"Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.
And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld.
And it came to pass that this man did cry unto the multitude, that they might turn and look. And behold, there was power given unto them that they did turn and look; and they did behold the faces of Nephi and Lehi.
And they said unto the man: Behold, what do all these things mean, and who is it with whom these men do converse?
Now the man’s name was Aminadab. And Aminadab said unto them: They do converse with the angels of God.
And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?
And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you."
Helaman 5:35-41
We don't know a lot about Aminadab, but his actions here impressed me. He had strayed from the church, but still recognized the hand of God in action, and helped the rest of the group who didn't know what was going on to understand and to be converted as well. We don't know what happened to him after this, but I like to think that this is just the beginning of his redemption story.
Another thing I love about this is Aminadab's advice to "cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith" ... I think that is great. So often we think that faith has to come first, and it definitely can, but as it says in Alma 32:27, "even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." ... God doesn't expect us to pull a testimony out of the air. Just like everything else, we try it, and practice, and learn as we take action. Whatever effort we have to give is welcome by God... he just wants us to keep trying to make that connection to him, and as we do, then we'll learn more and more about how to communicate with God, and be more and more solid in our understanding and testimony.
Today, let's cry unto God, and learn as we go.
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