Faith.

Every week in  my Missionary Preparation class we work on developing or learning about a different Christ-like attribute, as found in "Preach My Gospel." This week was faith.

This week I worked on the principle of faith. First, I read the required material in Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel. Then I read the suggested scriptures and church material on faith. A few things that stood out to me was when I read a couple scriptures on how to obtain faith and what you can do through having faith. For example, I learned that faith comes by righteousness, while miracles can confirm one’s faith. Faith isn’t something that we are rewarded with; we have to earn it by keeping the commandments and repenting of our sins, ultimately coming closer to Christ. We shouldn’t think that we have to see miracles to have faith; they should only serve to strengthen our faith. This reminds me of Korihor and how he thought (or at least Satan convinced him) that he needed a sign in order to have faith or proof of Christ. That’s not how it works. You need to exercise faith in order to have it. Our faith can also be kindled by hearing the testimonies of those who have faith. This reminded me of testimony meetings and how sometimes I don’t appreciate their importance. It didn’t ever occur to me that you can strengthen your faith through the stories and testimonies of others. The last thing I learned was what blessings can come through faith. Through faith, you can have knowledge that your life and your actions are accepted by the Lord.  You can receive many blessings that have been available to man. Lastly, and best of all, you can receive an assurance of salvation. All these things are characteristics I want to have in my life someday. I yearn for complete and unflinching faith. Right now, I am striving to reach a point where I feel like the Lord approves the life I am living. I’m as far from perfect as anyone but I hope that by preparing to serve a mission I can become a better person.

            That brings me to how I decided to exercise more faith this week. After learning about faith in the scriptures and in True to the Faith, I decided to pray and ask Heavenly Father to give me experiences where I could exercise my faith. I knew what I was getting myself into and I went to bed half expecting that something crazy and drastic would happen the next day. I just wanted to see if I had faith, enough faith to completely trust in the Lord- no matter what happened. Well, nothing life-changing happened the next day but I did have one of the worst days ever. I got three bad grades (not my fault), accidentally wasted $40, totally biffed it on the road in front of someone, AND had less than 24 hours to prepare for a playing test. Looking back it all seems trivial now but I was NOT happy. I wondered if this was my test of faith, if so, I was grateful it wasn’t that difficult to get over and I had faith that my day would turn around. I surely didn’t have the great trial of faith that I was half-expecting; if anything I simply learned a lot of humility. But, I did learn that the Lord always gives us tender mercies. That night I got second chair in University Band which made me very happy. I prayed each day that week for instances to learn faith and He did teach me. I was talking to my mom a couple days later and she told me they had found renters for our house in Illinois that’s been on the market for almost four years. Coincidently (obviously not coincidental at all), that will be the time that I’m going to be on my mission. The Lord blessed my family with the tender mercy of financially supporting me and my family so I can serve Him and preach His gospel wherever He sends me. I also exercised and will continue to exercise a lot of faith as my mission call comes closer and closer. I have faith that I have repented of all my sins and that I will be worthy to serve a mission. I have faith that I will be needed wherever the Lord sends me. I have faith that even when times are hard on my mission and I don’t think I’ll be able to bear it any longer, I WILL get through it because the Lord loves me and He needs me to have experiences and trials that will strengthen me and allow me to serve Him continually on Earth and in heaven when I return to Him.

            I will continue to exercise my faith as I prepare for my mission and I know the Lord has a great plan for me. It is becoming more apparent to me every day how trivial daily problems and aspirations in my life are in comparison to learning and gaining experiences that will strengthen my faith and mold me into the person the Lord needs me to become. I’m excited for my mission and I expect it to be difficult. Very difficult. But I have faith that by being where the Lord wants me to be and by doing what the Lord wants me to do, I will be able to perform miracles and bring others to Christ—but only through the Spirit. I will take no credit for my successes. I will simply be a servant to the Lord and a way for him to touch the hearts of others and return them to His fold.