In the last verse of the preceding Chapter (25) it is noted that the sons of King Mosiah "did rejoice exceedingly, for their success which they had among the Lamanites." They, led by Ammon, ascribed unto God all the honor and glory for what was accomplished by them. They took unto themselves not a whit of credit for the attainment of their grand venture, but unto Him who presides On High, they gave praise and thanksgiving. Their thoughts, we imagine, were like those of the Prophet Habakkuk's, who, when having passed through many deepening trials, cried aloud: "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:18)
These are the words of Ammon to his brethren. Ammon commenced his glorious paean in praise to God with a tribute to his brothers and his other companions who had suffered with him in proclaiming the Glad Tidings of Christ's Gospel to the benighted Lamanites. He addressed them as "brothers and brethren." Ammon was the leader of the missionaries, but as such he recognized the equality of all. There is nothing that equalizes men more than by their walking together humbly with God. Ammon's salutation, "My brothers and my brethren," stood them all alike before the throne of the Great Father of all men. (See COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF MORMON, Volume II, p. 42, v. 9) Ammon's solemn declaration reminds us of a Jewish prayer, the substance of which we remember from our youth: "O may all, created in Thine image, recognize that they are brethren, so that, one in spirit and one in fellowship, they may be forever united before Thee. Then shall Thy Kingdom be established on Earth and the word of Thine ancient prophet be fulfilled: The Lord will reign for ever and ever."
When Ammon and his brothers determined on their mission to the Lamanites in the Land of Nephi, and in doing so would leave their stately homes in Zarahemla, there were many of their friends and relatives who sought to dissuade them from a task so perilous, and one which in their eyes was foredoomed to failure. However, Mosiah's sons, accepting their miraculous conversion as a mark of God's chastening love, resolved that in spite of the objections that were made, to go forward with their plans. At length, and with the prayers and blessings of their father, King Mosiah, they set out on the journey southward to the Kingdom of the Lamanites. After leaving their homes, no doubt every obstacle in their way seemed insurmountable, and on several occasions they were about to return. However, the promises of the Lord that He would sustain them in affliction, and make of them an instrument in His hands for doing much good, so heartened the missionaries that they pressed forward until they reached the homeland of their dark-skinned brethren. But ofttimes in their journey when they were about to despair, disquieting to them, the warnings of their friends reverberated in their ears, and again they heard the taunting gibes of their companions in Zarahemla who had now become their innocent tormentors. But in spite of their misgivings the missionaries were filled with a righteous zeal; they placed upon the altar of love all they held dear, and thereafter walked undaunted in the paths wherein the Holy Spirit guided them.
About fourteen years later, in reviewing the incidents of their mission, Ammon, overflowing with joy and thanksgiving, cried triumphantly unto his brethren, who also rejoiced, "... could we have supposed when we started from the Land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?"
What great blessings has He bestowed upon us? Can ye tell? In answer to his own query, Ammon laid before his brethren the many ways in which the Lord had bestowed His blessings upon them. Aaron, Omner, Himni, and their companions, knew the answer to Ammon's question, but Ammon, overjoyed by the many expressions of divine favor which were seen by them on every side, was jubilant in his praise to God, and in spite of the fact that Aaron "rebuked" him for his excessive speech, yet Ammon refused to be restrained. He saw all about him the proof of Providential care, and even through the afflictions they had all suffered he discerned God's divine blessings. Ammon reminded his brethren of the former sad lot of the Anti-Nephi-Lehites; how, spiritually they had been in the "darkest abyss," but that now under the leadership of the missionaries they had been brought out from darkness into light. The labors of the missionaries had not been in vain, but were glorious in their results. In their faithfulness to God they had never faltered in any line of duty, even though they suffered nearly unto death that the Gospel should be preached unto their brethren who sat in darkness.
We may wonder at their accomplishments, but we, too, rejoice with the missionaries in their success as husbandmen in this part of the Lord's Vineyard. "The field was ripe," said Ammon, ready for the harvest. Unafraid and untiring, they never paused in their labors to advance God's Kingdom; in fact it was the reverse. They toiled all the day long to multiply the number of sheaves that would be gathered into the garners, that when night came, and the time of harvest was over, not one single, solitary sheaf would be left in the field to moulder and rot away where the storms of life might beat upon it in almost unrelenting fury.