Alma 18-19

Alma 18
King is astonished at Ammon's faithfulness and thinks that he is the Great Spirit who will punish him for killing his servants in the past. The king offers Ammon goods, but Ammon just says he wants to teach the King. Ammon teaches the plan of salvation. The king passes out.

Alma 19
Many people fall into a trance and lose consiousness and become converted. The people argue what is going on when they see people passed out on the floor. Someone tries to kill Ammon but Ammon is miraculously saved. Ammon then begins to baptize many people.

APPLICATION
Why did King Lamoni convert?
Ammon is an awesome servant and performed miracles and the king had to start to think twice about Nephites. I may have mentioned in my last review, that the king seems to be very influenced and ready to change because Ammon performed miracles and is an awesome servant. However, I see that another huge motivating factor with the king is that the king feels very guilty for having put his former servants to death for letting the flocks escape. King Lamoni thought that Ammon was the great spirit there to punish him and therefore was very fearful of the future. So, this is important to note because circumstances also helped the King convert - it wasn't just because Ammon was awesome and effective at getting the King to open his heart to different ideas.

Another teaching technique that is important to note is that Alma explains the gospel at the King's level and understanding (Great Spirit = God). I would like to be able to teach the plan of salvation powerfully and I believe this is one important aspect of teaching the gospel.

It seems as though I am noticing a pattern with Alma, Amulek, Ammon - they go straight to the top and convert the leaders, then everyone else follows. That seems to be a very good recipe for success in missionary work. As mentioned in previous chapters of Alma - one unrighteous king can cause much evil among a people - but the inverse is true as well - one righteous leader can also influence many. How were Alma and Amulek and others so effective at getting to the leaders? How were they effective at influencing people in power?

Why were things so dramatic back then? Why were people fainting after hearing the Gospel, and does that happen in our day or why doesn't that happen in our day? What can I learn from this. I'll try and post some answers later.