The third place I'm visiting when they invent time travel. If time travel ever gets invented the first place I'm going is to the 1984 Holiday Bowl to relive BYU winning the national championship. Go Cougars!! Then I'm off to Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 to see those brave Founding Fathers pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor when they sign the Declaration of Independence (maybe I'll ask if I can sign it too).
The third place I'm going is a Nephite city called Ammonihah. I don't know the exact date, but it's around 82 B.C., and it will be the day that Alma and Amulek boldly testify in front of the hostile crowd at Ammonihah.
Also, I'd prefer to be invisible that day (they should probably have invisibility figured out before time travel, don't you think?), as I don't wish to interfere at all with what these two legendary missionaries are doing. But the first place I want to see them is in Amulek's home, eating breakfast (or not eating breakfast, in case they're fasting, which they probably were). I would like to look into Amulek's eyes to see if there's any nervousness or whether he is calmly confident. I'd want to know if he has inkling that this will be the last time he'll be in his house. And probably also that last time he'd be with his family on this Earth. I wonder if he had any idea how much he would have to sacrifice for his testimony of Jesus Christ that day.
Amulek's involvement in the mission started many days before. An angel visited Amulek and instructed him to receive Alma into his house. Then, Alma, who had been fasting for many days, encountered Amulek and meekly said: "Will ye give to an humble servant of God something to eat?" (Alma 8:19)
Amulek's response is beautiful in the way it shows his knowledge of Alma's divine calling: "I am a Nephite, and I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an angel said in a vision: Thou shalt receive. Therefore, go with me into my house and I will impart unto thee of my food; and I know that thou wilt be a blessing unto me and my house" (Alma 8:20).
Alma is so hungry that he takes up a policy of eat first, introductions later. Only after he is full does Alma tell
Amulek what his name is.
Alma knew why he had returned to Ammonihah: to preach the gospel.
But it wasn't initially clear at first that Amulek was to join him. Perhaps Amulek hoped to join Alma on his mission or perhaps he'd even asked Alma to pray to find out the Lord's will concerning him, like many of the early Saints asked Joseph Smith to do. Whatever the case, after Alma had spent "many days" (Alma 8:27) at Amulek's house, the call came from the Lord that Alma and Amulek were preach the gospel (Alma 8:28).
Given the way Alma was treated the first time he preached both Alma and Amulek had to know they were risking their lives to preach in front of the people of Ammonihah. Amulek, though, was risking even more. This was his city; these were his friends; this was his home. He was risking not just his life, but his comfortable life and reputation to preach with Alma.
So whether the call was expected, and whether it was desired may be unknown. But this we do know: Amulek was called, so he went. High risk? Yes. But Amulek wanted to serve God first, and then let the consequence follow.
Alma wasn't much different. After being cast out of Ammonihah, his response was to fast and pray that he could go back. And when he was instructed he could go back, he did walk back slowly, he sprinted toward the city he'd been thrown out of; he ran toward his persecutors because he was on the Lord's errand.
In this way, Alma and Amulek were, like the Lamanites converted by the sons of Mosiah, saying, "If the Lord saith unto us go, we will go."
It's that kind of conviction and dedication that would be worth traveling 2,100 years through time to see--to see such men of Christ, willing to say, "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord."
