8 And behold, I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to soften our hearts, that we have opened a correspondence with these brethren, the Nephites.
King Lamoni goes on to thank God, who truly was the one responsible for sending the missionaries in the first place! But surely those missionaries were worthy of thanks, because it is almost always through others that God blesses his children.
Nevertheless, he acknowledges that it was God softening his heart to listen to those Nephite missionaries that was responsible for everything that transpired thereafter.
And surely it was! Remember the remarkable story? How it was a miracle that the Nephites were even given audience before the king? How impressed and trusting the king was to people who were their avowed enemy? How he was so impressed that he wanted Ammon to marry one of his daughters?
Surely, as Lamaoni looked back on the events that brought him to a knowledge of the truth and his mighty change of heart, he must have seen God’s hands in softening his heart to the degree it was softened. That he didn’t do the traditional thing, which probably was to either kill or enslave any Nephite that fell into their hands. But beyond that, to soften his heart to such a degree that upon their first meeting he was willing to take Ammon in as a son-in-law! And a Nephite at that!!! Unheard of. I think we sometimes gloss over how unusual and atypical was this first encounter with Ammon. But the king recognized that God played a part in softening his heart to “correspond” with the Nephites. He had ears to hear.
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