Aaron's Humility

I think that Aaron showed great humility throughout the story of him and his brothers.  It would appear to me that he was in fact the oldest of the sons of Mosiah.  I don’t believe that we are told anywhere for sure, but he is the first one that the people want to call as their king in Mosiah 29:2.  Aaron’s decline to accept the position of king was clearly his first great example of humility.  That typically would have been the oldest son in their patriarchal society who was to be the next king.  Mormon, on the other hand, always listed the four brothers with Ammon first and Aaron second so I’m not sure who was actually the oldest (e.g. Mosiah 27:34).  When they went on their mission, Mormon said this about their relationship: “Now Ammon being the chief among them, or rather he did administer unto them” (Alma 17:18).  Ammon gave them all blessings and therefore seems to have been the spiritual leader of the group.  Aaron, whether oldest or not, obviously let his brother lead and I think showed great humility throughout their mission as Ammon in many respects gained the most fame from the missionary labors.  He was the one to have success right away whereas Aaron was met with great difficulty and ended up eventually in prison.  In fact Aaron had to rely on his brother to finally get him out (Alma 20:28).  That must have been very humbling to Aaron and caused him to wonder why his brother had seemed to have had it so easy whereas he had been met with such disappointment.  Eventually Aaron did have great success too like Ammon in the missionary labors, but ultimately it was by Ammon’s name that the converts were called by as they joined the Nephites.  We get one hint that perhaps Aaron struggled to some degree with his relationship with Ammon and the great notoriety that Ammon received.  When Ammon praised the Lord for the great success they had as missionaries, Aaron suggested to his brother, “Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting” (Alma 26:10).  It’s actually the last words of Aaron that we have in the Book of Mormon, and to me represent his great humility in serving the Lord.