Minerva Teichert, ‘Ammon Before King Limhi,’ 1969
King Mosiah wanted to know what had happened to a group of people who had immigrated back to the land of Nephi many years earlier. He organized a search party, led by a man named Ammon, who found Limhi and his people in bondage to the Lamanites. Limhi spoke to his people, reviewing their history and expressing hope that God would deliver them from captivity.
Chapter Outline
- The search party arrives in Shilom, and three of them are imprisoned (v. 1-7)
- Ammon speaks with King Limhi (v. 8-16)
- Limhi speaks to his people (v. 17-33)
My Takeaways
- Great leaders inspire people by speaking with confidence and hope.
- Even when things haven’t gone well, keep watching for the opportunities God will provide.
- We can change our circumstances by making better decisions
Featured Blog Posts
❖ The search party – Mosiah 7:1-7
“They Wearied Him with Their Teasings”
Mosiah sent a search party to find the people of Zeniff after his people “wearied him with their teasings.” Two lessons: #1. Don’t stop asking if something is important. #2 Pay attention to repeated requests from the people you love.
❖ Ammon and King Limhi – Mosiah 7:8-16
I Will Endeavor to Speak with Boldness – Mosiah 7:12-13
12 And now, when Ammon saw that he was permitted to speak, he went forth and bowed himself before the king; and rising again he said: O king, I am very thankful before God this day that I am yet alive, and am permitted to speak; and I will endeavor to speak with boldness;13 For…
Ammon Was a Mulekite.
Several hundred years after Nephi fled from his brothers “into the wilderness, with all those who would go with [him]” (2 Nephi 5:5), a man named Mosiah was warned by God to do the same. We don’t have a lot of details about him, but he lived in the land of Nephi, which had been…
“I Will Cause That My People Shall Rejoice” – Mosiah 7:14
When King Limhi learned who Ammon was and why he had come, he immediately recognized the significance of Ammon’s arrival. Limhi and his people had been in bondage for years and had made multiple attempts to regain their freedom, with no success. But Limhi saw in Ammon’s arrival a ray of hope, an indication that…
❖ Limhi’s speech – Mosiah 7:17-33
Speaking with the Voice of Hope – Mosiah 7:18-19
Soon after the search party led by Ammon arrived in the land of Lehi-Nephi, King Limhi understood the significance of the event. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to free themselves from captivity, his people had a renewed reason to be hopeful (Mosiah 7:1-15). As he gathered his people to share the good news, Limhi encouraged them…
Mosiah 7:18 An Effectual Struggle
Yet I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made. (Mosiah 7:18) It is particularly discouraging when we have tried to overcome a challenge over and over again without success. It is easy to say, “I’ve already tried to solve that one. It can’t be done,” or, “I’m just not capable of handling this…
Why Is It Important to Lift Up Our Heads?
As he looked forward to the temple which his son would build, King David wrote a psalm about the joy of welcoming God’s presence into that holy house. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates” he wrote; “and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in” (Psalm 24:7,…
“Full Purpose of Heart…All Diligence of Mind”
Limhi promised his people that God would deliver them if they would turn to Him, trust Him, and serve Him. But he qualified that promise: He will deliver us in His own time and way if we love and serve Him with our whole heart and mind.
What Does It Mean to Serve God “with All Diligence of Mind?”
The people of King Limhi had every reason to feel hopeless. Their enemies, the Lamanites, had conquered their city. They were required to pay half of all they possessed as tribute to the Lamanite king (Mosiah 19:26). Three times, they had attacked the Lamanite armies, hoping to regain their freedom. Three times, they had been…
Old Testament Foundations
Backsliding
The Hebrew word meshubah (מְשׁוּבָה) means “turning away.” It appears twelve times in the Old Testament: once in Proverbs, nine times in Jeremiah, and twice in Hosea. In the Jeremiah and Hosea appearances, the King James translators rendered it as “backsliding.” Other translations use words like “apostasy,” “faithlessness,” and “waywardness.” I like the word “backsliding,”…
It Fell on a Day
Three events from the life of a Shunnamite woman are introduced with the phrase “it fell on a day:” The first time she saw the prophet Elisha and persuaded him to eat dinner at her home (2 Kings 4:8). When Elisha and his servant came to stay at her house, and he promised that she…
The Image of God
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:27 How much are we like God? We see daily evidence of how far we—and the people around us—fall short of perfection. So how can we think we have anything in common with a perfect Being?…
New Testament Parallels
An Effectual Door
In his first epistle to the Corinthian saints, Paul promises to spend some time with them in the future, but not right away. “I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost,” he says. “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me” (1 Corinthians 16:9). The word effectual means “successful in producing a desired or…
Limhi and the Law of the Harvest – Mosiah 7:30-31
After enduring captivity for a long period of time, King Limhi received some hopeful news when a search party arrived from their homeland of Zarahemla. As he spoke to his people about these new developments, he encouraged them to turn to the Lord by reminding them that many of God’s blessings are conditional. Their current…
All Posts Referencing Mosiah 7
- The God of Abraham (2/17/2026)
- Abinadi, Authority, and the Image of God (1/15/2026)
- A Proclamation (10/31/2025)
- Avoiding Deception (2/21/2025)
- In the Wilderness (5/11/2024)
- Limhi’s Psalm (5/10/2024)
- “Full Purpose of Heart…All Diligence of Mind” (5/9/2024)
- “They Wearied Him with Their Teasings” (5/8/2024)
- That Space Between Naïveté and Paranoia (5/7/2024)
- Backsliding (11/11/2022)
- It Fell on a Day (7/5/2022)
- The Voice of the People (6/15/2022)
- Joshua and the Book of Mormon (5/26/2022)
- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (2/20/2022)
- They Hearkened Not (2/6/2022)
- The Image of God (12/18/2021)
- An Effectual Door (10/16/2021)
- “My Time Is at Hand” – 3 Nephi 17:1 (9/29/2020)
- Speaking with the Voice of Hope – Mosiah 7:18-19 (5/2/2020)
- Limhi and the Law of the Harvest – Mosiah 7:30-31 (5/1/2020)
- Ammon Was a Mulekite. (4/30/2020)
- “I Will Cause That My People Shall Rejoice” – Mosiah 7:14 (4/29/2020)
- What Should I Be Thankful For? (11/28/2019)
- How Can I Follow the Savior with “Full Purpose of Heart?” (9/29/2019)
- Why Is It Important to Lift Up Our Heads? (9/7/2019)
- How Can I Be a More Effective Leader? (8/23/2019)
- What Can We Learn from the Crossing of the Red Sea? (8/16/2019)
- What Does the Book of Mormon Teach About Abraham? (7/20/2019)
- How Can I Avoid Overzealousness? (7/9/2019)
- What Does It Mean to Serve God “with All Diligence of Mind?” (7/8/2019)
- What Do We Know About the Jaredite Plates? (5/26/2019)
- What Does the Book of Mormon Teach About Taxes? (4/6/2019)
- What Does It Mean to “Succor” Someone? (2/27/2019)
- Lift up Your Heads – Mosiah 7:18-20 (2/20/2018)
- I Will Endeavor to Speak with Boldness – Mosiah 7:12-13 (4/27/2015)
- Mosiah 7:18 An Effectual Struggle (10/14/2014)