Never Give Up on Anybody

Alma 26:

23 Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites, and they laughed us to scorn?

24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.

25 And moreover they did say: Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us.

26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.

Here we see a great example of giving people a chance to change-not passing the final judgment on anyone-letting people repent.  Ammon and his brothers were mocked when they said that they wanted to teach the Lamanites, because others thought the Lamanites were too prideful, wicked, and violent to be converted.  In fact, the people basically said "let's just go wipe them out and be done with them."  Sadly, I overheard someone make a very similar comment about people in the Middle East.  After a news broadcast showed all the violence going on over there, he remarked "why don't we just nuke the place and get rid of them?"  Although now a days it would be politically incorrect and culturally biased (Ammon wasn't worried about that) to say Middle Easterners "delight in the shedding of blood", I would say that the Lamanites probably were no "worse" than they are.  The Lamanites were a people than engaged in much violence based on "incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers", i.e. they were fighting over past beliefs, just like what is going on out East.  The point is, these missionaries didn't see the Lamanites as bloodthirsty people, they saw them as their brothers who could be saved (like Brother Bartholomew taught me, just because you are covered in mud doesn't mean you are mud).  I believe the day will come when missionaries will be allowed to go preach in the Middle East, and they better have the attitude that Ammon and his brothers had and not that which the people had.