Brothers and sisters, ALOHA
Brother Stephenson asked us to speak on the topic of faith; specifically President Nelson's address this last April conference entitled, "He is risen; Faith in Him can move mountains".
I'm sure we have all been asked the question: "what is faith?" Which usually is followed by the typical response found in the scriptures, "believing without seeing". But just as important as knowing what faith is, is understanding who our faith is based on, which of course is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. & then, what faith in Him enables us to do. A quote from his talk says, "faith enables the unlikely to accomplish the impossible".
In preparation for this talk, I was looking through my scriptures for examples of faith that resulted in miracles. I read about Noah, with faith to gather the animals two by two and surviving the flood, Moses leading the Israelites across the red sea on dry ground, through His faith that it could be parted. Continuing down the time-line, an unlearned 14 year old farm boy, Joseph Smith, who acted on his faith which resulted in the restoration of Christ's church. Miracles continue today and I feel so blessed to be a missionary to experience miracles, both big and small, as we watch people draw closer to the Savior.
I know that faith works miracles, which brings us back to the title of his talk, "faith in Him can move mountains". While I have no doubt that with enough faith, and it being Heavenly Father's will, we could move literal mountains of rock- President Nelson is addressing the personal mountains and challenges that each of us face in our lives. It is by divine design and part of Heavenly Father's plan that we are each unique, with our own set of strengths and weaknesses. The mountains in our lives will inevitably vary; for some it will be mountains of illness or physical limitation while for others it could be loneliness or doubt. Regardless of what your mountain is, President Nelson says, " the answer to each of these questions is always to increase your faith!"
So now that we know we must increase our faith, the question begs to be asked, "HOW?" Well, President Nelson gives 5 steps to help us strengthen our faith in the Savior. I won't go into depth but I want to briefly mention them.
Study! Become an engaged learner, learn about Jesus Christ and His teachings. If you think your mountain will require a miracle to move, study miracles! Our God is a God of miracles!
Choose to believe! There is the famous one liner from his talk: " stop rehearsing your doubts with other doubters" go into your prayers and into your studies expecting an answer- He has promised: to those who ask, He will grant
ACT in faith. Faith is a principle of action and power.
Partake of sacred ordinances worthily. Especially this past year w covid, we were unable to participate in the saving ordinances of the temple, however we were blessed to be able to continue to take the sacrament. As I was pondering on what it meant to "partake worthily" I self-evaluated the preparation and thought I give to the sacrament. Do I listen to the priesthood holders as they bless it? Am I taking this time to reflect on my week and find ways to repent and be better?
Ask your Heavenly Father for help. "God knows exactly what will help your faith because He knows you! Ask, and then ask again"
I love those 5 steps. There is power in this counsel from our dear prophet! I can promise that these steps work, I have seen it in my life and I have seen it in countless others on my mission. If we want an increase in our faith we need to increase our effort to receive.
But the part of President Nelson's talk that really impacted me is the latter half. President Nelson shares an experience that he had prior to conference. He was scheduled to have outdoor conferences in the islands of Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji. All of these islands had previously received rain forecasts and had experienced some heavy rains, all of the saints in these countries were praying for the rain to stop. Miraculously, in Tahiti, Samoa, and Fiji the rain stopped. However, in the island of Tonga, the rain continued. There is a picture inserted in his talk of the beautiful Tongan people in ponchos and rain coats, completely wet, but smiling nonetheless. My very favorite line from His talk was, " these Tongan saints had faith sufficient to stop the rain & faith to persevere when the rain did not stop."
This story reminded me of a lesson I heard recently at a mission conference. One of the best parts of serving in Hawaii is serving alongside my mission parents, President and Sister Walker. They are amazing and I love them so much! Sister walker had recently given a training in which she recounted the Bible story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. While I remembered the names (they are kind of hard to forget :) but I could not remember the story. So it goes as follows:
King Nebuchadnezzar had erected this golden image/idol and commanded that everyone worship it. Well, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego knew better as followers and believers of God and so they would not worship this idol. Word got around, and King Nebuchadnezzar threatened them that if they didn't worship this idol, he would throw them in a fiery furnace.
In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar asks this question:
3:15: " … who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?"
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego huddled together and came back to the king with the following response:
3:17 "if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king"
3:18 "But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up"
The story continues and miraculously, they come out of the furnace unburned.
But the part that really hit me and the part that sister Walker emphasized were the three words at the beginning of verse 18:
BUT IF NOT
Do I truly have faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ? Do I have faith because the scriptures say it will help solve my problems or do I trust that whatever happens is His will for me? Do I trust in His timing and have faith that He only has my best interests in mind? Do I love Him enough to have the faith to say, "but if not, I trust you" ?
It is something that I have adopted into my prayers as I strive to become more of the disciple that Heavenly Father needs me to be. As I strive to acquire more faith, "faith sufficient to stop the rain and faith to persevere if the rain won't stop"
I just want to leave you with my testimony. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us. I know that He does things for our benefit even when our mortal minds cannot comprehend the reasoning.
My mission so far had been NOTHING like I thought it would be. Hawaii was NOWHERE on my radar, I found out w two weeks left of the home mtc, that I would be reassigned to the Hawaii Honolulu mission. & while it is NOTHING like I thought it would be, it is EVERYTHING that I needed it to be and I know it will continue to be just as God intended. I have found myself so many times on my knees, talking with my Father in Heaven saying, " Father, I want _______/ I need _________, but if not, I have faith to trust thee"
I KNOW that faith moves mountains. I also know equally well, that it is HARD! Allowing ourselves to be submissive and vulnerable at His feet, giving Him our worries and fears, your ourselves to Him, sometimes leaves us feeling vulnerable, relying fully on Him. But I know from personal experience that anything worth having, requires effort! I hope we can all increase the amount of effort we put in to strengthen our faith. President Nelson shares, " Everything good in life, every potential blessing of eternal significance, begins with faith"
Trust Him! Leave it at His feet, lean on Him and watch your faith turn " challenges into unparalleled growth and opportunity". I'd like to end where I started, "faith enables us, the unlikely, to accomplish the impossible"
I leave this with you in the name of His son, Jesus Christ, Amen
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