Do we have a man, such as this, today?

Since I was a young girl, my greatest hero has always been, oddly enough, Captain Moroni. For those who do not know, Captain Moroni lived on this continent approximately 100 years prior to the birth of Jesus Christ.

I was reading of him again this morning, I came across this passage of scripture which seems to appropriate for what we face today:

Alma 46: 12-20

12) And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—aIn memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

13) And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land—

14) For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church.

15) And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come.

16) And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians, and the freedom of the land might be favored.

17) And it came to pass that when he had poured out his soul to God, he named all the land which was south of the land Desolation, yea, and in fine, all the land, both on the north and on the south—A chosen land, and the land of liberty.

18) And he said: Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions.

19) And when Moroni had said these words, he went forth among the people, waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:

20) Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

The scriptures go on to describe this immense battle for liberty fought near the meridian of time.

Alma 48:7-13, 17

7) Now it came to pass that while Amalickiah had thus been obtaining power by fraud and deceit, Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God.

8) Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies, and also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land.

9) And in their weakest fortifications he did place the greater number of men; and thus he did fortify and strengthen the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

10) And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the cause of Christians.

11) And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;

12) Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.

13) Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.

17) Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

How many of us believe the same could be said of us? As I stated earlier, I have always wanted to be of the character that is described in the last verse above. To be such a woman would mean I had become the woman my Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ, have wanted me to be. It would mean I have honored my mother and father in all they taught me. It would mean I had fulfilled my mortal probation and could return home with a clean heart and pure mind.

Daily I stand for what I believe to be right. I answer any and all questions put to me of Jesus Christ and His gospel. I stand for America and the Constitution, for I believe both to be divinely created and inspired. I believe both have divine purposes which will not be defeated by mere men. I believe each of us has much to accomplish here in this life, for we promised the Savior we would do what He asked of us. I believe this is a time to grow, learn and become the daughter of God that I know I must be.

I also believe I have a long way to go, but I will never stop trying. So thank you to Captain Moroni for standing, and fighting, for what you knew to be true. Thank you for being the great example that you have always been to me. I look forward to the day, when I shuffle off this mortal coil, to shaking your hand, thanking you for all you've done and then simply listening as you share what your heart wants to share.

There are many people in history I want to meet, foremost is my Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to meet the Founding Fathers and many others who have stood, at great cost, for what they believed to be true, nay, even knew to be true. So many ancestors I've read of, research and studied, yes, I want to meet them as well. And Captain Moroni has been my example my entire life, always uppermost in my mind. So yes, I look forward to that day.

And at the very last of these thoughts I ask, do we have a man, such as Captain Moroni, today?