Ammon is talking with the sons of Mosiah, reminding them of their mission call to serve the Lamanites. It is one of the most powerful parts of the Book of Mormon, to me.
"Remember how everybody told us that there was no way we could teach the Lamanites? Remember how they told us that there was no way that we could convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, stubborn and bull-headed people that they be? Remember how they said that the Lamanites loved to murder people, and took pleasure in it? How they spent their days committing horribly evil sins, and that they've been this way since their father Lehi arrived in the promised land and they first stepped off the boat? Remember how they told us that it would be more effective and possibly even better for the cause of the church for us to fight the Lamanites, and totally destroy them in order to eradicate their terrible traditions and prevent them from killing us.
But we definitely didn't come here to destroy them! It was not our intent to harm them, but rather to teach them so that we could turn their hearts to their Savior, Jesus Christ, and save their souls.
When we were depressed, and we were about to turn back, remember that the Lord comforted us. He told us to go among the Lamanites, our brethren, and withstand the trials and tribulations with patience, and he promised he would give us success."
That is an awesome pep talk right there.
If I were a missionary serving a full-time proselyting mission in the Czech Republic, I would read these verses often. The Czech people have a complicated, messy relationship with spirituality and religion, and it's all tied into political and social identity. It would probably not be very easy to preach the gospel to a Czech person.
Still, the idea that it would be better to just wipe them out - wow. That's... Well, that's super disturbing. I suppose that is where the analogy ends.
It is evidence that the Nephites were pretty racist.
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