Preparation

Alma 48:
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.

Seriously? what would the world be like if more men were like him? He is one of my heroes.

Hugh Nibley: “You do not expel evil from ‘the hearts of the children of men’ by shooting them or blowing them up or torturing them—the Inquisition operated on that theory. Nor can ‘the powers of hell be shaken’ by heavy artillery or nuclear warheads…Nobody knows that better than Moroni, whose efforts to avoid conflict far exceed his labors in battle. When he sees trouble ahead, he gets ready for it by ‘preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God’ (Alma 48:7).”

Alma 49:
8 But behold, to their uttermost astonishment, they were prepared for them, in a
manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni.
-The Lamanites were not prepared to find the Nephites a step ahead of them. They were prepared. They had fortified their cities to protect their families from attack. Good advice for us today. Be prepared-the adversary will try to attack us from any direction and in any area where we are weak.

14 But behold, to their astonishment, the city of Noah, which had hitherto been a weak place, had now,by the means of Moroni, become strong, yea, even to exceed the strength of the city Ammonihah.
-The Lamanites realize they can't get into the 1st city, so they make a new plan. We won't attack the stronghold, we will go for the weakest city. Only to find that the weak city has also been made strong. Again, good advice for us. we need to find our weaknesses and work on them until they become strong. We do not know when temptation will come and from where...so its best to not have weak spots.

23 Thus the Nephites had all power over their enemies; and thus the Lamanites did attempt to destroy the Nephites until their chief captains were all slain; yea, and more than a thousand of the Lamanites were slain; while, on the other hand, there was not a single soul of the Nephites which was slain.
-They were saved because they followed the council of their leader. They had faith in the Lord and they prepared themselves to face the attack. Similarly we need to listen to our leaders, have faith in the Lord, and prepare ourselves to face temptation- whenever it comes.