming a new people, taking the name of Anti-Nephi-Lehies, and becoming valiant disciples of Christ who love and serve one another and the Nephites for generations (see Alma 19–25).

The example of the Lamanite queen demonstrates that modern disciples of Jesus Christ can develop the character traits of humility and faith to help us overcome contention and love our neighbors by asking for help from the Lord and others. When contention and anger make it difficult to love those around us, we can choose to exercise faith and humility and call on the Lord for help, with the assurance that the enabling power of Jesus can help us unburden our hearts, forgive, and move past contention.[14] President Russell M. Nelson has said the Savior offers each of us this ability, no matter the challenge: “The Savior will grant you the ability to forgive anyone who has mistreated you in any way.”[15]

The characterization of the Lamanite queen also demonstrates the power of asking for help from the very neighbors whom we are struggling to love. When it is the Lord’s will, asking for help can defuse contention by showing a desire to put aside negative interactions and by expressing faith that the other party can show humility. In another story in the Book of Mormon, Pahoran shows great faith in Moroni when he responds to Moroni’s accusations of neglect and treason with love, asking for his help in ending the rebellion against the government (see Alma 61:14–18). This allows Moroni and Pahoran to work together to overcome their challenges. Asking for help even though we are hurt, angry, or afraid goes against our natural desires but can be a powerful act of faith that offers both parties the opportunity to love one another.

In addition to actions and description, another source of evidence for characterization is how the representation of a character compares or contrasts with other characters or elements of the story.[16] That Ammon and the Lamanite queen choose to love despite contention is highlighted by the contrast with the attitudes and actions of other characters, including both Nephites and Lamanites. When Ammon and his brothers had told other Nephites of their intention to preach to the Lamanites, they were met with bemused scorn and a counterproposal to “take up arms against them, that we may destroy them and their iniquity out of the land” (Alma 26:23–25). This reaction is an expression of the hostility toward the Lamanites that existed among the Nephites for at least several hundred years and was condemned by Jacob (see Jacob 3:5–9).[17] Even the narrator, perhaps Mormon or one of his sources, begins the story of Ammon’s mission with a strikingly negative description of the Lamanites as “a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people . . . who delighted in murdering the Nephites” (Alma 17:14).

In contrast, Ammon and his brethren plead “with their father many days” (see Mosiah 28:5) to allow them to go and preach the gospel to the Lamanites, “that perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them” (v. 2). Ammon’s repeated choices to love and serve the Lamanites are all the more exemplary in light of the negative attitudes held by many Nephites.

Similarly, the Lamanite queen’s rejection of hostility in favor of kind and loving behavior toward Ammon contrasts her character with the depiction of many of her own people. Her husband had a policy of detaining and potentially killing all the Nephites who entered his land. When the queen, King Lamoni, their household, and Ammon all enter an incapacitated state, many of the gathered people react with prejudice against Ammon because of his status as a Nephite (see Alma 19:19, 26). And when Lamoni’s father encounters his son and Ammon on the road, the Lamanite high king characterizes Nephites as “children of a liar” (see 20:10, 13). Like the Nephites, many Lamanites held negative views of their alienated brethren (see Mosiah 10:11–13). The love shown by Ammon and the queen is all the more remarkable because of the juxtaposition with the lack of love held by so many of their associates. Their decision to choose to love all their neighbors shows that even relationships previously defined by contention, cultural animosities, and long interpersonal feuds can become relationships defined by love, kindness, and respect.

Just as the Lord has repeatedly taught us to love our neighbor, he has taught us to bring an end to contention when we can.[18] These two commandments are often interconnected.[19] Elder Dale G. Renlund has taught that the love of Christ has the power to abolish enmity:

When love of Christ envelops our lives, we approach disagreements with meekness, patience, and kindness. We worry less about our own sensitivities and more about our neighbors. We “seek to moderate and unify.” We do not engage in “doubtful disputations,” judge those with whom we disagree, or try to cause them to stumble. Instead, we assume that those with whom we disagree are doing the best they can with the life experiences they have.[20]

Elder Neil L. Andersen has taught that “Peacemakers are not passive.”[21] The commandments to love our neighbor, to avoid contention, to be a peacemaker—all of them require us to act.[22]

One of the reasons stories have great power is that they depict characters that can inspire us, teach us, and provide examples of letting God prevail and coming closer to Jesus Christ. In the account of the Lamanite conversion in the land of Ishmael recorded in Alma 17–19, the characterization of Ammon and the Lamanite queen offer lessons about what traits disciples of Jesus Christ can cultivate to increase our capacity to love our neighbors as the Lord has commanded.

Notes

[1] Dallin H. Oaks, “Two Great Commandments,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2019, 73.

[2] The eternal significance of this commandment is demonstrated by how it has been repeated both before and after the Lord’s mortal ministry. See Leviticus 19:18; Mosiah 4:15; John 15:12; 1 John 4:7–12; Moroni 10:21; Ether 12:34; Doctrine and Covenants 59:6; 88:125; 121:45.

[3] Russell M. Nelson, “The Second Great Commandment,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2019, 100. See also Dallin H. Oaks, “Love Your Enemies,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2020.

[4] See Quentin L. Cook, “Personal Peace in Challenging Times,” Liahona, November 2021, 90.

[5] See Marie-Laure Ryan, “Toward a Definition of Narrative,” in The Cambridge Companion to Narrative, ed. David Herman (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2007), 26–30.

[6] On how characterization in stories works, see Mieke Bal, Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, 2nd ed., trans. Christine van Boheemen (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1997), 114–15, 125–31; and Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge, 2002), 36–42.

[7] For more on how his desire to serve was one of the qualities that enabled Ammon to be successful, see Clyde J. Williams, “Instruments in the Hands of God,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 89–105, especially 96.

[8] See Matthew L. Bowen, “The Faithfulness of Ammon,” Religious Educator 15, no. 2 (2014): 72.

[9] “Your safety is the most important consideration in a situation of abuse. No one is expected to endure abusive behavior. You can reach out to services for help and develop a safety plan to help keep you safe from further abuse. There are situations where it is advisable to leave.” “How Do I Stay Safe?,” Help for Victims, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/abuse-help-for-victims. See Patrick Kearon, “He Is Risen with Healing in His Wings: We Can Be More than Conquerors,” Liahona, May 2022, 37–40.

[10] Moisés Villanueva, “Favored of the Lord in All My Days,” Liahona, November 2021, 46.

[11] Rebecca L. Craven, “Do What Mattereth Most,” Liahona, May 2022, 62.

[12] Recall Nephi’s declaration in 1 Nephi 3:7.

[13] Several Book of Mormon prophets describe those who acknowledge their reliance on the Lord as humble; see Mosiah 4:11–12; Helaman 3:35; and Ether 12:27.

[14] See Amy A. Wright, “Christ Heals That Which Is Broken,” Liahona, May 2022, 81–84.

[15] Russell M. Nelson, “Four Gifts That Jesus Christ Offers to You,” First Presidency Christmas Devotional, December 2, 2018. See Alfred Kyungu, “To Be a Follower of Christ,” Liahona, November 2021, 69–70.

[16] See Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics, 39–40.

[17] This narratological description is part of a pattern found in the Book of Mormon, beginning with the description of the split between Nephi and his brothers and covering nearly five centuries, in which portrayals of the Lamanites are almost entirely negative. See Richard O. Cowan, “The Lamanites—A More Accurate Image,” in The Book of Mormon: Helaman Through 3 Nephi 8, According to Thy Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 251–64, especially 254.

[18] See 3 Nephi 11:29–30; Doctrine and Covenants 136:23; and Mosiah 4:14–15.

[19] On the connection between love and unity or between love and lack of contention, see Mosiah 18:21; 23:15; 4 Nephi 1:15; Ephesians 4:1–3; Philippians 2:2; and Colossians 2:2.

[20] Dale G. Renlund, “The Peace of Christ Abolishes Enmity,” Liahona, November 2021, 84.

[21] Neil L. Andersen, “Following Jesus: Being a Peacemaker,” Liahona, May 2022, 18.

[22] As Elder David A. Bednar has taught, “As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of moral agency, the capacity for independent action and choice. Endowed with agency, you and I are agents, and we primarily are to act and not just be acted upon.” See “And Nothing Shall Offend Them,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2006, 90.