Ammon’s words to his brethren praise the Lord and the opportunity to be his instrument of salvation. The imagery is beautiful and familiar; it occurs throughout the scriptures. The missionaries went out to work in the (mission) field; the field was ripe; they thrust in the sickle (today’s instruments are the Book of Mormon, Preach My Gospel, area book, daily planner, and the lessons); they were out trying to reap all day long (today’s schedule is usually from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.); they gathered in many sheaves (the fruits of their labors, the converts); they brought them into the garners, the barns (today’s stake centers, ward meetinghouses, homes, and temples) to protect them from being beaten down by the storms of their lives (today’s storms are the “whirlwinds” and “fierce winds” of adversity and such social ills as pornography, sexually transmitted diseases, perversions of marriage and family relationships, and numerous forms of infidelity and abuse). The Lord has promised that he will provide safety for his faithful ones, “that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth” (D&C 115:6). Under the Lord’s protection “the storm cannot penetrate to them; … they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest.”