Captain Moroni in the Book of Mormon

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(this picture is probably historically inaccurate but it is a great image of the Standard of Liberty and Captain Moroni)

I was thinking about the scripture in Alma 48:17
where it talks about if all men were like unto Moroni, Hell itself would be closed...
I want to be like that.
So I decided I'm going to study Moroni. I looked him up in the index and Captain Moroni first appears in chapter 43. So in the first 24 verses, which is as far as i got I made some observations.

Captain Moroni:

1. It says in Alma 43:17 that he took command when he was 25.  I feel this is significant but I’m not quite sure how yet.

a. Ambitious?

b. Close to my age?

2. Verse 19 says that he prepared his people with breast plates and other defensive armor.

a. This scared the lamanites.

b. This could be a metaphor for spiritual armor.

c. It says that he prepared his men.

                       i.   How do I apply this.  It means I need to help someone… but who exactly?

3. Moroni sent spies after the opposing army.

a. Didn’t depend on might.

b. Even when he was winning he didn’t get cocky.

c. Gaining knowledge was important.

4. Sent men to the prophet to seek counsel about the armies.

a. Had a plan and then asked for more help.

b. Knew where his strength came from.

c. Again, this shows humility.

Mission? Whatever happened to that idea?

So I am still planning on going, although I may have lost some of the initial momentum of the goal setting process, but I am still on the high road!  I have been keeping to my budget and I have increased in my testimony.

I am not so much keeping to my exercise plan, although that will be more important when I go home for the holidays; currently I have been doing a lot of exercise just as a result of being a college student, but as I go home and no longer have the necessity to walk to classes and up and down stairs, I will need to re-implement my exercise plan.

I have been practicing the piano, and working with harder material, and it has been quite frustrating but I must stick it out. It will be worth it.

Overall It has created a sub-thread of self improvement in my life, while it is not at the forefront of my brain constantly, it still affects my decisions.

Just a little bit, just a little bit of....progress

SO TODAY IS THE DAY AFTER MY ORIGINAL MOTIVATION TO GO ON A MISSION

(http://0.tqn.com/d/lds/1/G/6/O/1/missionary_fund_sm.jpg)

Last night I went to bed earlier than I otherwise would, but still relatively late.

I changed my desktop background to spiritual pictures.

read more scriptures

kept the health code a little more.

and prayed more

I read in Leviticus yesterday (I'm taking an Old Testament class) and I was learning about the sacrifices and especially about their Kosher laws.  Its a little bit difficult to follow, but as I read it occurred to me that perhaps because they didn't have all the technologies we do today, it was a law to protect them physically.  All the animals that they were not allowed to eat, are more prone to disease or giving viruses, and without the proper treatment with modern sciences they were unsafe.  This is further evidence that as we obey God's law we will be blessed.  He protected them and now gives us laws to protect us.