every girl's dream man

 One day when I was in high school I sat next to the amazing Kaitlyn Shea in church.  As she flipped through her scriptures, I noticed a page with a heart on the upper right hand margin.  That intrigued me and and so I asked her about it.  She told me it was a passage describing the character of Captain Moroni- the kind of man she wants to marry some day.  This intrigued me and so I read the following underlined passages from chapter 48 of the book of Alma:

...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 the their enemies the cause of Christians.
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; 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 hte welfare and safety of his people.  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.
Now the Nephites were taught to defend themselves against their enemies, even to the shedding of blood if it were necessary yea, and they were also taught never to give an offense, yea, and never to raise the sword except it were against an enemy, except it were to preserve their lives.
And this was their faith, that by so doing God would prosper them in the land, or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee or to prepare for war, according to their danger;  And also, that God would make it known unto them whither they should go to defend themselves against their enemies, and by so doing, the Lord would deliver them; and this was the faith of Moroni, and his heart did glory in it; not in the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity.
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.

 Yeah, not cool at all.  Nor impressive.  Nor awesome.  Definitely doesn't sound like the kind of guy that would make a girl go weak in the knees.  Nuh uh.  Let's go over the listed character traits, shall we?

• an effective and inspiring leader and organizer
• patriot- believed in defending liberty, land, family, peace, and the right to worship as one pleases; his "soul did joy in liberty and freedom of his people"; "had sworn with an oath to defend his people, [rights, country, and religion]
• a strong and mighty man
• wise, educated- "a man of perfect understanding"
• peaceful- "did not delight in bloodshed", believed in never raising the sword except in defense
• grateful- "heart 
• hardworking- "labor exceedingly for the welfare of his people"
• faithful, valiant- "firm in the faith of Christ"
• trusted that his obedience would result in God blessing & delivering him
• believed in obedience, doing good, defending his people
• resisted iniquity

Sounds good to me!
Now in verse 18 there is something interesting:

Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God.

Who were the sons of Mosiah- these men that the magnificent Captain Moroni is compared to?

Well, when we are first introduced to them they were the "very vilest of sinners" (Mosiah 28:4).  Now that's quite a thing to be called- they weren't just plane vile, very vile, or sinners.  Nor are they referred to simply as "the vilest of sinners", but rather the "very vilest of sinners".  That's not just a superlative... it's like a super superlative! Interestingly, the definition of superlative is "of the highest quality or degree". So effectively we could say that the sons of Mosiah were sinners of the highest degree.  Yikes!

Now the sons of Mosiah were numbered among the unbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma was numbered among them, he being called Alma, after his father; nevertheless, he became a very wicked and an idolatrous man.  And he was a man of many words, and he did speak much flattery to the people; therefore he led many of the people to do after the manner of iniquities.  And he became a great hinderment of the prosperity of the church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them.  [And he] was going about to destroy the church of God, for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commands of God, or even the king... *

So the sons of Mosiah hung out with Alma and they were pretty much breaking the law and trying to destroy the church.  That's all, y'know- not that big of a deal...  But you see, Alma's dad was the Prophet and he prayed that Heavenly Father would help Alma and his friends turn their lives around.  What happens next is a pretty awesome story that I really couldn't do justice to try and sum up.

...as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of Lord appeared unto them... [and said]: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his speople, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God.... And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God?... Now I say unto thee: Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers... and remember how great things he has done for them; for they were in bondage and he has delivered them.  And now I say unto thee... go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more...  And now Alma and those that were with him fell again to the earth, for great was their astonishment; for with their own eyes they had beheld an angel of the Lord; and his voice was as thunder, which shook the earth; and they knew that there was nothing save the power of God that could shake the earth and cause it to tremble as though it would part asunder.

Okay, so they were visited and called to repentance by an angel.  Did it work?

And now the astonishment of Alma was so great that he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father.... and it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed for the space of two days and two nights, the limbs of Alma received their strength, and he stood up and began to speak unto them, bidding them to be of good comfort:
For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.  And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; and thus they become new creatures; and unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know because I was like to be cast off.  Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting night unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God.  My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity.  I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God.  My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.  I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembered every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all....                     

So Alma went through a big fat repentance process.  What became of him and the sons of Mosiah?

And now it came to pass that Alma began from this time forward to teach the people, and those who were with Alma at the time the angel appeared unto them, traveling round about through all the land, publishing to all the people the things which they had heard and seen, and preaching the word of God in much tribulation, being greatly persecuted by those who were unbelievers, being smitten by many of them.  But nothwithstanding all this, they did impart much consolation to the church, confirming their faith, and exhorting them with long-suffering and much travail to keep the commandments of God.
And four of them were the sons of Mosiah; and their names were Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni.... And they traveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and among all the people who were under the reign of king Mosiah, zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church, confessing all their sins, and publishing all the things which they had seen, and explaining the prophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hear them.  And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer.
And how blessed are they!  For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth.                          

copyright 2011 CSager Photography

They became men of the highest calibre.  These men went from being the "very vilest of sinners" and "like to be cast off" to setting the standard of righteousness against which men in future generations would be judged.    This strikes me.  Christ snatched them from everlasting burning and redeemed them!  What does it mean to be redeemed?  It means to be bought back.  They had, with their sins, sold themselves to Satan and Christ brought them back from the darkest abyss to behold the marvelous light of God.  Alma says that his soul was "racked with eternal torment" but after he accepted Christ and the power of the Atonement into his life, Alma's "soul [was] pained no more".

This is one of the greatest stories of hope I can think of.  No matter what we have done, we can always repent. It is never too late.

The discouraging idea that a mistake (or even a series of them) makes it everlastingly too late, does not come from the Lord. He has said that if we will repent, not only will He forgive us our transgressions, but He will forget them and remember our sins no more. … Repentance is like soap; it can wash sin away. Ground-in dirt may take the strong detergent of discipline to get the stains out, but out they will come.  -Boyd K. Packer

Do not only hope to be forgiven of your sins- to have them washed away.  Hope to among the noble and great ones of this generation.  Hope to be like Alma and the sons of Mosiah, men so great they set a precedent of virtue and goodness which influenced and guided men to greatness for generations to come.

Additional Reading
"God Will Forgive" an excerpt from The Miracle of Forgiveness by the excellent Spencer W. Kimball
"Alma, Son of Alma" {the lessons we learn from his life give us hope...} by Jeffrey R. Holland
*The story of Alma, Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni comes from the twenty-seventh chapter of the book of Mosiah
"Amazed at the Love Jesus Offers Me"  also by Elder Holland