On a More Serious Note

I took a fishing trip to Tony Grove up Logan Canyon.

Logan Canyon

 What do I miss about Hurricane? There are a lot of things I miss. I miss my family, friends, clean air, Zion, zero traffic, and the sweltering heat, just to name a few. One of the things I miss the most, though, would have to be my co-workers. I worked with the best people around. After 7 years I developed a very good relationship with my boss. He was my personal life coach. I told him all my problems and he gave me solutions. This summer I started to get annoyed with Dave, because his advice for every problem was, "Jen, you need to have more faith!" That was not the answer I wanted to hear. How would increasing my faith get me scheduled to work 40 hours a week rather than 30? How would increasing my faith help me to decide what to major in? How would increasing my faith help me deal with some of the disappointments I was facing? I was so frustrated! 

One day I went for a run, and for some reason I was drawn to the St. George temple. I found a spot on the curb in front of the temple and sat there. After a minute or two my ipod began playing a familiar hymn, Be Still My Soul. For the first time the true meaning of the words struck me:

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Skunked at Tony Grove

Sitting there, I was reminded of the lesson given by the first counselor in my stake presidency in relief society last spring. President Weaver told us that when his kids were younger he would buy each of them a lamb to raise for the 4-H auction every year. At the time they lived on several acres of land, so housing the lambs was not a problem. Because the lambs were so close, the children were able to spend a lot of time with them and develop a pretty good relationship. When it came time to show the lambs they were very comfortable with their care takers. 

One year, however, the Weavers sold their home and moved closer to town. They were not able to keep the lambs on their property, so they leased out a small piece of land a few miles down the road to house the livestock. This time around the lambs did not get as much attention from their keepers. One day President Weaver got a phone call from a friend to tell him the lambs had escaped. He quickly rounded up his children and drove out to find the roaming animals. Upon locating the lambs the children jumped out of the truck and tried to persuade them back to the gated pasture. The lambs resisted and even ran in the opposite direction. They did not gain the same trust the previous lambs had.

The same is true when developing a relationship with our Savior. Faith is not only a principle of belief, but of action as well. If we distance ourselves from Him we will not trust His gentle guidance. Therefore, increasing our faith is a matter of drawing near unto our Savior. Once we have developed a solid relationship with Him everything else will fall into place. In his General Conference address, Elder John H. Groberg said, "If we have faith in Him, we will repent and be baptized. If we do not repent, or refuse to be baptized, or are unwilling to keep His commandments, it is because we do not have sufficient faith in Him. Thus, repentance, baptism, and all other principles and ordinances are not entireley separate but are actually extensions of our faith in Christ. Without faith in Him, we do little of eternal value." 

The Savior had showed us time and time again that faith precedes the miracle. Just as the Children of Israel had to put their feet in the Jordan River before the waters parted we too must demonstrate our faith before receiving a witness. In a talk entitled, "Lord, Increase Our Faith", Elder John K. Carmack said, "If we place any condition on our willingness to serve the Lord with all our hearts, we diminish our faith. If we have complete trust in Him, our faith will increase, and that means the strength of our belief and our power to act will increase. We will not think we have done our duty and that is enough. We will continue with pure intent and total commitment the rest of our lives. ... Maintaining such an attitude is the way to increase our faith."  

I would never say this to his face, but yes, my boss was right. Increasing our faith can be solution to every problem. My faith led me to pay my tithing which blessed me with more than enough work throughout the entire summer. My faith humbled me and led me to the right major. My faith has brought me peace to deal with some of the hardships my family and I have had to endure recently. Faith does not pardon you from trials, but rather makes them easier to endure.