It's funny - a few weeks back I started writing this post titled "Faith". A few weeks later I get asked to give a 10-15 minute talk on Faith. I felt like I had a head start which made me happy. So here is the part I wanted to include in the post and the bold part at the bottom is my talk.
My family will often comment that Heavenly Father always answers my prayers and if they really need a prayer answered will say, "Have Jessica and Ella pray for it." I think I am just more open to share my experiences or more activley asking for more from Heavenly Father. Maybe I give Him more credit than some would? I never feel like what I am asking for is trivial. Some people say that we should figure things out for ourselves rather than ask for help with small things. My opinion is that if it is important enough to you to ask Heavenly Father for help with it, it is important to Him. However I also know that they don't really need me to ask for it. He will answer them just as much as me.
So about 4 weeks ago I lost $130 of haircutting/product money. That week I had made a trip to the supply house and spent $130 buying product for people and supplies to do hair so I was counting on the income to pay myself back. I was sick about it and looked everywhere I could think of and in the unlogical places like the garbage can and around the fence. I prayed about it every day and even promised the Lord I would donate some of it to Dustin's nephew serving a mission if he would help me find it. Dustin tried to make me feel better by saying a homeless person found it and needed it much more than us. After hearing that Ella decided we needed to stop praying to find it and let them have it. :)
1 week from the day I lost the money my neighbor (a 15 year old boy) showed up with $60. Earlier in the week I told his mom I lost the money because $30 was a check from her and the rest was cash. While weeding around their yard that day, he found $60 in cash on their thistles and in their window well and he knew it belonged to me. Soon after returning the $60, he brought me a new $30 check from his mom too. I felt like the right thing to do was to reward him with $20 for his honesty and courage in bringing it back. I was thrilled!
Exactly 1 week later while doing hair, Ella comes into the house with a crinkly $20 bill and holding it up prouding says, "Mom! Look what I found!"
So about 4 weeks ago I lost $130 of haircutting/product money. That week I had made a trip to the supply house and spent $130 buying product for people and supplies to do hair so I was counting on the income to pay myself back. I was sick about it and looked everywhere I could think of and in the unlogical places like the garbage can and around the fence. I prayed about it every day and even promised the Lord I would donate some of it to Dustin's nephew serving a mission if he would help me find it. Dustin tried to make me feel better by saying a homeless person found it and needed it much more than us. After hearing that Ella decided we needed to stop praying to find it and let them have it. :)
1 week from the day I lost the money my neighbor (a 15 year old boy) showed up with $60. Earlier in the week I told his mom I lost the money because $30 was a check from her and the rest was cash. While weeding around their yard that day, he found $60 in cash on their thistles and in their window well and he knew it belonged to me. Soon after returning the $60, he brought me a new $30 check from his mom too. I felt like the right thing to do was to reward him with $20 for his honesty and courage in bringing it back. I was thrilled!
Exactly 1 week later while doing hair, Ella comes into the house with a crinkly $20 bill and holding it up prouding says, "Mom! Look what I found!"
And just in case that doesn't come in loud and clear... one more week passes by. We left to go camping for 6 days and when I come home, there is a crinkly and faded $30 check from my neighbor that somebody had found and returned to my doorstep. Incredible!
Alma 32:42 And because of your adiligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the bfruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.
43 Then, my brethren, ye shall areap the brewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth cfruit unto you.Alma 32:42 And because of your adiligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the bfruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.
Hooray for an answered prayer!
Marvin J.
Ashton shared a story in the February 1994 Ensign about Elder Hugh B.
Brown. Before he left on a mission, his
mother told him:
“Hugh,
you remember when you were a little boy and you would have a bad dream or wake
up in the night frightened? You would call from your room, ‘Mother, are you
there?’ and I would answer and try to comfort you and remove your fears. Now as
you go on a mission and out into the world, there will be times when you will
be frightened, when you feel weak, inadequate, alone, and have problems. I want
you to know that you can call to your Heavenly Father as you used to call to me
and say, ‘Father, are you there? I need your help.’ Do this with the knowledge
that He is there and that He will be ready to help you if you will do your part
and live worthy of your blessings. I want to reassure you that He is there and
will answer your prayers and needs for your best good”
It
is a scary world we live in. It is
unstable and uncertain. There are
unreliable people, jobs and the media. A
family member recently expressed frustration that his boss didn't pay him as
promised after multiple days of work. We
hear of teachers and other trusting examples that end up not being so
trustworthy after all. It is hard for us
to know who and what to trust.
However,
part of the reason we are here on earth is for personal growth. And trial allows opportunity for growth and
increased faith. What child could ever grow to be self
supporting in maturity were all the critical decisions made by parents? So it is with our wise Heavenly Father. His plan of happiness is designed so that we
will have struggles and difficulties where decisions of great importance must
be made so that we can grow, develop and succeed.
Ether 12:27
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be
humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before
me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I
make weak things become strong unto them.
As
members of the church we are so very blessed to have a stable example, a
perfect example where we can focus our faith and never be let down. If we can focus our faith on Him, the example
of our Savior Jesus Christ will never lead us astray. I know this to be true.
What is Faith?
In Alma
32 we are taught that faith
is like a seed.
21 And now as I said concerning faith—afaith is not to have a
perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye bhope for things which are cnot seen, which are true.
26
Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it
is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any
more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
27
But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment
upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more
than adesire
to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that
ye can give place for a portion of my words.
28
Now, we will compare the word unto a aseed. Now, if ye give
place, that a bseed may be planted in your
cheart, behold, if it be a
true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your dunbelief,
that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell
within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to
say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the
word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to eenlighten
my funderstanding,
yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
As
a child attending Primary and Young Womens and Sunday School, having home
teachers visit our home regularly and my mom allowing me to sit with her as her
visiting teachers taught her, a seed was planted in my heart. I began to experiment upon the words I was
hearing and it wasn't more than a few times that I noticed the Lord very
clearly bless me according to my small and simple desire. It was that experiment that helped me
develop and anchor my faith which has since helped me through harder and more
difficult trials and decisions.
It
is most pleasing to me now as I watch the seed of faith sprout within Ella. Her example often teaches me. We were in a different church building a few
weeks back and as we were leaving she remembered she had forgot something. I sent her after it alone and after a couple
of minutes I went in to see what had distracted her. As I glanced down the hall I could see her in
the corner with her forehead resting against the white brick wall, arms folded
tightly pleading with the Lord to help her find her way out of this foreign
building. As I called for her she has
never been so excited to see me. She has
had the opportunity to see evidence that her Father in Heaven loves her and
answers her prayers.
Moroni
taught "Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore,
dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial
of your faith."
A
good example for me to relate to is our kids.
They will ask over and over and over for a cookie an hour before
dinner. Begging and promising that they
will eat their dinner. Because you know
that is not the right thing for them right now, you say no. Not right now.
But they want it so badly and think they know best and this is what they
need.
I
think we can be like this with our Heavenly Father. Asking him for things we greatly desire or
trying to deny the promptings we have received to do something we are not
comfortable with. He knows best. He will respond with what in His eternal plan
is best for you.
Richard
G. Scott said, "Even if you exercise your strongest faith, God does not
always reward you immediately according to your desires. Sincere
faith gives you understanding and strength to accept the will of our Heavenly
Father when it differs from our own.
We can accept His will with peace and assurance, confident that His
infinite wisdom surpasses our own ability to comprehend fully His plan as it
unfolds a piece at a time.
Why
worry about future calamities or uncertainties with which you have no
control? When challenges and testing
come, your faith will lead you to solutions.
Right will ultimately prevail. It
is always comforting to know that God will never try you more than you can
manage with His help. No matter what trials and tribulations
come, we have a loving Heavenly Father to turn to for help.
How can we increase our faith?
In the year
1843 LDS missionaries came to the Braithwaite home. Hannah, the mother, was the first to accept
the gospel. She was baptized and
confirmed in April that same year. Two
months later her husband Rowland was also baptized. Like many converts their desire was to go to
America and a fund was started for this purpose. Rowland died 9 years later and the money
saved had to be used.
Their faith
was the reason the pioneers would leave behind their home, family, farms and
sometimes even their family members to journey into an unknown wilderness. With firm faith in God and their leaders the
early pioneers kept their focus on the ultimate goal. They had to face tremendous hardships and
their faith was tried, but their testimonies were anchored.
Moroni
7: 37 for it is by faith that amiracles
are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men;
wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it
is because of bunbelief,
and all is vain.
Pray to Heavenly Father.
Moroni 10:4
if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ,
he will manifest the truth of it unto you.
But we must
do more than just ask for help. We are
told in the scriptures James 2:17 that "faith, if it hath not works, is
dead"
We must test it. We have to experiment upon the words.
We can learn
from Matthew 9 a woman who had been diseased for 12 years came behind Jesus and
with great faith said, 'If I may but touch his garment, I shall be
whole." When Jesus turned and saw
her, he said, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee
whole." And the woman was made
whole from that hour.
Luke 18 tells
the account of a certain blind man in Jericho who came to the Savior and cried
saying, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought
unto him; and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, what wilt thou thou
that I shall do unto thee? And he said,
"Lord, that I may receive my sight."
And Jesus said unto him, "Receive thy sight; thy faith hath saved
thee." And immediately he received
his sight, and followed him, glorifying God;
I love these examples of faith.
Julie is an example of faith to me. She understands that His infinite wisdom
surpasses our own ability and hopes for a better day.
With consistent practice, faith will become a powerful,
uplifting force in your life.
No matter
what occurs, no matter how topsy - turvy the world becomes, you can always have
the sustaining power of faith. That will
never change. The perfect love of your
Heavenly Father will never change. His
gospel plan gives our lives meaning. I
have a testimony of these things. I have
a testimony of a living prophet Thomas S Monson who leads our church
today. I have faith in his ability to
receive revelation and guide us as members of the church.
I pray that
we may all be humble and allow the Lord to strengthen our faith to face this
world of uncertainty and so that we may all return to Him one day.
“Hugh,
you remember when you were a little boy and you would have a bad dream or wake
up in the night frightened? You would call from your room, ‘Mother, are you
there?’ and I would answer and try to comfort you and remove your fears. Now as
you go on a mission and out into the world, there will be times when you will
be frightened, when you feel weak, inadequate, alone, and have problems. I want
you to know that you can call to your Heavenly Father as you used to call to me
and say, ‘Father, are you there? I need your help.’ Do this with the knowledge
that He is there and that He will be ready to help you if you will do your part
and live worthy of your blessings. I want to reassure you that He is there and
will answer your prayers and needs for your best good”
It
is a scary world we live in. It is
unstable and uncertain. There are
unreliable people, jobs and the media. A
family member recently expressed frustration that his boss didn't pay him as
promised after multiple days of work. We
hear of teachers and other trusting examples that end up not being so
trustworthy after all. It is hard for us
to know who and what to trust.
However,
part of the reason we are here on earth is for personal growth. And trial allows opportunity for growth and
increased faith. What child could ever grow to be self
supporting in maturity were all the critical decisions made by parents? So it is with our wise Heavenly Father. His plan of happiness is designed so that we
will have struggles and difficulties where decisions of great importance must
be made so that we can grow, develop and succeed.
Ether 12:27
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be
humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before
me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I
make weak things become strong unto them.
As
members of the church we are so very blessed to have a stable example, a
perfect example where we can focus our faith and never be let down. If we can focus our faith on Him, the example
of our Savior Jesus Christ will never lead us astray. I know this to be true.
What is Faith?
In Alma
32 we are taught that faith
is like a seed.
21 And now as I said concerning faith—afaith is not to have a
perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye bhope for things which are cnot seen, which are true.
26
Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it
is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any
more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
27
But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment
upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more
than adesire
to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that
ye can give place for a portion of my words.
28
Now, we will compare the word unto a aseed. Now, if ye give
place, that a bseed may be planted in your
cheart, behold, if it be a
true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your dunbelief,
that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell
within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to
say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the
word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to eenlighten
my funderstanding,
yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
As
a child attending Primary and Young Womens and Sunday School, having home
teachers visit our home regularly and my mom allowing me to sit with her as her
visiting teachers taught her, a seed was planted in my heart. I began to experiment upon the words I was
hearing and it wasn't more than a few times that I noticed the Lord very
clearly bless me according to my small and simple desire. It was that experiment that helped me
develop and anchor my faith which has since helped me through harder and more
difficult trials and decisions.
It
is most pleasing to me now as I watch the seed of faith sprout within Ella. Her example often teaches me. We were in a different church building a few
weeks back and as we were leaving she remembered she had forgot something. I sent her after it alone and after a couple
of minutes I went in to see what had distracted her. As I glanced down the hall I could see her in
the corner with her forehead resting against the white brick wall, arms folded
tightly pleading with the Lord to help her find her way out of this foreign
building. As I called for her she has
never been so excited to see me. She has
had the opportunity to see evidence that her Father in Heaven loves her and
answers her prayers.
Moroni
taught "Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore,
dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial
of your faith."
A
good example for me to relate to is our kids.
They will ask over and over and over for a cookie an hour before
dinner. Begging and promising that they
will eat their dinner. Because you know
that is not the right thing for them right now, you say no. Not right now.
But they want it so badly and think they know best and this is what they
need.
I
think we can be like this with our Heavenly Father. Asking him for things we greatly desire or
trying to deny the promptings we have received to do something we are not
comfortable with. He knows best. He will respond with what in His eternal plan
is best for you.
Richard
G. Scott said, "Even if you exercise your strongest faith, God does not
always reward you immediately according to your desires. Sincere
faith gives you understanding and strength to accept the will of our Heavenly
Father when it differs from our own.
We can accept His will with peace and assurance, confident that His
infinite wisdom surpasses our own ability to comprehend fully His plan as it
unfolds a piece at a time.
Why
worry about future calamities or uncertainties with which you have no
control? When challenges and testing
come, your faith will lead you to solutions.
Right will ultimately prevail. It
is always comforting to know that God will never try you more than you can
manage with His help. No matter what trials and tribulations
come, we have a loving Heavenly Father to turn to for help.
How can we increase our faith?
There is a
lot to learn from our pioneer ancestors about sacrifice.
In the year
1843 LDS missionaries came to the Braithwaite home. Hannah, the mother, was the first to accept
the gospel. She was baptized and
confirmed in April that same year. Two
months later her husband Rowland was also baptized. Like many converts their desire was to go to
America and a fund was started for this purpose. Rowland died 9 years later and the money
saved had to be used.
After their
father's death, the boys felt it might be best for them to remain in England,
but Hannah lived with but one great aim in view, and that was to get her family
to Zion. When reminded of the sacrifices
this move would entail, her answer was always, "I shall take my family to
Zion if I 'ave not but a box to sit upon."
Every effort was made by her for this; and after nine years of praying
and working, her son Robert was sent to America. In June of 1863 Hannah's struggle was
rewarded and she and her daughter and sons set sail for America. It was October of the same year that they
arrived in Manti, Utah. Their few
possessions were brought by wagon, but the family walked most of the way. Over a thousand miles. No task was too hard if it was for the
church. Hannah never complained over any
hardship but always felt she was one of the fortunate few to have her family in
Zion.
Their faith
was the reason the pioneers would leave behind their home, family, farms and
sometimes even their family members to journey into an unknown wilderness. With firm faith in God and their leaders the
early pioneers kept their focus on the ultimate goal. They had to face tremendous hardships and
their faith was tried, but their testimonies were anchored.
In
the church we are often asked to make sacrifices today. Our commitment to the kingdom should match
that of our faithful ancestors even though our sacrifices are different. They may be more subtle but no less
demanding. Instead of physical
deprivation and hardship, we are asked to sacrifice time away from our families
to home and visit teach and sometimes serve in a calling. Many times we are asked to volunteer for
service opportunities such as the Ruth House, Stake Garden or cleaning the
church. We are asked to sacrifice money
to pay tithing and fast offerings. These
sacrifices test our individual faith. We
must continue sacrificing and serving with no thought of reward. We do it out of love and gratitude for the
Lord, to whom we owe everything. Moroni 7: 37 for it is by faith that amiracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of bunbelief, and all is vain.
Pray to Heavenly Father.
I testify
that he will help you. He will
strengthen you faith if you sincerely desire it.
Moroni 10:4
if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ,
he will manifest the truth of it unto you.
D & C
8:10 Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith.But we must do more than just ask for help. We are told in the scriptures James 2:17 that "faith, if it hath not works, is dead"
We must test it. We have to experiment upon the words.
1 Nephi 7:12 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten
that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, fo r the children
of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.We can learn from Matthew 9 a woman who had been diseased for 12 years came behind Jesus and with great faith said, 'If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole." When Jesus turned and saw her, he said, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole." And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Luke 18 tells the account of a certain blind man in Jericho who came to the Savior and cried saying, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him; and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, what wilt thou thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight." And Jesus said unto him, "Receive thy sight; thy faith hath saved thee." And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God;
I love these examples of faith.
Julie is an example of faith to me. She understands that His infinite wisdom surpasses our own ability and hopes for a better day.
With consistent practice, faith will become a powerful, uplifting force in your life.
No matter
what occurs, no matter how topsy - turvy the world becomes, you can always have
the sustaining power of faith. That will
never change. The perfect love of your
Heavenly Father will never change. His
gospel plan gives our lives meaning. I
have a testimony of these things. I have
a testimony of a living prophet Thomas S Monson who leads our church
today. I have faith in his ability to
receive revelation and guide us as members of the church.
I pray that
we may all be humble and allow the Lord to strengthen our faith to face this
world of uncertainty and so that we may all return to Him one day.
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