Abinadi and the Power of One

Who is the most impactful missionary in the Book of Mormon? 

A case can be made for Ammon, whose tireless love for the Lamanites inspired thousands to be converted. Alma the Younger likewise baptized multitudes over a lifelong career of preaching the gospel. Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman, similarly can number their converts by the thousands. I'd like to make a case, however, for this guy right here:

You know him--it's Abinadi, the most muscular geriatric in the Book of Mosiah (if Arnold Friberg's painting can be believed). Abinadi was called to preach repentance to King Noah and ended up on the wrong end of a fiery execution. As far as we know, only one person ever believed his testimony: Alma the Elder, one of King Noah's corrupt priests. Such a paltry number of converts pales in comparison to other scriptural heroes, but Abinadi's impact had a much farther reach than just one man. After all, Alma became an influential prophet. So did Alma's son. And his son. Each of them blessed the lives of hundreds of others.

Just how many people can trace their knowledge of the gospel back to Abinadi? Let's find out! I've made this handy interactive to see how many spiritual dominoes have fallen due to this great man. Each arrow represents someone being converted to the gospel. Click along in the box below to see just how many people have come to know the Savior because one man wasn't afraid to stand up to King Noah:

Or, in case you hate flow charts, here's the same information in list format:

1. Alma the Elder believes Abinadi (Mosiah 17:2)
2. Alma baptizes 204 people (Mos 18:16)
3. Later, that group grows to 450 (Mos 18:35)
4. The People of Limhi are converted and baptized by Alma (Mos 25:17-18)
5. After Alma the Elder's prayers, an angel is sent to his son and the sons of Mosiah, ultimately leading to their conversion (Mos 27:23-25; 34-35)
6. Alma the Younger baptizes 3,500 (Alma 4:4-5)
7. He preaches and baptizes in Zarahemla (Alma 6:1-2)
8. He preaches and establishes the church in Gideon (Alma 8:1)
9. He preaches and baptizes in Melek (Alma 8:4-5)
10. Alma meets Amulek, who joins the ministry (Alma 8:19-30)
11. Together, they preach in Ammonihah, and many believe and repent (Alma 14:1)
12. They baptize Zeezrom (Alma 15:12)
13. They preach and baptize in Sidom (Alma 15:12-13)
14. Meanwhile, the sons of Mosiah preach to the Lamanites. Initially, few believe them (Alma 21:12)
15. Ammon teaches King Lamoni's household and they are converted (Alma 19:13-16)
16. They testify to the people and many believe and are baptized (Alma 19:34-35)
17. Ammon and Lamoni free Ammon's brothers from prison, and they in turn bring many to the gospel (Alma 21:17)
18. Aaron converts the Lamanite King's household (Alma 22:17-23)
19. The Lamanite King protects the sons of Mosiah, and they convert thousands (Alma 23:4-5)
20. The Lamanite converts (Anti-Nephi-Lehies) refuse to defend themselves from their attackers, more than 1,000 of whom are converted (Alma 24:27)
21. The Lamanites attack the Nephites, and many of them remember the teachings of the sons of Mosiah and are converted and martyred (Alma 25:6)
22. After the fighting ceases, many Lamanites join the Anti-Nephi-Lehies (Alma 25:13-14)
23. Alma the Younger has three sons, Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton, who eventually all become righteous men (Alma 31:7; 43:1)
24. Alma, Amulek, Zeezrom, Shiblon, Corianton, and three of the sons of Mosiah convert many Zoramites (Alma 35:6)
25. The sons of the Anti-Nephi-Lehi converts become the stripling warriors under the command of Helaman (Alma 53:16-19)
26. Helaman has a righteous son, also named Helaman (Alma 63:11)
27. The second Helaman has sons named Nephi and Lehi (Helaman 5:4-5)
28. Nephi and Lehi baptize 8,000 Lamanites (Hel 5:18-19)
29. The brothers are taken prisoner, but after they are miraculously saved, 300 of their captors are converted (Hel 5:49)
30. These converts teach and convert most of the remaining Lamanites (Hel 5:50)
31. Lamanite converts convert many Nephites (Hel 6:4-5)
32. Nephi preaches and prophesies from his tower, and five former skeptics are converted due to his testimony (Hel 9:39)
33. Others believe the words of these five (Hel 9:39)
34. After a war and a famine, the whole face of the land is converted (Hel 11:18)
35. A Lamanite named Samuel begins a mission to the Nephites (Hel 13:2)
36. Many believe Samuel and are baptized by Nephi (Hel 16:1-3)
37. Nephi has two sons named Nephi and Timothy (3 Nephi 1:2; 19:4)
38. After the sign of Christ's birth, Nephi preaches and baptizes many (3 Nep 1:22-23)
39. After Gadianton Robbers attack both the Nephites and Lamanites, some are taken captive and repent (3 Nep 5:4)
40. Many fall away from the church and Nephi converts only a few (3 Nep 7:21)
41. Nephi has sons named Jonas and Nephi (3 Nephi 19.4; 4 Nephi 1:19)
42. After Christ visits the people, he calls Nephi, Timothy, and Jonas as disciples, who form a church and baptize all people upon the face of the land (4 Nep 1:1-2)
43. Nephi has a son named Amos, who cares for the record of his people (4 Nep 1:19)
44. Amos has sons named Amos and Ammaron, each of whom in turn care for the record (4 Nep 1:21, 47) 
45. Ammaron delivers the record to Mormon, who abridges it (Mormon 1:2-4)
46. Mormon entrusts it to his son Moroni, who concludes it (Morm 8:1)
47. As an angel, Moroni leads Joseph Smith to the record, who translates and publishes it as the Book of Mormon (Joseph Smith-History 1:33-34)
48. Through Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, the Church and all of its members can come unto Christ (Doctrine and Covenants 1:17-30)

Literally every faithful member of the Church you've ever met can trace his or her conversion back to a day more than 2,000 years ago when a wicked priest listened to a righteous, condemned man bear testimony of the Savior of the world.

Does that make Abinadi the greatest missionary in the Book of Mormon? I hesitate to answer, in part because I don't really think he was a missionary--at least, not in the sense we usually think about missionaries today. For starters, the Book of Mormon makes clear that he was teaching his own people in his own land. Second, as corrupt and apostate as they may have been, the people Abinadi was sent to teach were not only members but leaders of the church. 

If I may speculate and lean perhaps too heavily on semantics, I suggest that Abinadi was not the Book of Mormon's best missionary, but its best home teacher. Entrusted with what might be the most difficult assignment in home teaching history, he managed to touch the soul of one individual, through whom he blessed the lives of millions. All it took was a few years of dedicated effort and one person who would listen.

Even if we don't say it, it's easy to feel like home and visiting teaching don't ultimately matter all that much. Visits are boring, annoying, time consuming, and require much more coordination than they're worth, we tell ourselves. Can you imagine if Abinadi had felt that way?

With nothing but faith, the Holy Spirit, and just one listener, Abinadi changed the world. So what's preventing us from doing the same?

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!"

~Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16

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