His sons having started on their mission to the Lamanites, Mosiah chose Alma, the younger, and gave the sacred plates and the associate holy things into his care. The elder Alma made this same son the presiding high priest of the church, and the people chose him for their first chief judge. The church, the records, the nation, all things being thus provided for, Mosiah passed away to the joys of eternity, B. C. 91. He was sixty-three years old, and he had ruled his people in righteousness thirty-three years. When he passed away no fierce convulsions wrecked the ship of state, the political atmosphere was calm, the people joyfully assumed their new responsibilities, and the first of the judges succeeded the last of the kings without causing one disturbing wave on the placid waters of the national life. CHAPTER XIX. THE MISSION OF THE SONS OF MOSIAH TO THE LAMANITES--THEIR JOURNEY IN THE WILDERNESS--AMMON BROUGHT BEFORE KING LAMONI--THE CONFLICT AT THE WATERS OF SEBUS--THE MIRACULOUS CONVERSION OF LAMONI AND HIS FAMILY--ABISH THE WAITING WOMAN. (ALMA CHAP. 17 TO 19.) Before we take up the history of the Nephites, during the reigns of their judges, we will follow the sons of Mosiah and their brethren to the land of Nephi, on the perilous mission that they had undertaken, to convert the Lamanites. The names of the four sons of Mosiah were Aaron, Ammon, Omner and Himni; amongst their companions were Muloki and Ammah. These all took their journey into the southern wilderness during the last year of Mosiah's reign, or B. C. 91. They carried with them their bows and arrows and other weapons, not to wage war but to kill game for their food in the wilderness. Their journey was a tedious one; they lost their way and almost lost heart, and indeed were on the point of returning when they received divine assurance of their ultimate success. Nerved by this assurance, and with much fasting and prayer, they continued their wanderings, and before long reached the borders of the Lamanites. Commending themselves to God they here separated, each one trusting to the Lord to guide him to the place where he could best accomplish the purposes of heaven. Ammon entered the Lamanite territory at a land called Ishmael. Here Lamoni was the chief ruler, under his father, who was king of all the Lamanites. Ammon was no sooner discovered than he was taken, bound with cords and conducted into the presence of Lamoni. It was the custom of the Lamanites to so use every Nephite they captured, and it rested with the whim of the king whether the captive be slain, imprisoned or sent out of the country. The king's will and pleasure were the only law on such matters.